help a noob??

[kl daly]

ive had the game for a few months now, but ive only recently started playing in ernest...are there any tips that you think i should have?? i should let it be known that i played the hell out of the 1st game, but the games are so dis-similar, maybe i shouldnt have brought it up

[Sweger]

Could you be more specific? What campaign, what fraction, tips on exactly what?

[Aeratus]

Best tip is to keep building economic buildings, in the order of

1. Roads
2. Basic Port
3. Basic Market
4. Basic town militia building

then repeat steps 2-4.

[kl daly]

Best tip is to keep building economic buildings, in the order of

1. Roads
2. Basic Port
3. Basic Market
4. Basic town militia building

then repeat steps 2-4.

what about mines and farming???

[kl daly]

lately ive been playing france in the grand campaign...im looking for any info that will help me out some...this game is hard

[Blaze of Macedon]

lately ive been playing france in the grand campaign...im looking for any info that will help me out some...this game is hard

So could you be speciffic as to where you are experiencing trouble?

I can say in general i always build roads and farms first and after that it depends. Check out how much difference the building you plan on constructing next makes on the settlement detail scroll - the transparent icons that appear once you add a building in the construction list. A mine or port that costs 2000 and starts producing 400 florins per turn once finished is worth investing it, but if it makes 50 florins per turn you might want to skip.

About the armies France has the typical heavy western units early on. So at the beginning you have no advantage or dissadvantage to the HRE. England has great archers that can make a difference early on so train medium and heavy cav to quickly dispatch of them in battles. Spain will be preocupied with Portugal and/or the Moors and their starting roster is lacking in spearmenand heavy backbone inf in general so try and use that. But beware of the Jinets, pick them out with ur archers early on in battles. The Italians are bad-ass early on so be careful bout Milan - they want Dijon, if you take it will mean war. Be prepeared for it, use heavy cav against them to outmanuver them and attack their solid militias from the rear or back. Also try and use the terrain - both on the battle map and on the campaign map (there are mountains and bridges in the region that you can use to establish a great deffensive position - make them attack at a choke point and watch the massacar).

Also: DO NOT PISS THE POPE OF EARLY ON! Actually an alliance with him is a great idea, "bribe" him with some 200 florins per turn and he'll love you. Try to make other factions attack you, as long as you are not the agressor and have good relations with the Pope you should be fine.

Poland, Venice or the HRE, Hungary, Portugal, and of course Scotland are all good targets for allies. Historically France had an alliance with the Ottomans so keep it in mind of your interests allign

The two rebel cities in what totay is Belgium are real cash-cows but are extremly hard to conquer (have great garrisons early on) and keep in mind if you are the first to take them that you will need to pump cash into them first before they become the cash cows they could be. Also this could provoke a war with ENgland or Denmark, both of which are nasty opponents early on.

Hope i helped a little

[Silverheart]

Mines are more of a bonus to your economy rather than the basis - much like sacking settlements, except smaller amounts and you get it every turn
Farms increase trade and population - but they are not purely economical, and more specifically for settlements you want to grow faster.

France is a bit tough in the beginning, since their unit roster is quite bad, but they become really good in the late game, so just hang in there - and try to keep expanding on at least one frontier all the time.
Make use of alliances to secure other frontlines, but don´t be too trusty! The AI will inevitably backstab you at some point, so don´t lower your guard towards your allies totally.

[kl daly]

if france is difficult, who would you recommend??

[Blaze of Macedon]

if france is difficult, who would you recommend??

I wouldn't say they are "difficult". They are slow starters so they give you a challange early on but once you get rolling you're a juggernaut... That is "optimal" in my book for a starter.

They have great heavy cav from mid game and they can recruit some great inf, elite archers and even some pikes. Heck you even get access to HA (not that u'll ever train them ) They only lack muskets to be perfect IMO...

[xcorps]

if france is difficult, who would you recommend??

England is a great way to learn the in's and out's of the economy. You'll never get invaded by the absolutely brilliant AI, you can learn how to build your economy. You can figure out how invade with fleets against the moors and other islamic factions, fight the crusades, deal with the Pope..all without ever fighting any land battles in Europe. It's really hard to get into trouble as England, because even if you overspend on troops and have to dismantle an army or two, you don't have to fear getting attacked on a weak front because you don't have any. If you get spanked during a siege against the Moors, just put the army back on your boats and return to England, rebuild and return.

