I WANT MY BLOODY SMOKE!!!

Sorry about the name

Now apparently their are some badass effects in N:TW, I heard alot about the musket smoke.
Now I've never used those gaming PC things (as you can probably tell from how I talk about them lol), and I'm not the Duke of Edinburgh and don't have a pile of cash to throw away.

What can I get my comp so I might get the full effect of my redcoats charging suicidally against a horde of Young Guard?
I turned unit detail up a little & more bodies were on the field and I could see the units more clearly (without those annoying sprites) but now my game runs slow during battle & even stops for like 5 seconds sometimes.

What do I get to make my comp able to run Napoleon at its finest?
In english please..

well smoke hasn't a big effect since it almost is melee and bow in the game

Regardless...
What do I buy to get better graphics & stuff for my game?

Go to the Technical Help subforum and look at the stickys.

What are you talking about?

You can try this mod http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=340125 for a better game/enhanced effects/gameplay etc

Renders7 mod might help performance.

I recommend this Battlefield Smoke Mod for Napoleon: Total War by Mech_Donald.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=342140

I think he wants help upgrading his computer so he can experience the full experience with max graphics.

I heard about the mods vaguely, I can see though why smoke is restricted to better..erm is resolutions the right word?

Will my comp run slow running smoke on a comp not meant for it?
If so what can I get that will run it?
What do you guys use? What do I change?

The mods will give you more or less of what you want - from uniforms to effects to gameplay.

Your PC specification will dictate the performance of the game (and any mods you install). There are various things effect that performance, especially the main processor (CPU), memory (RAM) and the video card (GPU). A site which has lots of helpful info on options is www.tomshardware.com

As for me, I opted to go for an off-the-shelf rig a while back, as it was cheaper to do that than buy all the parts separately and build it myself. Here's what I have and I am very happy with game performance: http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668627.php

Hope that answers your question. Merry Christmas.