Italian Peninsula Guide

[Viking Prince]

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Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War

Part III Italian Peninsula

Version 2.0
Date 3.24.2009
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 byRebel6666and 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

The Italian Peninsula is the focal point of conflict the urban areas and direct control of the Pope. This is the very center of Catholicism. Political intrigue, heresy, and Machiavelli are all a part of Italy. The Italians are protected from Northern Europe by the Alps. The great expanse of the Mediterranean Sea is both protection from incursions and also a source of sea borne trade that makes this one of the most valuable regions in the game.

This is really a tale of three factions each with a unique character:

Milan with the Duke dreaming of reuniting the fracturing Holy Roman Empire;

Venice with the Doge dreaming of a modern version of the Roman Empire y uniting the great cities of Milan, Genoa, Venice and Constantinople; and

Sicily with the King playing the migration option. The option is played by bringing the Knights from Norman France, by bringing Muslim Archers from the Islamic world and then joining these forces with the locals in the Italian Militia.

So join me in the Italian Peninsula where the urban based militia units are the strongest and the most capable of composing an army without the use of castle based military units. The Italian based Pavise Crossbow is second to none and the Genoese apply the crossbow best of all the factions. Join me in playing a short campaign with an Italian faction.

Index to Italian Peninsula Factions

3.1 Milan
3.2 Sicily
3.3 Venice

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[Viking Prince]

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

Milan

Version 2.0
Date 3.29.2009
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

Milan, Venice, and Sicily are in the center of the Catholic universe on a small peninsular area. All settlements can have ports and great trading opportunities with large population centers from a wide variety of factions with port facilities on the Mediterranean Sea. Urban centers and not castles are one of the keys to Italian wealth. Special facilities such as banking just add to the trading advantages.

Milan is a breakaway kingdom from the Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor wants to bring the Duke back into the empire. Milan is adjacent to Marseilles (a region of France), Venice as well as the Holy Roman Empire means tension and potential conflict with the most powerful empires within Europe.


Featured Early Units


The Italians are famous for their powerful crossbow units. Genoese Crossbow Militia is the finest of the Italian based missile units and the envy of all in Europe prior to gun powder. With such powerfully trained units firing armor penetrating bolts directly into an enemy, Milan can carve out an empire.


The Carrocio Standard is a symbol of the city pulled into battle with an honor guard of elite soldiers. This symbol inspires the troops and strengthens their moral during battle. The elite guard can also drop their duties involving the standard and directly engage the enemy when the situation warrants such action.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

Milan is a small two region faction at the beginning of the campaign and cannot be played right out of the box. You will need to unlock factions by changing the code or by winning either a short or long campaign with an unlocked faction.

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

Milan – Milan, minor city, pop. 4100
Genoa – Milan, minor city, pop. 3000

Palermo – Sicily, castle
Naples – Sicily, large town

Venice – Venice, minor city
Iraklion – Venice, island town
Ragusa – Venice, castle

Frankfurt – HRE, capital, large town
Staufen – HRE, wooden castle
Nuremburg – HRE, town
Innsbruck – HRE, wooden castle
Vienna – HRE, large town
Bologna – Holy Roman Empire, large town

Rome – Papal States, minor city
Marseilles – France, town
Florence, rebel, town
Ajaccio – rebel, island Motte and Bailey
Cagliari – rebel, island wooden castle
Bern – rebel, castle
Dijon – rebel, town

A brief roster of the units:

Milan – Duke Giorgio with mailed knights, 2 spear militias, and a peasant archer
Genoa – Count Bernardo with spear militia, and a peasant archer
Milan region – Cristoforo Rossi, family member with 2 spear militias, and a peasant archer
2 fleets of 2 galley each near Genoa

A spy in the Genoa region
A Cardinal and a merchant are also in the Milan region

What will it take to win the Short Campaign?

The short campaign victory conditions are to hold 15 regions and eliminate the Holy Roman Empire and Venice as factions within the game. Milan must not only dominate the Italian north, but also Germany and the Balkans. This means a naval strategy to maintain trade while launching into a land locked European war for mastery of the Germans beyond the Alps and also into the Balkans to master Venice as a successor to Roman expansion. The Duke of Milan can become the next Charlemagne.

In some ways, Milan has the biggest challenge among the Italians in a short campaign. Egypt has Africa to broaden the economic base before tackling Milan and Venice. Venice has the Orthodox Byzantine Empire to battle without the interference of the Pope. Milan must fight and defeat two Catholic factions and has fewer rebel held regions that are profitable and strategic in positioning for war against Venice or the Holy Roman Empire. For this reason, Milan will tend to wait until a faction miscalculates and loses grace with the Pope. But if Milan waits too long, the castle based troops of the Holy Roman Empire will out number and out class the city based militia armies of Milan. This guide will challenge the Holy Roman Empire by testing the abilities of city based troops against the castle based troops of the Emperor is a longer campaign than usual in the series of short campaigns. There are other and shorted means to complete this campaign, but this will be instructive both for the experience of larger populations and also to deal with the Black Death.

