Tips for a beginner. ><

[Verranicus]

So, uh.. I'm in love with this game, but I'm having some difficulties early on.

1. Playing as England, the Pope forbids me from attacking Scotland, and yet they keep harassing my cities. What can I do?

2. Sometimes when I engage enemies in the field no matter how long I wait they don't charge me. Do I -always- have to bring the fight to them?

3. I suck at seiges. What units should I bring to a seige? Are there any strategies to winning them?

4. Do the patches make huge differences? I'm running the original version because I have the internet disconnected on that computer at the moment.

[Antissa]

Greetings mate, I'll try to answer some of your questions...

2) I think you'll have to attack the enemy head-on. I'm sure that the hesitant AI is a common patch v1.0 issue.

4) Yes they do actually! I suggest that you download and install patch v1.2 The original version (v1.0) of M2TW is filled with loads of AI problems and errors.

[pwijnands]

1. Get some catapults so you can attack and take a settlement in the same turn. Then wait until the mission is over and attack again. Rinse and repeat until Scotland is no more.

2. You shouldn't if they attacked you, but I hear the AI occasionally doesn't attack. Not much you can do about it, although attacking with superior artillery will make them attack quicker.

3. Heavy infantry, lots of them. Build lots of ladders and send all of them up to the wall (you can run with ladders) to overpower the defenders and take the walls. Then regroup and continue.

4. Patches do improve things. Most mods require a patch of some sort as well. If you have Kingdoms you don't need to install any patches btw.

[Mr Harold]

So, uh.. I'm in love with this game, but I'm having some difficulties early on.

1. Playing as England, the Pope forbids me from attacking Scotland, and yet they keep harassing my cities. What can I do?

2. Sometimes when I engage enemies in the field no matter how long I wait they don't charge me. Do I -always- have to bring the fight to them?

3. I suck at seiges. What units should I bring to a seige? Are there any strategies to winning them?

4. Do the patches make huge differences? I'm running the original version because I have the internet disconnected on that computer at the moment.

Hello and welcome, Verranicus

In answer to your questions:

1) I believe that if the Pope demands that you cease hostilities with a faction, and that faction then attacks you, they will suffer a blow to their relationship with the Pope, or an excommunication. This would make the mission end, I think, and once their relationship with the Pope is lower than yours, you can probobly attack to your hearts content.

2) You have two options to make them come to you:
- Harass them with artillery and archers
- Send ome light cavalry out near to their front line, and the enemy should all take the bait and start running towards them. Then order your cavalry to run back behind your line, and they will come to you.

3) When attacking
- Plently of infantry to take the walls. Some cavalry and archers are useful too, obviously.
- A variety of seige equipment with a larger froce is great. You can attack more than one area and spread the enemy's forces

Normally, I take two ladders and one ram. I then send the ram and some units of infantry to the gate, and more infantry acompanied with ladders to either side of the gate. Make sure to send alot of infantry to draw the fire away from the equipment.
Take the gate and walls with your infantry, and finish the town square with some flanking cavalry, and some infantry head on. Thats the way I do it, but people generally get comfertable with their own style eventually.

When defending
- Lots of archers. The more men you can waste before they reach your walls, the better
- Spearmen. Great defensive troops.

4) They fix most of they annoying bugs that are on this game. I too am running the origional and is not really bothered me. But then again thats because my computer wont let me install the patches

Hope this helps, good luck

XKillerX

[NobleNick]

Welcome to the forums, Verranicus.

...1. Playing as England, the Pope forbids me from attacking Scotland, and yet they keep harassing my cities. What can I do? ...

THis is the big drawback of playing a Catholic faction: having to kiss up to the Pope.

Reinforce well. Park a stack next to your besieged city or at choke points if need be. Let the Scots attack (do not attack yourself). Kick their buns. Repeat. If they keep mounting attacks, they will eventually get excommunicated, and then you can clean their clock with Papal approval.

Another method which works very well: Get several stacks together, one for each Scottish city you wish to attack. Make sure you have seige equipment in every stack. Make sure you are NOT under a Papal mission to "cease hostilities" with the targeted faction -AND- that your Papal approval is at least 2 crosses (since you do not want to get excommunicated). Siege all your selected settlements **in exactly the same turn** and convert all sieges to attacks **in that same turn**. At the end of the turn you will have acquired all your targets. If the Pope says to stop attacking, at the end of your turn, so what? You have your prizes. You can pick your English nose and flick the booger in the general direction of the Vatican City, with impunity. And, if you get all the enemy's settlements in one turn, there is no one left alive to gripe to the Pope, and he will not lower his opinion of you.

... 2. Sometimes when I engage enemies in the field no matter how long I wait they don't charge me. Do I -always- have to bring the fight to them? ...

You need to understand win conditions: The onus is on the ATTACKER ON THE CAMPAIGN MAP to take up the attack on the battle map. To win, the attacker must totally rout or totally destroy the defender. To win, the defender need only survive to the end of the battle. Thus when you attack the AI on the campaign map, the AI in the battle map will only attack you if it thinks attacking is the best way to win (if it believes its force is superior, or your ranged fire is superior). Otherwise it will sit there and force you to attack, or run out the battle clock and win that way.

