Northern Europe Guide

[Viking Prince]

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Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

Part I: Northern Europe

Version 2.0
Date 3.15.2009
By Viking Prince


Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net)
Banners created by: (insert your name here)

Special thanks to Unspoken Knight and the entire team that has created and updated the Retrofit Mod (Custom Campaign/Retrofit mod).

Special thanks for inspiration by Rebel6666 and his incredible threads such as The Great M2TW Information Thread

Contribute to the next version and your name can be here!

I will update each faction as time and opportunity presents itself. This is a work in progress! Do not let this stop you from comments and discussion.

If you want to discuss this region’s factions in a short campaign add your own post to the thread!

I have also opened a moderated social group -- M2TW Short Campaign for those interested in some general chat outside of the threaded posts.
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Introduction

Northern Europe is the basis to the units used in Medieval II Total War and France is the basis for the units of Northern Europe. The Town Militia and Militia Spearmen are recruited from the Towns and large towns. The castles can be the source of recruits for the Peasants, Peasant Archers, and Peasant Crossbowmen. The castles are also the source of the professional military: the Sergeant Spearmen, the Armoured Sergeants, the Dismounted Feudal Knights, and of course – the Mailed Knights. The region is broken up by the English Channel, but is otherwise fairly contiguous. The region is separated from the Iberian and Italian peninsulas by mountains. There is only open space to separate the region from the open steppes of Eastern Europe.

If you want more regions before completing a Short Campaign, Northern Europe may be a good option with France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Denmark all requiring 20 regions.

Index to Northern Europe Factions

1.1 England
1.2 France
1.3 Holy Roman Empire
1.4 Denmark
1.5 Scotland

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[Viking Prince]

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Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

France

Version 2.0
Date 3.15.2009
By Viking Prince


Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net)
Banners created by: (insert your name here)

Contribute to the next version and your name can be here!
________________________________________________________________________________


Introduction

The French are the basis for all units of European Medieval warfare. They were the inventors of chivalric combat, feudal lieges, peasant based castle economies, and free urban people rioting in the streets. Best of all they can be played right out of the box with no fiddling with folders or winning campaigns to unlock them as a faction.

Featured Early Units


Why play the French if you do not like Mailed Knights. The basis of the French campaigns were men on horseback charging into the formations of lightly armored infantry. As infantry improved and the English archers improved, this strategy was beginning to show signs of strain.



Nobility on horseback needed peasants to fill out the needs of an army. This meant pitchforks as well as archers. The pitchforks and simple archers would usually melt away in the first few moment of real combat. Try as best as the nobles could to convince the lightly armed and ill equipped peasants to fight for the church and liege, the peasants would usually turn to the expedient use of feet to avoid the other rather obvious result of combat.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

The French are the second largest faction at the beginning of the campaign and can be played right out of the box without unlocking factions. The short campaign victory conditions are to hold 20 regions and eliminate England as a faction within the game.

A brief bio of the settlements (I am not giving enemy unit information or rebel settlement populations. There needs to be some exploration):

Angers - Wooden Castle, pop. 1800
Paris - Capital, Large Town, pop. 3800
Rheims – Town, pop. 1800
Toulouse – Castle, pop. 2400
Marseilles – Town, pop. 2200

Caen – England, Castle
London – England, Large Town
Nottingham – England, Castle

Rennes – Rebel, Town
Bruges – Rebel, Large Town
Antwerp – Rebel, Large Town
Bordeaux – Rebel, Castle
Zaragoza – Rebel, Town
Dijon – Rebel, Town
Metz, Rebel, Motte and Bailey

A brief roster of starting units for France:

Angers – General with 2 Sergeant Spearmen, 2 Peasant Archers
Paris – King Phillip with 2 Spear Militias, Militia Crossbow, Peasant Archer
Rheims – General, Town Militia, 2 Spear Militias, Peasant Archer
Toulouse – Prince Louis, 2 Sergeant Spearmen, Peasant Archer
Marseilles – General with 2 Sergeant Spearmen, 2 Peasant Archers
Rheims region - Captain with Mailed Knights, 2 Spear Militias, Peasant Archer
Bordeaux region - Captain with Mailed Knights, 2 Spear Militias, 2 Peasant Archers
No naval units

You also have a cardinal in the Bordeaux region, a princess in the Paris region, and a spy in the Dijon region as well as two children not yet of age.

What will it take to win the Short Campaign

The short campaign victory conditions are to hold 20 regions and eliminate England as a faction within the game. You will find that England holds similar perspectives on the situation. This is a fairly quick campaign despite the number of regions required and a great opportunity to learn the subtle use of massed lanced horse cavalry for open field.

A Brief Look at the Initial Situation

France is mainly a landlocked kingdom. You possess no navy and only Toulouse has a port and only Marseilles has the potential for an urban area based seaborne trade. Your empire has the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) to the east, Milan to the southeast and Caen is in English hands to the north, and Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula to the southwest with a stretch of rebels separating you from all neutral factions except England and Milan. Fortunately most of the English strength lay safely across the channel and there is some distance over land between Marseille and the Italians.

Examine your initial cash and projected cash flow and you will discover the first concern is to stabilize the economy. You will not be broke on the second turn like the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) but you still must be careful. Over the first several turns the garrisons of the towns need to be free of upkeep if you are to be able to keep any large numbers of troops in the field. Build mines when the payout is greater than 200fl per turn. Complete the usual land, road, markets, small churches, and town halls to improve communication, growth, and cash flow.

Alliance or War

This is a short campaign and there is no reason to be at war with any factions other than England before the elimination of the English faction victory condition is met. A good diplomatic plan is based upon a choice of actions at the start of the campaign.

A quick look at the disposition and command strength of your generals is important.

King Phillip (5 command stars and with chivalry) is in Paris.
Prince Louis (6 command stars and with dread) is in Toulouse.
Raoulet Poiterin (3 command stars) is in Rheims.
Perrin Gasson (1 command stars) is in Marseilles.
Guillemot de Lyon (4 command stars) is in Angers.

Three aspects are clear:

1) The bulk of command strength is aligned against the English in Caen with the chivalrous King Phillip.
2) The best general, Prince Louis, is in Toulouse for potential action against Bordeaux or Zaragoza.
3) You weakest link is Perrin Gasson in Marseilles facing the uncertain but dangerous Milanese.

I tend to try to remain at peace in the beginning of my campaigns. The advantages of peace are better trade agreement terms with you neighbors and a better chance of an alliance with the Pope (or other key factions). If you are playing a Catholic faction and at war with a Catholic faction, there is also the danger of excommunication and the certainty of poor Papal relations. Things will be a bit different for this short campaign. There are many paths to take. The principle choice is to attack the English at Caen directly or to expand into the rebel settlements to build up strength and the economy before taking the English on. I tend to role play a bit when playing the game. This is a great opportunity to go to war directly and try to navigate the perils of excommunication, poor trade relations with neighboring powers, and still build up a strong faction that will be respected. This is the route that I will take in this guide.

My usual challenge is to maintain an alliance structure, but you will not have any allies in the near term. The neighboring factions will seek you out for trade agreements. You will need to send a diplomat to Rome to manage the tricky arrangements between war with the English and favor with a Pope that will not make an alliance with a Catholic nation at war with fellow Catholics. This is truly an example of the diplomatic job of attempting to talk peace while the realm pursues war.

There will be little chance of any immediate tribute with any Catholic faction trade deal. This will improve over time though, so do not be in a hurry. A modest tribute is a nice addition to the coffers. If you want to marry the princess off to cement an alliance, try to do it with the HRE. You will not be lacking for generals. But like trade agreements, you will find the other factions are reluctant to make alliance with a faction at war.

Do not forget to feed the Pope a 100fl tribute to keep relations up or at least not collapsing into abysmal and excommunication. Build the churches and priests for the same reason. Iberian regions are good places to send your priests to convert the people to the church and to build up their piety for the College of Cardinals. Keep your cardinal available to fight the occasional heretic or witch.

Stage One – Seizing the Strategic Strong Points and
Take the First Step to Eliminate the English

The initial moves should be towards besieging Caen, Bordeaux, Rennes, and Dijon.

Caen

The English are strong at Caen and you will need substantial resources to even besiege the castle. The French are favored with King Phillip versus Robert who is a much weaker commander. To strengthen the forces, if you wish, add some mercenary spearmen and a crossbow unit to the force from Paris. If the English sally before combining forces within the region, you will win. Most likely it will be a long siege.