A Special Note on Units from Milanese Cities

The cities have all of the elements of the balanced army: spears, crossbows, cavalry, heavy infantry, siege equipment and artillery. The perfect military factory based in a city. Some of these units are recruitable from the improved walls and some are recruitable from the town hall series of buildings. The Carrocio Standard is recruitable once the city has finished construction of the second level in the town hall series: the Council Chambers. This unit is one of the featured units beginning this guide. The other unit is a fairly good lanced cavalry – the Famiglia Ducale. This unit is recruitable later in the campaign from the fourth level town hall structure – the Mayor’s Palace. The huge city also has the ability to also recruit Dismounted Broken Lances and Broken Lances. None of these units can be placed in the city free of upkeep, but they are valuable to create the balanced militia based armies that Milan can excel at without the use of castles.

Diplomacy or Machiavellian Alliances without Entanglement

Medieval Italy means Machiavelli. The Duke or a prince in the tangle of potential alliance traps must use care and wisdom. To become entangled in a web of alliances may result in no alliances, no allies, and endless warfare Italian style.

The first responsibility of the diplomatic corps is to secure some trade rights. Unlike the Iberian and Northern European short campaigns, the Italians need trade for their edge in the campaigns. Even Milan’s direct opponents, Holy Roman Empire (HRE) and Venice, will need to be used until the time is right. Off to the HRE and negotiate a deal with the usual cut to the Duke. In this case, 800fl plus the trade rights is good enough for Milan. After the successful deal, it is on to the Vatican. The diplomat representing Venice will arrive at Milan in the interim. Often, I will attempt for Milan the same deal with Venice as with the HRE only to discover that with a bit of haggling a deal can usually be settled for 600fl. How was the Duke to know that Venice was even tighter than the Germans?

The Pope is important for all Catholic factions, but especially so for the Italians. Close to Rome can mean quick reactions if fallen out of Papal favor as well as an ally with resources and men to fight your common enemies. Trade, alliance, tribute, and map information are all useful. Whether you want to gift access to the Pope is up to you. I prefer to gift it, but I also am happy when I do not.

As far as other alliances, the enemy of my enemies is still true with Milan. Hungary tends to fight both the Holy Roman Empire as well as Venice over Vienna, so they are the best candidate for an alliance. Allies are best that are not adjacent to each other and also border your enemy. For this reason, if Hungary is your ally, Poland may cause problems with the alliance. Denmark may make a good ally and will contest the Holy Roman Empire early with Hamburg and Stettin. France may also be useful both to secure the western frontier of Milan’s regions as well as an able opponent of the Holy Roman Empire. Sicily is a wild card in the deck. They may be at war with your enemies or directly attack Milan. They are unlikely to be at war with your allies, so an alliance may at least postpone a war by a few years. So Milan has many diplomatic options and watching how the factions develop in the first years of the campaign can provide clues as to the factions that will make the best allies at the time.

Stage One – Where to Go and What to Do? Duke Giorgio is a Man of Action!

There are two adjacent rebel held population centers of interest to Milan. Florence is a coastal city needing some population growth, but potentially as profitable as Genoa. This is a very good candidate for a quick grab before another faction succeeds in doing the same.

Bern is both a tougher nut to crack as well as a land locked castle. Bern can survive against France and the Holy Roman Empire for a bit over 100 years and can be an effective buffer by remaining a rebel held region. There is one reason for Milan to take a more active interest though – Genoese Crossbowmen are the most powerful pre-gunpowder unit in all of medieval Europe. They are recruited and trained with a castle based third level archery range. Bern is the best option short of war against the Holy Roman Empire to secure such a castle.

Other short-term options for the perennially restless commander are the islands in the Mediterranean Sea between Genoa and Palermo. The closest, the rebel held island Motte and Bailey on Ajaccio, is also the one with the smaller population base. More profitable in 100 years and as a large town, Ajaccio is probably best as a buffer rather than a profit center for the immediate future.

A good stage one plan is to take a leisurely 20 turn approach to these regions and focus more efforts on population and economic growth. The end result of stage one will be Milan, Genoa, Florence, and Ajaccio as large towns or better walls and a castle in Bern.

Stage Two – Duke Bernardo is a Man of Patience!

Build the economy and build the Genoese Crossbow Militia as well as the Carrocio Standards. Develop both barracks and archery ranges for Bern but keep the priority on the archery ranges when time is tight. And wait. And wait. Eventually the Holy Roman Empire or Venice will be at war and weaker. When the garrisons at either Bologna or Venice are weak enough it will be time for Duke Bernardo to be a Man of Action!

Oh, I should have mentioned that the Duke is best a man of action with some catapults as well as an army. The first strike must be before a Papal intervention can be made. Once the city is taken and the Pope intervenes, Duke Bernardo is again a Man of Patience. Actually the Duke is always a Man of Patience. He is an Italian jackal waiting for the weak and wounded to be picked off one by one. Take a city and arrange a ceasefire. Take a city and arrange a ceasefire. So boring and oh so profitable!

Venice and the Holy Roman Empire will have some typical circumstances that create vulnerabilities. The Holy Roman Empire controls Vienna at the start of the campaign. Vienna is also attractive to the Doge in Venice as well as the King of Hungary. Most often, Hungary acts first. This is why I have advised the alliance and keeping a diplomat in the area. Inform the Emperor that trade agreements are cancelled and gift a promise of attack against the enemy of Hungary, the Holy Roman Empire.

