Guides?

[Brain_in_a_vat]

I suck at Total War games, but I still enjoy them. Broken Crescent seems 10x harder then regular Medieval 2. I find myself in debt within a few turns for almost every faction, and even if I disband my most expensive units, the enemy factions are still able to send dozens of stacks from all angles and keep a steady income. How?

I also have trouble at the very start of the game when I play as some of the smaller factions - I simply have no clue how to begin! I don't know whether to split my main army/armies into smaller units, then disperse them to take multiple cities at a time or combine arms and take cities one at a time. The problem with splitting forces is that rebel cities usually have ridiculously huge garrisons with fairly powerful troops, and I always failed at sieges anyway so I wait for them to sally forth. This puts me even further in debt and I don't even have a good chance of winning the frigging battle .#

Could someone possibly give me a general guide on how to start a game well with some of the smaller factions (e.g NOT ERE, Abuyyid, Seljuks, KoJ) I don't want to put the difficulty on E/E either so don't suggest it please . I need advice on how to split armies, how to siege towns, which units to place in the same stack for certain tasks etc. I tried to play as the Solanki Rajputs last and failed miserably because of the high upkeep of elephant BG, my inability to capture cities with elephants, not knowing which cities to take and not knowing how to split my gigantic army.

Oh and I am aware of the guides provided on a certain thread, but they are very vague and, to be blunt, unhelpful.

Thanks

[wudang_clown]

Try this guide by Paladin. It's about KoJ campaign, but you'll find there many useful hints, as that was written by a military man. so tactics are pretty well described there. Also, just seek through the forum, there are few useful threads here.

[Brain_in_a_vat]

Thanks for that, but I need a bit more detail. His description of capturing the whole of Egypt an a part of Syria is about a paragraph long and he doesn't give any advice on how to start off. He says that after destroying the Abuyyids he has a large field army and his 'flying column', how is this possible?

When I play as KoJ, the Abuyyids are able to field about twenty half-full stacks of decent infantry and a few full stacks near Damascus while still bringing in a decent income, meanwhile I have the starting army (which, along with the unit of Templars and Hospitallers in surrounding cities, includes a bunch of economy-crippling Outremer Knights) but it simply can't stand up to the minions of Sauron ad-din, it can't be retrained and even if it could I would be unable to after a few turns because of DEBT.


I'm a noob sorry to bother you but I find it difficult to play, it's so different to regular M2 and I get owned within the first twenty-thirty turns, even on M/H. I find myself bottom on all rankings after a few turns and I'm terrified to attack neighbouring factions because I know they will return the favour and descend upon me with god-damn never ending streams of half-stacks. Could you tell me how to build up my economy/armies? Do you need to sacrifice one for the other?

[nhinhonhinho]

In BC AI get free money/turn

There are some suggest:

Many BC unit have high upkeep however some of them is extremely cheap (ex:Ahdath infantry,archer,Mutaw wi'a,Italian crossbowmen....).Most of them is AOR unit.Try to use them as much as possible.These unit thought weak but their number and cost effective is the point.These cheap townsfolk is my brothers and they help me forge the empire not those expensive noble

Use mercenary especially light RG horse archer.This unit is a good ha and they can be retrain in almost anywhere

As koj try to train merchant and send them to Horn,Damascus to trade silk.They're your gold mine.

Use your star army and take Horn,Damascus as quick as possible.Then disband them and train cheaper infantry and archer.

If you think you don't have much money to use cavalry.Focus on archer with some infantry

The last thing:If it's too difficult simply cheat a bit.In my opinion:"They (AI) cheat!Then why I'm not??"

[Iguanaonastick]

Perhaps the issue is the tactical battles.

All guides and the mod itself rather assume that the player is capable of consistently winning battles against the odds, even on very hard battle difficulty, as long as the enemy does not have overwhelming superiority. Even then players can sometimes win.

Specifically, heavy cavalry and horse-archers are instrumental for winning battles with very few losses. Bodyguard heavy cavalry is best of all as they regenerate for free. Most of those "ridiculously huge garrisons" consist of infantry. Even if it's fairly good infantry, almost all factions start out with at least some units of high-quality heavy cavalry and good general's bodyguards. One good charge can cripple even a strong infantry unit.