Bordeaux

Prince Louis and the forces in Toulouse should join the field army (except a peasant archer) and assault and take Bordeaux. Do not bother to wait out the siege. Use the strength of Prince Louis to your advantage and defeat the rebel garrison. Bordeaux can then be converted to a town with the dreaded Prince in firm control for the conversion. Toulouse is sufficient for holding the front. On other variations of an opening campaign, the Prince can race to Zaragoza to seize a great Mediterranean Sea port town before the Portuguese or the Spanish. By heading directly to Bordeaux, Iberia will be left to the Iberian factions for the short term. The decision is yours. A policy of assaulting and battling with the heir should increase his combat rating and a bit of dread as well. This is also a good reason to use Prince Louis later in the campaign to hunt down the rebel forces that seem to always pop up while playing the French.

Rennes

The rebel held town of Rennes can be besieged by your army in Angers leaving a token peasant archer garrison behind. No more than one peasant archer is really needed in the siege force. Wait for the enemy to sally out. Your siege will deny this potential foothold on the continent to the English.

Dijon

This settlement is always in contention with the Milanese. I recommend taking the rebel settlement despite the risks. The income is good and I would rather face a weaker Milan than letting Milan build another militia stack in Dijon. This will actually make Milan a stronger foe and may not buy you the peace that you need in the short campaign. Your field army plus Raoulet Poiterin from Rheims can take the settlement through a prolonged siege.

Stage Two -- Straighten Out the Borders and Frontiers

With a completed stage one, you will now expand to round out the French empire with two more regions: Bruges and Metz.

At some point, better sooner than later, you will need to send agents (spies, priests, or diplomats) to the vicinity of Dijon, Genoa, and Milan. This region is key to keeping the peace if you are not to become embroiled in a two front war. Continue with stage two, even if war breaks out.

Follow up from Dijon with the rebel held Motte and Bailey at Metz. Your force under King Phillip in Caen should move to siege Bruges.

Stage two completes the consolidated French empire that is to be developed for cash and troops. Do not over invest in economic institutions. The first level of markets, ports, churches, and town halls are sufficient. Second level and eventually third level town barracks will be need for the better militia to garrison free of upkeep. Second level roads are useful to tie military movements. Keeping taxes set to high or even very high will slow growth and thus slow the urge to improve the infrastructure in this short campaign. High level chivalric generals can administer the select settlements such as Paris and Toulouse to speed up growth.

Once Caen falls with stage one, you should find the English will want a ceasefire. Try to get the ceasefire plus a minor tribute of say 50fl per turn for 10 turns. The tribute is more of a role playing aspect. At the end of the tribute period, the French will now renew hostilities with an attack on London. This will give you time to consolidate, build up the Papal rating and get alliances set up since France will now be at peace.

A quick comment on garrisons is needed. Marseilles, for example, is critical not just for the income but also to keep Milan from looking westward. Keep a good general and perhaps a few armoured spearmen as well as the free upkeep militia based here. This is useful for anti-rebel forces as well as a reaction force against Milanese forays into your lands. Try to never use militia as garrison troops unless they are free of upkeep costs. They are neither cost efficient nor are they sufficient to hold off a serious military force. Other critical strong points are the castles at Toulouse and Metz. It will always be a balancing act between costs and sufficient military to deter aggression. Not all of these critical areas can be supported at one time, but to neglect to support those under direct threat will result in distracting wars and consume resources that will not lead to victory.

An added step to deterring Milan may be to establish a series of three forts on critical passes. A couple of castle infantry and peasant archers or crossbows are useful. In case of war breaking out this will allow for Prince Louis and cavalry from Toulouse to speed in relief and gather a credible force from the three forts. Milan may strike at either Dijon or Marseilles, so a couple of castle infantry plus a peasant archer or so can be used to stiffen the garrisons.

Stage Three -- Taking out England

The goal of this short campaign is to take out the English faction. The Pope is going to block your every move. This becomes a balancing act. The French Papal rating will be damaged by continued attacks on the English if the Papal warnings are ignored. The HRE and the Milanese are waiting to jump on a weakened or excommunicated France. The Portuguese and Spanish are a breakout threat from Iberia. Get alliances when offered.

The ideal deterrent for the Iberian breakout is Spain if Zaragoza falls to Portugal since you are not adjacent. The Moors are also a potential ally, but do not get too entangled or the alliance structure will fall like a house of cards on a windy day.

Alliances with the HRE, the Milanese, and the Pope are all important. Keep the Papal rating up and try to also humor the HRE. With the cost of breaking the alliance, the threat of the Pope and the military strength aligned against Milan – your peace may actually hold up.

There are a few ways to approach the final war with England. A good start is to send out an expedition from Angers with infantry and archers to either Dublin or Caernarvon. You want to take a rebel settlement so you would prefer to take the wooden castle at Caernarvon with the rebel held village of Dublin as your secondary target. The idea is to constrain English expansion and to blockade the port at Caernarvon if in English hands when war does break out.

The next step is to bring catapults from Paris, King Phillip and another general plus infantry, cavalry, and archer/crossbows from Caen to take on London. If you are lucky, this will be a quick strike. If not you will need to balance the Pope and the threat of excommunication with maintaining a siege to weaken the defenses. At some point you will need to assault London. If you wait too long you will be excommunicated.

Your navy will need to shuttle the main army plus a smaller force with King Phillip since you will need to garrison London with King Phillip, fill out the army, and push on. The navy after the shuttle service will then blockade Nottingham’s port. The blockades and sieges should dry up English florins.

Continue to upgrade militia garrisons to the limits of free upkeep in each city. Keep additional units in a single defensive army in the field led by Prince Louis. If war does break out, you should be able to recruit a couple of mercenary crossbows and a mercenary spear or two to fill out the army plus cavalry from the castles.

A quick comment on defensive missile soldiers for open field battles is needed. If you want several mercenary crossbows, you will need to recruit and pay upkeep on the first ones and wait for more to come available. Plan accordingly. Waiting for Toulouse to be a fortress and to be able to recruit crossbows will take too long and the Milanese will still outclass you and the Iberian factions have their Jinettes. Your only real counter are the mercenary crossbows.

Back to London; the idea is to siege and assault only if needed. Two catapults can put one hole in the outer walls. If you desire to do without the catapults, you may be able to mount an earlier campaign. I do not try to bum rush the towns at the expense of the rebel settlement expansion in stages one and two. You will read many a guide that does do the quick and dirty campaign which usually results in the French becoming excommunicated. I prefer to keep the Pope happy (well at least not really upset) and never strike when the Papal rating is very low. Waiting for your chance is the key to the victory. Have patience.


Stage Four – Completing the Short Campaign

London should fall about turns 30 – 40. Keep building up Toulouse. Build up the church levels in Paris and London, your two biggest cities, to help your relations with the Pope. After about turn 30 other settlement constructions should be restricted to the new regions. It is now only a matter of defeating King William. The conqueror label should be considered a bit of history by now. He has lost the war with the loss of London’s income. He is bankrupt. If Scotland does not have York, you will now hold Dublin, York, Caernarvon, Nottingham, and London for 5 settlements in the Isles. You began the campaign with 5 settlements, you conquered 6 rebel held regions in the first two stages, your 5 Isles settlements brings you to a total of 16 regions. Four more regions are now needed to complete the short campaign. Consider this a step towards a long campaign strategy. Maybe a Crusade is in order. Consolidate the Isles and eliminate the Scots. Expand into Iberia. Have fun!

Epilogue

There you have it. The basic French empire plus the fall of England completes short campaign. The world is now a French oyster or maybe I should say a soufflé. With care and balancing the needs of war with the concerns of Papal peace, the soufflé will not fall.

I would like to also add an edited comment by DeMolay on his approach to a long campaign that may add another approach to the short campaign as well:

… I always take Caen from the English in the first turns with most of the units they give me in order to eradicate this problem once and for all , then manage to get a ceasefire and even an alliance with them later on , so I just reconstitute modern France territory minus Corsica then give to the Pope all the territories bordering France (for instance: Bern, Genoa, Staufen etc.) Very often, I have to sack Milan because they are always backstabbing and eyeing Dijon. That also makes the Pope rich and a worthy ally. Many times I fought alongside him against invaders (I give him the right to cross my lands and I get the same right from him).

