Looking for Advice

[Hrothgar Óhreinsaður]

Howdy!

I recently downloaded the most recent Stainless Steel mod, and I'm looking for some advice concerning the differences in this mod from the vanilla game. I have yet to actually begin a campaign, as it appears to be quite overwhelming, so I figured I'd ask those of you who have some experience with the mod.

I noticed that the existence of logistics plays an essential role in the game, which adds quite a bit of realism to the game. I look forward to commanding Kingdoms that were left out of the vanilla game, such as Norway and Ireland, and I'll also be taking a stab at the Kingdoms I enjoyed when playing the vanilla game: England, Scotland, The Holy Roman Empire, and Denmark.

Any contributions are welcome, and I look forward to hearing from your past experiences.

[Ichon]

Supplies are included but I would say if you can know how to use merchants and build more than only military buildings in your settlements the costs are not that obvious even on VH-VH for most factions.

I never played vanilla MTW2 so I can't offer contrast to that but I imagine that with much larger map, more factions, and different rosters you will enjoy the game even more. With more factions and a larger map diplomacy actually feels like it has a purpose as well compared to previous Total War games. Like in RTW I would only need diplomats to establish trade rights then they were useless the rest of the game pretty much. Here playing as HRE or something you will likely want to keep a few diplomats even in the late game because your borders will touch so many factions and there are more diplomatic options to negotiate over.

Try a couple of the non-catholic factions as well, slightly different rosters and for muslims Jihad rather than Crusade is a bit interesting.

[Tomato_Sandwich]

have you got the latest RR+RC+CBBR ect from the submods section? id say it was a must even if it is your first campaign.

[Holy winter]

When I went from vanilla to Stainless Steel mod the biggest difference was:

1) The AI is smarter, he attacks you. (In vanilla most of the times he does nothing and you can just finish them with archers).
2) Moral boost. They don't run away that quickly.

Of course their are much, much, much more points. But for me these 2 where the most important.

[Vae victis]

There are many differences between Stainless Steel and vanilla MTW2. The ones that stick out when I play are:

The huge map with many more provinces and factions. The campaign ai is very good and will put up a tough fight with you and other factions. There is also more diplomatic and military activity from the ai then in the standard game. The Pope is more active and calls more crusades and your papal standing as well as your reputation are more important.

Battles last longer and the ai uses better tactics on the battlefield. Units have better cohesion which makes battles much more fun. Unit stats and skins have been modified to make battles look more realistic.

Traits are much, much better than they were in vanilla. Your family members can gain titles by capturing settlements, and there are new and better traits that were added. A logistics system was added to traits so make sure you keep an eye on your generals in the field. There is also a new education system that allows characters to aquire better traits.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head but there are many more changes that will make you never touch vanilla MTW2 again.

[The Noble Lord]

Welcome to the wonderful world of SS which is the best mod in the business when it comes to Kingdoms!

[Goofy]

Welcome to the wonderful world of SS which is the best mod in the business when it comes to Kingdoms!

I have to agree also here with you. The world of SS feels a lot more "medieval" and "dark", making playing lots of more exciting.

[Birk]

Stolen from the header.

Stainless Steel A combination of bug fixes, many small mods, better AI and AI armies, more provinces, graphical improvements and many other campaign and battle map changes. The whole game offers now a much greater challenge!