Simultaneous attacks on Staufen (or Metz) from Bern, Innsbruck from Milan, and Bologna with previously defensive army watching the borders with Venice and Bologna can achieve results. Your ally, Hungary, should take Vienna. The Holy Roman Empire should now be asking for a ceasefire. I always wait for the enemy to ask for the ceasefire since unless they are motivated, diplomacy will be wasted. The ideal ceasefire will restore trade relations, acquire the remaining castle for the defensive line (Metz, Staufen, and Innsbruck) and Hungary may hold Vienna and Prague. Convert Bern to a city walls and prepare for some more quiet development. Another option would be to retain Bern as a castle and use Metz and Staufen as trading chips. I do not like the trade options, but it is something to consider since these are recently acquired through conquest and do not violate my role playing sensibilities.

Venice can be vulnerable when war breaks out to the east. Usual suspects are the Byzantine Empire and sometimes Hungary or the Holy Roman Empire (Vienna again!). Venice tends to feed troops to the fight and weakens Venice. This is due somewhat to calculations of where troops are needed the most and ignoring minimums that would otherwise be garrisoned in the peaceful areas. When Venice has only a few troops in Venice and no defenders on the bridge or in the region, the Milanese jackal should strike. Be happy with only Venice, further advances will leave Milan open to attack from other factions, including allies.

At the end of stage two, Venice and Bologna are within the sphere of the greater Milanese Duchy of Northern Italy. Sicily is now a real threat and will become a distraction from the goals of victory as outlined in the short campaign. Do not be distracted. Milan is already burdened with great tasks. Milan is rich, but can such wealth be enough to buy the continued peace with Sicily?


Stage Three –

Possible scenario – Sicily attacks followed by patient waiting for opportunities and then the Black Death

Stage Four –

Possible scenario – rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire after the aftermath of the Black Death

Epilogue

There you have it. The basic Milanese short campaign of the starting 2 regions, the three rebel regions of stage one, the two remaining cities in Northern Italy held by Venice and the Holy Roman Empire in stage three, and then the complete elimination and unification of the new Holy Roman Empire under the guidance of the Duke of Milan. The empire dominates all trade routes in the central Mediterranean Sea as well as the land based trade from the German cities stretching to the shores of the Baltic Sea. The Italian Riviera to the Adriatic Sea to the Baltic Sea, Venice is a dominant trading economy second to none in all of Europe.

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

(to be continued)



Return to Italian Peninsula Index
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[Viking Prince]

Viking Prince’s

Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War:

Sicily

Version 2.0
Date 3.24.2009
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

Milan, Venice, and Sicily are in the center of the Catholic universe on a small peninsular area. All settlements can have ports and great trading opportunities with large population centers from a wide variety of factions with port facilities on the Mediterranean Sea. Urban centers and not castles are one of the keys to Italian wealth. Special facilities such as banking just add to the trading advantages. But Sicily is also Norman. Sicily is both a city based as well as a castle based medieval economy. A mix of Crusading Normans, Italians, and Muslim groups make up the Kingdom of Sicily.

Sicily is a small two region faction at the beginning of the campaign and cannot be played right out of the box. You will need to unlock factions by changing the code or by winning either a short or long campaign with an unlocked faction.

Featured Early Units


The Muslim Archer is a second level castle based archery unit. A better unit on the offense in a melee but weaker on the defense than the city based pavise archer. The Muslim archer fires at a higher rate but lacks the offensive punch of the arrow bolt fired from a crossbow.


The Italian Galley is a key to any nation wishing to gain economic advantage in the central Mediterranean Sea. Better than the Cog, Galley fleets are able to protect both military and commercial movements in an area filled with pirates and potentially dangerous enemy and neutral factions.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

Naples is the toe of the Italian “boot” kicking the island of Sicily. The two regions are located where the sea trade lanes of the entire Mediterranean Sea meet. Sicily is a central location that offers easy naval access for Crusades to Cairo and Jerusalem. The kingdom is a short sea voyage to the Islamic lands of North Africa for priests to go on conversion missions and for merchants to bring the wealth of Africa to Europe. Of course for any Catholic nation to have such easy access by sea to other cultures and traditions will also require a defense against incursions from the same ocean.

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

Palermo – Sicily, castle, pop. 4000
Naples – Sicily, large town, pop. 4000

Milan – Milan, minor city
Genoa – Milan, minor city

Venice – Venice, minor city
Iraklion – Venice, island town
Ragusa – Venice, castle

Bologna – Holy Roman Empire, large town

Rome – Papal States, minor city

Florence, rebel, town
Ajaccio – rebel, island Motte and Bailey
Cagliari – rebel, island wooden castle
Tunis, rebel, wooden castle
Tripoli, rebel, Motte and Bailey
Durazzo, rebel, village

A brief roster of the units:

Naples – King Roger with mailed knights, mounted sergeants, 2 spear militias, and a peasant archer
Palermo – Prince Simon with mailed knights, 2 spear militias, and a peasant archer
Palermo region – General with mounted sergeants, 2 spear militias, and a Muslim archer
3 galley fleet near Naples fishing village
3 galley fleet near Palermo port

A spy, Cardinal and a princess are also in the Naples region

What will it take to win the Short Campaign

The short campaign victory conditions are to hold 15 regions and eliminate Milan and Venice as factions within the game. This will result in the nearly complete domination of the Italian Peninsula as well as many nearby regions. This guide is going to approach the short campaign in a bit different of a style from the other campaigns to highlight use of the Crusade through the use of the quick thrust and the sack.