Enemy cavalry and horse-archers are more difficult to defeat, but luring them away with horse-archers helps. As does having expendable skirmishers in loose formation soaking up charges with relatively few casualties and then swamping them with infantry and cavalry. Fortunately, early on most enemies will tend to field mostly infantry.

I would practice some battles and particularly the art of decisive heavy cavalry charges followed by rapid withdrawals. Once you can defeat rebel garrisons in open battles even when they vastly outnumber you the game becomes very doable. Expand quickly, seize many rebel cities. Use spies to find the weakly garrisoned or the high-income yielding ones. (Bigger settlements net more income. Settlements at the sea-shore are best because of trade.) If you have enough quality cavalry, send just a handful of units to besiege a big garrison of militia troops. The militia, outnumbering you, will sally forth on the first turn and you can then use the charge-tactics to crush them and gain the city quickly without a siege assault.

I also recommend being honourable. (at the start of the game at least.) This means: don't execute prisoners, don't break alliances or start wars with other factions, don't use assassins and absolutely don't sack or exterminate any cities. (Unless the profits would be huge and you really need the money.) Behaving in such a fashion on Hard or lower campaign difficulty means that it's easy to make alliances and get trade agreements, and in turn makes other factions reluctant to attack you. If you behave like a barbarian looting and burning your way across Asia Minor, everyone will want to do you in. This makes a big differences for small factions. To illustrate: In my Armenia game my faction was ranked number 2 for controlled territory by the time another faction attacked me. I easily fought them off.

[Brain_in_a_vat]

Yes I am pretty bad at tactical battles too. I've heard about the charge tactics, but when I try it my cavalry usually kill about thirty-fourty enemy infantry and lose about ten when I try to retreat them due to them being occupied with escaping rather than defending.

[Hells Bells]

Personally I never disband an army. Even those stupid 2 men left merc units can hold out in a castle for at least a turn. Take my advice, before you blunder into disbanding your best troops you should at least make a suicide run and try to get a couple cities out of it. I can usually take 3 to 4 cities with the starting armies, leaving 1 dilapidated unit to guard each one. Also I mortgage the entire empire in the first turn just building armies.

For the first 50 turns don't worry if your in debt, just keep attacking, even if you lose it puts you on track towards solvency, if you win, its more income.



Hit and run with cavalry really only works if you use bodyguards. Attrition will wittle down even the most elite recruitable cavalry over several battles, to the point where it becomes almost wasteful. Cavalry are powerful in BC, but they can also die like flies if you use them incorrectly.

For example: You have 1 unit of General's Bodyguards, and 1 unit of Hospitaller brothers versus a unit of generic enemy infantry. First send the general to charge and disrupt their lines. He should then break left, perpendicular to his original direction. Coinciding with this, the hospitallers now charge while the enemy is out of formation. Immediately break right. You should now have cavalry units on both flanks of the enemy. Charge simultaneously. Enemy unit breaks, pursue, ransom prisoners etc. Rinse and repeat. (If unit is more elite and will not break easily, instead realign forces and have hospitallers charge from the rear, and general from the front, immediately pulling back if enemy does not break on impact, because cavalry are too valuable to waste in melee)

Many times the "charging" mechanic in the game bugs out, it will take you a while to get used to using it correctly, otherwise your cavalry will simply run into a wall of spears, do no damage, and start falling over left and right. If that happens you absolutely must get them out of melee asap, without charging bonus they are helpless.

Also never charge a halberdier unit with cavalry. Halberds are uber cavalry killers, for all my siege battles I keep one in reserve specifically to take out the enemy general who is usually hiding in the city center and is immune to missile fire. They get the job done.

[Brain_in_a_vat]

Yeah I understand. Tar.

Is it inevitable that you're going to lose a few cav in each charge as you're retreating? It seems like even when I charge my heaviest cav into their weakest infantry unit they always manage to kill a few of my guys before they can rinse and repeat.

[Siegfriedfr]

I suck at Total War games, but I still enjoy them. Broken Crescent seems 10x harder then regular Medieval 2. I find myself in debt within a few turns for almost every faction, and even if I disband my most expensive units, the enemy factions are still able to send dozens of stacks from all angles and keep a steady income. How?

