DLV 6.0: Strategy guide for new players! (Old thread and discussion)

[Xtiaan72]

As some of you know, I have been playing this mod since the very beginning. I was testing the Beta last night, trying to get some feedback to Repman for his latest amazing work when it struck me.... What a long and strange road this has been. There have been a lot of ups and downs through all these versions. There have been times I thought the mod had lost it's way. There have been times when I thought ' There is no way this could get any better'. But there is no doubt that 6.0 is going to be the best version yet.

There is so much going on under the hood of this game at this point, that it's really understandable that new players feel a little bit overwhelmed. And it can be frustrating for anyone when you find out that your kick ass strategy for England just doesn't work with the Kingdom of Jerusalem. That's the beauty of the game. Knowing how to kick vanilla's ass doesn't really get you far around here!

So in the spirit of this awesome community and in anticipation of DLV 6.0, over the next few weeks I'm going to be sharing my insights into the game, in particular, playing the faction of Ireland. Let me stress, there is no "right" way to play DLV or Ireland for that matter. But there are a lot of "wrong" ways to play it and without knowing some of the fundamentals I think a lot of people are throwing up their hands and giving up before they really get a chance to " get their game on"!

Please post if you have anything to add or you have different strategies that work for you. This is not intended to be an AAR. There are tips and manuals all over the board. But no real guides to factions or how to apply the tips and info in the manual to a real game. Hopefully this thread will inspire some other players to put up some faction guides as well.

Thank you Repman and everyone else that has made 5.8 possible...Best Mod ever!

Part "1" to come after I get some shut eye!

[musicdemon]

Sounds good! That painting is very fitting. I have yet to play the Irish; I'm "saving" them up for when I become a more skilled player, but I am very interested in what your insights into them are. Bring it on!

[Xtiaan72]

DLV 6.0: Strategy Guide for New Players


Part 1: Getting Started, Game Settings and mini-mods.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your DLV experience. If you have something to add, please comment and I will add it to the guide....or perhaps ammend one of my opinions:hmmm:

What difficulty level is recommended? Generally you want your settings to be VH/VH. That is the way the game units are balanced for optimal play. In DLV, all factions are not created equal. Some factions are much more difficult to succeed with than others. And all of them face unique challenges that make them more challenging than Vanilla.

I picked Ireland for my first strategy guide because of it's unique starting position... Isolated with no rival powers to contend with for quite a while. It is not the most difficult faction nor is it the easiest and there for Ireland is a good place to start for a veteran Total War player that is new to DLV.

Battle Time Limit Option: Always play with no battle time limit on. The AI performs must better with this checked especially on defence. For instance, If the odds are even or against it, the AI will find a good piece of terrain and wait for you. If it's checked off it will always rush you. This leads to battles that are very repetitive and not fun.

Game Options: If your computer can handle it, always play on huge...Epic (up to 250 men per unit) will be available for 5.8 but I haven't had a chance to test it or how it affects frame-rate issues and city growth rates. Personally I would rather play on huge on medium graphics setting than medium or large maxed out. Huge has the added benefit of moderating city growth rates a bit ( Which can be handy mid and late game). In the beginning huge units can put a dent in your population levels if you lose a lot of battles.( Affects amount of money raised with taxes) I like that element of realism.

Graphics Settings: Optimal graphic settings are going to vary from faction to faction. DLV has had many contributers and the models and unit skins have come from a variety of sources. Before you start a campaign with a new faction I recommend booting up the first turn, gathering all your units and attacking a random rebel stack. It's a good way to get an idea of the skins and models for that faction and how your computer is going to perform. Rinse and repeat until it's running to your satisfaton.

FRAPS: This is a great program that allows you to take in game screenshots easily and store them very convieniently. It has the added benefit of giving you a second by second FPS display so you have a good idea of how your computer is performing. This program makes it really easy to share your screenshots with the community.

TWEAKS: The descr_campaign_db file in your DLV.ext folder is your friend! In it you can change a lot of parameters in the game.. Most importantly how your family tree behaves. FURIN turned me on to this. With a few tweaks you can avoid many of the annoying hard coded "features" of the MTW2 family tree. Below is the family tree text from my descr_campaign_db file, attached is my file if you want to try it.

<family_tree>
      <max_age uint="110"/>
      <max_age_for_marriage_for_male uint="60"/>
      <max_age_for_marriage_for_female uint="25"/>
      <max_age_before_death uint="111"/>
      <max_age_of_child uint="10"/>
      <old_age uint="50"/>
      <age_of_manhood uint="12"/>
      <daughters_age_of_consent uint="13"/>
      <daughters_retirement_age uint="26"/>
      <age_difference_min int="-10"/>
      <age_difference_max int="30"/>
      <parent_to_child_min_age_diff uint="12"/>
      <min_adoption_age uint="20"/>
      <max_adoption_age uint="30"/>
      <max_age_for_conception uint="60"/>
      <age_of_manhood_close uint="12"/>
      <max_number_of_children uint="4"/>

1. I changed max age for male marriage and conception up to 60. Male characters often will not get an opportunity to marry if there are a lot of unmarried or childless female characters around. This give your future potential heirs the opportunity to make it happen.

2. I changed the maximum marraige age of female characters to 25. ( It starts at 40!) and changed princess retirement age to 26. This gives you some time to marry your princesses off to a foreign power or family member but gets them out of the way before they can interfere with your heirs having children. It also ensures that the wives of your generals will have plenty of time to make it happen.

