Challenge

[bthizle1]

Lately I've been getting very bored with TW in general. I wish it wasn't so, as it's been my favorite, and only video game series I've ever followed. It just seems as though it's way to easy. I mean the battle AI has always been horrible, and the campaign AI, well they are even worse. I find that 99% of the time no matter what faction/mod I play I always end up in the top 5. I even set house rules of not expanding etc...and still it seems pretty easy. Is there anything you guys do, specifically to BC to make it more difficult and therefore more fun? Perhaps modding some files?

[The Cobra]

what's the difficult you're playing at ?

[bthizle1]

H/H

The reason I don't play on VH/VH or H/VH is because on VH I hear alliances don't work as well. I already limit myself to max of 2 alliances in any game, and usually try to ally only with weak factions. Often if I think the game will be to easy I only make 1 ally. The reason I don't play VH battles is because it's simply unrealistic for the AI units to get the stat boosts that they get. If all that was raised stat wise was their morale I'd go for it, because I'm soooo sick of entire routing armies.

[anaztazioch]

Dont rush military buildings. Build farms, dont exploit merchants (with forts or stationing armies) recruit mostly militia armies.

And if you dont expand, the game gets boring.
Also try and do something like rushing constantinopole with only 20 trebuchets. Just raze it to ground withs tones and use treb armies to finish em off. On VH/VH works 10% of times ;p

[Garbarsardar]

VH/VH. Kwarezm. 1218.

[Aurion]

VH/VH. Kwarezm. 1218.

Hell. No.

Seriously. No.

I just got through getting put through the cycle by the Mongols, thanks.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

The battle AI doesn't get any boosts while playing on VH. It is actually the way around. The human players units gets a boost on lower settings. Your men get tired less and their morale lowers not as fast. Fighting a battle on VH will give you the same odds as the AI has.

[bthizle1]

The battle AI doesn't get any boosts while playing on VH. It is actually the way around. The human players units gets a boost on lower settings. Your men get tired less and their morale lowers not as fast. Fighting a battle on VH will give you the same odds as the AI has.

Are you sure about this....?

Also, I usually don't even use merchants to give the AI another advantage. Oh and I started a new campaign as Armenia, and although I haven't been able to play it much I'm already at war with the Turks and ERE and only have 6 settlements (slow expansion) not including Antioch. Seems as though this campaign may be a challenge.....

[Bull]

Try fighting with militia armies more.
The AI compose its armies poorly and so should you, if you want to be fair.

[Cromagnon2]

A couple of rules:

- When you conquer a settlement destroy every building, so you have to build up everything and don't have units from the start.

- Don't sack. Don't ransom prisoners.

- Maximise armies without generals to five units.

- Don't merge units.

- play battles zoomed in, put groups under AI assistance and don't move them.

- Auto resolve sieges.

- build all buildings in one settlement\castle before upgrading to next level.

- Don't use assassins to kill merchants, religious figures, heretics or witches.

- restrict one order each turn for units.

These are some rules I have, also read the faction's description to see which ones are easy and which ones are hard.

Cheers

[Taneda Santôka]

... don't take Antioche then, it's the way to keep Armenian campaigns difficult, or you'll be swimming in pillage then trade money very soon And try to be "armenian" : head north for the usurpated homeland!

[The Cobra]

The game will never be fun and will always be boring unless you want it to be fun, you should enjoy yourself while playing, listen to the music in battles and get in a mood where you feel like you're in the game, there is nothing called house rules in the game, the only one you should follow is to never cheat, expanding is inevitable unless you want your empire to fall into ashes like the romans did, to me battles are balanced between boring and exciting, when i get into a battle i usually use a minimal UI to get a realistic feeling, but while in a siege i use a battle UI to get into control, you should skip the follow AI movement as it's truly boring, i don't recommend militia armies unless it's your last choice, always fight with the elites of the elites, try sending campaigns to far lands where the chances of success are minimal like having a full stack of your best units head to the far lands of india in a fleet, they will capture some lands but then they will fight hordes of defenders that will eventually force you to surrender.
It's the adventures, the epic battles, and the burden of managing your cities that makes the game fun to play.
I hope that you enjoy your next campaign.