I also have trouble at the very start of the game when I play as some of the smaller factions - I simply have no clue how to begin! I don't know whether to split my main army/armies into smaller units, then disperse them to take multiple cities at a time or combine arms and take cities one at a time. The problem with splitting forces is that rebel cities usually have ridiculously huge garrisons with fairly powerful troops, and I always failed at sieges anyway so I wait for them to sally forth. This puts me even further in debt and I don't even have a good chance of winning the frigging battle .#

Could someone possibly give me a general guide on how to start a game well with some of the smaller factions (e.g NOT ERE, Abuyyid, Seljuks, KoJ) I don't want to put the difficulty on E/E either so don't suggest it please . I need advice on how to split armies, how to siege towns, which units to place in the same stack for certain tasks etc. I tried to play as the Solanki Rajputs last and failed miserably because of the high upkeep of elephant BG, my inability to capture cities with elephants, not knowing which cities to take and not knowing how to split my gigantic army.

Oh and I am aware of the guides provided on a certain thread, but they are very vague and, to be blunt, unhelpful.

Thanks

One thing that might help and is pretty vicious: your generals cost a hefty sum of money each turn, so in the beginnings you must refuse adoptions and maybe kill a general or two in suicide attacks to save the much needed money.

[Kharn]

When sieging my best tactic is rushing generic spearmen right up as far as posible to the gate but still leaving the sides open. I then place my general and another heavy charge cav unit on each flank, because of the way the AI spills out of the city, you end up netting most of the infantry in melee which leaves their flanks open to charges by your Cav units, wear them down before charging though as you want the first charge to start a rout and end the battle as quickly as possible. The retreating forces will be eaten alive by the cav chasing thus giving your cav units massive XP after one or two battles. Your heavy cavalry units are the keepers, don't worry about the weak spearmen. Use them as fodder and bait for your cav units to delivery the heavy blow.

Also, keep attacking cities and castles from the get go, take every available unit in a city/castle and use it while still keeping at least blue/yellow happiness. If a city has one spare spear unit, grab it and throw it together with other available units and voila, you have an army big enough to steam roll 2/3 citeis and castles. Cap and garrison with one unit and move on, rinse and repeat. You'll have very vaulnerable cities and castles at the start but at the point you'd have worn down your starting army so much you'll have a plus coming in.

Build trade buildings first, roads, ports, silk roads, bazaars, markets. Focus on these buildings ALWAYS. You'll find yourself with 3000+ profits but a small army, that's fine. You'll have time to work on that later. Build your unit producing buildings next and focus on slowly building up an army to conquer the next few castles and cities with but still keeping a + income. This goes for every faction, some have it easier than others when it comes to capping high income cities.

Be best friends with everyone at the start and get trade agreements flowing, even an alliance or two with the strongest neighbours beside you (so your vaulnerable cities and castle are not swamped in 2/3 turns after capping them). Merchants are very handy too for bringing in good income over time, a good and lazy tactic/exploit is to rush a general to a gold mine, plant a fort right beside it and garrison the forst with merchants (the fort has to be close enough to the resource for it to work). That way you won't have the AI merchants fleecing your own guys for everything their worth the second the step on a resource.

Summary :

Cavalry are your best mates.
Laugh at the rebels as your cavalry eat them alive and you take their stuff
Throw a party and invite everyone for beer and pizza, they'll like you after that.
Build a few roads.
Setup a holiday camp for your merchant friends to kick back and take it easy, they'll give you a lot of money in return !

[nhinhonhinho]

Try to got trade right with everyone.Act friendly.

Use weak and cheap infantry,archer to hold the line while BG and cavalry charge from behind and flank.

When they sally out they will broke their formation at the gate.Use cavalry charge right in to the mop and crush them all.I can win the day with just one great charge.

[Sunny Squash]

I've been downloading mods for Napoleon, Empire, Medieval 2 and Shogun for quite some time and the amount and quality of work put into every mod is fascinating and it really is pleasing to see such devotion to such an amazing game series; so thank you, all modders!
Especially to the BC team. I found this mod only in the past week and it has fascinated me as much as the Islamic world does (Next year I shall attend university and get a BA in Arabic and Islamic Studies because the culture of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsular fascinate me so).
BC has only served to further and deepen my experience of the areas and it's a great mod! So, brilliant work!
It is only after being repeatedly annoyed at certain things in the game that I have finally decided to create a forum account and voice my woes!

