A beginners guide to CoW 1.4 and playing the Empire
This guide is meant for people who are new to CoW but who have played vanilla M2TW and maybe other popular mods such as 3rd Age.
I will cover the main features of CoW, highlight some things you may find confusing at first and then give a small summary of the Empire factions.
I thought a guide such as this may be useful to people who need a bit of a primer and are a bit lost as to what is going on - just like I was at first.
Part 1 - choosing a faction
Well, you have navigated to this thread and there are many great faction guides here so take your pick.
Most of it refers to older versions of CoW but it's still very useful.
There is a lot going on in CoW in terms of scripted encounters and world events (see later) and you need to learn the pattern of these events and how they affect each faction so I would recommend one of the easier Empire factions for your first try - Reikland, Talabecland and Wissenland are all good first choices.
Send spies out, watch how the story unfolds, how and when the enemy moves across the map.
Part 2 - WTF is going on....have those 10 stacks of Orcs got a teleporter or what ?
...or, as an alternative title 'World events and Scripted battles'
You are probably familiar with the missions to build structures, take settlements and do crusades in vanilla M2TW. CoW has those, but lots more besides.
Depending on which faction you play you will encounter certain scripted events at certain times.
You may get a warning about a few scripted stacks of XX faction moving towards your capital, elves in boats may land on your doorstep, you may be given a unique elite unit, a Waaagh may be declared on you (orcs crusade) and thousands of scripted greenskins will suddenly appear on the map bound for their target. You may also be taken directly to a scripted battle with no way of backing out - some of these are tough but with the upside that you get to keep the army that was scripted for you (tip - if it's too hard just surrender on the battlefield to keep the stack then come back to fight another day).
There is also the main theme of the mod - the Storm of Chaos - during which the chaos factions unite and set their sights on empire lands. I'm not going to go into detail on that but it is pretty epic and you better be ready for it
The scope of these scripted events may seem unfamiliar at first and also the odds may seem quite unfair in some circumstances but after getting used to them I'm sure you will find they add a lot to the gameplay and make things a lot more fun.
If you wish to play in a sandbox mode without the world events check out http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=336405 (I haven't used this submod but it may be what you are looking for - don't think it's 1.4 compatible yet though).
Part 3 - differences to vanilla M2TW and some other mods
This a short list of some things in addition to the scripted events that may be different to what you are used to and may seem confusing at first.
- The factions you are allied with, neutral to and at war with are set by the game. You may be offered alliances through scripted events. So....don't even bother and try to arrange ceasefires with chaos or ally with neutrals using diplomats.
- Building trees are unique. Examine the building browser carefully. It isn't as straightforward as building all tiers of barracks to get all melee troops available to you. For example - for some factions certain troops require certain armories to be built.
- Not all factions can use merchants. For those factions that use merchants they are very important as there are certain resources on the map that give huge amounts of revenue.
- Good and bad harvests which affect your income.
- You can recruit bodyguard units which create generals for you (this is in addition to the usual M2TW features such as adoption).
- There are quite a lot of settlements and regions which provide additional recruitment possibilites to your normal roster. For example, you can recruit certain high elf units in Mordheim if you are playing Empire.
- In addition to the usual mercs you can hire in certain regions there are unique mercs which may offer their services for a one off fee. If you hire these you get a general and some units, then you can retrain and create their units in Dogs of War camps which you must build.
- Some buildings cost zero gold to build. If you think you are going to go into the red you can queue these up to be built.
- Elves cannot recruit units without a port in a settlement as they are expeditionary forces. Also they cannot recruit in winter, however queued units will still be created.
- Random chance to receive certain faction dependent elite units on each turn.
There are lots of other features and stuff that may be new to you but those I have listed are the ones that struck me as noteworthy in my first few plays.
Part 4 - a guide to the Empire
So, you have chosen to play an Empire faction for your first playthrough - good choice.
Every Empire faction has a rounded unit roster, allied factions nearby, decent finances (usually) and some well developed settlements.
In general the Empire factions vary in difficulty depending on their location. The south western and central factions are easier to play than those in the north and east as they are away from the front lines and can be seen more as support factions. It won't be plain sailing however as you will still get beastman incursions, scripted invasions and calls to help defend allied settlements.
- Units
The sheer number of units available to the empire is quite overwhelming at first when you include the faction specific and settlement specific ones and the mercs so there are certain choices to be made.
In general prefer the vanilla units above the specialised faction units even if the stats may be slightly lower as they will be easier to retrain throughout your region and when you expand.
For example - one faction has their own special pikeman unit..empire halberdiers are cheaper, easier to retrain and do the job almost as well.
Some special units however are worth investing in such as those for Reikland (the reiksguard).
Depending on which faction you play and which settlements you hold there are also various types of dwarf, high elf and mercenary units you may recruit. In most cases the empire equivalents are nearly as good and easier to maintain but if you really wish to run high elf archers or dwarf warriors in an army you do have the option.