3. I changed the coming of age to 12. I think this is ideal for DLV. Your characters come of age at 12....They are in school learning to be a general or governor till their 16....then they spend the next 3 or 4 years in the field with an experienced general. So by 20 or 21 they are pretty competent characters. INMO 12 should be the default setting for DLV.

NOTE: DO NOT CHANGE THE MAX NUMBER OF CHILDERN ABOVE 4...IT WILL CRASH YOUR GAME!!!

With these setting you should have a much easier time managing your family tree and keeping your dynasty continuous.

Xtiaan72's descr_campaign_db file preferences attached!

Also take a look at your DLV.ext preferences in your M2TW data file. I like banners off because it ruins the ambiance for me. DLV has many "bannermen" officers that fill this void nicely. I also turn green arrows off because they suck. If you have a decent computer also make sure you have unlimited men on the battlefield "on" so you can enjoy the computer controlled reinforcements for truly massive battles.

Here is the Drive Path for your DLV.Ext file for 6.0 ; D:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\mods\DLV_ext

STRATEGY TIP FOR BATTLES WITH AI REINFORCEMENTS: These battles can be quite cool but make sure that your reinforcement stacks do not include any family members. Try to keep all your family members in your main stack. AI controlled family members will charge enemy formations and will always kill themselves....that is unless there is a pesky rebellious character that is determined to throw his life away!

Campaign Options: You will have some options to sort through when you start a campaign.

DLV Default Campaign or Historical Campaign: The DLV Default Campaign is set up to be a slower build, more "Civ" like experience. You can expect lots of rebel stacks to slow you down in the beginning, " Hoops" you need to jump through to build certain important buildings and a high emphasis on "role-playing" game dynamics.

The Historical Campaign which is accessable from the Custom Campaign screen, emphasises more historical starting positions for factions and royal family members. There are fewer rebel territories at the begining of the game. Weak factions are weaker, strong factions are stronger and you will find yourself in conflict with the AI earlier in the game.

Once you have picked a faction and started a default or historical campaign you will be given a series of options for your game before your first turn. Read through these options carefully as they will greatly affect your DLV experience.

AI GARRISON SCRIPT ( YES/NO)?


TRUE DLVers ALWAYS SAY "YES"

If you select "YES" the AI will spawn a garrison when you attack an enemy city. The size of the garrison that spawns depends on the size and quality of the town/castle. The bigger the town, the tougher the garrison. This is to help the TW AI which is notoriously bad at guarding it's cities.

FIELD COST SCRIPT ( YES/NO)?


TRUE DLVers ALWAYS SAY "YES"

If you say yes to this option you will receive additional costs for having armies and agents in enemy territory as well as addition costs when you siege enemy settlements. This option is to add some realism to game play decisions. It was expensive to wage war in medieval times!

SETTLEMENT COST SCRIPT
( YES/NO)?


TRUE DLVers ALWAYS SAY "YES"

This is one of the ways DLV slows down growth for the player so that by mid-game you don't have 17 billion stacks of the highest tier units and a hundred million dollars To compensate DLV has a much more robust economy that you actually have to work on to build those armies.


Point System Activated? (Yes/No)

Real DLVers say YES!

This is one of the most popular features in DLV. If you say 'Yes' DLV will require you to use your characters intelligently to acquire Military and Government Points. Without these points you will be unable to build certain buildings and units. The Point System also addes a whole level of Role-Playing ability for your characters in the game.



AI PLAYING STYLE?
( TOTAL WAR/ DLV)


IF YOU PLAY TOTAL WAR AI: PREPARE TO DIE!! !

Playing DLV Total War AI is a true survival game. DLV Standard is for players that are also interested in the 'Civ' aspects of the game that DLV excels at. I would recommend 'standard' for new players especially if you want to get used to all the cool features unique to DLV. Believe me, DLV standard is no cake walk to begin with.

Mod Pack for 6.0 (Taiji Approved!)

This is a great mod pack for 6.0. You can use all of them or just a few. Just make sure you install them in the order listed ( or you may have problems). As you install each mod refer to the install instructions for each mini-mod that Taiji provides in the threads. Enjoy!!!

Installation order-
( Please check threads for updates)

1. dlv 6 or 6.1 (no mods)- Make sure you have a clean install of dlv 6 or 6.1 beta before installing the mods listed below.


2. Xenophonia - Adds Native Languages to factions battlefield commands...A whole new level of immersion.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=223414

3. Warhorns- Adds awesome new Warhorn Sounds to battles; provided for your DLV enjoyment by Wolfslayer

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=223277

4. Battlefield Balance (B.B) Taiji's masterpiece in progress...Picking up where Ivanhoax left off, it provided extensive unit rebalancing for units in DLV tactical battles...A must have! Check the thread for details.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=219603

5. Lusted AI- Alternative AI for tactical battles...A must for players experiencing "Battle Freezes" when fighting battles with 'Unlimited Men On Battlefield'....( The notorius 'Reinforcement bug')... If you save the original DLV AI when you change it, you can even switch the AI back and forth during the same campaign..(save game compatible)

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=213008

6. Weapons.Upgrade.Removal.Mod (W.U.R.M) - This mod removes the +6 weapons upgrade bonus from the Guild buildings. A must if you want the B.B Mod to work properly. It replaces the +6 bonus with other bonuses that are more realistic (including additional free upkeep slots). Check your building browser for new bonus details.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=218717



More Mini-Mods: Please check these threads for latest versions ( and compatibility issues) Repman really puts most of the "must haves" in the default game as the versions move along. That said everybody has their pet peeves. The two that come up the most are the dreaded "Cavalry Spread" and the "Blood Clouds" in DLV. I personally love the cavalry spread in DLV... In the right hands (mine!) it makes cavalry extremely deadly and the animations themselves are awesome to behold. But many dislike the "Cav Spread" to the extreme. I'm also for all the blood I can get in the game but some find it unrealistic rather than entertaining.