Diplomats On Crusade

The typical Catholic diplomat on permanent station in Rome is obvious. The usual trade and alliance agreement as well as the usual gifting of 50 to 100 florins per turn is standard for me with all Catholic factions. There is a twist in this short campaign with a series of Crusades. The Crusading armies will need a means to end the struggle after a successful Crusade and the key is to locally recruit a diplomat to end the war. If the Crusade is on a rebel held position this is not needed, but in other cases, diplomacy can prevent a Crusade from growing into a major effort that does not contribute to the completion of the short campaign objectives.

Sicily can utilize trade agreements with all Mediterranean port cities. The diplomat in Rome can also see to the trade needs of Milan, the Holy Roman Empire and Venice and still remain close to the Pope. An alliance with the logical enemies of your enemies will also suggest a deal with the Holy Roman Empire early in the campaign. A marriage of your princess to the Emperor is a real consideration. No additional alliances are really needed, but if approached and the situation is favorable there are certainly possibilities with any enemy of Milan and Venice. The probable allies would be the Byzantine Empire and France. Hungary is not a good candidate if you value an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire,

Crusades in the Service of the Pope

The Pope is more likely to approve of a Crusade against a city rather than a castle settlement. A factor in whether the settlement will be approved for a Crusade has to do with the number of Christians within a settlement under the rule of a leader not in good grace with the Pope and the church. Orthodox factions are not necessarily considered out of favor with the Pope, but Islamic factions and rebel held settlements are thought to be enemies of the church. Cities can have a larger population base than castles. So the Pope has a preference for Crusades against cities.

There are two early possibilities for a Crusade with Sicily. There is the siege at Tunis in Stage One and a Crusade on Cairo in Stage Two. Whether you proceed with the Tunis Crusade will be you decision. It may also be that the Pope is unwilling to approve the Crusade. Remember that the Cairo Crusade cannot occur until 10 turns after the completion of the Tunis Crusade, if called. This may be a factor in the decision.

If the Crusade is or is not called, there will be a need to look to the future. Sicily needs a broader economic base. The ratio of 3 cities (Naples, Tunis, and Tripoli) to 3 castles (Durazzo, Palermo, and Cagliari) will not provide a broad enough revenue base. It is not just the revenue of the city line but also the free up keep that is provided by more cities in the castle city ratio. To solve the problem, Sicily will want to call an early Crusade on Cairo. Alexandria can be taken by the Crusading army prior to the siege of Cairo. These cities will then give Sicily the economic base to now fight Venice and Milan.

Fleets and Sicily

Fleets are expensive to maintain and are not used by any faction early in the campaign for much more than short shuttle services. Later, better fleets will be available and then the navy will be needed to keep trade flowing. Or, if you desire to handicap yourself in the play of the campaign, maintain a fleet as a part of the role playing aspect of an Italian faction. The choice is yours.

Which of the three fleets that begin at Palermo will remain and which will be demobilized depend on too many factors to list. The first decision is after the Princess ties the alliance with the Pope. With luck you can call a Crusade on Tunis. The garrison being transferred from Naples to join the army besieging Tunis will give you the required units (8 minimum) to call the Crusade. With these units on Crusade and thus free of upkeep, there is little reason to speed up the conquest. Another consideration will be if the Council offers a reward for seizing Durazzo from the rebels. If the reward is military units, they will appear in Palermo. Again, if there is a possible Crusade on Tunis, the units can be added to keep them free of up keep. If you must pay up keep on 4 units of mailed knights, you may prefer to demobilize the units to save on cash flow.

A Crusade on Cairo will need to move by navy. Your ships or mercenary vessels are a choice to be made. Be certain that the fleet is strong enough to win against a potential pirate or Egyptian encounter. Two galley units have proven to be sufficient for me. Use less if you are a risk taker or more if role playing is a consideration.


Stage One – Constraining Expansion of the Future Enemies of Norman Sicily and the First Norman Crusade

Stage one is Sicily’s grab at the easy rebel held settlements of Cagliari, Durazzo and Tunis. This should provide a bit on extra income to the base and also a buffer zone so than any aggressive operation is against lesser settlements and not a quick strike at Naples or Palermo.

Durazzo

Set out from Naples with King Roger and the cavalry to the northeast corner of the region. Set up a watch tower to cover the Adriatic as well as possible from the location an wait to cross to Durazzo by galley. The good king and the cavalry besiege the rebel held village and will make quick work of the rebels as they sally out. The object of holding Durazzo is to deny the region to Venice. If left as a rebel village, Venice will conquer and then Sicily will need to take the settlement later when more resources will be needed for success.

Convert the village to a castle since the income from such a small population center will not matter and the defensive capacity of the stone castle with boiling il is always nice to have if Venice has eyes on the same prize. Another option would be to gift the region to Hungary, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire. Many people will also advise a gift to the Pope, but this can make the pointy hatted guy a bit too aggressive. Once the Pope becomes expansionist, there is no stopping the guy from continuing and Sicilian Naples is always close to Rome.

