Call me a pansy....

[Kawzmo191]

.....but the scale of RFC Europe kinda daunts me in two ways. In no way though is it a knock against the mod, it's actually a credit to it's maker(s).

1) I'm unfamiliar with the reworked tech tree. I'm lost as to if I should be beelining for certain techs as certain civs, because in the two games I've played as Venice and France, whenever I try to spread out my research I'm behind in every sense. Militarily, Economically and Scientifically.

2) The variety of military units and their different bonuses thrills me and sets me aghast at the same time. Gone are the days of building lvl 2 crossbowman and setting off. I don't know what would be the closest thing to a standard, middle-of-the-road, jack of all trades unit. As well when I played as France I was having nowhere near as easy of a time expanding to the Rhine and Atlantic as the AI was during my Venice game.

In short I downloaded this mod and I love it, but I've been so gunshy from my lack of success as France that I've put off playing this. I want to eventually get to the late 18th century as the French and go on a several-front conquest spree ala Napoleon. Just to build France to it's "natural frontiers" by say, 1600, should I prioritize infrastructure and science or units and military techs? Guide me, those wiser than myself.

 

[Wessel V1]

To get a jump start, you might conquer some barbarian cities in France. Like in Vanilla BtS, the first barbarian battles are guaranteed wins. Use them to get a city raider III unit, and take out the independent cities in France too. Protect your borders, and build science. There is no real threat apart from some pre-Viking raiders, so if you pay attention to those they are already gone. Overall it is wise to look at the complete tech tree to get a feeling. Then, distinguish the key techs from the less important ones. Generally, techs that unlock corporations are too be beelined, just like techs that increase commerce (buildings) or science. Once you have a scientific lead, trade some techs with more militaristic civs, especially Byzantium can be a good partner for trade.

 

[merijn_v1]

I have it too when I play a new mod. You should just play a few times. Then you get used to the new mod. IMO this is the best method to learn the mod.

 

[sinitahr]

Yea, it's really something you get used to.
In my games, the only techs I really beeline are Chivalry (Knights are incredible), commerce wonders techs (Marco Polo, San Marco), and it's usually good to beeline Public Work for that free tech wonder and use it to get Renaissance Art which unlocks five (I think) very good wonders.

As for military, Archery are for defense, heavy infantry is for offense, Pikes and spears takes horses, Light cavalry are mostly recon for speed attacks, and Heavy cavalry is the real muscle. Gunpowder are all purpose, but the go on the offensive only from musketmen, since they are the first to be distinctively stronger then Heavy Infantry.
And siege units are for, you know... Siege

 

[Kawzmo191]

As for military, Archery are for defense, heavy infantry is for offense, Pikes and spears takes horses, Light cavalry are mostly recon for speed attacks, and Heavy cavalry is the real muscle. Gunpowder are all purpose, but the go on the offensive only from musketmen, since they are the first to be distinctively stronger then Heavy Infantry.
And siege units are for, you know... Siege

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was having some of my biggest trouble (after keeping up in techs) in organizing an army. All of yall's posts have helped embolden me to fire up the mod again. I'm thinking Genoa to get a feel for things, that and their crazy-powerful banks would make the tech part a cake walk. Possibly Poland since their UHV seems pretty straightforward.

Also does anyone feel like this is a much more hardcore/esoteric game than regular rfc? The focus on a single area and culture, along with the minutiae of techs & units make me feel much more like starting a game and following it through, whereas normal RFC has me restarting games or leaving in the middle w/o saving.

 

[Wessel V1]

I think it is both more hardcore but also less hardcore. Currently, RFCE has a softer gameplay, so you are allowed to do more strange stuff than in RFC, so less hardcore. However, it focusses on a tighter timeframe and on a small part of the world, so it would normally appeal to less people, which makes it more hardcore. There are of course exceptions; I thought that this timeframe really was one of the dullest parts of European history, but it actually made me quite interested in it.

 

[sinitahr]

Glad to help.

This mod, in my opinion, is most different in the part where you can get each and every civ to the end of the era without much struggle or unexplainable stability deterioration that the old civs experience in Vanilla RFC (Most noticeable with civs like Egypt or China, at least last time I checked). Also, every civ can keep up with the tech tree unlike RFC. Don't know if it makes it more or less hardcore, mostly because I don't really know what you guys consider as hardcore

 

[Kawzmo191]

Started a germany game yesterday but it was running like sludge so I quit around 1050 or so. I had koblenz as my capital, augsburg, konstanz, and i fudged Leipzig by placing it one tile too far west to get the fruit.

 

[fdgsgds]

Started a germany game yesterday but it was running like sludge so I quit around 1050 or so. I had koblenz as my capital, augsburg, konstanz, and i fudged Leipzig by placing it one tile too far west to get the fruit.

I actually find Germany to be quite difficult (crappy land in the north, Burgundy and France can be rather strong), and I have been playing the mod for ages. I think that for starters the best civ would be Kiev (put 5 Guisarmes in each city east of Kiev along with walls and castles; capture Constantinople with Druzhinas for a monster city and ~+30 gold per turn). Also easy are Spain, Venice, and most of all, Arabia (garrison Jerusalem to kill the Crusaders).

My tips are:
- Don't over-expand, each city over 10 cities makes every tech cost 10% more.
- Rush for Knights, they're kick-ass.
- Rush for Medici Banks (req. Banking and Great Merchant; an alternative is Bank of St. George), spread it to all your cities and trade for fur and sheep. You will have a surplus of wealth with 100% research in no time.
- There are about seven good cities in Itay, try to get them, especially as France, (Milan, Genoa, Venice [not worth it], Florence, Naples, Caltanisetta [or is it Agrigento? ... They are both in Sicily])
- Try to capture Damascus, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and possibly . They all have great wonders and good income.
- Build a Castle in each capable city. It gives +1 trade route which has saved me from economic collapse as France and England and Poland numerous times.

 

[merijn_v1]

I actually find Germany to be quite difficult (crappy land in the north, Burgundy and France can be rather strong), and I have been playing the mod for ages. I think that for starters the best civ would be Kiev (put 5 Guisarmes in each city east of Kiev along with walls and castles; capture Constantinople with Druzhinas for a monster city and ~+30 gold per turn). Also easy are Spain, Venice, and most of all, Arabia (garrison Jerusalem to kill the Crusaders).

My tips are:
- Don't over-expand, each city over 10 cities makes every tech cost 10% more.
- Rush for Knights, they're kick-ass.
- Rush for Medici Banks (req. Banking and Great Merchant; an alternative is Bank of St. George), spread it to all your cities and trade for fur and sheep. You will have a surplus of wealth with 100% research in no time.
- There are about seven good cities in Itay, try to get them, especially as France, (Milan, Genoa, Venice [not worth it], Florence, Naples, Caltanisetta [or is it Agrigento? ... They are both in Sicily])
- Try to capture Damascus, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and possibly . They all have great wonders and good income.
- Build a Castle in each capable city. It gives +1 trade route which has saved me from economic collapse as France and England and Poland numerous times.

In the vanilla RFC. In RFCE your can have 14 cities without a penalty.