Below are links to threads and fixes that address these two issues:

Harry Lime's "No Bloodclouds":

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=188771

The notorious "Cavalry Spread" thread which includes the fix:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...+spread&page=5

Harris2000's post of a more recent "Cav Spread" fix:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=200916

Other Xtiaan72 picks for mini-mods worth checking out

Furin's DLV total rawr: Keep an eye on this one, it's not 6.0 compatible yet but it's got many awesome tweaks including Furin's insane mongol invasion mini-mod that will bring even the most hardcore DLVer to his knees! Keep an eye out for updates

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=184541

Harry's Harem: Cool mod that gets rid of the ugly troll-like Eastern Princess'

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189261

( Attached) Xtiaan72's Ireland bodyguard fix (6.0):

Instructions: unzip and copy my export_descr_unit file over yours in your DLV data folder. The only change is to Irish Mounted Bodyguard unit and Ireland's relationship with the "NE Bodyguard" unit.

Description: This one is 6.0 beta compatible.. With each faction guide I do I'm going to include a few little mods that make the faction more fun for me. For Ireland it's fixing the Ireland bodyguard situation.

In default DLV Irish family members start with the Irish Mounted Bodyguard unit. It's an extremely fast light cav unit that uses javalins but can also hold it's own in a pinch with their swords. It's much more historically accurate than the regular "NE bodyguard" units that spawn when your young family members come of age. Ireland in this period did not field typical mideviel knights in full armor that charged into battle. Their tactics and traditions involved hit and run and even if they wanted to they couldn't afford to field more than a handful of traditional knights.

With my fix your future generals will spawn as Irish Mounted Bodyguards just like your starting generals have. I have also tweaked the Irish Mounted Bodyguards a bit as well. They ride Fast Ponies instead of Heavy Horse. Their melee and defense skills have been increased a touch but their armor has been lowered to compensate. They cannot stand up to fully armored knights one on one. But if you soften your opponents up with your javalins and close in numbers you will do very well. The Fast Ponies make them more vulnerable to missle fire but extremely difficult to come to grips with....They can run circles around most armored cav.

I think this is a very needed tweak for the Irish Bodyguard and I hope it's included in a future version of default DLV.

That's all for now "Part 2" will include Important DLV game concepts for beginners, an Irish Faction Overview, a hands on guide to using and interpreting DLV's unique pop-up menus and a sample Irish first turn.
Cheers!

[Xtiaan72]

There are quite a few DLV game concepts that new players need to become familiar with before they can launch a successful campaign. There are questions and issues that come up on the board time and time again such as:

Why can't I build any units?

Why is my treasury in the negative when I didn't buy anything?

I put my new family member in the castle but he in not getting his education!

Everyone hates me!!!

and of course.....My general won't move and he says I'm "Not his king!!!"

Below are some DLV game concepts that every good player needs to be familiar with.

Part 2: Essential DLV Game Concepts

1. Family Members, Education and Career Paths: When you start a game, one of the first decisions you are going to have to make as a player is choosing the career paths for your starting characters. If a starting character is in a town at the end of your first turn, he will chose the Governor career path. If your character is left out in the field outside a town he will choose the General career path. This decision has a huge impact on the traits your character has as well as the kinds of activities he excels at.

The process for choosing a career is a little different for characters if they come of age after the first turn. When a character comes of age he needs to be moved into a castle to choose the General career path before the end of the turn. In addition, to actually get a decent military education in the castle, you must have the Drill Square building built at the castle before the youngster begins his education.

To make a character that comes of age a Governor, the new character must be moved into a town before his first turn ends. To receive his education as a governor properly you need to make sure that you have build a Scholarium in that town before that character begins his education.

Whether your character is studying to be a Governor or a General his education will take about five years of game time. During this time the character should make sure to be in his castle or town by the end of each turn or he will "skip at term" at school. This can lead to fewer good traits when he graduates and sometimes bad traits depending on how much school he misses. So if you need him for a battle, make sure he gets back before the end of the turn.

When your character has finished his basic education he can continue his education if he wishes. If you place the new character in a hex next to a very experienced character (5 stars or more) he will continue to pick up good traits or command stars under his mentors instruction for an additional three years. The amount he actually learns is greatly influenced by how powerful and skilled his mentor is. Alternatively, You can place the new character out in the field in a stack with an experienced general. As a family member in a stack with a more experienced general ( A general with more command stars), the new character can pick up many personal battle skills unrelated to command that will greatly increase his prowess in battle. Just try not to get him killed!

There is a little known and often maligned third kind of character you can make in DLV.....THE BRUTE! When a character comes of age if you just leave him out in the countryside instead of putting him in a castle or town eventually he will become a brute. A despicable, loathsome character with high dread that basically scares the hell out of people. This may seem like a stupid thing to do but having a brute on your side can have it's advantages.

Let's explore the three character classes and their advantages and disadvantages in a little more detail. Within each career type, their are specialized roles that characters can excell in depending on how you chose to use them. Also let's take a look at what character class is best for characters that are likely to become an heir or a king.

