Couple questions from a FNG

[dpy]

I played RTW and now just bought MTW2 Gold. One thing I noticed is that it seems to be easier to control your armies in MTW2 than RTW. Both are really good games with a lot of replay value. A couple of things I do not like is the crusades desertion and the long time frame between turns.

I played as England and had most of my army desert when I rounded Spain. Is there any way to avoid this? I read about walking to Italy or someplace and hiring boats, but that sounds kinda 'gamey' for me.

The long time frame between turns also kind of goes along with the crusades. Why should it take me over 10 years to sail to the Levant? I can only imagine the journey to North America must take 20+ years, Columbus did it in a little over a month. Is there any way to amend this as well?

[mozdol]

There's probably older (read: long time) players who will provide a better answer to this query, but here's my two cents.

My guess is you're playing vanilla, and if so, I'd advise you to try out one of the many wonderful mods that are out there. Many mods change the time frames between turns (in addition to a long list of improvements), but you should also be able to increase/decrease the time limits yourself with relative ease.

In terms of desertion... I personally, when playing England, choose to sail to Jerusalem straight away as well. Desertion is going to happen, but there are several ways to address this. First, I'd advise you use your own troops as the bulk of your army. I don't know if this actually affects the end result, but in my games I seem to have less desertion if the bulk of the army is made up of my own troops. Second, don't worry too much about it. I've gotten to Jerusalem with less than half of my force several times, but there's enough cheap crusading units and mercenaries to "refill" your army anyways.

As to crossing Europe on foot and hiring a ship feeling "gamey," I don't quite understand what you mean. If my recollection of history is correct, most, if not all crusades, happened this way. Plus, another advantage is you can get some really good crusader troops going through German lands. Also, if you have desertion, you have plenty of chances to recruit more troops, and when you do get to a coastal region, where you can hire a ship, you start sailing with a full army and will get to Jerusalem in relatively fewer turns.

The reason I stick with sailing straight away is because in most games when I take the land route, someone else gets to Jerusalem first, and I don't like that.

P.S. An interesting strategy I've tried several times is seeking a ceasefire with Egypt right after taking Jerusalem (if they had control of it in the first place). Most times I've managed to convince them to give at least one, sometimes 2 settlements (usually Giza or Acre) for ceasefire and trade rights.

[dpy]

Richard came to the Levant by sea as did Louis IX and Fredrick II. I was trying to re-create the English crusade. It makes more sense to sail than to march that distance. I guess I am looking for a level of realism I am unable to find in most games.

[robbo]

If you join a crusade on Jerusalem for example and choose to go around Iberia then you actually have to move further away from Jerusalem in the first part of the Journey. It seems crusading armies don't like it when you move away from the target city which is why your probably getting a lot of desertion. Always try and make progress towards the target city in order to stop troops deserting.

As England I tend to march through France, hire some ships off the South Coast, then sail the rest of the journey. That way, you're never heading away from the target city and don't have problems with desertion. Unfortunately if you take the whole journey by sea I don't think there's any way of avoiding it.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

As others have posted you have to travel in a straight line to wards your goal. As England this means no sailing around Iberia but marching through France and hire some ships in the Mediterranean. You also should always use all your movement points. Troops hate it when their leader is slow and doesn't move fast enough. Being stopped by a neutral or enemy can cause desertion. It doesn't matter what kind of troops you use.

For your second problem: open descr_strat and change the year per turn into 1 or 0.5. If you use the last then you have 900 turns to complete the game and it will take some 800 turns before you can sail to America

[dpy]

It seems crusading armies don't like it when you move away from the target city which is why your probably getting a lot of desertion. Always try and make progress towards the target city in order to stop troops deserting.

As England I tend to march through France, hire some ships off the South Coast, then sail the rest of the journey. That way, you're never heading away from the target city and don't have problems with desertion. Unfortunately if you take the whole journey by sea I don't think there's any way of avoiding it.

That's what I figured out but it's not very realistic. Methinks sea travel would have been much faster than overland travel. Where are they going to desert to at sea anyways?

You also should always use all your movement points. Troops hate it when their leader is slow and doesn't move fast enough. Being stopped by a neutral or enemy can cause desertion. It doesn't matter what kind of troops you use.

For your second problem: open descr_strat and change the year per turn into 1 or 0.5. If you use the last then you have 900 turns to complete the game and it will take some 800 turns before you can sail to America

For some reason my ship stopped sailing and oh boy did they desert. I figured out the turn thing as well, thanks.

[Random Emperor]

1.Cut though France. That is what I always do.
2. 500+ turns is too much.

[MedievalDragoon]

If you have 900 turns to compleat the game why is everyone fast paced?!
and how lond does a normal campain last???(if you win)

[Monsieur Alphonse]

A normal campaign has 225 turns to complete. Most players do it with in 100 to 150 turns. The current record I believe is 8 turns.

[dpy]

A normal campaign has 225 turns to complete. Most players do it with in 100 to 150 turns. The current record I believe is 8 turns.

8?!? How? Did someone make an AAR? Link?

[Monsieur Alphonse]

I can't find the original thread at the Org. It is either Askthepizzaguy or Grog who did that. So I'll give you something better. Grog just captured all 106 provinces in 21 turns using the Turks: http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=108036 Those two guys are amazing and extremely dangerous.

[Toshi-sama]

ouch, I'd never be able to topple that!