Thus, I end up with the Pope as my main neighbor and usually the Spanish as my long term allies, which makes the campaign quite easy after some time as my territories are secure, because if the Pope loses one territory bordering France to any faction, they become ex-communicated and it's easy to retaliate with a crusade on their richest city. So it becomes then easier to have a good fleet and concentrate on seizing the Holy lands and build a Kingdom there, cause mainland France is never seriously threatened, or at least I have time to prepare the defense because they have to attack the Pope first, before attacking me (unless they come by sea, but it's rare, the Moors tried to take Marseille at one point without success)

Your comments are always welcome. If I update the guide and use your ideas, you will be given the credit! Until next time ---

Regards,

Viking Prince

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[Viking Prince]

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Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

England

Version 2.0
Date 3.15.2009
By Viking Prince


Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net)
Banners created by: (insert your name here)

Angers idea contributed by Sher Khan
Contribute to the next version and your name can be here!
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Introduction

England is a great faction for a first try at this very fine game or as a nice return to discover what you can do with the experience of many campaigns. This is also one of the factions with which you can start play right out of the box. No need to modify code or file folders to play.

Featured Early Units


The English Billmen is a great anti cavalry unit to melee with French mounted armor. Hook, drag, or hack – a French knight dismounted is a French knight out of action.



The English Longbows are the best second level archers in Northern Europe. The ability to place defensive stakes to halt cavalry charges is an important factor for open field combat as well as defensive positions when under siege.


So the Scottish units are best used in the early game to be on the offensive against the English as well as the French and Germans. So, let’s polish up the axes and swords and get started. It is time to remove the Norman intruders from the land of the Celts.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

England is a faction on the northwest corner of the map. England shares the Isles with Scotland. The faction consists of three settlements: Caen (on continental Europe), London, and Nottingham. Adjacent/nearby rebel settlements consist of Caernarvon, Dublin, York, and Inverness in the Isles. Continental settlements are Rennes, Bruges, Antwerp, and Hamburg. I have already mentioned Scotland (Edinburgh) but the big faction is France on the continent with Angers and Paris adjacent to Caen. You will also note that the North Sea separates England from Denmark and the rebel held Oslo.

A brief bio of the settlements (I am not giving enemy unit information or settlement populations. There needs to be some exploration):

Caen – England, castle, pop. 1500
London – England, large town, pop. 3800
Nottingham – England, castle, pop. 3000

Rennes – rebel, town
Bruges – rebel, large town
Antwerp – rebel, large town
Hamburg – rebel, castle
Oslo – rebel, wooden castle
Caernarvon – rebel, wooden castle
Dublin, rebel, village
York – rebel, village
Inverness – rebel, wooden castle

Angers – France, wooden castle
Paris – France, large town
Arhus – Denmark, large town
Edinburgh – Scotland, large town

A brief roster of the units:

Caen – Robert, peasant archer, 2 spear militia
Caen region – peasant, peasant archer, 3 spear militia, merchant, diplomat
London – King William, peasant, town militia, 2 spear militia
Nottingham – peasant archer, 2 spear militia
Nottingham region – Prince Rufus, 2 peasant archer, 2 spear militia, Princess, Cardinal
York region – spy
At sea – cog fleet near London, cog fleet in channel near Caen’s port

What Will it Take to Win the Short Campaign?

The first thing to do is count. Count the settlements that can form the final empire upon a successful short campaign. For England, the short campaign requires the elimination of Scotland and France and control over 15 settlements. Let’s assume you are going to take out Scotland and France with no help from other factions. This can also serve as a template for a first stage of a long campaign. With more experience, your long campaigns will start differently, but the focus here is on the short campaign.

An Agent of Change or the Fine Art of Diplomacy

This is almost a cheat, but it is a legitimate option for those who wish to use it. Angers is a potential French threat against a slower conquest of Rennes and we have a diplomat in range. The diplomat can move to Angers (Paris is within range, but since we cannot see it due to the fog of war feature in the game we will not head to Paris) and initiate some agreements.

What agreements might you consider with the French? It will depend on your chosen style of play discussed above. The aggressive and non-chivalric style is not worried that the King has set a goal on the destruction of the French dynasty so you may be tempted to get an alliance and trade agreement. This will not prevent a French move onto Rennes if you dally in the Caen region gathering up your forces.

Another option is to offer to buy the Angers castle. You can do this by offering perhaps 1,000 florins a turn for four turns in exchange for the castle. The French agree and you now have another castle as a buffer against French expansion. Sher Khan had mentioned this idea and he went with buying both Angers and Toulouse for more florins so that the French will the have no castles until they take a rebel held or another AI faction castle. The computer factions do not seem to convert towns to castles or castles to towns. This is why I think this is a bit of a cheat. It is also a bit unhistorical to be playing Monty Hall and Let’s Make a Deal with the royal lands. It is still your choice and your campaign.

Use the Diplomat to Use the Pope

We have already planned to move the diplomat to Angers. The diplomat cannot perform any more operations on turn one, but he should be headed to the next great diplomatic mission. The chief priority for all Catholic factions is to get an alliance with the Pope and also to improve the English rating with the Pope. A high papal rating means an ability to call Crusades that will be in the English interests rather than wait for the expected calls to Crusade in the Middle East (usually Cairo). Also, when in conflict with another Catholic faction, a high rating improves your chances of continuing an assault on an enemy settlement with only a loss of reputation and not excommunication. It is also important to keep you reputation higher than potential enemies for similar reasons and to discourage actual open conflict.


Stage One – Taking the Critical Points to Begin to Raise International Tensions

First look at initial expansion possibilities – York and Rennes are always high on my list of first conquests. Scotland can get to York quickly so you cannot dally. The same is true of the French located at Angers which can move onto Rennes.

I usually move the Prince Rufus’s led field force in the Nottingham region directly to besiege the village of York. There is no need for a large army since it is only a rebel village with five units. I did get close enough to look at the force in York before committing the army to a siege operation. This is a good habit for all players to look before biting down hard. The rebel forces can only last two turns, so I will just wait out the siege and win an easy open field battle.

The captain led field force in Caen can also reach Rennes on turn one. The enemy forces in this rebel town are tougher than those Rufus is facing at York. Rennes is a town that lasts for 4 turns and holds 5 units including a mailed knight. No rebel general is the only real good news. The field force from the Caen region is weaker than the rebel army and is lacking in cavalry. We have options – go with what we have and hope for the best or wait for Robert and perhaps additional military to be moved up from Caen itself. This will be a good time to test your skills and learn to beat a superior force. Move the captain led force to siege Rennes and do not bring up reinforcements. This weaker force should entice the rebel garrison to sally out immediately. If you are not ready for the test, also bring Robert and the army in Caen as far as they can go the first turn and join with the captain led force before besieging Rennes. Depending on whether you will be assaulting the town or waiting to defeat a sallying force, you should be considering construction of siege equipment. I will usually want a couple of towers and a ram to both spread out the enemy flaming arrows and so that if the ram flames up, I have not lost the siege. This will cost 180 build points which is with the budget of the combined force. This means attacking on turn three (next turn) or waiting 4 turns for the enemy to sally out. This is really your choice.

The question is what to do with the continental army after Rennes? If you have purchased Angers from the French, you will have a straight shot at Bordeaux without crossing French lands. If you do not make the Angers purchase, you will need to use a naval force to move your forces from Rennes to Bordeaux or cross French lands. I tend to use a cog, but the choice is yours. It is important to take Bordeaux, though, to begin constraining the French.

There is also King William in London. What use is a powerful king sitting in a great city? I usually move him and the military in London up toward Wales and within walking distance of Nottingham. The forces in Nottingham can then join up for a planned future attack and conquest of the rebel held wooden castle at Caernarvon. There will be more on planning the assault of Caernarvon later in stage two.

Early Building Ideas and A Time for Fiscal Stimulus

You have now moved your military and agents. It is now time to put some florins to work building your economy and building capacity for better military units. On of the great advantages of the English are their archers. The problem is where to produce them. I would convert Caen to a town if Angers was purchased. If you did not purchase Angers, plan to keep Caen as a castle for most of the short campaign until at least Paris and Angers are secure and there is no risk of a counter attack. So either Nottingham and either Caen or Angers needs to be built up along archery, barracks, and armor. If you want to build the church and farm lines also, it is your decision. The farm line will help improve growth towards the fortress walls needed for even better units.

London should get a port improvement as soon as possible so that the warehouse line will become available as the city grows. First right click the mine. You will discover that spending 2000fl will get you 240fl per turn. The port and the trade routes can wait. To help make such decisions go to the settlement scroll and then at the bottom click on settlement details to see the income and population effects of various economic build choices.

When building in town settlements, do not neglect the barracks line. Free upkeep is an important feature that can save more florins than a first level market will ever return. The barracks line is also a key to happy settlements.

Recruiting New Units

What units to recruit?