The General: After their education, a decent general will start out with two or three dread and anywhere from 2 to 4 command stars. Their traits and skill sets make them excellent commanders but very poor town governors. Their high dread makes enemies fear them but does not give a morale bonus to their own troops. Below are different roles you can put your General characters in to steer their traits and abilities in specialized directions.

A) The Military Governor: You will notice that the income and happiness of a town where a general is left alone is significantly lower than it is if the town is left without a governor at all. Generals tend to be awful town governors. They also tend to get bored and unhappy when they are put in this role. This leads to corrupt traits, lower loyalty and even insubordination. You should only use a general in this role in a pinch when you need to build some buildings or recruit troops and no one else is available (NOTE: Remember real DLVers don't build buildings or recruit troops in towns without a character present! That is cheating)

B) The Garrison Commander: General's are happiest out in the field but they are content as governors of territories with castles. They can develop some very useful traits by frequently building and recruiting units in castles. Some of these traits can reduce the costs of raising expensive troops and buildings. If you have a spare general you don't need in the field, it can be very useful to park him in a Castle that is churning out troops and buildings. He can become a specialist in this field. A sort of "Master at Arms" for your kingdom. This is a great role for a secondary character that is not likely to become an Heir or King. It will make him happy and he will feel "appreciated".

If you place a general in a backwater castle that is not expanding, recruiting or fighting attackers, He will become bored, despondant and "Unappreciated". Bad traits and loyalty penalties will follow... Keep those generals busy!

C) The Field Commander: The primary role for most of your general characters will be as the field commanders for the armies of your kingdom. Most of the traits they develop will be command and combat related.

By leaving generals out in the field instead of in a castle or a town they will gain valuable Campaign Experience , this experience will be reflected on their character sheet. Characters gain experience faster by campaigning in enemy territories but they still gain some patrolling the home provinces. Eventually this field experience leads to promotions in DLV's unique Heraldic Ranking system. Your character will be rewarded with unique banners and progressive moral bonuses for your troops according to your rank. Leading troops in lots of battles and winning heroic victories speeds up your promotions.

Heraldic Rank Promotion Progression

Squire > Knight > Knight Banneret > Knight Commander > Knight Grand Cross

Until you achieve the rank of Knight Banneret, you will have negative moral penalties. I find moral to be the most important factor for winning battles. A Knight Banneret is often a better choice to command an army than another general with more command stars. However, the general with the most command stars will be the one in charge. Sometimes you are going to want to take the general with the higher command rating out of the stack to get the better moral bonus. Remember that commanders use up supplies while campaigning. You can keep an eye on your supply levels on your character sheet. Characters in the field also have an increased risk of becoming ill when they are on campaign for long periods of time. Replenish your supplies and rest your general periodically in one of your towns or castles to avoid negative effects on your character and army.

In 6.0, developing characters with high heraldic rank is one of the best ways to acquire Military Points. Once you have reached the rank of Banneret you will receive at least one military point every turn just for having that character. The higher the rank, the more points they are worth per turn. Characters with high heraldic rank are essential for maintaining large military settlements ( Fortresses and Citadels) that cost Military Points every turn to maintain.. Without them you may find that these settlements are a constant drain on your Military Point totals.

D) THE RETIRED GENERAL: This is a character type unique to DLV. When your Career general is over 60, you will have the option of retiring him from the battlefield and making him a "Career Governor". This is a handy option since at that age he will be suffering movement penalties because of his age. When he changes career he will no longer suffer from the penalties that Career Generals have when they manage settlements ( Increased unhappiness and squalor). He will also not become "bored' or "unhappy" managing settlements unlike "Career Generals'. Depending on their "Chivalry" rating they can make pretty good governors for large towns. They are however the perfect characters to manage Castle economies or smaller settlements.

Here are the steps ( Provided by Blackleaf) that you need to take to retire one of your generals:

1. The Retiring need:

• 60 years of age
• Ready for retiring age-trait.
• Leader in the capital
• One subject inside.

So basically to retire a general, you need a general who is over 60 years of age. You need to bring that character to your capitol. Your King must be in the capitol. No other characters should be in the capitol that turn. If those requirements are met, you should get a pop-up on the following turn asking if you want to retire the general.

Blackleaf comments on the awesomeness of Retired Generals:

Dont forget to mention the best of the best! The number Uno in both both governor AND General skills: The retired General. While playing the KoJ, Vh/Vh, back in 5.74... I got my Grand Cross General(huge amount of hitpoints and moral boosts, max stars, chiv. and exp.)(age50) retired. Result:

• Bought his "Governor-scoolership" for 1000f.
• This freed himself from all the bad general traits(unrest, squalor...).
• He was Clark Kent in the Large Citys and Superman commanding 2:5 Battles against muslim.

The Governor: Career governors are the most important character type in DLV. Without good governors boosting income in your towns, the costs associated with maintaining field commanders and large armies in the field are impossible to sustain. Upon finishing their educations, Career governors in DLV start with with at the very most one command star. They compensate with a very high Chivalry and decent starting piety scores.

Experienced Governors receive ancillaries that provide extra government points for your kingdom. The ancillaries have names like "Key to the City". Your most skilled governors will accumulate several of these items over a lifetime. These extra points help offset the government point penalties that are associated with maintaining cities larger than a "Large Town". It hurts when you lose these skilled characters as extremely competent governors are very rare.

( Note: In DLV, if multiple characters are in a town, the character with the highest piety is the defacto governor.)