Once secured, the cavalry will remain as garrison and King Roger can return by galley to Naples. The galley can then be retired. Save your precious florins by keeping the fleet to the minimum needed to perform the duties of the moment.

Cagliari and Tunis

Prince Simon and army leave Palermo Castle by galley to besiege Cagliari. Count Alberto and the army should cross the Mediterranean Sea by galley and besiege Tunis. The remaining galley should be ordered to Naples to shuttle the garrison and recruits to join the siege at Tunis. The cardinal and spy should also be transferred to Africa as well.

Once the enemy sallies forth and is defeated in the open filed, the Prince and the army less a garrison can move on to Tunis. I tend to leave Cagliari as a castle since the upgrades to a stone castle do not require population growth and the defensive nature of the castle is better. Conversion to the town line of walls will improve revenue and also allow some free up keep militia as a garrison. The conversion will leave the site vulnerable to attack from Milan. Whether you wish to encourage or discourage an attack by Milan is probably more important than the cash flow from the settlement.

Tunis is more valuable to Sicily as a large town with a port to trade with the many potential trading partners in the Western Mediterranean Sea. This will leave the city vulnerable to attack from the Moors and proper precautions of watch towers and the ability to move castle based troops to Africa will be needed throughout the campaign. I still believe the conversion is useful.

Stage Two – Expansion of the Economic Base and the Second Norman Crusade

Tripoli, Alexandria, and Cairo are the keys to a broad based economy from Sicily. If a Crusade was called against Tunis, a brief campaign against Tripoli will serve the interim 10 turns until another Crusade can be requested of the Pope. This is also a good opportunity to place some watch towers along the coast road in North Africa.

Like Tunis, Tripoli is more valuable as a large town for trade than as a castle. The timing of the conversion is up to you, of course. Considerations will be a preference to convert to a large town from a stone castle or to quickly convert and use free up keep troops while the settlement grows large enough for the walls.

When the Crusade is called on Cairo, use the navy rather than the real long walk from Tripoli. The long walk is attractive to set watchtowers, but the navy will give your units time to siege and take Alexandria with no losses of Crusaders due to the diversion. When doing the long walk, I have had some desertion issues.

The Cairo Crusade is one of the few times that I will sack cities upon the assault and conquest. Both Alexandria and Cairo are sacked both for the cash and to help secure the loyalty of the new subjects to Norman Sicily.

With the completion of Stage Two, Sicily will consist of 3 castles (Durazzo, Palermo, and Cagliari) and 5 large towns or cities (Naples, Tunis, and Tripoli, Cairo, and Alexandria). I advise on getting a ceasefire with Egypt rather than taking the castle at Gaza. I think the distraction and time diverted from the campaign against Milan and Venice is more important than crippling or even eliminating Egypt as a faction in the short campaign.

Stage Three – the Campaign Against Venice

Taking on Venice is the most logical follow up to the Egyptian Crusade. If Milan is excommunicated, then I would shift stages three and four around. Sicily will now need to beef up the navy. This is both to protect against disruption of trade as well as to strike against a far flung Venice spread over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Use the navy, priests, and diplomats as the eyes of the empire. Locate and identify all of the regions controlled by Venice before striking. The usual disposition will consist of the starting regions (Venice - minor city, Iraklion – island town, and Ragusa – castle) plus any growth. The usual suspects will be Florence, Zagreb, Rhodes, Smyrna, and Vienna. If Venice or Milan becomes entangled with your ally the Holy Roman Empire, you may need to go to war before you are ready to support your ally. Remember to gift that attack on the faction to help solidify your alliance. Watch the cash situation and also gift as needed to keep the poor bloke out of bankruptcy.

If you units involved in the Crusade have been retrained, they should be assigned the glory of taking out Iraklion. A military force can be recruited from the castle at Durazzo and reinforced with militia from Naples to proceed up the Adriatic coast against Ragusa and then Zagreb. In many of the short campaign guides, I recommend taking out the economy or the military recruiting capacity on a quick strike. Because Venice is so scattered, it is better to leave the city of Venice for last. This is a bit of the exception to my usual campaign style, but this also places the battle hardened units in position for the final strike against Milan.

Stage Four – Milan

Again, I must emphasize that stages three and four are interchangeable. For one reason – one or the other factions may be at war with you or your ally. Also excommunication of a Catholic faction can make the resulting campaign easier even if there is no opportunity to call a Crusade. A typical reason for Milan to be first will be the castle at Cagliari. Milan is sometimes tempted to attack. Do not concern yourself with the defense of the settlement. Worry less about the castles and more about the real military threats that Milan can recruit from the cities. Milan may be more vulnerable to a counterstrike at Genoa, Milan, or Florence. Attack the population centers capable of recruiting militia: the cheap spears and crossbows that are feared in all of Europe.

Epilogue

There you have it. The basic Sicilian short campaign of the starting 2 regions, the 3 rebel regions of stage one, the two Egyptian regions and the rebel held Tripoli of stage 2, the starting regions of Venice and Milan, and what ever other regions that have been added to the two factions. The empire stretches from the sunny shores of the Italian Riviera to the Adriatic Sea, along the African coast from Tunis to Alexandria and Cairo at the Nile Delta. Sicily has completed a Mediterranean Sea Empire formed from the migration of Norman Nights coupled with the strength of African archers and Italian militia. Sicily is a loyal Catholic Crusading power. They hold the gratitude of the Pope as a Crusading defender of the faith. They are the dominant mercantile power in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Sicily is a true successor to Rome.

