Total War Megathread V.2: "All of Christendom Will be Awed by this Megathread!" - Games

[QUOTE=BananaFoam;37545225]Yeah, cavalry is pretty good, and the balance is messed up for some factions, but most of the European factions level out evenly. It is meant to create tension when your at war with the middle east, raise the stakes, and cause impromptu alliances. But yeah, go for Shogun II and FotS right now and then just buy Medieval II. Empire and Napoleon aren't really worth it.[/QUOTE] I'd rather recommend him not to buy Shogun 2 and just go for Medieval II (with the expansion) and FotS. And Napoleon isn't bad. The turn based part of it is very good imo, I loved creating new factions by liberating territories.

How are sieges in Medieval? Regular ram and siege tower setup? Same as rome? Cause I quite liked how you can climb walls in shogun.

[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37548515]How are sieges in Medieval? Regular ram and siege tower setup? Same as rome? Cause I quite liked how you can climb walls in shogun.[/QUOTE] it's the same as rome

[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37548515]How are sieges in Medieval? Regular ram and siege tower setup? Same as rome? Cause I quite liked how you can climb walls in shogun.[/QUOTE] Sieges and such are basically the same but here's various changes: Large town wooden walls can be walked on. Towers require units standing nearby them for them to fire projectiles. You can build ballista and cannon towers in mid-late game which make taking cities become scary. The introduction of cannons are around the same as normal artillery, but quickly supersede them and make it incredibly easy to take down just about any wall once you have culverins and monster bombards. No sapping anymore. Castles, once built up, have multiple walls. Rams and siege towers basically are the same, but they removed the ballista from inside the siege tower.

I tried the medieval 2 demo (otumba) and did I simply use my ranged units badly or are they just shitty? They had good range, clear visibility (apparently) bonus against armor, but when I got a unit of crossbow and 2 of muskets against a heavy infantry unit I did about 3 casualties in the whole battle.

[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37551028]I tried the medieval 2 demo (otumba) and did I simply use my ranged units badly or are they just shitty? They had good range, clear visibility (apparently) bonus against armor, but when I got a unit of crossbow and 2 of muskets against a heavy infantry unit I did about 3 casualties in the whole battle.[/QUOTE] Ranged units are mainly for softening up the enemy to give your infantry a easier time, do not rely on them to do major damage or anything. Unless your talking about archers in shogun 2 who kill thousands in one volley.

Archers were pretty boss in rome, too.

[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37551028]I tried the medieval 2 demo (otumba) and did I simply use my ranged units badly or are they just shitty? They had good range, clear visibility (apparently) bonus against armor, but when I got a unit of crossbow and 2 of muskets against a heavy infantry unit I did about 3 casualties in the whole battle.[/QUOTE] Well, it depends on what type of ranged guys you are using. Peasant levies are generally pretty shit, more professional guys can kill a dozen guys with a single volley. Plus there are faction specific bowmen, like the English Yeoman longbows, that, once upgraded, can single handily wipe out entire companies.

I was playing with musketman, I think. Now, I played the holy roman battle against the french and the arquebuses did nothing much as well. But all in all, I have to say, I like medieval's combat, the way it takes time to defeat an opponent even if he is in "defeat is certain" status attracts me a lot.

[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37554734]I was playing with musketman, I think. Now, I played the holy roman battle against the french and the arquebuses did nothing much as well. But all in all, I have to say, I like medieval's combat, the way it takes time to defeat an opponent even if he is in "defeat is certain" status attracts me a lot.[/QUOTE] Eventually you will learn how to rout armies several times your own strength. Nothing feels better.

Hng i have played Medival 2 too much and now i cant enjoy Rome for some reason(i have tried)

I also like how there are more than one type of heavy infantry as opposed to Hastati/principes/triarii only. Does medieval have campaign map multiplayer?

[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37554734]I was playing with musketman, I think. Now, I played the holy roman battle against the french and the arquebuses did nothing much as well. But all in all, I have to say, I like medieval's combat, the way it takes time to defeat an opponent even if he is in "defeat is certain" status attracts me a lot.[/QUOTE] You will quickly find most firearms useless until really lat game. Handcannons, arquebuses, and the likes are best held in the back and used later in battle when enemy morale begins to break. They do more morale damage than anything. Crossbows are the best for defense. They do great damage and have good accuracy/range than your average bowman, but take longer to fire and cannot use flaming arrows. Bowmen are inaccurate, even at best, but can move faster, fire more volleys, and can use flaming arrows, which make the enemy morale drop at the cost of extra ammo. Good tactics for Medieval II are essentially just rock, paper, scissors. Cavalry can be good against any unit when flanking it, but can only do a head on charge on missile and siege units. Most artillery is useless in the field of combat until late game, where Serpentines and Culverins can damage enemy infantry. Trebuchets can, if scoring a direct hit with fire, kill nearly 25 men. Missiles are best used in defending settlements or defensive battles. Infantry is good with sieges but is best used as anti-cavalry, with spears and pikes being the best to use on cavalry. It has uses against other infantry, but you're probably not going to want a mostly infantry army. That's what I gathered form playing anyways. The mods tend to change that (Third Age Cavalry sucks. Even the Rohirrim are disappointingly crap. The Warhammer mod is much the same way, but Empire cavalry can be really good when used properly) I know you will enjoy Medieval II more than any other TW game, except maybe Shogun II, which is on the same quality level.