England needs a diplomat within England until the conquest of Scotland. If England wishes to have some trade with Scotland while consolidating England there should be a diplomat present to cancel the trade agreement diplomatically a turn prior to beginning the war. You can count of the Scots to approach the English for trade rights so the diplomat is optional according to the style of play you have chosen. This does help keep your global reputation up though, so it is worth a consideration.

We need to replace the garrison units that left London with King William. Do not bother build town militia if you have spear militia. This is not a hard and fast rule, but you should build the best available garrison units that have free upkeep in a large town.

This leaves Nottingham and Caen. This is a where you will eventually be able to recruit your first longbow men. At the moment you need to replace the units that joined King William. The castle has a high level of loyalty, but you never know who may be lurking in the woods ready to walk into a settlement that is lacking any garrison. For this reason I always keep at least one unit at all times. Just like in London, you want to recruit the best available. Do not get carried away though – this is a very safe settlement and all units will cost you upkeep. Mailed Knights are great but have a high upkeep. Mailed Knights are never a good idea for garrison units unless there is a plan to use the units in the next turn or two. A peasant or two will do just fine for the moment. If you have a retinue that includes a pointy penciled accountant (I do) you might just recruit one token peasant unit in each castle -- no more units at the moment.

Stage Two – Build the Economy, Prepare for War, and Putting the Squeeze on both Scottish and French Expansion Opportunities

A good general short campaign strategy with England for a newbie is to grab rebel-held York and Rennes right out of the box, acquire Anger diplomatically from the French, and convert Caen to a town for future income. I do not do the Angers purchase gambit, but the next steps are the same in either case.

The continental forces should be consolidated after Rennes and with Robert’s leadership take on the castle at Bordeaux. Capture the remaining rebel held settlements in the Isles with a thrust to rebel-held Caernarvon and then to Dublin with the cog that brought the Continental army to Bordeaux.

Use the second cog that begins near London to launch an invasion by sea onto rebel-held Inverness with new troops from Nottingham and any surplus from York. Do not be afraid of using too much force since this army will be available to strike at Edinburgh from the north.

Stage Three – Scotland!

By now you should have secured your alliance with the Pope and have a higher rating than the Scots. You should have also developed catapult technology in London and Longbows in Nottingham to create a professional army to march on Edinburgh. Be certain to cancel any trade agreements a turn prior to war. With the artillery, you should take out the Scots on the same turn the war begins. The only remaining issues will be the rebel debris that was the remains of the Scottish military.

Stage Four – Yet another Norman Invasion

The final stage is to take out the French. With luck the Pope has excommunicated the French. If not, you will need to take the French in nibbles. Either way, your economy is stronger and your military forces in the field can be larger than what the French can afford.

Launch the campaign from Bordeaux into Toulouse or from Caen into first Angers and then against Paris. Paris will be the harder nut to crack, but the capital is also a huge florin loss to your enemy. With the loss of Angers, Toulouse is the most developed caste the French hold or perhaps their only castle if Metz or some other castle has not been captured. If you are feeling really ambitious, build up two siege forces including catapults and launch your offensive against both simultaneously for a real knockout punch.

You may find the Pope is unhappy with such a great loss of Catholic blood and you will need to halt the campaigns. This is not a real problem since you have taken out the French professional war machine and florins alone are no match for your military machine out of Nottingham and Caen. The addition of siege machines and militia spears out of London will fill out your two armies for the final push. Then it will be a simple matter of picking up the stray settlements still controlled by the French for a short campaign victory.

Epilogue

France and Scotland have been destroyed as factions. You now control 8 settlements in the Isles and Rennes, Bordeaux and Caen on the continent plus the starting French settlements for a total of 16 regions (plus perhaps Bruges or Antwerp). Victory requires only 15 additional regions so even a little help from another faction should not lengthen the campaign. The victory should now be complete. You have been allied with France and perhaps such loyalty should not be rewarded with a stab by the Scots. This is up to you.

There you go. You have now completed reading another faction in my Viking Prince’s Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War.

Comments and suggests are always appreciated. If I use your ideas in a revision, you will get the eternal fame and glory of a credit at the top of the revised guide. Thank you and make Europe a Norman based Catholic empire. Until next time ---

Regards, Viking Prince

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Viking Prince’s
Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

Holy Roman Empire

Version 2.0
Date 3.15.2009
By Viking Prince


Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net)
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Introduction

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) is not the empire of Charlemagne. The current emperor is weak but chialrous, the empire is fracturing, and will soon be bankrupt without an astute reorganization. Milan was recently within the empire but has seen her interests diverge from the HRE with the development of a more urban based military and Mediterranean based sea trade. Bologna may soon follow without better leadership.

Featured Early Units

The Germans are a very typical Northern European faction for the early campaign with the typical Sergeant, Armoured Sergeant, Mailed Knight, peasant archer/crossbowmen from the castles. The militia units are the typical town and spear units. If you are playing the HRE, you are not doing it for the unit diversity. That said:


The Germans have the Pavise Crossbowmen as a Fortress level archery unit. It is too bad that you will not have a fortress from which to recruit such units early in the campaign. The typical archer unit in the short campaign is the lowly and much maligned Peasant Archer. This unit is quite effective at drawing fire and a great diversion for enemy cavalry. If you learn to use the peasants for the capabilities that they possess, you will learn to both love and hate this modestly priced unit.


The German main castle based army unit will be the Sergeant Spearmen. This unit is a bit better than the typical Milanese militia but much more expensive to recruit and maintain. If the HRE is on the offensive, you will have the added disadvantage of Milanese urban areas holding reserve units free of up keep.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

The HRE is the largest faction at the beginning of the campaign and can be played right out of the box without unlocking factions.

A brief bio of the settlements (I am not giving enemy unit information or rebel settlement populations. There needs to be some exploration):

Frankfurt – HRE, capital, large town, pop. 3000
Staufen – HRE, wooden castle, pop. 2000
Nuremburg – HRE, town, pop. 2200
Innsbruck – HRE, wooden castle, pop. 1000
Vienna – HRE, large town, pop. 3000
Bologna – HRE, large town, pop. 3500

Arhus – Denmark, large town

Milan – Milan, Minor City
Genoa – Milan, Minor City

Hamburg – Rebel, castle
Stettin – Rebel, Motte and Bailey
Magdeburg – Rebel, Wooden Castle
Breslau – Rebel, Village
Prague – Rebel, Large Town
Antwerp – Rebel, Large Town
Metz – Rebel, Motte and Bailey
Bern – Rebel, Castle
Dijon – Rebel, Town
Florence – Rebel, Town

A brief roster of starting units for the Holy Roman Empire:

Frankfurt – General with 3 Spear Militias, Peasant, 2 Peasant Archers
Staufen – Prince Henry with 2 Spear Militias, 2 Peasant Archers
Nuremburg – General with 2 Spear Militias, 2 Peasant Archers
Innsbruck – General with 2 Spear Militias, 2 Peasant Archers
Vienna – Family Member with 2 Spear Militias, 2 Peasant Archers
Bologna – Emperor Heinrich the Chivalrous with 3 Spear Militias, Peasant, 2 Peasant Archers
Hamburg region – Captain with 2 Mailed Knights, Sergeant Spearmen, Spear Militia, 2 Peasant Archers

You also have a Princess and a Cardinal in the Nuremburg region and a spy in the Breslau region.

A Brief Look at the Initial Situation

The HRE is kingdom divided. There is a contiguous set of “German” regions that is a landlocked Northern European empire with the added problem of separated Bologna due to the recent breakaway of Milan. Bologna is a populous and potentially extremely wealthy Italian peninsula urban settlement surrounding by enemies. You possess no navy and only Bologna has a port or even the potential for seaborne trade. Your northern “German” landlocked Northern European empire has France to the west, Poland and Hungary to the east , and Denmark to the north with a stretch of rebels separating you from all neutral factions.

Examine your initial cash and projected cash flow and you will discover the first concern is to stabilize the economy. You can literally be broke on the second turn if you are not careful. Over the first several turns the garrisons of the towns need to be free of upkeep if you are to be able to keep any troops in the field. Build mines when the payout is greater than 200fl per turn. Complete the usual land, road, markets, small churches, and town halls to improve communication, growth, and cash flow.

What Will it Take to Win the Short Campaign?

The short campaign victory conditions are to hold 20 regions and eliminate Milan and Denmark as factions within the game. This campaign is about breaking out of the landlocked isolation of Northern Europe and to unite Bologna with the rest of the empire by bringing the Milanese back into the fold before it too is lost in the turmoil of Italy. This is a typical short campaign since victory requires the elimination of Milan and Denmark and control over 20 settlements. Denmark is a single settlement at the start and Milan is a two settlement faction. Both enemies can become aggressive and result in an interesting campaign if they are given the time to develop before taking them on.