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


(to be continued)


Return to Italian Peninsula Index
return to main index

[Viking Prince]

Viking Prince’s


Short Campaign Faction Strategy Guide to Medieval II Total War:



Venice

Version 2.0
Date 3.24.2009
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

Milan, Venice, and Sicily are in the center of the Catholic universe on a small peninsular area. All settlements can have ports and great trading opportunities with large population centers from a wide variety of factions with port facilities on the Mediterranean Sea. Urban centers and not castles are one of the keys to Italian wealth. Special facilities such as banking just add to the trading advantages.

Venice is both an Italian city state with all the advantages of sea borne trade as well as a power in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea challenging the Byzantine Empire. Adjacent to regions of Milan and the Holy Roman Empire as well as near to regions of the Byzantine Empire and Hungary means tension and potential conflict with the most powerful empires within Europe.

Featured Early Units


The Italians are famous for their powerful crossbow units. Pavise Crossbow Militia are some of the finest of the Italian based missile units. Venice will rely on such powerfully trained units firing armor penetrating bolts directly into an enemy to master the light cavalry of the Byzantine Empire.


The Italian Spear Militia is the finest city based unit of the early portions of the campaign. With an upgraded defensive armor, the Spear Militia is nearly as good as the well trained Armoured Spearmen from the European castles. With city based Spear Militia and Crossbow Militia, the Italian cities can compete on an equal basis with the castle based troops of Europe.

Joe Friday’s Just the Facts Ma’am

Milan is a small two region faction at the beginning of the campaign and cannot be played right out of the box. You will need to unlock factions by changing the code or by winning either a short or long campaign with an unlocked faction.

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

Venice – Venice, minor city, pop. 4000
Iraklion – Venice, island town, pop. 2200
Ragusa – Venice, castle, pop. 1500

Milan – Milan, minor city
Genoa – Milan, minor city

Palermo – Sicily, castle
Naples – Sicily, large town

Bologna – Holy Roman Empire, large town

Constantinople – Bzyantine Empire (BE), large city
Thessalonica – BE, large town
Corinth – BE, castle
Nicosia – BE, wooden castle
Nicaea – BE, large town

Rome – Papal States, minor city
Florence, rebel, town
Zagreb – rebel, village
Durazzo – rebel, village
Smyra – rebel, Motte and Bailey
Rhodes – rebel, wooden castle

A brief roster of the units:

Venice – Doge Domenico with 4 spear militias, and 2 peasant archers
Ragusa – Alessandro Selvo, family member with 2 spear militia, and a peasant archer
Venice region – Councilor Bartolomeo with 3 spear militias, and 2 peasant archers
Iraklion – Cristiano Selvo, family member with 2 spear militia, and a peasant archer
4 galley fleet near Venice
4 galley fleet near Iraklion

A spy in the Zagreb region
A Cardinal in the Florence region
A diplomat and a merchant in the Venice region

Also, 4 children not of age yet

What will it take to win the Short Campaign

The short campaign victory conditions are to hold 15 regions and eliminate the Milan and the Byzantine Empire as factions within the game. Venice must not only dominate the Italian north, but also the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This means a naval strategy to maintain trade while launching into war for mastery of Northern Italy and also into the Balkans to master Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire as a successor to the Eastern Roman Empire. The Doge of Venice can become a medieval version of Caesar and a defender of the faith.

Diplomacy or Isn’t Niccolo Machiavelli Living Next Door with that Other Prince?

First responsibility of the diplomatic corps is to secure some trade rights. Unlike the Iberian and Northern European short campaigns, the Italians need trade for their edge in the campaigns. Even Venice’s direct opponents, the Byzantine Empire and Milan, will need to be used until the time is right. The Pope cannot be neglected, but will be less critical when dealing with the Orthodox Christians in the Balkans and Anatolia.

The key alliances for Venice are the obvious enemies of Venice’s enemies: Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire. Strive to tie down the alliance and trade with Hungary quickly with the ever charming diplomatic corps. Venice lacks an initial princess but has the good fortune to have four male children growing up to quickly lead the urban armies of the Doge of Venice. Smile on Venice’s good fortune rather than lament the lack of a princess.

A second diplomat should also be recruited to deal with the ever delicate relations with the Pope. The usual Catholic alliance structure is recommended with one potential change depending on what is typical for your style of play. Venice should offer the alliance and trade agreements as usual. The Doge should gift a tribute of 50 – 100 florins per turn as well as map information. Venice is uncomfortably close to Rome and an access agreement may or may not be desirable to gift. Rome may also deny such a valuable gift, so perhaps if desired Venice should offer access as a part of the initial offer package. It really is handy to let the man in white to have free access through your lands since he is likely to take it anyways.

Also, remember to gift map information regularly to your allies a turn or two after a region has been acquired. They appreciate the gift and it is really being a good ally to inform them of valuable merchant and trade opportunities as they open up.