- Ranged
- empire archers - basic archers, average stats, free upkeep
- free company archers - basic archers slightly worse than empire archers
- empire crossbowmen - basic crossbowmen, good vs armour and a decent alternative to handgunners if you prefer
- handgunners - good firearm troops, effective vs armour and for breaking morale
- Melee
- empire spearmen - basic spear troop, good for garrisons, free upkeep
- greatswords - good for a flanking attack and carving up light infantry but prefer halberdiers to hold the line
- empire halberdiers - cheap, very effective to hold the line, spearwall, bonus vs cav and much tougher than their stats may suggest especially when experienced and upgraded (IMO the heart of any empire army)
- empire swordsmen - medium stat swordsmen, good basic troop
- free company infantry - basic light infantry
- ogres - available at certain times if you have a dogs of war camp, 2hp troops that are tough as nails, great for storming walls or backing up halberdiers
- Standard cavalry
- pistoliers - very effective skirmisher gun cavalry with high speed to run down fleeing enemies
- Siege weapons
- empire great cannon - reasonably accurate and good versus both buildings and troops, scattershot mode deadly if you can use it effectively (prefer grudgebringer cannon to these if you can get the appropriate merc called Morgan)
- empire mortar - very useful and effective cannon which lobs shells high into the air over obstacles
- hellblaster gun - rocket battery gun,looks good in theory but doesn't seem to fire reliably
- Other
- War altar - raises morale of your troops, may seem not that useful at first but comes into its own against some chaos troops which lower morale
- Knight Order heavy cavalry
Check the building browsers for each settlement to see which types you can recruit. You need to build specific residences which have steep pre-requisites to enable recruitment. You usually start with one or two types of knight residence already built.
- Knights Encarmine - dual-wielding shock cavalry with very high attack, medium speed but with a low charge bonus
- Knights of the White Wolf - high attack medium speed cav with 2-handers and a very strong charge bonus but lower defense than some knight order cav
- Knights Panther - fastest heavy cav in the empire, good charge but not great for extended fights
- Black Guard of Morr - robust cav with decent charge and medium speed, ok for extended fights, lowers enemy morale
- Knights of the Blazing Sun - robust cav with decent charge and medium speed, ok for extended fights
- Coldfire/Inner Circle Knights - pretty much identical to the KotBS above
- Knights of the Gold Lion - pretty much identical to the KotBS above
- Knights of the Bull - pretty much identical to the KotBS above
- Knights of the Raven - good horsearchers which are also decent for charging into melee - the general units of these use guns instead of bows (I think these are unique to Stirland and require a Black Guard of Morr residence)
- Mercs
At certain times you may be offered a mercenary captain to hire for a one off payment of 5000 gold. If you agree then you will recieve a decent general with a few of his troops. You can then hire and retrain these troops at Dogs of War camps in your settlements but if the general dies the mercs will disband and you will not be able to recruit them any more.
Some of these are better than others and some are more suitable depending on how you play.
See - http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...57#post8525857
- Special elite units
Every turn there is a random chance that you will be awarded a general with 1 stack of elite troops. You cannot refuse. If you don't want the troops (some have high upkeep) delete them.
You may be given any or all of these at some point but you can only receive each type once so look after them.
I am not sure about all retraining options but you can retrain warrior priests if you have the top tier temple in a settlement, if in doubt try to retrain these units at your largest city or fort (usually your capital).
This may seem obvious but you do not have to keep the elite unit in the same army as the general provided - some of those generals have very high chivalry so are ideal to place in cities.
- Bright Wizards - devastating ranged unit vs troops but very frail in melee so protect them, these have 2 modes of attack - normal fireball and AoE fire rain
- Steam Tank - very strong cannon tanks with high accuracy and good defense, these are great for smashing walls and turrets and can obliterate most of an enemy troop with one hit
- Witch Hunters - good ranged attack using pistols and strong in melee
- Warrior Priests - very strong melee unit with a chanting ability to inspire nearby troops
- Nuln Master Engineers - elite handgunners, deadly barrage at medium range
There is also a chance that you may be awarded a master spy or assassin with very high stats.
- General strategy
Some of these tips, such as troop composition, relate to the way I play and you may obviously prefer different methods
A standard empire army of 4 heavy cav, 2 pistoliers, 2/3 handgunners or crossbowmen, cannon, mortar and the rest of it halberdiers can cope with pretty much anything.
I throw in some ogres, swordsmen or archers sometimes depending on the situation.
I tend to play quite defensively and prefer the enemy to come to me while using pistolier cav and heavy cav to harry them but if you like to play more offensively and push into the enemy it's probably best to replace those halberdiers with swordsmen and greatswords.
If you have the steam tank you don't really need a cannon as well in that army.
Your main battles in early game will be against beastmen. These have no ranged units and large forces of them are easily whittled away with cav charges and pistoliers before they even reach your line.
You may also meet some Sylvanians. These aren't too hard to handle but be aware that their morale is locked so they won't break. Cav charges destroy their skeletons and your halberdiers can cope with most of their elite units with some support but be wary of their elite cavalry which is very strong (vampire black knights or blood dragons are very dangerous).
Greenskins may also be part of the menu early to mid game and field very large armies.
They are tough (even their archers) but repeated cav charges will break them and they break easily if you get their general. They usually travel with trebuchets so take these out with your cav early on as they can put large dents in your army.
As for chaos their basic armies aren't so bad but later on they can be very tough. Their cav is strong and will eat yours up if you try to stay in extended combat, their infantry is strong and their demons are strong. Target their generals (better still assasinate them before you attack), throw expendable stacks at them to weaken them before your main army attacks and try to use allies.
Your map strategy obviously depends on which faction you choose but grab all the rebel and beastmen settlements you can and start building up for the main Storm of Chaos event.
Aim to eradicate (or help eradicate) Sylvania early on.
Your basic aim is to police the empire region in general so it is in a fit state for when chaos comes calling in droves.
If you want to train up your warrior priests or other prized units such as knights order then seek out a sylvanian army which has some zombies. After you have dealt with the main force you can let your chosen units chew through the zombies that are slowly shuffling your way with little or no risk. They will gain ranks rapidly (and believe me when I say that a unit of warrior priests with 3 gold chevrons is like having 63 Chuck Norris clones on the battlefield).
Well that's it really.
I have tried to cover the main things that confused me when I first played CoW and also to provide some general empire tips.
Hope it was helpful to anyone new to CoW.