Diplomacy or How to be Dependant Upon the Kindness of Strangers

This is a short campaign and there is no reason to be at war with any factions other than Milan and Denmark before this portion of the victory conditions is met. A good diplomatic plan is to make no agreements including trade with these two factions. A good alliance structure is to become allied with France, the Papal States, and probably Venice. Within the time constraints of the campaign this should be a doable coalition to crush Milan and not bicker too much with each other.

A challenge will be to get the alliance and trade agreements. You emperor has neglected the administrative training of diplomats. There seems to be greater needs than first building a town hall and then training a diplomat. You will be, to paraphrase a misused quote from “Street Car” – dependant upon the kindness of strangers.

Try to get some tribute with every trade and alliance deal since this will allow you to keep afloat for the first turns as you get the economy in order. In most cases this is usually about 500fl for 3 turns for me. More can be had, but I like the other party to remain happy. The artificial intelligence (AI) may disrupt your perfect plans though, so be prepared to adapt to conditions on the ground. Remember, the diplomat has approached you – do not scare the fool away since he may not return.

If you want to marry the princess off to cement an alliance, do it. You will not be lacking for generals. The same is true for your heir, Prince Henry. The more solid you can make the alliances, the better for the short campaign.

Do not forget to feed the Pope a 100fl tribute to keep relations up. Build the churches and priests for the same reason. Stettin and Thorn and even further east are good places to send your priests to convert the people to the church and to build up their piety for the College of Cardinals.

Stage One – Seizing the Strategic Strong Points

The initial moves should be towards besieging Hamburg, Metz, Florence, and Prague.

Hamburg

The hidden captain led army should immediately besiege the rebel held wooden castle at Hamburg before Denmark gets a chance to do so. Dietrich von Saxony and the spears in Frankfurt should join up as soon as possible. Move your spy into the Danish area to keep a good watch on movements. Once the force has combined and the Danes have moved off to grab another rebel held province you might find the chance to break off the siege and make a quick thrust to take Arhus. This will complete your first goal, if luck is with you. Otherwise you should convert Hamburg to a town and develop Magdeburg (stage two) as a castle. You need cities with ports to develop the income of an empire.

Metz

Prince Henry and the army at Staufen (except a peasant archer or take both and recruit another) should move and besiege Metz. The siege is short enough to wait out and defeat the army in the open field. Otto von Kassel and two spears should then redeploy to Staufen for garrison duty. When the economy allows, Staufen can then be converted to a town with Otto von Kassel in firm control for the conversion. Metz and Innsbruck are sufficient for holding the front. Innsbruck will eventually supply some better spears to supplement the militia defenses of Florence and Bologna to keep the other factions honest prior to the move on Milan and Genoa.

Prague

The rebel held Bohemian large town of Prague can be besieged by joining forces from Vienna and Nuremburg leaving a token garrison behind. No more than two peasant archers are really useful in the siege force. Wait for the enemy to sally out or assault as your skills and style merit. It takes six turns and time is money.

Florence

The Emperor and the army in Bologna should besiege the rebel held large town of Florence. Recruit some town militia to garrison Bologna. You should be fine with the defense of Bologna for the first several turns with the token force, but reinforce the garrison before Milan, Sicily or Venice decide this is an easy target. Bologna is a huge cash cow that is surrounded by hungry factions. Hold it and do let allow others to treat it as an appetizer that starts a needless war. This is also a bit of the role play reason for the victory conditions in the short campaign; the reason why Milan must be consolidated by the Germans to create physical continuity to the empire.

Stage Two -- Straighten Out the Borders and Frontiers

With a completed stage one, you will now expand to round out the German empire with four more regions: Stettin, Magdeburg, Breslau, and Ajaccio.

At some point, better sooner than later, you will need to send a spy, priest, or diplomat to the vicinity of Dijon. The city is a key potential trigger to war. If held by either France or Milan, Milan needs to locate the next easiest target. It may very well be either Florence or Bologna. This may mean Milan beginning the war early. Continue with stage two, even if war breaks out.

Follow up from Prague with rebel held Village of Breslau and the rebel held Motte and Bailey at Stettin. A new general and more militia from Frankfurt can be used to take Magdeburg. If the siege is completed at Hamburg and Arhus is not taken, use the army to take Stettin. Convert Stettin and Staufen to town based economies.

Stage two completes the consolidated German empire that is to be developed for cash and troops. Do not over invest in economic institutions. The first level of markets, ports, churches, town halls and roads are sufficient. Second level and eventually third level town barracks will be need for the better militia to garrison free of upkeep. Keeping taxes set to high or even very high will slow growth and thus slow the urge to improve the infrastructure in this short campaign. Villages should be kept on low taxes to speed the population growth for a second level town, especially if there is the potential of a port for trade income. High level chivalric generals can administer the villages to also speed up growth.

A quick comment on garrisons is needed. Vienna, for example, is critical not just for the income but also to keep the eastern powers from looking westward. Keep a good general and perhaps a few armoured spearmen as well as the free upkeep militia based here. This is useful for anti-rebel forces as well as a reaction force against Polish/Hungarian/Venetian/Byzantine forays into the lands of the Kaiser. Try to never use militia as garrison troops unless they are free of upkeep costs. They are neither cost efficient nor are they sufficient to hold off a serious military force. Other critical points are Hamburg, Florence, Bologna, Metz, Innsbruck, and eventually during the Milan campaign -- Bern. It will always be a balancing act between costs and sufficient military to deter aggression. Not all of these critical areas can be supported at one time, but to neglect to support those under direct threat will result in distracting wars and consume resources that will not lead to victory.

Stage Three -- Taking out Milan

If you can take out the Danes quickly, do it. If not, do not worry. You have Hamburg and Stettin which will limit their expansion. If you do not take them out, get a trade agreement now. You will now prefer to focus on Milan. Milan is the biggest threat to the Germans and your alliance structure is not stable in the long run. Take Bern and if possible the island of Ajaccio to put the squeeze on them. With luck they will begin a war with HRE, France, or Venice for expansion. Usually they will be grabbing Dijon from France or the rebels.

There are two ways the Milan-HRE war can begin. The most obvious was mentioned in the stage two discussion. Milan strikes at a weak HRE settlement -- either Florence or Bologna as the most probable.

If they strike early, they will have an advantage. The first wave of the attack will be burning off their first units. Do not be fooled. The next waves will be with the newer units.

A key for the HRE is to have a full garrison up to the limits of free upkeep plus a peasant archer or two in each city. Keep the additional units in a single army in the field led by a good general. If you wish to lure Milan in making the assault, move the defensive army south but within range of the towns. It is then your choice on whether to wait for them to assault the town or for your field force to assault the besieging force. As long as you have a general and an additional mailed knight in your field army, you should be fine. You should be able to recruit a couple of mercenary crossbows and a mercenary spear or two to fill out the spearmen and militia spears.

The perfect campaign is to build siege catapults for two attack armies to strike at both Milan and Genoa simultaneously. It is even better if you are able to call a Crusade on an excommunicated Milan. I prefer to use Florence for my siege works, but Bologna is fine also. No siege equipment bigger than catapults will be needed in the short campaign. Each army should consist of a good general, two catapults, two mailed knights, some mercenary crossbows, and several armoured sergeants. Fill out the army with militia spearmen. It is best if you have upgraded the militia armor two steps. These armies are the reason for the good economy. You will need to recruit and provide the upkeep for these men. In some cases, you may need to refit and make a second go at it if the Milanese has no other enemies.

A quick comment on missile soldiers is needed. If you want several mercenary crossbows, you will need to recruit and pay upkeep on the first ones and wait for more to come available. Plan accordingly. Waiting for Bologna to pass 6000 in population to build a city watch and then militia crossbows will take too long and the Milanese will still greatly outclass you. Building up Innsbruck to train pavise crossbows is also an option, but this is a more long-term option that is not really suitable for the short campaign. If it fits your style of play better, go for it. Nothing says that you cannot win the short campaign by completing a master plan for a longer campaign! This is why there are such strategic decision differences between the two campaign lengths.