The alliance with the Holy Roman Empire is a bit more delicate. Like Machiavelli, the Doge may not keep his agreements in order to achieve great tasks, but all agreements should be sincere and intended to be kept at the time that they are made. To do otherwise will quickly mean a lack of trust by those whose friendships are valued by Venice. It is likely that the emperor may tick off Rome before the alliance will be of any use. Not just Milan, but Hungary, France, and Denmark can get until a little war with the Holy Roman Empire. Not to mention that Hungary is an important ally of Venice also. It may be best to wait until the alliance is useful. If Milan and the emperor get into a tussle, try to get an alliance with an offer to attack Milan. It will work best if Venice is not yet at war, but it is probably a better choice than to be asked by the man in white to drop the ally or face a loss of reputation with his Holiness.

Stage One– Playing Three Card Monte: Castle, Castle, Where is the Castle?

The initial goals of Venice are to expand in such a manner that the enemies of Venice shall be constrained in growth. Milan and the Byzantine Empire and should also be irritated but just short of acting out a rash military solution to the irritation. With these goals in mind the armies of Venice should strike quickly at the rebel held regions adjacent to her enemies in the Short Campaign. This means closing Rhodes, Smyrna, Zagreb, and Durazzo as opportunities for easy Byzantine expansion. Milan can also be constrained by seizing Florence.

Rhodes and Smyrna



Zagreb



Durazzo



Florence



Stage Two – Building the Economy and the Training Facilities for an Urban Based Militia Army



Stage Three – The Byzantine Campaign to Free the Balkans

Stages three and four are interchangeable based upon the conditions on the ground. Flexibility in the master plan improves the chances of success. If Milan is well behaved and the armies are trained the first blows should be struck against a non Catholic faction. Remember, the importance of completing what is started and to not broaden a war into conflicts on several fronts. A two front war is more stressful to the economy and means diversion of resources that may prolong the conflict. It is also a sign of the diplomatic failure of the Doge of Venice to properly assess the conditions of his enemies. Under estimation has be the failure of many a ruler and the end of many a dynastic rule.

The Byzantine Empire can be carved up in stages. If you wait too long, you may find a large force attacking Iraklion so it is better to begin the process at a time of your own choosing. Plan to take advantage of Byzantium’s problems with either Hungary, your ally, or with Turkish issues in Anatolia. Part of the successful planning will be some priests to watch over the targeted settlements for strength of garrisons present. Knowing which units is nice, but not essential. The priests serve the added function of converting the citizens so that unrest after occupation is minimized.

The campaign should consist of two armies. One strikes from Durazzo into Thessalonica and may need to fight one or more open field battles. The other army begins at Iraklion and will siege the great castle at Corinth. Shuttle a stack of militia spears and crossbows with a Carroccio Standard with a good general to Durazzo. Pick up a few cavalry units to run down routed units as well as to harass enemy skirmishing missile units. At least one should be a mailed knight but the others can be the lower cost mounted sergeants. The Iraklion force is not expected to fight an open field battle unless the enemy sallies out from behind the castle walls. Cavalry may not be available for this army to use.

If you have the time and resources to follow up Thessalonica and Corinth with an assault on Constantinople, Venice is wise to seize the valuable great city. Do not continue the war if Milan is still dangerous and likely to strike. It will be easier to achieve a temporary ceasefire before attacking Constantinople than after. Balancing the risks is what a good prince should do.

Stage Four – Domination of Northern Italy

Not if, but when Milan strikes out – it is important to be able to strike a decisive and crippling blow to the faction’s leadership. The classic choice with many factions is to choose between military objectives such as the best castles or to break the economy by taking the large and profitable population urban centers. With Milan, the two choices are in fact the same choice. Genoa and Milan are minor cities capable of pouring out income as well as Genoese Parvise Crossbow Militia, Italian Spear Militia, and the Carroccio Standards. These cities are also the heart and strength of the Milanese economy. Milan may also control Dijon, Berne and other regions, but these two cities are the core and must be acquired to cripple Milan as a viable faction in the short campaign.

If the Doge does not already have an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire, now is the time to strike an agreement. Do this before striking a blow against Milan. If you are already at war, Venice may need to sweeten the pot with cash as well as promises to attack. Even without the agreement, Venice must strike when Milan is at a disadvantage. To wait for the perfect time may mean waiting for Milan to have the advantage.

If only one credible army can be raised, strike at the weaker garrisoned of the two cities when Milan will be unable to mount a successful quick counter attack against the army. Strike at the larger garrisoned city to prevent such a counter attack if needed, but understand that the army may not be strong enough to assault quickly. The Pope may intervene before the siege is finished if you must starve the enemy out from behind the protective walls. The best situation is to besiege both and be prepared to assault quickly to settle the issues before the Papal authorities have time to respond. Spies to open the gates or siege equipment to make your own gates can be useful when speed is important.

Stage Five – Loose Ends Shall Be Tied

If Milan survived the conquest of the starting cities due to a Papal ceasefire, there may be some loose ends to tie up in Italy. The initial push against the Byzantine Empire may have stopped short of Constantinople if the first war was against the Orthodox enemies holding the Balkans. It is now time to take Constantinople and any remaining regions in Anatolia that have not fallen to the Turkish sword. Again, just like in the first phase against the Byzantines, use the priests to scout out the enemy positions before moving the armies on a campaign mode. Any remaining regions held by Milan and the Byzantine Empire should now be seized. You should reach your 15 region requirement with the fall of the last faction. If not, a brief adventure to grab a few more regions will be a fun bonus. Sicily comes to mind as an irritating thorn that could be removed.