A) The Career Bureaucrat: Upon finishing his education if you immediately put a governor to work in a town, he will develop many traits and skills that benefit your kingdom. This is especially true if the city is a prosperous town that is a trade center, constantly building things and recruiting militia. These traits can provide bonuses to trade and tax income, reduce building costs and increase population happiness just to name a few. They should avoid combat at all costs.... They are too valuable to lose and their limited combat experience means they die in combat with regularity.

B) The "Fighting" Governor: If a governor character is not needed immediately to govern an important city that is vacant, it can be very beneficial to put him in the field to get combat experience and at least the rank of "Knight". There are advantages to developing his military skills even further if possible. It is a little harder but very possible to develop governor characters into competent generals. For some factions, with no access to a castle at the beginning of the game, this is a necessity.

A competent "Fighting" governor has several benefits over traditional "Generals". First of all, their high chivalry gives their troops a moral bonus that career generals don't get. This makes a competent "fighting" governor a very good choice for commanding low morale militia armies. They also tend to get more access to "classy" ancillaries like Doctors ( which reduce casualties in battle). Their governor skills make them the ideal candidates for occupying newly conquered cities with happiness problems. Developing a governor along this path takes time and effort but in the end it's the most versatile character build in the game

STRATEGY TIP: A "Fighting Governor" with maxed out Chivalry and a high "Heraldic Rank" will give your troops the best moral boost in DLV!.

C) The Kings Right Hand: If your king has a "General" career path, it can be handy to have a high piety, competent governor in the capitol with the king. Your capitol is usually your most important trade and income center. Your best governor will usually boost your income higher than your king will. The "Right Hand" will not be designated governor unless his piety is higher than your king. With a "Right Hand" in place you will gain the +1 Authority bonus for your King being At the Seat of Power as well as all the income and trade bonuses that having your best governor on hand will provide. Also your capitol will be in good hands if the king is needed for battle or dies unexpectedly. This gives your Heir time to get to the capitol with minimal negative side effects.

The Brute: This character type is often overlooked but they are a blast to role-play. They start out with a whooping 5 dread but no command stars, as well as a couple negative traits that slow down their command star progression. Sometimes they also have a positive combat trait like "Night Fighter"

Immediately after the character becomes a brute put him in a stack with your most active general. His low command rating will insure that all he does for a while is develop formidable combat skills, keeping him busy will keep him from developing more bad traits. When your "Brute" is sufficiently tough. Put him to work on his own fighting rebels and minor enemy stacks. Make sure he always "Executes" prisoners. You want to get his dread maxed out.

Every Royal Family needs a guy to do their dirty work. Executing prisoners, sacking and exterminating towns gives characters unsavory traits. So leave the dirty work to your "Brute". Right before you sack a city, put your Brute in charge. His high dread will maximize your booty... The more bad things he does, the higher his dread will get. And your more important characters can keep their hands clean.

If you start with a faction that does not have a Castle or the ability to generate "Military Points" to build a Drill Square ( No Drill Square, No Educated Generals), developing a terrifying brute is your best option in the meantime. Contrary to what you would assume, if you keep them busy doing what they like to do, brutes can be very loyal and useful characters. If you don't keep them busy they can be quite bothersome and you may need to throw them in the dungeon. Never let them govern towns and certainly don't let them anywhere near the crown of your kingdom.

Career paths for Heirs: Most players like their heirs to be Career Generals but "Fighting Governors" can be a good choice as well. As king, you will spend most of your time in your capitol, strong civil traits can be a big advantage for your kingdoms trade and income. In general, high chivalry "fighting Governors" are best for peaceful eras when your coffers are full. High "Authority", experienced "Career Generals" are best for troubled or war times. "Bureaucrat" type governors make bad kings during any time.


(MORE TO COME)

[loet66]

Hi Xtiaan72,


Excellent !

+ rep !

[TWmadman]

Also take a look at your DLV.ext preferences in your M2TW data file. I like banners off because it ruins the ambiance for me. DLV has many "bannermen" officers that fill this void nicely. I also turn green arrows off because they suck. If you have a decent computer also make sure you have unlimited men on the battlefield "on" so you can enjoy the computer controlled reinforcements for truly massive battles.

about the unlimited men on the battlefield "on", do i have to change 0 to 1 in the cfg file? :

[game]
advanced_stats_always = 0
advisor_verbosity = 0
ai_factions = follow
allusers = 1
auto_save = 1
blind_advisor = 0
campaign_map_game_speed = 15
campaign_map_speed_up = 0
campaign_num_time_play = 1
chat_msg_duration = 10000
disable_arrow_markers = 0
disable_events = 0
english = 0
event_cutscenes = 1
fatigue = 1
first_time_play = 0
gamespy_save_passwrd = 1
label_characters = 0
label_settlements = 1
micromanage_all_settlements = 0
morale = 1
mute_advisor = 0
no_campaign_battle_time_limit = 0
pref_factions_played = 256
tutorial_battle_played = 0
tutorial_path = norman_prologue/battle_of_hastings
unit_size = huge
unlimited_men_on_battlefield = 0 (here i put 1 instead of 0?)
use_quickchat = 0

one last question, about generals. For exemple, a grand cross uba career general has a son, is it better to get him to the career general path when he pops up or does it matter to make him a governor general? because i wonder if the fact to make him governor would screw his evolution (he could be a shame for his "Alexander the Great" father)

btw what do you mean by "I also turn green arrows off because they suck."
i m not a native english so please explain what does "green arrows" and how to turn it off (same as below?)
thx

[Xtiaan72]

Exactly right, you change it to "1" and save the file.

You can turn off all the green dots that appear when you click on a unit....Destroys the mood no?