The idea is to siege and assault only if needed. Two catapults can put one hole in the outer walls. If you desire to do without the catapults, you may be able to mount an earlier campaign. I do not try to bum rush the towns at the expense of the rebel settlement expansion in stages one and two. You will read many a guide that does do the quick and dirty campaign which usually results in the HRE becoming excommunicated. I prefer to keep the Pope happy and never strike when the Papal rating for Milan is very high. Waiting for your chance is the key to the victory. Have patience. Milan will do something to lose favor. Count on it! Also, try to time the campaign so that the Pope is not likely to die in the middle of the siege. A reconciled Milan can always be a problem.

Stage Four -- Taking out the Danes

If you did not take out the Danes with a single blow to Arhus in stage one, now is the time to do so. If you have established trade, you will need to send a diplomat to break the agreement. It is all a part of the chivalric role playing and not really needed for the play of the game. The expected regions under Danish dominion will be Stockholm, Riga, and Antwerp. There may be more, but after Milan – this is merely a formality to complete the short campaign victory conditions. The castle at Magdeburg should now be able to pump out armoured spearmen and cavalry. Hamburg should be capable of producing some catapults as well as filling out the army with militia spearmen with some upgraded armor. Just as with the Milanese Campaign, rely on the mercenary crossbows since they are much most cost and time effective than building up a castle to the third level archer to train the pavise crossbows. With the naval ports and some time the campaign will now come to a triumphal close.

Epilogue

There you have it. The basic German empire of the starting 6 regions, the four rebel regions of stage one, the four rebel regions of stage two, Arhus, Milan, Genoa, and what ever other regions that have been added to the two factions. You should reach your 20 region requirement with the fall of the last faction. The empire stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, from “Sea to Shining Sea” --- so to speak.

More factions are planned. Your comments are always welcome. If I update the guide and use your ideas, you will be given the credit! Until next time ---

Regards, Viking Prince

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Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

Scotland

Version 2.0
Date 3.15.2009
By Viking Prince
Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net)
Banners created by: (insert your name here)

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Introduction

There are two factions in Northern Europe that start with one region, Denmark and Scotland. For the purposes of this guide the question is: why play the Scottish faction? The best answer for me is that the Scots start with one region and thus have all the limits to an economy that need to be overcome to take down the much larger English as a faction. The introduction within the game states that they are lacking in cavalry which is not really true. They do lack in variety, but the axe wielding infantry makes up for this for my interests in the game.

Featured Early Units


I like the early axe wielding early units. Highlanders are better suited to a charging attack than the castle based English spears. The second level castle units, Highland Nobles are also an offensive step up on their English counterparts of Billmen or Armoured Swordsmen.


The archers are a step down from the English on offense, but if they are to mix it up in a melee – I will then take the Noble Highland Archers over the Yeomen Archers any day.

So the Scottish units are best used in the early game to be on the offensive against the English as well as the French and Germans. So, let’s polish up the axes and swords and get started. It is time to remove the Norman intruders from the land of the Celts.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

Scotland shares the Isles with England on the northwest corner of the map. The faction consists of one settlement: Edinburgh, which is of course the capital. Adjacent/nearby rebel settlements consist of Caernarvon, Dublin, York, and Inverness in the Isles. The rebel held continental settlement of Rennes may also enter into early plans with the Scottish. Other nearby continental rebel held settlements are Bruges, Antwerp, and Hamburg. You will also note that the North Sea separates England from Denmark and the rebel held Oslo.

A brief bio of the settlements (I am not giving enemy unit information or rebel settlement populations. There needs to be some exploration):

Edinburgh – Scotland, large town, pop. 4800

Caen – England, castle, pop. 1500
London – England, large town, pop. 3800
Nottingham – England, castle, pop. 3000

Rennes – rebel, town
Bruges – rebel, large town
Antwerp – rebel, large town
Hamburg – rebel, castle
Oslo – rebel, wooden castle
Caernarvon – rebel, wooden castle
Dublin, rebel, village
York – rebel, village
Inverness – rebel, wooden castle

A brief roster of starting units for Scotland:

Edinburgh – King Malcolm with a border horse, two Town Militia, a Spear Militia, and a Highland Archer
Edinburgh region near the border with Inverness region – Edmund Canmore with a Border Horse, Highlander, Spear Militia, and 2 Highland Archers
Edinburgh region near the border with Inverness region – Prince Edward with a Border Horse, Highlander, Spear Militia, and a Highland Archer
At sea – cog fleet near the straits between the Dublin and Edinburgh regions

You also have a cardinal and a spy in the Edinburgh region and a diplomat in the York region as well as two children not yet of age.

What Will it Take to Win the Short Campaign?

This may be the easiest short campaign in the game since victory requires the elimination of England and control over 20 settlements. For the purposes of the guide, let’s assume you are going to take out England, occupy the Isles and then expand as you might for the first stage of a long campaign. With more experience, your long campaigns can start differently and there are many other resources to read on the possibilities.

Stage One – Taking the Easy Stuff and Not Be a Bankrupt Prince of the Highlands

This is somewhat of a trick question. New players want to attack immediately and everywhere. This is total war, isn’t it? There are rewards to patience and also to decisive thrusts against an enemy before he has time to organize. The new player has the instinct to thrust. I would suggest learning when to wait. Also examine what makes your assets different from your opponents and how to turn this to your advantage.

Let’s look at the generals: King Malcolm and Edmund Canmore have four chivalry shields and Prince Edward has four dread skulls. Chivalry is great to promote population growth and dread is best used on the field of battle to help break the enemy moral. You may actually run out of florins in the first stage of the campaign. The cash flow from trade will be a key to Scotland’s success. Edinburgh is close to an upgrade in the city walls. Keeping a high rated chivalry general in Edinburgh may be advantageous. Prince Edward should have the honor of eventually smashing the English at Nottingham and elsewhere.

Inverness is close and with a population of 1500 is also a good candidate for urban growth. Capture and conversion to a town might be a good strategy for more urban growth and trade income. We now know that the King and Edmund will be used to promote growth and the Prince will have the honor of victory in the field of battle.

First take Edmund with his army to Inverness. You do not want this to cost too much casualties since you have now means to replace lost archers, or Highlanders. These units will be needed for other campaigns so fill out Edmund’s army with some militia from Edinburgh before the rebels sally out. Keep the militia in Edinburgh until needed. This will save on upkeep.

The Prince, his army, and the existing town militia and the Border Horse in Edinburgh should be an easy assault on York. Do not wait for the rebels to sally out, but take care to minimize losses of horses and archers. You might wish to occupy even though it might reduce dread since the town has such a low population base. I usually sack and accept that York will take a while to grow. The two town militia will do fine for a garrison. The rest of the Prince’s forces will march onto Caernarvon, the rebel held wooden castle in Wales. Some recent recruited militia from Edinburgh should be sufficient for the siege.

When Inverness falls, the population of Edinburgh should now be large enough for the next upgrade to the town walls. Edmund can remain in Inverness (which should be converted to a town) and the forces should join with the King and some more militia to march on Dublin. Dublin may be a small village like York, but do not be fooled – the rebels are greater in number and tougher. Let the rebels sally out so that your cavalry can win the day in the open.

Stage Two – Build the Economy, Prepare for War, and Put the Squeeze on the English Expansion Opportunities

A key to expansion is to minimize the number of opponents that you are at war with at any point in time. You will also need to consolidate the gains, invest in economic and military development, engage in diplomatic activities, serve the interests of the church, and plan for what you empire should look like at various stages of the campaign. In this campaign, you want to take on the English without taking on the rest of Europe. Not only will this anger the guy in Rome with the pointy hat, but it gets in the way of your short campaign goal of eliminating England.

You might also want to broaden your economic base by taking some of the rebel settlements in the region which will also prevent the English and the French from expansion to a degree. This really means Rennes for the short campaign prior to taking out the English. Consolidate your forces from Dublin and Caernarvon with the Prince and invade the continent and take the rebel held town of Rennes.

If you have not already done so, your diplomat should be making the same voyage to the continent. You begin with a cog which is good for ferry service. Moving troops from Dublin to Wales and to the continent is a perfect use for a single Cog fleet. Your diplomat is useless in England, but on the continent you will be able to ally with the French and eventually ally with the Pope before hostilities actually break out with the English.

Meanwhile you need to get Caernarvon built up to recruit and train some Highland Nobles as well as Highland Archers. Do not neglect the trade income from Edinburgh and Inverness. A merchant can be dispatched to the Dublin region for the mine until Dublin has built up sufficiently to exploit the resources with developed mines.