Everybody's play style is different. I for one have a very static, very standardized style. I have two types of armies, field and siege. The former is heavy on powerful bowmen, spearmen and knights while the latter is focused on heavy infantry and some cavalry. I arrange my units in a few certain ways, subject to change as battle develops but the overall strategy remains the same. Allow them to come to me, unless I have a good opportunity to do some real damage by advancing. Allow my bowmen, usually hidden behind protective stakes, to take out as many as possible before rushing the spears and knights to meet the enemy. Send a company or two of cavalry to flank the enemy and try and shatter them. Then I just mop up what's left. [quote=BananaFoam] (Third Age Cavalry sucks. Even the Rohirrim are disappointingly crap.)[/quote] No way, Third Age has great cavalry. Dale's is kinda mediocre, same for all the orc factions, but Gondor fields beautifully effective heavy knights (Seriously, how can you say the Swan Knights suck?) as does Arnor, once it's established. Harad has all the power of the traditional nomadic desert faction and the men of Rhun have those bronze-plated motherfuckers. Sadly the Elves and the Dwarves are lacking horsemen though. And the Rohhirim, crap? Mate you must be sending them at the enemy blind drunk and backwards or something. Rohan's cavalry is amazing, easily able to sweep aside anything the other factions can throw at it, if you do it right. Specifically, never underestimate the value of mounted archers, keep skirmishing until your lancers and the like are in position and always try to attack an enemy from multiple angles. [quote=BananaFoam]I know you will enjoy Medieval II more than any other TW game, except maybe Shogun II, which is on the same quality level.[/quote] I honestly consider Medieval II to be the best in the series so far. The Pope is a cunt, but otherwise the campaign is great. Enough micro-managing to be noticeable but not too much to annoy you. The AI is a dirty backstabbing whoreson who deserves to watch their children mutilated before them before being slowly crushed to death by a sumo wrestler but it's still wonderful. And the mods, oh good Lord the mods. So many, and so good. In fact, I've been planning on revamping the OP anyways, adding some recommend mods and other useful shit like that. Maybe tomorrow.

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;37558341]I honestly consider Medieval II to be the best in the series so far. The Pope is a cunt, but otherwise the campaign is great. Enough micro-managing to be noticeable but not too much to annoy you. The AI is a dirty backstabbing whoreson who deserves to watch their children mutilated before them before being slowly crushed to death by a sumo wrestler but it's still wonderful. And the mods, oh good Lord the mods. So many, and so good. In fact, I've been planning on revamping the OP anyways, adding some recommend mods and other useful shit like that. Maybe tomorrow.[/QUOTE] One of my biggest beefs with the campaign is how odd some of the factions are with their region taking. Portugal ALWAYS attacks Ireland, regardless of owner, in my games. Seriously, what the fuck. [QUOTE=MountainWatcher;37555983]I also like how there are more than one type of heavy infantry as opposed to Hastati/principes/triarii only. Does medieval have campaign map multiplayer?[/QUOTE] Those units got quickly replaced by those reforms, though. Roman/Legionary Cavalry, Early/Late Legionary Cohorts, Urban Cohorts, Praetorian Cohorts, and so on. Medieval II doesn't have campaign multiplayer, sadly. The first game to have it is Empire/Napoleon (Empire is in beta and probably won't ever be stable from what I've heard),

Darthmod is amazing, its actually hard too. My British empire has been reduced to Great Britain and Port Royal, thanks to the French.

[QUOTE=Freakie;37561047]One of my biggest beefs with the campaign is how odd some of the factions are with their region taking. Portugal ALWAYS attacks Ireland, regardless of owner, in my games. Seriously, what the fuck.[/QUOTE] The AI is very opportunistic. They expand wherever they can, usually by taking the least defended territories they can reach. Usually the places around Portugal are held by the Spanish or the Moors and are fairly well defended, but Ireland and Wales usually aren't, as most of the time England is focused on expanding in France or Scotland.

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;37561861]The AI is very opportunistic. They expand wherever they can, usually by taking the least defended territories they can reach. Usually the places around Portugal are held by the Spanish or the Moors and are fairly well defended, but Ireland and Wales usually aren't, as most of the time England is focused on expanding in France or Scotland.[/QUOTE] Nope, that doesn't matter. They often did it even if I had 50% of my army in Ireland, outnumbering them 3 to 2.