He might take after his father...then again he might "Scorn" his father....The trait system is robust so many things can happen some of it random...

I don't try to avoid negative traits as much as some players... I enjoy role-playing and I like seeing some of the negative traits.... Some of them are really well written and quite funny.

As a General Rule, The first sons of the Kings in this era would follow his fathers path. But whether this was "Governor or General" depends on the Culture....So if you are trying to play Historical you can play it that way ( For instance Byzantium and Venice would definitely have Governors as Royal Line......England not so much.

[CelticPagan]

Thanks you both Xtiaan & Taiji! I was looking for a .preference file, not the .cfg file. D'oh!

Oddly, the DLV.ext.cfg file didn't have much in it, so my thanks also to TWmadman for posting what should have been in it. +REP all around

[Varangian_Guard]

Hello Xtiaan72
Very very very nice!
And really helpful for every player, either experienced or beginer in DLV.

Subscribed...

[Kjertesvein]

Great guide you working on man. I saw one thing I'm...

"...When your character has finished his basic education he can continue his education if he wishes. If you place the new character in a hex next to a very experienced character (5 stars or more) he will continue to pick up good traits or command stars under his mentors instruction for an additional three years. The amount he actually learns is greatly influenced by how powerful and skilled his mentor is. Alternatively, You can place the new character out in the field in a stack with an experienced general. As a family member in a stack with a more experienced general ( A general with more command stars), the new character can pick up many personal battle skills unrelated to command that will greatly increase his prowess in battle. Just try not to get him killed!..."

Could you please explaine what you mean by: alternatively. Is it better? equal? :hmmm:


Edit:

The unique education system only for DLV. You dont need to learn it, just keep the basics in mind.

[Varangian_Guard]

Great guide you working on man. I saw one thing I'm...
"...When your character has finished his basic education he can continue his education if he wishes. If you place the new character in a hex next to a very experienced character (5 stars or more) he will continue to pick up good traits or command stars under his mentors instruction for an additional three years. The amount he actually learns is greatly influenced by how powerful and skilled his mentor is. Alternatively, You can place the new character out in the field in a stack with an experienced general. As a family member in a stack with a more experienced general ( A general with more command stars), the new character can pick up many personal battle skills unrelated to command that will greatly increase his prowess in battle. Just try not to get him killed!..."
Could you please explaine what you mean by: alternatively. Is it better? equal? :hmmm:

From what I know it is something different
As you can see from what Xtiaan72 said "the new character can pick up many personal battle skills unrelated to command"
I can understand that is totally different from the other process.
Just my thoughts
Cheers

[Xtiaan72]

Great guide you working on man. I saw one thing I'm...

"...When your character has finished his basic education he can continue his education if he wishes. If you place the new character in a hex next to a very experienced character (5 stars or more) he will continue to pick up good traits or command stars under his mentors instruction for an additional three years. The amount he actually learns is greatly influenced by how powerful and skilled his mentor is. Alternatively, You can place the new character out in the field in a stack with an experienced general. As a family member in a stack with a more experienced general ( A general with more command stars), the new character can pick up many personal battle skills unrelated to command that will greatly increase his prowess in battle. Just try not to get him killed!...

Could you please explaine what you mean by: alternatively. Is it better? equal? :hmmm:

Thanks for your feedback and PM Blackleaf. I'd say equal....

When you put a character in a hex next to an experienced general, you pick up traits that are more Command related or a command star or two.

If the character's mentor is a quality governor....he might pick up a governor "perk".

If you put him in a stack that's fighting some battles with someone with more stars than him, he wont pick up those kinds of traits ( The commanding general of the stack will)...But he will pick up traits that give him extra hit points and traits that make his "unit" better in battle. "Brave", "Scarred", "Risk Taker", stuff like that.

The important thing to keep in mind is it's really random how much a character really gets out of "continued" education. But if you put him in an active stack you are guaranteed to get "Campaign Experience" and combat skills which are valuable to any character.....

One thing I've never tried is putting a Career General graduate next to my best Governor to see if he picks up some "Governor" perks that most Generals don't have. Or you could put a Career Governor graduate next to your best general and see if one of your "wimps" can pick up some "command" perks.... If that actually works it would be a great tactic for building a well rounded Heir.

Gotta love DLV.....A lot of role-playing options to try out.

[Xtiaan72]

Part 2: Essential DLV Game Concepts ( Cont....)

2. Government and Military Points: Government and Military Points are a recent addition to the DLV modification. Depending on your in-game actions, you will be rewarded with Government/Military points or they will be taken away from you. You must reach certain point thresholds in order to upgrade your towns and castles. These thresholds must be achieved in addition to the regular population levels needed to upgrade a town or castle. When you accumulate the required amount of points, the game will generate a pop-up window to let you know that a new building type is available. You must build that building before you can upgrade your Town or Castle.

--------------------------------------------------------

CITY UPGRADE:

Corn Exchange > Requires 10 Government Points > Allows Large Town

Market* > Requires 30 Government Points > Allows Minor City

Fairground > Requires 60 Government Points > Allows Major City

Great Market > Requires 100 Government Points > Allows Metropolis**

CASTLE UPGRADE:

Garrison Quarters > Requires 10 Military Points > Allows first Castle upgrade

Drill Square*** > Requires 30 Military Points > Allows Stone Castle

Barracks > Requires 60 Military Points > Allows Fortress

Armoury > Requires 100 Military Points > Allows Citadel****

------------------------------------------------------------
KEY-
* Required to build a Port
** The largest city type is only available in each faction's capitol
*** The Drill Square is required for characters to receive a military education in that castle.
**** Only some Castles can develop into Citadels. Usually it's the Castle that your faction starts with. If your faction doesn't start with a Castle, it's usually a Castle that is near by.
------------------------------------------------------------




Maintenance Costs Associated with Large Cities and Castles: When your Cities and Castles reach a certain size, they will have certain Government or Military Point costs ( As well as financial costs) associated with them every turn. These costs are to reflect the expenses of running a large city or castle's day to day administration.