Stage Three – England for the Celts

The Prince is in Rennes and can cross the channel again with his army to march on London. Another army from Wales can march on Nottingham. The Prince may or not be a diversion depending on the disposition of the English forces. If London is weak, take it and crush the English economy forever. More likely you will be facing a couple of modest sized armies in the Nottingham region. Perhaps the English may even be marching on Caernarvon. The defense of the castle in Wales is sufficient with a couple of Highland Nobles, a couple of militia, a couple of Highland Archers and a General with a bodyguard. Adding a couple more Highland Nobles and Archers as well as a militia force from the north should be sufficient to assault Nottingham.

Stage Four -- Sending William and his Heirs to Hell

With the Isles consolidated, do not stop with a ceasefire. Take Caen, but be mindful of Papal concerns. Your rating with the Pope may be quite low, but there is no reason to be excommunicated. It is sometimes more interesting to keep a low rating from going to zero than keeping a high rating while at war with another Catholic faction. Of all the Catholic factions, I find this the most challenging to avoid excommunication. Stay on the good side of the man in Rome if for no other reason that the role playing value of the game. If needed, just pause and build up your economy. Look to Bruges and Antwerp if England thinks that is the solution to English problems. With patience and planning you will be sending William and his heirs to hell.

Epilogue

You now control 8 settlements in the Isles and Rennes and Caen on the continent for a total of 10 regions (plus perhaps Bruges or Antwerp). Victory requires another 10 additional regions. You have been allied with France and perhaps such loyalty should not be rewarded with a stab by the Scots. This is up to you.

There are several options for continuing the campaign without stabbing your ally. If Cordoba is still in the hands of the Moors, and a crusade is not in progress – ask the Pope about freeing the Iberian Peninsula from the Islamic Moors. Conquest from a foothold in Lisbon is another option if Crusading is not an available option. The Iberian Peninsula and Marrakesh should get you quite close to finishing the Short Campaign.

Another interesting twist with Scotland is a reverse Viking expansion by taking on the Danes after consolidating the Isles from a built up Nottingham Castle. This campaign will anchor the empire at Novgorod. You will now control the northern map edge and then pick apart Europe as factions lose favor with the Pope.

There you go. You have now completed reading another faction in my Viking Prince’s Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War.

Comments and suggests are always appreciated. If I use your ideas in a revision, you will get the eternal fame and glory of a credit at the top of the revised guide. Thank you and make Europe a Celtic Catholic empire. Until next time ---

Regards, Viking Prince

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Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

Denmark

Version 2.0
Date 3.15.2009
By Viking Prince
Unit Cards from the game and unpacked by Honga(http://totalwar.honga.net)
Banners created by: (insert your name here)

Contribute to the next version and your name can be here!
________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction

Denmark and Scotland are the two factions in Northern Europe that begin the campaigns as a single region. They are also the axe wielding members of the group. It has been said that even the cavalry are really infantry on horseback. Denmark is a fun diversion from the vanilla militia and castle troops available throughout the rest of Europe. Denmark needs to be unlocked before you can play as them. So now, let’s go a Viking!

Featured Early Units


I like the early axe wielding early units. Dismounted Huscarls are heavy infantry available from Denmark with only a castle needed for production. They are better suited to a charging attack than the castle based Holy Roman Empire (HRE) spears. The second level castle units, Norse Swordmen are also an offensive step up on their HRE counterparts of Armoured Swordsmen. The Dismounted Huscarls are clearly one of the favored units in all of medieval Europe.


The Norse Archers are a step down from the English on offense, but if they are to mix it up in a melee – fortunately you are facing the HRE and here they will dominate the field offensively. For the price and considering they are only a second level archery unit, these men are clearly one of the best military values in all of Europe.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

Denmark is nearly at the extreme North on the European map. Denmark is part of a large region filled with rebel (read traditional Viking) held settlements. The faction is surrounded by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea with the only land access through the Hamburg region.

The Danes begin the campaign with one settlement: Arhus, which is of course the capital. Adjacent/nearby rebel settlements consist of the traditional Viking settlements of Oslo and Stockholm. Of more immediate interest is the rebel held Hamburg. This is the only region separating the Danes from their German cousins in the Holy Roman Empire (HRE). Also of note are the rebel held settlements of Inverness and York which are across the North Sea in the Isles. A history of Viking raids is why the settlements start the campaign as rebel held settlements. The rebel held Baltic coastal settlements of Stettin, Thorn, Riga, and Helsinki may also enter into the longer term plans for the Danes if a goal of dominating the Baltic is contemplated to be anchored by perhaps possession of the Russian port and capital Novgorod. Other nearby continental rebel held settlements are Bruges and Antwerp; which are on the shores of the North Sea. You will also note that the North Sea separates England from Denmark.

A brief bio of the settlements (I am not giving enemy unit information or rebel settlement populations. There needs to be some exploration):

Arhus – Denmark, large town, pop. 3800

Frankfurt – HRE, capital, large town
Staufen – HRE, wooden castle
Nuremburg – HRE, town, pop. 2200
Innsbruck – HRE, wooden castle
Vienna – HRE, large town
Bologna – HRE, large town

Hamburg – Rebel, castle
Stettin – Rebel, Motte and Bailey
Magdeburg – Rebel, Wooden Castle
Breslau – Rebel, Village
Prague – Rebel, Large Town
Antwerp – Rebel, Large Town

A brief roster of starting units for Denmark:

Arhus – King Knud with a Peasant, two Spear Militias, a Norse Archer, and a Peasant Archer
Arhus region – Prince Charles with, two Spear Militias, a Norse Archer, and a Peasant Archer
Arhus region– Captain led army of two Spear Militias and two Peasant Archers
At sea – longboat fleet near the Arhus port on the North Sea

You also have a cardinal, a spy, a merchant, and a princess in the Arhus region as well as a child not yet of age.

What will it take to win the Short Campaign

The Holy Roman Empire must be eliminated as a faction. Note that the HRE has six regions and includes the Italian city of Bologna at the beginning of the campaign. Denmark must also possess 20 regions to complete the requirements for the short campaign.

Diplomacy or How to be Dependant Upon the Kindness of Strangers

Denmark begins the campaign as a port city ideal for sea borne trade. Trade agreements with any faction on the Baltic and North Seas will benefit the kingdom. The factions are: England, Scotland, and Russia to begin the campaign and potentially Poland and France as the campaign develops.

The Princess should complete a trade agreement with the HRE before marriage. She is young and you do not need another family member right away (not to mention the upkeep for the bodyguard troops). After completion of the trade agreement, the Princess should proceed towards Rheims and the French. The Danes would like to have an alliance with the French in hopes of assistance when the time comes to strike at the Germans as well as a good border with the French when the destruction of the HRE is complete.

A diplomat needs to be trained in Arhus to proceed to the Holy See in Rome. An alliance with trade as well as gifting maps, access, and a tribute of 50 to 100 florins per turn is a key to keeping your relations with the Pope as high as feasible for the campaign. As with any Catholic faction, an alliance structure is necessary for the political advantage that high papal ratings have within the confines of the game. The role playing of the good Catholic leader is to keep the Pope happy with priests on conversion missions, new and bigger churches within the empire, money and power to the Pope, and of course a true regret whenever Catholic blood must be spilt.

You will also need a diplomat to pursue an alliance with the French if the Princess marries before completing the mission. The diplomat sent to France should be stationed upon completion to complete future missions as required with the HRE and the French for later in the campaign.

Additional diplomatic tasks in the campaign are too numerous to mention and preplan for. The Poles and the Hungarians will seek you out on your frontier settlements; alliances are possible, but in any event treat them nice. There is no real need for more than two diplomats in this campaign: Italian Peninsula and north of Bern are the stations. Keep these posted and replace as inquisitors and age dictate.

To recap: The goal is the elimination of the HRE so alliances with France, Poland, and Hungary can be useful. The alliances with Poland and Hungary may also deter a strike from these cavalry based factions which will only become a distraction to the goals of the campaign. With luck, your allies will assist in the dismemberment of the Germans. As long as they remain allies, they will at least not distract the Danes from the goal of elimination of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Stage One – Seizing Control of Your Own Destiny by Seizing the Frontier with the HRE

The initial moves should be towards besieging Hamburg. The HRE has positioned and hidden a captain led army neat the Hamburg castle. This force will immediately besiege the rebel held wooden castle if Denmark fails to take the first steps do so. The Danish captain led force can reach the castle and begin the siege. All of the remaining forces under the leadership of King Knud and Prince Charles should join up as soon as possible.

Move your spy into the area to keep a good watch on movements. The princess should make a trade agreement with the Germans as well before heading towards Rheims and an alliance deal with the French. There is no need to quickly marry the good princess off since you are not in need of another general for a few turns and once married, the general costs more to maintain. Also, do not forget to demobilize your naval unit since upkeep of unused units costs the treasury florins. The merchant can find opportunities in the Stockholm region and be unmolested throughout the campaign. The Cardinal will happily convert the good citizens in the Hamburg region and be available to take on the common heretics within the German areas. This is my last comment on agent activities in this faction guide.