[QUOTE=Freakie;37562039]Nope, that doesn't matter. They often did it even if I had 50% of my army in Ireland, outnumbering them 3 to 2.[/QUOTE] Then maybe the King of Portugal has a crack addiction, I don't know.

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;37558341] No way, Third Age has great cavalry. Dale's is kinda mediocre, same for all the orc factions, but Gondor fields beautifully effective heavy knights (Seriously, how can you say the Swan Knights suck?) as does Arnor, once it's established. Harad has all the power of the traditional nomadic desert faction and the men of Rhun have those bronze-plated motherfuckers. Sadly the Elves and the Dwarves are lacking horsemen though. And the Rohhirim, crap? Mate you must be sending them at the enemy blind drunk and backwards or something. Rohan's cavalry is amazing, easily able to sweep aside anything the other factions can throw at it, if you do it right. Specifically, never underestimate the value of mounted archers, keep skirmishing until your lancers and the like are in position and always try to attack an enemy from multiple angles. I honestly consider Medieval II to be the best in the series so far. The Pope is a cunt, but otherwise the campaign is great. Enough micro-managing to be noticeable but not too much to annoy you. The AI is a dirty backstabbing whoreson who deserves to watch their children mutilated before them before being slowly crushed to death by a sumo wrestler but it's still wonderful. And the mods, oh good Lord the mods. So many, and so good. In fact, I've been planning on revamping the OP anyways, adding some recommend mods and other useful shit like that. Maybe tomorrow.[/QUOTE] Yeah, Swan Knights and Arnor were badass in the cavalry department. Maybe I was just using the Rohirrim wrong or something. I don't know, I'm not the best with cavalry in default Medieval II, but I'm usually good enough. Also, you really, really despise the AI (in a good way, not in a "it sucks" way but in a "clever bitch" kind of way). I enjoy the thorough thrashing you gave 'em.

[QUOTE=BananaFoam;37566468]Yeah, Swan Knights and Arnor were badass in the cavalry department. Maybe I was just using the Rohirrim wrong or something. I don't know, I'm not the best with cavalry in default Medieval II, but I'm usually good enough.[/quote] I get what you mean, only the good factions have reliable cavalry, aside from Rhun and Harad. Wargs can get torn apart in seconds by even Arnorian militia with very little effort. [quote=BananaFoam]Also, you really, really despise the AI (in a good way, not in a "it sucks" way but in a "clever bitch" kind of way). I enjoy the thorough thrashing you gave 'em.[/QUOTE] That's because I got very fed up with working for twenty minutes setting up a variety of alliances designed to alienate and isolate my enemy only to have the fucking Holy Romans besiege Paris while I'm invading England. I have it where I would ride to the rescue of an underpowered allied host only to have them attack me the next turn. I once lost my King saving the German leader and three turns later his heir cut down my King. It's so annoying. Third Age AI is nowhere near as bad, I've noticed, thanks to the fact that you have to break an alliance before you attack someone, which they never do.

I've recently played the empire total war demo and didn't really care for it. The naval battles were quite cool though so i expect an even better version of that in Rome 2.

Fighting a war with Numidia as Egypt where they ONLY have javelins while I mostly have pikes is not fun.

I wonder if anyone modded in the Moops.

[img]http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/560952154358301845/BCA0C89EAC2883C1887B9A6B161BA55446A7E777/[/img] I laid siege to Paris, which had a small garrison, and fought a hard desperate battle resembling Agincourt with Longbowmen, rain, and an open field, slaughtering the French as they came. The French King charged my General, and I used it to my advantage by surrounding him with spearmen. He was captured as he fled. Knowing that executing one of the guys the Pope was in bed with while my reputation was "less than satisfactory" [sp]read: the level where he won't even suffer my name being spoken[/sp] and that a ransom could be lucrative, I went for a ransom. [img]http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/560952154358307464/881E07A16C4C827FC9779FAE775E1751A0B74053/[/img] And then a 7 Star Prince came out of nowhere with a huge stack. I was exhausted enough by the last one so I just saved there.

I would have just executed them then and there to send a message.

[QUOTE=cdr248;37568868]I would have just executed them then and there to send a message.[/QUOTE] I was afraid the Pope would be prompted to send a nastier one, he is kinda pissed off with me. I attacked Scotland, took Edinburgh, got told to stop fighting by the Pope, so I obeyed, they laid siege, I beat them back, but I couldn't attack Inverness because the mission was still in effect. When It ended I laid siege. When that turn ended I got told to cease hostilities again. So now I am laying siege still and starving them out.

Is Medieval 2 like R:TW where the hud and everything is stretched/upscaled unless you play at 1024x768?

I hated the pope in Medieval 2.

[QUOTE=cdr248;37570758]I hated the pope in Medieval 2.[/QUOTE] Who didn't? :v: