Nice mod but how do you play it?

**footie55** · April 12, 2009, 10:47 PM

It's normal that after the first turn I'm already without money and after 3 turns without touching anything I'm - 9000 or something?

I'm playin' with Venice they are penniless in each campaign!!!

any suggestions? or help?

**footie55** · April 13, 2009, 11:14 PM

Was a such stupid question? how the finacial side of this game works? If I don't make a mistake Venice in those time was probably the richest city of the western world , can somebody explain if this normal?

**husker9.2** · April 14, 2009, 04:27 AM

@ footie55

Yes what you are experiencing is completely normal so don't get frustrated lol. You will be losing alot of money early if you have alot of your soldiers out side you're cities and castles. this game has a support cost of any where from 500-1000 per turn for you're armies in the field. so early on you need to know were you are going and what you want to conquer with out bankrupting you're country.

edit: advice from me is to build a strong economy and to conquer as many key trading locations as you can. Malta and sarcusa are high priorities for me, and any rebel Italian provinces are a must add. Good luck with your campaign!

**Mattress** · April 14, 2009, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by footie55

Was a such stupid question? how the finacial side of this game works? If I don't make a mistake Venice in those time was probably the richest city of the western world , can somebody explain if this normal?

Hmm, after they assisted in the sacking of Constantinople I'll agree with that.

First off, if you have a large amount of soldiers at the start, disband some. Use the settlement information screen for when you are building new buildings. There are certain buildings that give large ancillary bonuses for the economy but you must look and see which ones do this. It makes the game harder and gives it the feudal feel that existed back then. Take your time, don't try to expand right away.

hope this helps and good luck

**footie55** · April 14, 2009, 12:45 PM

But Venice start with really few soldiers I'm trying early era and I don't even try to get any , but in few turns I have an Invasion of a full serbian army in a city with little garrison and the only thing I did at the start it's building some markets !!! maybe Venice it's not really good on this mod !
maybe I wait for the new version ...should be out soon no?
and how can avoid to go bankrupt if I'm already in that condition in the second turn?
shall I not build nothing and maybe build and army and trying to get some cities fast ?
I'm bit annoying sorry but it's pretty frustrating I don't want to try another faction I usually always play with Venice!

**husker9.2** · April 14, 2009, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by footie55

But Venice start with really few soldiers I'm trying early era and I don't even try to get any , but in few turns I have an Invasion of a full serbian army in a city with little garrison and the only thing I did at the start it's building some markets !!! maybe Venice it's not really good on this mod !
maybe I wait for the new version ...should be out soon no?
and how can avoid to go bankrupt if I'm already in that condition in the second turn?
shall I not build nothing and maybe build and army and trying to get some cities fast ?
I'm bit annoying sorry but it's pretty frustrating I don't want to try another faction I usually always play with Venice!

Well if its just Serbia that is giving problems than i suggest you make an Alliance with the other Italian city states to secure your rear. then move most of you army to Ragusa for defensive purposes. if you station a solid size force there the Serbians will stay away....hopefully. but yea during this time build up your trade relations and do every thing I and Mattress said. it's gonna be hard early on with so few provinces and so many sides you can be attacked from.

**Mattress** · April 14, 2009, 03:09 PM

you said venice Early era? i'm gonna start up a game and see what's up here.

What difficulty are you playing on?

EDIT:

here are the starting screenshots for Venice H/H with (Huge unit scale)

They do have alot of soldiers at the start when compared to the income. You don't start with a highly developed faction at the game start, you really need to build up big time as Venice and you need to disband alot of your troops. Dang the watermark killed the income but your starting income is like 2.1k and your expenses are 3.6k.

Now you see why you are in debt by turn 2.

If Ragusa comes under attack and you lose it, it's not the end of the world. You don't have the economy to defend it. Focus on building up diplomacy early, and trade. You need to get your Capital situated. I'd keep a small navy and a few garrison units, but ultimately Chivalry is like Chess baby! 100 moves ahead GO GO GO

well not literally a 100 moves, but 3 to 5 is a good start.

Edit 2:

Ok, to make them even do this before you begin:

Destroy 2 galleys. Move the Governor of Ragusa into the fort near him with the other general (Both get free upkeep now, they cost a bit). Disband the units in the fort. Disband half of the units in Ragusa. Leave a total of 3 garrison units or less, up to you.

In Venice Province, disband a couple units in the fort. Move one into the Capital. Disband the ungarrisonable units. Up the taxes. Now you should be dang near even on expenses or making a profit.

**husker9.2** · April 23, 2009, 02:08 AM

so may as well turn this into a game play help thread.....cuz now i need help lol.

the in game event selection.....how does it work?? i've mainly been playing dark age and now i'm playing early era alot, so how do i make it work in game??

thanx in advance.

**Mattress** · April 25, 2009, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by husker9.2

so may as well turn this into a game play help thread.....cuz now i need help lol.

the in game event selection.....how does it work?? i've mainly been playing dark age and now i'm playing early era alot, so how do i make it work in game??

thanx in advance.