Once the forces have combined the assault should begin. Then Danish force is overwhelming and there is no reason to wait. This will complete your first goal. Hamburg should remain a castle with a priority of being able to recruit Norse Archers as well as the Dismounted Huscarls. The mines and a port facility on the Baltic Sea can be built before the military capacity is developed. The port is not an economic but a strategic build to provide you with a Baltic port quickly. Arhus’s port facilities are on the North Sea and out of place for convenient use for Baltic operations. After the archery buildings, roads are needed to improve troop movements and then it is up to you. The Danes can afford to take their time once Hamburg is secure.

Stage Two – Removal of the Rebel Regions from the Grasp of an Expanding Holy Roman Emperor

King Knud and Prince Charles and the army at Hamburg (except a beat up peasant archer) should move and besiege Magdeburg. The siege and assault can be just as direct as was the case with Hamburg. There is no need to wait out and defeat the army in the open field.

From Magdeburg the forces should now split into a main force for the Bohemian town of Prague to complete the cut-off of German expansion to the east and a much smaller force of a couple of spears and the king for Breslau. Breslau is actually a part of the next stage and will be covered a bit later.

Treat the potential of Magdeburg just as Hamburg. The castle has walls and then archery buildings as a priority. Prague should be capable of producing second level spear militia and some armor upgrades. I would like to make note on what armies to build and thus what buildings to construct. When building up the early armies for Denmark, you will notice the lack of spears from units that are recruited from castles. The Danes have great offensive infantry with armor penetrating weapons and great shock values for charging the enemy. However, the axe wielding Dismounted Huscarls and the Norse Archers are not well suited to defend against German cavalry charges. Without expanding the stables, the Danish Scouts are the only available mounts from the castles also. These units are even less suitable against the eastern mounted missile units of Russian, Poland, Hungary, Byzantium, and the Turks. The early Danish armies will rely on militia spears for probably the entire short campaign. Some armored upgrades will be useful in the towns producing Danish militia (Arhus and Prague).

You now have the beginnings of a military structure in place for the future offensives against the HRE. Militia with armor upgrades from Arhus will combine with Dismounted Huscarls, Norse Archers, and Scouts from Hamburg to form a strike force. Another strike force can be formed with similar unit composition from Magdeburg and Prague. All four settlements need to be tied together with roads for good communication. This will give the Danes a great deal of flexibility.

Thinking longer term with your military composition

Personally, I think Norse Swordsmen are a little weaker than Huscarls and for the purposes of the Short Campaign this means no need to build the barracks in Hamburg or Magdeburg. Again, your personal preferences may override this decision. If you wish to expand your cavalry capabilities, I do not see the need for more than the general's body guard, two Mounted Huscarls and two Scouts for even a full stack in the first 75 (or even 100) turns of the game. The Norse archers are great. I think about 1/3 of the non-cavalry force works for me since they can hold the line while other armor penetrating units flank the enemy. The rest can be a mix, but mostly the dismounted Huscarls. I do not seem to recruit many of the Viking Raiders, but they are better than peasants to fill out the force. Just do not expect the axe wielding infantry to survive a flanking unit in a melee. The nice thing about the Danes is that you get a variety of foot units early on so you can produce every turn from the castle (money, as always seems to be a limiting factor). You can take it easy and just enjoying a laid back game. Norse Archers are a wonder to watch tearing a unit apart. You will still need to use the militia spears against enemy cavalry charges since the Norse Archers are good enough to hold but not win in a melee but remember they are English Longbows without the stakes.

Stage Three – The Danish Frontier with the Cavalry of the East

Stettin and Breslau are good regions to seize to provide a buffer against the Poles. As I noted in stage two, the Danes need a peaceful buffer with the eastern armies. Any conflict is a distraction to the goals of a short campaign and the Danes are not in position to recruit a suitable army until later to deal with a light missile cavalry led army.

The Danes should now control Arhus, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Prague, Breslau, and Stettin. These six regions will make up the core of the Danish position. Continue to build the economy and military infrastructure while waiting for the HRE to fall from Papal grace.

There are no more settlements to take to increase tensions between Denmark and the HRE. Any additional missions and conquests will be side events to the mission at hand. A tempting mission is to move a force up to Stockholm and also to Oslo. Remember that these forces require upkeep and may tie down troops that may be needed when actions begin with the HRE. The choice is yours of course, but I tend to wait until the HRE have been at least neutered.

Stage Four – the Conquest of the German Settlements possessed by the HRE

At some point in time the HRE will fall from Papal grace. You can wait for the excommunication announcement or act when you think the Danish relationship with the Pope will not be endangered. Actions to assist in keeping the rating high include the usual: build first level churches, send priest to convert (Stettin is the first great destination), and most important – send a diplomat to Rome as mentioned above.

When the Danes move on the HRE, take two armies and besiege Frankfurt and Nuremburg. The loss of these cities will crush the HRE’s economy. With luck you will also be assisted with a Hungarian or Venetian conquest of Vienna. The rest of the northern settlements will need to be taken as opportunity and logistics allow.

One special note about the German defenses is their use of terrain for ambushes. The HRE settlements have a large amount of forested areas that are ideal for setting ambushes. Small Danish forces can and will be jumped if these areas are not searched. The forces are not usually large enough to defeat your smaller armies being shuffled for reinforcement, but they can prove fatal if the units are needed to respond to threats.

Also, there may be a need to examine the conquered castles of the HRE in search for suitable locations to recruit better cavalry. You can upgrade Hamburg, but at some point Hamburg will be more valuable to convert to a populous coastal city for trade income. Magdeburg is of little potential for a Citadel within the time of a short campaign. Even with the Citadel, the Mounted Crossbowmen are still not a good match for the cavalry from the steppes. The best potential castle will be Staufen. The castle at Metz may be an option if the HRE are quick to make the conquest. This quick conquest by the HRE does happen, but it is quite rare. The Danes should plan on Staufen to be the best castle for recruiting the mounted crossbowmen.

Stage Five – Bologna

One point is worth noting is that Bologna is separated from the northern regions of the HRE. If you have already read the Milan guide you will realize that this was not a problem for Milan since the Milanese are the break away faction that has created the separation. The problem is different for the Danes. If Denmark is successful in conquering the northern settlements, how should the Danes plan to take out the last region of Bologna? The Danes can get lucky and Bologna may be taken by another faction, but for the purposes of the guide, let’s assume Denmark will need to resolve the problem on their own initiative. You will need to cross territory controlled by other factions and the Danes will probably not have access agreements to do so. The simple solution is a Crusade. Crusading armies are allowed passage without creating a diplomatic incident. It is fortunate that Bologna is in the Italian peninsula. The possibility of Bologna being an acceptable Crusade target may be slim, but combined with Venice, Milan, Genoa, Florence, and Naples your chances of getting close to your target without violating access agreements are pretty good.

Epilogue

There you have it. The basic Danish empire starting in the Arhus region, the five rebel regions of stages one though three, the northern German regions of the HRE (Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Staufen, Innsbruck and possibly Metz and Vienna) plus Bologna. You should reach your 20 region requirement with Stockholm and Oslo plus another small adventure after the HRE faction has been destroyed. Possible options for such an adventure would be England and the Isles, Poland and securing the Baltic, or a major grab at all of Northern Italy. The choice is yours. Just like a reversal of the HRE short campaign, your empire stretches from the far north along the shores of the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, from “Sea to Shining Sea” --- so to speak.

Your comments are always welcome. If I update the guide and use your ideas, you will be given the credit! Until next time ---

Regards, Viking Prince

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[Viking Prince Olaf]

Very nice, especially Denmark, muhahahaha

[Commander5xl]

wow, amazing VP! you did it again

[Sodbuster]

Wow thank you for taking the time to post these great guides!

[Stilgar CG]

Very neat guides, Viking Prince. I like to discover things myself, so I won't be reading this very carefully . But I'll certainly come back to compare my own experience with your views, and perhaps will leave a comment or two. Keep up the good work. ME

Do you plan to do such guides for Kingdoms as well?

[Viking Prince]

I have not thought about Kingdoms yet. I need to complete this first.

[Terantor]

Are there also guides for other Nations?

[Viking Prince]

It is a work in progreess. If you find the link on the bottom of the first post, you will open the main index. You will find some more good stuff.