Epilogue

There you have it. The basic Venice short campaign of the starting 3 regions, the four rebel regions of stage one, the two Milanese regions and the four Byzantine regions, and what ever other regions that have been added to the two factions. The empire stretches from the sunny shores of the Italian Riviera to the Adriatic Sea, the Aegean Sea and through the straits into the Black Sea. Venice is the new Western Roman Empire with a dominant trading economy second to none in all of Europe.


(to be completed)


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]

Updated Sicily. Have fun.

[Viking Prince Olaf]

You forgot the Papal States as they are playable but mostly the weakest I would say......they only have the pope, the papal gaurd, and THE most basic units throughout the game.

Other than that nice work

(EDIT) P.S. where do you find the time to do this?? i'd rather be with A girl, riding my dirtbike, or just staring at A tree......

[Viking Prince]

Sorry, no Papal states as a playable in the Retrofit Mod.

As far as the time, it's simply an accumulation of notes over time and several play throughs of the short campaign.

[D.B. Cooper]

Every time I played as Venice I left the West completely alone. Went against the Byzantines and kept going east. Once I opted to capture only cities near the water, so I had towns and cities trading across the eastern Mediterranean a nd the middle east, united only by my navy. It was a great cash machine though, if not very fragmented. This is just my play style though, great guides.

edit: Oh yeah and Italian Spear Militia are awesome.

[Viking Prince]

The restriction is the short campaign victory conditions. Heading west is best early since if you wait, Milan will put themselves in the dumpster by attacking one or more of the adjacent Catholic factions. It is always easier to dispose of Milan after the Pope has "noticed" Milan.

[Viking Prince]

Updated. Added to Milan. We are getting closer to completing this section. I still would like some help. Anybody else playing the short campaigns? I feel soooo alone.

[Commander5xl]

dont worry VP! I play them!!!! although haven't played an Italian faction, except my friends is currently on my comp playing Venice Short Campaign and if i learn anything from it ill sure to add it! Ive played France, England, Scotland, Denmark, Moors on both long and short, and i find my playing style can be quite different and my game experience different even though they are the same faction :o

[Viking Prince]

Editor's delight -- showing off how my trash gets reformed. I may not post early to help out again. This is taking too long and still is not done. Some much for a time budget.

Milan stage two has been changed.

[Barry]

This is excellent VP. Do you have any (or any thoughts on) guides for Muslim factions? Catholic faction I find to be quite similar, ie if you have played as one then they are quite similar. This is actually a geniune complaint which I have with Medieval IIin general, catholic factions play out very similar with knights but Muslim factions also do with archers/ horse archers. I'll cut my rant short as it is not really on topic. Great guides again VP, a lot of work has gone into these.

[Viking Prince]

I hope to do a complete set of vanilla factions. A work in progress.

[Barry]

Very well VP, good luck!

[Conquistatore]

Is this portion of your conquest to write a guide for every faction almost finished? Would love to snap it up for the Scriptorium.

[Viking Prince]

Is this portion of your conquest to write a guide for every faction almost finished? Would love to snap it up for the Scriptorium.

Give you a badge and you turn into a vulture.

No there are 'problems' with Italy. I pposted before I was ready to help a member with a posted problem. I thought it would only be a week away form completion two weeks ago. Oh well.

[PoleCat]

I'd like to add to this thread if I may. I've found that aggressive diplomacy is also a good way to start off for Milan. In the current short campaign I have using Milan I started off on the first turn by buying Bologna from the HRE for an alliance, trade right, military access, maps and 5200 florins over 8 turns. A few turns later I also bought Marseilles on roughly the same terms. Later I got Innsbruck for a straight cash deal (6400 florins over 8 turns). I also signed alliances with England, Hungary and Spain for trade rights and cash paid to me.

This turned out to be a great way to consolidate my position early on. During this time I also grabbed Florence, the two italian islands, Bern and Dijon as well as wiped out Sicily by grabbing Palermo and Naples while they were weak. While my rep with the Pope suffered a bit for the Sicilian campaign a few thousand florins kept him happy.

By turn 15 I had all of the peninsula (excluding Rome and Venice) and had a healthy 25k in the bank. This is turning out to be the best start I've had yet with any faction. My global rep is still pretty good and all of those large cities are raking in cash.

I haven't finished this yet (still only turn 30) but aside from some expected problems with Venice everything is working nicely. I know more problems are on the horizon as my rep will deteriorate over time due to the difficulty level hit but I'm in a good position to deal. Just my two cents....

[Viking Prince]

I agree the transfer of Bologna works. I chose not to do so with the guide because I am convinced that the AI does not value retaining the regions appropriately. Milan can also acquire Marseilles from France with a bit of cash as well as trade agreements/ The same can be had for Staufen for an alliance plus florins and later Innsbruch when the HRE is excommunicated or at war in this manner if desired. By also gathering up the rebel held regions of Bern, Dijon, and Metz -- a fairly large kingdom can be assembled without going to war.

[Conquistatore]

Yes I am a vulture Buying settlements is fun. Its a nice alternative to war when you can get the AI to agree on a price.