Government Point costs every turn for cities:

Every large_stone_wall, -1 Government points per turn

Every huge_stone_wall: -2 Government points per turn

Military Point costs every turn for Castles:

Every Fortress: -1 Military Points per turn

Every Citadel: -2 Military Points per turn


THE GOVERNMENT/MILITARY POINT POP-UP SCREENS: You can check your current Government and Military Point at any time by accessing the Government/Military Point Pop-up Screens located in your Faction Ranking Scroll.







These scrolls show in detail what actions in the game lead to gaining or losing Government and Military Points.

STRATEGY TIPS FOR GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY POINTS:

Why Government Points are way more important than Military Points at the beginning of the game: At the beginning of your game accumulating Government points is much more important than having lots of Military Points. The cost (both point wise and financial) associated with large castles are too large for a Kingdom to maintain without a well developed economy. The economic model in DLV is much more robust than Vanilla ( or any other TW mod for that matter) and if you ignore economics at the beginning of the game you are setting yourself up for certain failure.

As a general rule for every Castle you have upgraded you want Two Towns upgraded to an equal level to support the Castle.

If your chosen faction does not start with a Grain Exchange or a Market, one of your first goals should be to accumulate the 30 Government Points you need to build these buildings. Without these building, not only will you not be able to upgrade your towns, you will be unable to build the Sea Ports that make trade income profitable and worthwhile. Buildings and improvements that boost trade are not good investments until you have a Market and a Port.

We will discuss DLV Economics in more detail in a future chapter, THE DYNAMIC ECONOMY.

Accumulating Government Points: Although you can get a government point here or there using your agents (Getting trade rights with other factions, a successful alliance..ect ), Running around the map with your agents is not a efficient way to accumulate permanent Government Points. There are many in game events that you can't avoid that are going to cost you Government Points.

The best and easiest way to accumulate the Government points you need is to get your treasury above 30,000 Florins. For every turn you are above 30,000 Florins you will recieve a Government Point. For every turn you are above 60,000, you will recieve Two Government points a turn.

DLV TIP: YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE GIFTS FROM NOBLES IF YOUR TREASURY IS LARGE AND GROWING.

A good strategy is to think of 30,000 Florins as "Zero" as far as your treasury is concerned during the early portion of the game. If you are below 30,000 Florins then you are basically in the red.

Developing "Uber-Governators": In addition to the + 1 or 2 Gov points a turn generated from your treasury (that you are going to need to build up your basic economy), You are going to want an additional couple of Gov Points every turn to deal with the Government Point Penalties you are going to have eventually. These penalties are associated with the large stone walls and huge stone walls you need for big cities.

The easiest way to get these additional points every turn is to develop kick ass governors that have ancillaries that provide Government Point bonuses.

Governor Ancillaries that Generate Government Points Every Turn :

Governor's Ring + 1 Gov per turn

Governor's Coin + 1 Gov per turn

Governor's Key + 1 Gov per turn

Acquiring these ancillaries takes some effort. Generally you are going to need an Educated Career Governor in a town other than your capitol. Unless you have a really good Governor with higher Piety that your king, he will not be assigned Governor of your Capitol. Kings and Heirs ( Even if they are Career Governors) do not acquire these ancillaries.

If you keep an educated Career Governor really busy...Building lots of building and improvements, recruiting militia ect... He will eventually acquire these ancillaries. If you can't afford improvements then have the Governor "Spam" Militia and then disband them the next turn. The important thing is to keep him constantly active.


Remember that you need a Scholarium to educate Career Governers. It should generally be the first or second building you build. Build them in all your cities as it increases the quality and frequency of your Ancillaries.

Accumulating Military Points:Accumulating Military Points is a lot more straight forward but of secondary importance at the beginning of the game. By winning battles and taking cities you will build up most of the points you need to build a Drill Square if you don't start with one already. Acquiring the Military Points you need to maintain the fortresses and citadel you need for mid-game success is another story. You will want a well developed economy and at least one Career General of High Heraldic Rank before you take the step of building your first Fortress.

Heraldic Rank and Military Points: A Career General with a Heraldic Rank of Knight Banneret or Above will generate one or more Military Points a turn depending on his rank. Kings and Heirs do not participate in the Heraldic Rank System so You will need a Career General outside the Line of Royal Succession to fill this role. The Military Points a General like this generates every turn are really handy to offset the Military Point Penalties you will recieve every turn for each fortress and citadel you control.

Avoiding the Downward Spiral: If you own or upgrade more Castles that you can afford you will find yourself in a terrible position. This problem is made worse if you control multiple fortresses and/or Citadels because of the Military Point penalties associated with them every turn. I call this situation "The Downward Spiral". Your treasury will go down every turn no matter what you do. Your Military Points will fall to zero and stay there even if you are winning lots of battles. When your treasury falls to zero, your Government Points will fall to zero and stay there.