It is highly advantageous to force the AI to attack you on the campaign map, since this forces the AI to attack on the battle map. It is also highly advantageous to arrange your stacks on the campaign map, such that the enemy's stack is downhill of you when they attack. The battle map terrain mirrors the campagn map; so this will put you uphill of the enemy on the battle map.

One way to force the AI to attack on the battle map, even though you attacked on the campaign map, is to be uphill of them and use your archer's or crossbow's superior uphill range to pepper the enemy with missiles: Either they attack or they die from ranged fire.

... 3. I suck at seiges. What units should I bring to a seige? Are there any strategies to winning them? ...

The best force to bring is heavy infantry (as has already been posted).

I often bring a force of 1/4 HI, 1/4 spears, 1/4 archers/crossbows, and 1/4 cav; but, really, all you need is heavy infantry, with ranged troops being a nice back up. I siege long enough to build at least two rams (in case one burns) and 2 ladders. If I have enough time and/or men, I will build 2 rams, 4 ladders and 2 towers. I deploy the rams, ladders and towers all around the available wall area, to force the enemy to spread themselves thinly. At the start of the battle, if the enemy is very sparse (2 or fewer units total on the walls) I will start the attack on the undefended wall. after the enemy runs to meet the threat, I will continue by starting an assault on the newly undefended wall.

Try to attack walls simultaneously on both sides of a lone defending unit on the wall.

Once in the streets, pack several spear units in, to plug the street, then load up on ranged units behind them. slowly move your forces up the street to the city square. Let your ranged units pummel the defenders from behind the protection of the spears. Try to approach the square simultaneously from opposite directions with similar forces, so that the defenders always have their backs to one of your forces. Taking arrows in the back is nasty...

... 4. Do the patches make huge differences? ...

I would not know from personal experience, since, based on the forum conversation, I would not buy M2TW until after the 1.2 patch came out. Yes, it makes a big difference. I forget the details, but the list of fixed woes is long. If you don't want your swordsmen getting their butts kicked by Peasants, and other screaming oddities, download and install patch 1.2.

[pwijnands]

And, if you get all the enemy's settlements in one turn, there is no one left alive to gripe to the Pope, and he will not lower his opinion of you.

Your rating with the pope will drop for each battle you fight against a non-excommunicated faction, except for maybe the last one. I had the same idea as you once, taking all three of Portugal's settlement in one swoop. My rating plummeted from 10 to 3 crosses and had to pay the money I gained from capturing to get it up to 6,7 crosses again.

[NobleNick]

Your rating with the pope will drop for each battle you fight against a non-excommunicated faction, except for maybe the last one. I had the same idea as you once, taking all three of Portugal's settlement in one swoop. My rating plummeted from 10 to 3 crosses and had to pay the money I gained from capturing to get it up to 6,7 crosses again.

Nolo Contendre on your first point; but doing it all in the same turn allows you to execute your plan without interference, and kiss up to the Pope later.

I found that getting a diplomat to Rome and using him to feed the Pope 200 to 300 Florins per turn gained me about 2 crosses of favor every 3 turns. So, I had plenty of favor to burn every 10 turns or so. Money well spent....

[King Yngvar]

It seems that everyone has answered your other questions well, though I am troubbled by the advices you get on the first point.

1. Playing as England, the Pope forbids me from attacking Scotland, and yet they keep harassing my cities. What can I do?

It is too late now to do it the cheap way. Now you have to pay up more, but what I usually do is send my first diplomat en route to the pope at once. The pope is THE most important diplomatic relation you may have.
I will list the following reasons why you want to kiss the popes behind:
1: Get crusades launched where you want (crusades = much money for you when sacking Muslim cities along the way = very good)
2: You will avoid excommunication, in worst case you get a mission that say "cease hostilities or your reputation with the pope may drop significantly" in which case you ignore the pope, attack your catholic neighbour and go back to kissing his butt. Excommunication = Bad, you need larger garrisons to maintain public order, and worse: You may get a crusade launched against you.
3: Your enemies get excommuncated!! Best feature of them all, be the pope's best friend and those that attack you get worse relations with the pope. It is magnificent, once they are excommuncated you order a crusade against them.

Now I will describe how to kiss the popes butt aside from the obvious "propose alliance" early on. I will describe it in 3 simple words.

GIVE HIM MONEY

That is correct, the pope is a corrupt and greedy sob. Pay him 3000 florins after or before making an alliance and he will grovel and your feet, wanting for more of those sweet florins.

Simply said; If you kiss the pope's butt, he will kiss yours.
The pope is not a disadvantage for catholic factions, it is an advantage delux: Crusades = Free upkeep, lots of cheap crusade specific mercenaries and movement bonus. You'll have several stacks in no time ready to vanquish your excommunicated neighbours. By the way, while on crusade, take the crusade's target last, you'll want to keep that low upkeep as long as possible until they start deserting.

