Viking Invasion II Released

[Legio]

All this feedback makes me want to play it even more badly.
I will play it today, as the Mercians. I cannot wait.

[Jingles]

Well I just managed to succesfully defend Lindisfarne , So now i guess it's time to sally forth from Wales and try and reconquer Britannia!

By the way, what's the recommended unit size?

[Aradan]

Normal I'd say. Otherwise you (and most importantly the AI) will drain your population dry fast and you won't be able to develop your settlements. Factions like Wales *need* to develop them.

Plus, small numbers are more accurate I believe for that period.

[Jingles]

ah, ok thanks. Will get started now

[MasterOfNone]

Well I just managed to succesfully defend Lindisfarne , S

Well done! Here, use this if you want...

[Corto Maltese]

I just downloaded and installed this interesting mod but when I try to run it I get an error notice that says:"C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome -Total War\BI\RomeTw-BI.exe is not a valid Win32 application"
Could anybody please help me in solving this problem?
I am using Windows Vista.
P.S. I am Italian so forgive me for any grammar\spelling errors I may have done

[Erik Blutaxt II]

By Thor! Just the mod i've always been waiting for! Bye Helga, I'm off to England for work.

[Atterdag]

The Welsh are a kick ass faction to play!

[MasterOfNone]

Corto,

I've seen that problem with some who have Vista or 64-bit XP

I do not have those systems and do not know of any solutions. I would suggest the following:

1. Try right-clicking the file and seeing if you can get to some properties that allow you to run it - possibly as administrator - Vista may be blocking it.

2. If that fails then download the RAR version and install it with that (don't forget the 1.1 patch)

Hope this helps - oh, and if you work it out then post the solution here for others with Vista/your settings - thx.


Erik - glad to oblige!

[Legio]

Right, here is my feedback:

I played fifteen or so turns as the Mercians, and I must say that this mod is quite engrossing!
I especially like the Chronicles, they remind me of EOD II.
The units are very well done, and the music is, well, excellent.
An excellent piece of work right here!

[Jingles]

Well done! Here, use this if you want...

AWESOME!!!!! Thanks!

I decided to do a bit of a test drive as Wessex. I've got the unit size on huge just to see what happens, and you're right. It's not unplayable (at least as Wessex) but you have to be really thrifty with your troops. Currently have the Danes surrounded at London.

[DaVinci]

Normal I'd say. Otherwise you (and most importantly the AI) will drain your population dry fast and you won't be able to develop your settlements. Factions like Wales *need* to develop them.

Plus, small numbers are more accurate I believe for that period.

Finally a man who understands me ... i always tried to explain ChivTW users that it is not developed/balanced to play on Huge unit seize (and would be a ahistorical reflection on such a setting), but no matter what you say (or write), players don't hear on those recommendations and want eeeepppiccc battles ... why don't they play all the time Roman and Greek mods exclusively?

[MasterOfNone]

Legio & Jingle - great feedback (love the screenie)

Here's a challenge to all Viking Invasion II players:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=194959

[Corto Maltese]

to Master of none
I tried to run it as an administrator but it wouldn't work i will try with the .rar version anyway thank you for the help

[MasterOfNone]

I tried to help a friend set up a program on his Vista laptop and it wouldn't allow it because it said he had to be logged in as administrator. I checked and he was logged in as admin but it made no difference. Vista is just a pain. Of course, it works for many Vista users though...maybe someone will post a full explanation of the mysteries (miseries) of Vista for us one day...

Yup, the RAR should work (again, remember the 1.1 patch).

[Aradan]

If anybody thinks the mod is too hard for his tastes (or just wants to have a relaxed go at it) there's a "basic" campaign_script included in the data/world/maps/campaign/barbarian_invasion folder. You can either "swap" the names of the two script files or edit the last line of descr_strat.txt to point at the "basic" script.

Reverse the process to return to the original difficulty level.

[Jingles]

Legio & Jingle - great feedback (love the screenie)

Here's a challenge to all Viking Invasion II players:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=194959

I assure you, that sig will be mine!

I've started M/M campaign as the Welsh, on Normal unit size as advised. What first struck me was the interesting starting position. I've decided that the best way to go is to secure Wales first, and worry about Cornwall and Devon later, as I don't want a border in the south with the Mericans or Wessex just yet.

My economy has taken a bit of a dive, and for this reason I'm glad I'm using normal unit sizes. The proverbial boat should flip back upwards again soon though, as I've secured a couple more territories. (I then paused the game and looked up Rhodri Mawr in the Oxford History of the British monarchy, just to check what sort of achievement I'm meant to be re-enacting. Interesting fella, but I reckon I can beat him ).

You really begin to get a sense of how important navies are in this game, as troop movement can be painfully slow. I like the addition (or rather subtraction) of cavalry's inability to board ships. Thankfully, however this dosen't seem to apply to my Teulu bodyguards . I'm hoping to have pushed further inland by the time the vikings arrive so that I won't have to rely on boats so much - some of the viking fleets are scarily huge!

On the battlefield, the welsh 'Infantry' units are something of a godsend, able to hold the line against some pretty painful odds while I begin flanking. My only gripe is with the Welsh longbows. They seem decidedly underpowered. The have excellent range, granted, but wether close up or far away, they don't really seem to inflict many casualties. According to the unit description they're the best archers in the isles, but this seems something of an anticlimax. Of course, they're hardly 14th century Yeoman longbowmen, but against most average infantry such as spearmen, I'd expect them to make a bigger impact, especially as the local welsh cavalry can make mincemeat of them If they're unsupported.

Overall, though I'm thoroughly enjoying this, and as one who has never played the first Viking Invasion, I'm totally hooked on this. To finish off - some screens:

My lands as they currently stand:


Victory screen after a particularly tense village assault. In the end it was my rock-hard infantrymen that carried the day.

[Legio]

My current Mercian empire:
(I take the easy way lol)
Around 870 AD.


A few other things I like about the mod are that when one puts guard mode on, the little man puts his shield up. Also, the battle music is quite stirring and I like how wooden walls can be fought over.

[PurpleScotch]

The mod is great, great idea, and great music. But, personally, I don't like quick battles. In this mod, battles finish in an instant with MASSIVE routs. At times, my whole army routed in the first minute. Others might like that, but I like RTR style slow battles, so that I can have time to flank enemies, and watch the melee unfold.

But me not being able to play the mod doesn't mean it sucks, it's actually really good, but I just don't like massive routs and very quick battles.

I congratulate you on getting this released, and being the first mod to actually make proper historical battles with a narrator.

EDIT: Just to satisfy my curiosity; why did you make the decision to have very fast battles and quick routs? You took the same route with the previous mod too, if I'm not mistaken.

[MasterOfNone]

@Jingle:
Well, if we can hook those who've not even played the original then that's a plus Keep us informed of your exploits and good luck on beating Rhodri! And keep the screenshots coming...
I wonder who will be first to get that sig banner

@Legio

A few other things I like about the mod are that when one puts guard mode on, the little man puts his shield up

I was hoping someone would like that. When I first made it, quite seriously I add, I could not stop laughing when I used it in game.

@killerxguy

Thx for the kind words. I am not sure by what you mean by very quick battles. Lethality has been taken down and balanced, movement is down too, and morale is a little higher than vanilla. VI2 battles are certainly not fast as far as I can see, though I have not played mods that maybe take it to a much greater severity. Aradan maybe can respond more to this concern than me. Perhaps you have just played CBs and have not added the correct sxp (or higher) thus morale will be too low?

Which previous mod? I've made a few...anyway, if it needs tweaking we can review it.

I think there must be some mods with narrated HBs - FATW has some for example....