Alot of people misunderstand that feature. Ok I'll try to explain it.

When you start an early campaign, you will get a notification after a certain number of turns and from that point on you will launch your EARLY ERA CAMP from ERA EVENT 1130 (or whatever year applies) and so on, until it tells you to move onto the next one.

It's a simulation of actual events taking place. I think SV gave an example of the Cuman incorporation into the Mongol Empire or something to that effect.

**husker9.2** · April 26, 2009, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Mattress

Alot of people misunderstand that feature. Ok I'll try to explain it.

When you start an early campaign, you will get a notification after a certain number of turns and from that point on you will launch your EARLY ERA CAMP from ERA EVENT 1130 (or whatever year applies) and so on, until it tells you to move onto the next one.

It's a simulation of actual events taking place. I think SV gave an example of the Cuman incorporation into the Mongol Empire or something to that effect.

yea i'm an idiot i figured it out like 5 seconds after i made that post lol thanks for the help tho!

**footie55** · April 26, 2009, 09:54 PM

I've been waiting for the new version , but still very hard to play Venice, a bit unfair I think for one of the richest city of those times to have only few provinces at the start and with a very poor economy!
they had marco Polo for godsake they should start with extra merchants and markets !

probably the best mod out there for sure,the one more stable and bugsless I think as far I know ,and I cannot play my favourite faction

...I mean I could but looks unfairly too difficult

**husker9.2** · April 27, 2009, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by footie55

I've been waiting for the new version , but still very hard to play Venice, a bit unfair I think for one of the richest city of those times to have only few provinces at the start and with a very poor economy!
they had marco Polo for godsake they should start with extra merchants and markets !

probably the best mod out there for sure,the one more stable and bugsless I think as far I know ,and I cannot play my favourite faction

...I mean I could but looks unfairly too difficult

What age are you starting in?

If its early or dark than you better believe Venice wasn't an economic power yet. it was needless to say, important but not quite the juggernaut in the high and late eras. In those early eras you the player have to build Venice into a powerful economic juggernaut. which to me is a lot more fun than having it handed to me on a plate

.

And yes it should be rather difficult to play as Venice. The vanilla brand of the game made it to easy. This mod shows that Venice was jockeying against the HRE, Genoa, Serbia, and Hungary. And also on top of it all trying to match the Romans for trade supremacy in the eastern and middle Mediterranean.

All of that is a big reason why Venice is one of my top five favorite factions.

**SicilianVespers** · April 27, 2009, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by footie55

I've been waiting for the new version , but still very hard to play Venice, a bit unfair I think for one of the richest city of those times to have only few provinces at the start and with a very poor economy!
they had marco Polo for godsake they should start with extra merchants and markets !

probably the best mod out there for sure,the one more stable and bugsless I think as far I know ,and I cannot play my favourite faction

...I mean I could but looks unfairly too difficult

As Venice, it's not your job to conquer Europe, but to found that colonial empire based on trade.

You just need to develop the proper strategy to do this.

Well said Mattress

If it was easy, it would become boring very quicky....

**Danilych** · April 27, 2009, 02:43 AM

One of the things that had occurred to me from playing this mod so far is that the various seeming discrepancies with the initial historical set-up and further gameplay actually allow for a pretty plausible alternate history (which to me was always one of the main points of the game). The rebellion issue that was complained about somewhere in this sub-forum way back led to the (AI) Holy Roman Empire breaking up - that's perfectly realistic, I think, and offsets its initial gargantuan size nicely. Venice in vanilla MTW2 was, from what I recall, rather prone to constructing a huge territorial empire in Central Europe, because it was able to afford a very large army. Ofcourse, real Venice would never have done such a thing. Besides, mmuch of its great wealth was not necessarily readily available to the state, I think. Regardless, economic limitations that keep wealthy trading cities from steamrolling their neighbours are good (that and "the greater the challenge, the greater the honour"

).

**Mattress** · April 27, 2009, 08:41 AM

How is it the developers fault if the factions start underpowered? It's a game man. It's YOUR responsibility to develop the nation, whether it be by using resources wisely, or by you editing the starting conditions via dev panel. You can't say the mod is bad because Venice (a city state at the time, with good naval capabilities) starts in a low standing. The game is hard and nations start under powered for a reason.

If you want to turn it into a discussion about Venice, that's different but please don't keep saying the mod is unfairly hard or biased when many factions start this way.

I do suggest you adapt your playstyle and embrace the level of difficulty as a new opportunity to better yourself as a player. At least that's the way I view it.

**SicilianVespers** · April 28, 2009, 05:46 AM

Since you are new to the mod, I would recommend playing with one of the larger factions first. Once you learn how to play the mod, you can move on to the small factions. The small faction like Venice, Genoa, Armenia, etc... are very challenging.

As Venice and Genoa, you will be able to build trade colonies, & these will give a big boost to trade.