Transition from RTW to MTW2 not as smooth as I expected...

[duckmanbro]

Yes, I know they are 2 completely different games, and yes, I know that there would be some strategies that aren't as applicable in MTW2 as they were in RTW. But what am I doing so wrong that at least 300-400 men of almost 1000 get wiped out by a mere 500 opposing men? BTW, I play as the English!

I guess that the strategy I always used on RTW was archers archers archers, followed by an infantry attack after my Mangonels broke through the walls and decimated the towers and gatehouse. I rarely used cavalry (well, playing as the Romans anyhow), but my main contingent consisted of 6-7 groups of archers, 6-7 hastati (or principes or cohorts depending on tech era) which provided more ranged support with pilae.

Are there any good strategies that you guys have come up with for MTW? I find that no matter what I try, I get my butt handed to me on a platter, and lose far too many men. I guess I need to start varying my troops a little more, as a starter...

 

[Civfan333]

YES!! You have to use some cavalry, doesn't have to be heavy, more infantry, medium and heavy..... I usually lose 100-200 if you use the terrain to your advantage

 

[germanicus12]

Oh, yes Cavalry is a must in this period. Especially the knights who can either fight on horseback or on foot. But these are unlocked later in the game, so you will have to get by with medium to heavy cavalry to break the enemy lines so your infantry will not lose as many men and break easily.

Archers are important but not as vital, when you get longbowmen, they can make the difference between victory and defeat for your army. But other weaker units wont do as much.

The English actually are in a pretty tough spot in the beginning, their funds are low and their army is weak. But they have no enemies, save for the occasional rebel or scottish army. If you are careful you can make England an economic powerhouse in just a few turns. I did this easily by focusing on ports and traders. Establishing trade with France is a must, as well as with the Dutch and Spanish. Others are not needed but could help you if you accept.

 

[Ajidica]

Yes, cavalry are very important, but not the end all. I belive feudal knights will be slaughterd when charcing into armored serjeants. Archers are still really important, keep them behind your battle line so they can keep firing. With any knights below chivalraic, I rarely use them in a frontal charge. Put them on the flanks, surround the enemy, and cut them down. One word of warning about this tactic, use the cavalry to late, your battle line gets slaughters, or to early and your cavalry get slaughtered.
I have played medieval quite extensivly, once you get the hang of it is easy. To get better. Look at real battles and see what the commanders did there.
(My tactic is predominantly Byzantine influance.)

 

[Civfan333]

sometimes I attack with my main infantry and some cavalry while my main cavalry sneaks behind them.... when I charge, the whole enemy usually routs...

 

[duckmanbro]

Hmm OK, thanks guys. I just need to vary my tactics and troop variety and see what happens!

 

[Civfan333]

Great! have you tried it yet?

 

[duckmanbro]

Yup. Just took Paris relatively unguarded. I had over 900 men, with 2 catapults, 5 units of archers, 6 Billmen, 10 mailed knights. I went a bit overboard with the knights, but it was just a link up of a few knights I had cleaning up rebel minorities killing trade routes.

Still, I lost 200 odd men, but I guess it started better than I did before!

 

[Ajidica]

Have you tried playing as the Byzantines? They are really fun. if you last long enough, you get Cataphracts, which beat Chivalraic Knights. You also get Latinkon, powerful horse archers, above average archers, but slightly poor infantry. You do get the Varangian Guard, so your infantry isnt half bad.

 

[Civfan333]

well, I think you have to conquer them first cuz I think you don't get to use them at first.....

 

[Ajidica]

Nope, go into a text file, move them from unlockable into playable. Don't move the unplayable ones in. It make the game go weird. I don't remember the path to the file, but it is called desc_strat or something like that in the campaign map file.

 

[duckmanbro]

Yeah, I tried that with RTW, but Vista won't let me even see the desc.txt files.

Any ideas?

 

[Elta]

Yeah, I tried that with RTW, but Vista won't let me even see the desc.txt files.

Any ideas?

Put it on small campaign and win a game real quick. Spam Jinetes that Spain get and win really quick. All you need 2 do on the small campaign is defeat the Moors,Portuguese and get 15 provinces. It should be a sinch.

 

[Ajidica]

Can you not find the files or not open the files? If you can't find them, make sure your looking in the right place. If you can't open them, make sure your trying to open them with notepad.
EDIT: Or you can play a short campaign as venice. Byzantium is abysmal in the hands of an AI.

 

[Stuck in Pi]

One thing you will find about MTW2: The game is about 400 turns shorter. In the beginning, you have to instantly spam military. Here is how I won as Portugal:

Instantly took starting armies and attacked the Moors. Succeded retaking their European holdings, then I turned North into Spain. They died. Afterwords, I threw some boats in the channel between Europe and Africa so that nothing could come by land, and nothing ever came by sea since my boats were always better. Then France, Milan, Venice, Spain, and the HRE all fell under my rule, in that order. At that point, the pope was portugese, and when I had 44 territories, I called a Crusade to Jerusalem. (this was a one turn crusade, I had captured Gaza eariler with a mercenary army that was heading to Jerusalem, but got beat to it.) I won.

But back to strategy. The Byzantines are great until the Mongols come. Then it's very difficult to hold on unless you can stop them at a citadel. Anyway, it's normally best to keep cities and castles what they are, and if you capture a village, make it a city unless it will be a major front line. Also, watch relations with the pope at all times. Don't get excommunicated. All I can think of for now.

 

[Stuck in Pi]

Oh, and let the computer auto-resolve seige battles. You take many less casualties.

 

[Ajidica]

As Byzantium, the Mogols were really hard but not catastophic. For me, most of their horse archers were killed by the turks or when they invaded egypt. As long as you stay in your cities and build enough units, the Mongols arn't coming through. If it goes really bad, pull back to Europe, and if you place a ship at the two place the mogols can come across on the Bosphorus, they can't come through.
@Stuck in Pi: Why do you let the comp do siege battles? I find I take more casualties.

 

[Civfan333]

After England, Who are you going to play as?

 

[Stuck in Pi]

I find that against a city with very minimal defenders, if I control my army I take about 20 casualties. The computer: 1-2. By minimal, I mean militia, only 1-4 groups. Otherwise the city is going to be starved.

 

[Ajidica]

It may just be that I always play as Byzantium, so I am fighting against Venecies good militias, and the turks archers. I find that while I may take more casualties when I fight it, the losses are from my infantry, not my archers or cavalry. That is better because the AI seems to like building melee training centers than archer training centers.