As a Total War player, even from the humble beginnings of Shogun, I have centralized my factions to become industrial powerhouses where I would fill my coffers and turn a very healthy profit every turn; where from this economic backing I would create the finest armies and proceed to rape every territory I could claim my grubby, Imperialist hands on I consider myself a bit of a lad at getting the most out of my territories.
However, in BC I find myself getting into negatives pretty quickly and I've tried every trick up my wizard sleeves. The only nation I can sustain a healthy income is Oman, and even then my profits yo-yo without reason. As the Ayubbids I get myself into debt quicker than you can say 'Saladin' and as the Ghazni I find myself being reminiscent of the Nazi economy of taking territory to fund armies, to further procure more territories.
I'm just wondering if anyone can lend some advice as I readily need it!

[Silesian_Noble]

Make a good use of the merchants. In my games all the 'standard' income is eaten by 'standard' spends. It is the several merchants that gives me additional money I can invest in building and new units.

[wudang_clown]

I've merged two threads, because they have the same topic.

[duce13]

I can see Sunny Squash we have a similar playing style. I also usually try to develop into a powerhouse and rush to have as good units as I can before going to war. Unfortunately this strategy will not do in BC. I found out that you have to blitz during the initial stage of the game to grab as many provinces as you can. And you will go into debt after 1 or 2 turns with virtually every faction you start a game with, little can be done about it. It is more important to know how to recover from the debt.

When you grab some provinces and you see in the report you have profits - try to settle for a while. As Silesian_Noble said - invest in merchants early on and move them to provinces with profitable trade resources. Try to do aqusitions - it gives 1000 florins each time you succede. Grab reach (big) cities quickly and build trade - related buildings. You can easily have a profit of 3 - 5k per city (in some regions of course) in the early stages of game. Control the size of your armies. You don't need huge garnisons in cities which are safely positioned in the middle of your empire.

Finally - if you really struggle - go for abbasids first. If you end up broken with them I'll be searching for some supernatural reasons. Baghdad should make you obscenely reach

[Sunny Squash]

I can see Sunny Squash we have a similar playing style. I also usually try to develop into a powerhouse and rush to have as good units as I can before going to war. Unfortunately this strategy will not do in BC. I found out that you have to blitz during the initial stage of the game to grab as many provinces as you can. And you will go into debt after 1 or 2 turns with virtually every faction you start a game with, little can be done about it. It is more important to know how to recover from the debt.

When you grab some provinces and you see in the report you have profits - try to settle for a while. As Silesian_Noble said - invest in merchants early on and move them to provinces with profitable trade resources. Try to do aqusitions - it gives 1000 florins each time you succede. Grab reach (big) cities quickly and build trade - related buildings. You can easily have a profit of 3 - 5k per city (in some regions of course) in the early stages of game. Control the size of your armies. You don't need huge garnisons in cities which are safely positioned in the middle of your empire.

Finally - if you really struggle - go for abbasids first. If you end up broken with them I'll be searching for some supernatural reasons. Baghdad should make you obscenely reach

Yeah, I gotta say this sounds like a necessary evil! Thanks for the tips guys; I'll try it out and give you the results!


Edit: What mod removes the fog of war? I have seen peoples' empires in BC with no fog of war and an up-to-date map

[nhinhonhinho]

For garrison just use 2-3 extremely cheap unit so they cost less than 200/turn

For Blizt try to use Spy and he will open the gate for you.

[Brain_in_a_vat]

Is there any way to successfully take a settlement by siege without losing a lot of troops? I always wait for them to sally forth so I can take minimal casualties.

[duce13]

Is there any way to successfully take a settlement by siege without losing a lot of troops? I always wait for them to sally forth so I can take minimal casualties.

Depends really how good are you with battles. If you autoresolve it usually means high casualties, even if defenders sally out.

A smart thing a lot of ppl do is to besiege with army AI percieves as weaker than the defending force. It can be achieved by using only cavarly/HA units with lesser number than defenders. They will sally when their turn comes and you can charge them at the very moment they go through the gate. It usually means chain rout = heroic victory. Just remember about scissors vs paper vs stone rules. If the defenders are predominantly spearmen - use more HA/add a couple of swordmen units to your army.

Pros - you can blitz even quicker as it takes 1 turn to finish the siege, you gain heroic victory (and nice traits therefore), you loose little to no man

Cons - if you suck at field battles and don't care to micro manage you can loose the battle altogether.