[Verranicus]

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I plan to try them all out tonight. A couple more questions.

5. I seem to have a really tough time having more than 2-3k florins at the end of every turn. I try to have something building in every city when I can, and at least 2 full stacked armies roaming about. At what point should I stop building armies to garrison in towns? Should I only build enough militia to keep order?

6. Are there any mods that keep the general feel of the game, but add more factions/places to capture/overall depth?

7. Is Kingdoms worth getting? Broad question, I know, but I'm looking for opinions. How does it improve the game?

[NobleNick]

5. I seem to have a really tough time having more than 2-3k florins at the end of every turn...

I usually have 100-200 in the early game.

... I try to have something building in every city when I can...

EXCELLENT, especially if they are mostly economic buildings

...and at least 2 full stacked armies roaming about. At what point should I stop building armies to garrison in towns? Should I only build enough militia to keep order?

Build the bare minimum to keep order, unless you get free slots to keep more than that. Except in border towns, if you do not have a free stack nearby.

6. Are there any mods that keep the general feel of the game, but add more factions/places to capture/overall depth?

Someone else can answer. I play 1.2 vanilla.

7. Is Kingdoms worth getting? Broad question, I know, but I'm looking for opinions. How does it improve the game?

Based on cruising the Kingdoms forum, I would say it is. I would have bought it already, except I am still having too much fun with M2TW.

[Antissa]

6. Are there any mods that keep the general feel of the game, but add more factions/places to capture/overall depth?

7. Is Kingdoms worth getting? Broad question, I know, but I'm looking for opinions. How does it improve the game?

@I think Lusted's Stainless Steel mod would be your best bet.

@ If you enjoyed playing M2TW, you would probably enjoy the Kingdoms expansion as well. The four campaigns should keep you entertained for a few weeks, but mods like Broken Crescent and Stainless Steel should keep you entertained for months.

[Isotopesam]

I'm in the same situation as Verranicus. Ordered to cease hostilities with Scotland.
Noob Question:

How do you bribe the Pope? Where's the option to send a gift located? Can't seem to find it.

[roy34543]

Theres no actual bribing . Its just that sending him 6000 florins with the Offer Florins thing on the diplomacy screen. The gift button is a little wrapped present at the side of the big button you use for most diplomatic negotiations. it appears when you offer something and dont ask for anything.

[Verranicus]

Last one, promise!

If I get Kingdoms do the nations from that get added to the main campaign?

[Antissa]

No, you'll have to download and install Lusted's Stainless Steel modification.

[Verranicus]

Nope. You'll need to download Lusted's Stainless Steel mod.

Would I need Kingdoms for that particular version? Also, could you link me to this mod?

[loquar]

On the question of sieging most people are saying take heavy infantry to take the walls. Ive hardly ever done this, you lose too many men and it is not necessary at all.

As soon as siege weapon units of any type are available I never make another ram/ladder/siege tower

Instead just pound a few holes in the walls and kill troops with your ballista/catapult/trebuchet/cannon. The AI often sends its troops into the square to wait while you enter then attacks you when you are inside.

I know its probably laziness but my sieging armies rarely change from my field armies, cavalry with a small ammount of infantry support do just fine inside city streets despite what people say, just avoid the spears (use your infantry on these)

Missile troops can often run inside and get onto the enemy walls then shoot them as they charge from the square. Mixed use troops are great as they can enter, stand and shoot a bit then mix it when engaged then shoot again as the enemy routs back to their square.

If you want a siege struggle buy kingdoms and play as the apache's, much fun!

Money wise you will likely get more surplus as your empire expands. your empires borders have large forces and some castles while your soft inner belly should be making money with low garrisons and mainly cities. As your empire grows the border areas dont increase massively but the inner areas should, so you get more and more making money and roughly the same ammount to spend it on (well it increases but slower than your cash makers)

There are quite a few threads on making money if you have a search, and there are quite a few tried and tested ways that work

[Flogger]

If one of your towns is being besieged by a faction you have been forbidden to attack by the Pope, I am pretty sure you can attack them without being excommunicated. I think this may be true for when an enemy army is in your territory as well, but I'm not sure. If attacking an army will get you excommunicated, you will get a warning message telling you about it when you click on the enemy army. If not, you may do as you like.

[green tea]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=314

That is the part of this site where you find everything about Stainless Steel,

and here http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=126810

can you download it. But you will need Kingdoms for it.

Here http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=211you find the Mods that would run without Kingdoms, but maybe some of them could require the official patches.

[malcolm mcdowell]

its king kongs stainless steel by the way...
anyhow, once you've got britain (in fact probably once you've beaten the scots a few times and they have no army) there is no point having armies roaming around the island, maybe just one to finish off the scots and then take the remaining rebels. personally i would convert all but one (maybe two) settlements to towns, just get militia (and make sure they are all free upkeep, don't get more than is necessary) and sit back, and you should get quite a bit of money coming in every go.