[Diamond]

To be successful as France, you need to hold off the stronger enemies (HRE, and Spain will be stronger if they conquer Iberia) until middle or late game. Conquering the rebel lands, ordering roads to be built, reducing garrisons in inner cities (even Paris), building farms especially as your population will grow which you need for a strong late game army. Sign trade agreements with everyone you possibly can. Ally with factions like Poland and Denmark, as they tend to become enemies with the HRE, which is your greatest threat.
Basically, improving your economy (see posts above) and holding off enemies until the middle of the game will bring success.

[Jianadaren]

With France I usually get rid of most of my castles - an expanded France could have Toulouse, Bordeaux, Angers, Caen, Metz, Staufen, and Bern. There is no reason that you would ever need this many. Keep one per major front (two/three in the short-term only if you're planning an assault) and turn the rest into cities. I find it's much more useful to have one really good castle and enough income to build great armies rather than two mediocre castles and lower income.

Strategically, don't bother with Iberia- it's a pain and those three factions are busy enough fighting amongst themselves. Focus your energy on taking down England. Another (possibly concurrent) strategy is to take away the HRE's castles- take Staufen and Innsbruck and then they have no way to strike back at you (except with waves of militia that you can obliterate with cavalry). Use spies to keep an eye on your borders so that there's no funny business and you'll be laughing.

[Silverheart]

For a newbie, Venice or Spain would be excellent choices, as well as England.
France is slow and bad in the beginning (but become an unstoppable juggernaught as they progress) and the Holy Roman Empire are pretty much stabile all up until the very end (relying mostly on the same troops until you can build the top-tier recruitment buildings).

Spain and England both have home territories that are isolated by natural obstacles, and it´s not likely that they will have to deal with foreign incursions there.
They also have good unit rosters (take Spain if you prefer skirmishing and javelinmen, and England if you like Longbowmen and spamming heavy troops)
Venice has basically no home regions, but a very good unit roster + those awesomely strong italian militiamen, and they´re very good for having a small "core" in northern Italy and large holdings of land all over the map (instead of expanding outwards from the "home" as you would do with most other factions)

[Eastern.Europe]

Take it from a real noob; been playing for less than a week I have tried France, Hungary, and currently the HRE. I am having the "easiest" time with the HRE because I have some Infantry that can "hold the Line". I am lucky in the fact(well lucky in a m/m way) that I has a marriage with Hungary and when Venice back-stabbed me Hungary followed along to war. So now if I can get a diplomat to talk to the Pope I should be able to keep from being ex-communicated. Anyway, that is my story to this point-There is no right or wrong way nor "tips" that will help. Get a feel for what you like to do, and go from there. That is the great fun of these games playing as you see fit. Have FUN!

[In3x]

My advice is that you want to attack constantly in all directions.

[PrestigeX]

You would do well to play through the French Campaign -- they are such a basic faction, you will get some experience with almost every troop-type of the game.

They are neither too easy, too hard, too strong, or too weak at any given point.


Focus on the economic line of buildings -- markets, roads, etc..

LOWER the taxes in many of your settlements, this will increase population growth and the Happyness/Pulbic Order and end up making you more money in the long run -- as they will be available for bigger Walls, etc.

Use your armies, don't be scared to leave provinces - especially Heart land provinces with weak garrisons of peasants -- Soldiers Costs money, esp in the first 20-40 turns its always a battle between army/conquest and the treasury - so discharge un-needed soldiers, use everyone up! and especially Mercs you maybe have more use in recruiting them, fighting a battle, then disbanding them after victory

-Good Luck.

after a French CAmpaign, try out one of the muslim factions -- i recommend Egypt. That way you will be very famillear with the game, so on the 3rd campaign when you pick *Random Faciton* you'll be good at it

[Willowran]

generally speaking, i suggest spamming ports and militia forces. i'd not suggest farms unless you REALLY need the extra mulah-late game cities tend to get antsy with huge farms... roads aren't really important, the trade is nowhere near as good as with ports, and the extra movement is also not huge (early game). i never played as france, but when im having difficulty i turtle and spam every moneymaking building i can. dont bother with horses (the upkeep is too high), or even many organised troops (same reason), untill you have a level/stable situation. just...lotsa militia.

[crzyrndm]

roads aren't really important, the trade is nowhere near as good as with ports

Don't you need first lvl roads to make ports/markets actually do more than ~50 florin increases? And I seriously disagree with the not building farms. Growth without farms is pitiful (unless you have a high chiv general, which you'd have anyway), and it's relatively easy to keep the unrest under control with buildings because squalor is capped to -80 PO (garrison is useless in huge cities).

[fredtrotter]

roads aren't really important

They may not be important but as they only cost 400f, it's kinda hard not to get them.

[Aeratus]

Yeah you need farms. I just left it out by accident.