As if this wasn't bad enough, it's only the beginning of your problems. After your treasury falls below zero, your King will get the "Offends the Nobility" trait and some of your characters will become rebellious! It's hard enough to avoid these kinds of troubles when the "Dark Ages" hit anyway. We'll get into the Dark Ages event in a later chapter. But for now lets just say you better be running a tight ship when that event hits.

It's almost impossible to recover from a Downward Spiral once it hits. If Castles rebelled when you vacated them like cities it might be possible but Castles don't rebel just because they are empty. Your only option is to try to "gift" one or more of your upgraded Castles to a rival faction... A very poor option indeed. Basically when this happens, you need to revert to a saved game before you made your mistake or start a new campaign.

The "Downward Spiral" won't happen to you if you remember to:

1. For every upgraded Castle have two upgraded towns to support it.

2. Leave most of your Castles at Level One or Two unless you really need them upgraded.

3. Don't conquer upgraded Castles that belong to other factions unless you have a booming economy and the multiple characters of High Heraldic Rank to afford them.

4. Most importantly always remember that this is not Vanilla MTW. There are checks and balances in place in DLV that ensure that conquering the whole world is nigh-impossible. If that's the goal of your game then I want to see the 5.8 screenshots to prove it. I will be truly impressed and will "Rep" you big time!

(MORE TO COME)

[Kjertesvein]

1.Family Member...---> The Governor ----> "B) The "Fighting" Governor:....Developing a governor along this path takes time and effort but in the end it's the most versatile character build in the game."


Dont forget to mention the best of the best! The number Uno in both both governor AND General skills: The retired General.




While playing the KoJ, Vh/Vh, back in 5.74... I got my Grand Cross General(huge amount of hitpoints and moral boosts, max stars, chiv. and exp.)(age50) retired. Result:

• Bought his "Governor-scoolership" for 1000f.
• This freed himself from all the bad general traits(unrest, squalor...).
• He was Clark Kent in the Large Citys and Superman commanding 2:5 Battles against muslim.

[Xtiaan72]

Ahhhhh. See there is depth within depth in this game. I was hoping others would step up and help me make the guide better. i knew I was forgeting something

I didn't even know that man....No experience with that new feature. The Retired General is indeed awesome...

What is the minimum age to retire a General?

Was your retired General maxed out with Chivalry?

How hard was it to get his Chivalry high?

We are going to have to stick something on that "Sub" class in the General Section....

I wonder how a "Fighting Governor" of the same age compares with a "Retired General"..... I'm assuming the Fighting Governorl would outclass the "Retired General" in at least one catagory....Chivalry....Especially if you built him carefully....( Release Prisoners, Occupy cities...ect) It still seems to me that a Grand Cross Governor would still get the ultimate Moral Boost......Generals start + Dread...Much harder to max out their Chivalry. But the mixed skill set of the Retired General might offset that... Hmmmmmmmmm

[Varangian_Guard]

1.Family Member...---> The Governor ----> "

B) The "Fighting" Governor:....Developing a governor along this path takes time and effort but in the end it's the most versatile character build in the game."
Dont forget to mention the best of the best! The number Uno in both both governor AND General skills: The retired General.
While playing the KoJ, Vh/Vh, back in 5.74... I got my Grand Cross General(huge amount of hitpoints and moral boosts, max stars, chiv. and exp.)(age50) retired. Result:

• Bought his "Governor-scoolership" for free.
• This freed himself from all the bad general traits(unrest, squalor...).
• He was Clark Kent in the Large Citys and Superman commanding 2:5 Battles against muslim.

• 
  

Very good point
+rep for you, my friend

[Kjertesvein]

What is the minimum age to retire a General?

Young --> Middle Age --> Feeling his age --> ....

No age for rhis feature, you should look it up in the hand book btw

[Xtiaan72]

Handbook says min retirement age is 60...

but you were able to retire yours at 50.....Did you mod that in yourself?

I'm just wondering if there is tiny little bug that let's Generals retire sooner than Repman had in mind....

[musicdemon]

This is quickly turning into an epic thread! Great suggestion about the retired generals, blackleaf +rep.


Xtiaan72, since this is fast becoming a must-have players guide for beginners, I'd suggest you remove the part about the faction guide for Ireland, because that should be a thread by itself. Plus, it might be more frequented by new players if they knew it wasn't just a guide for Ireland. Just a suggestion

EDIT: Is Harry's no blood clouds mod still current with the 5.8 beta? Also, I'm interested in why you think bureaucratic governors are the worst kind. They've worked pretty well for me, and I tend to make my king and heir chivalrous governors instead of dreaded generals because it increases your reputation with other factions.

[Xtiaan72]

Well, This thread is going to turn into a Faction Guide for Ireland when we start doing sample turns and stuff like that....I have a plan. But you may be right....I'll take it out of the header for now until I start that part of the guide.

I don't know if Harry's No Bloodclouds is compatible....It probably is but I'll label it (untested)...Good Point.

Simple reason I don't like bureaucratic governors.... They tend to have less Authority inmo. Command Stars translate into higher Authority Kings. The Bureaucrats can get the "Offends the Nobility" trait right off the bat if they haven't done any fighting.

But I definitely want people that play the game alot to comment with their opinions. I'm in no way implying that I am the authority on the game by writing this. I'm going to ammend the chapters with others good tips. Similiar to how Furin handled his "Tips" thread. We just really need to get all the information in one place cause it's all over the board atm and it intimidates new players.

I know a lot about the game but as I write this I'm realizing that there are lots of areas where others have more complete knowledge. DLV = more than the sum of it's parts.

Thanks for the feedback...You rule man...