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#4377294 - 09/01/17 01:40 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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One of the biggest changes with the Charlemagne DLC is that having your provincial tax rate on the middle level (standard) now incurs a public order penalty of -10!

I've finished the campaign twice as Mercia and the main priority should be to try and get peace with one of the Welsh factions so you can concentrate your forces to take out the other one. Divide and conquer!

Kent is kind of weird because it's like a 50/50 chance whether they'll declare war on you or not. If they do declare war on you the best you can do is wipe out the Welsh factions ASAP so you can then turn south and deal with Kent.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 09/01/17 01:40 PM.

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#4377309 - 09/01/17 02:17 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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I was thinking I could take the Welsh on in turn, as they are OPMs (EU IV for one province minor). I took out the first (Gwynedd?) in three turns, but no way I could take on the next to the northwest and also Kent to the southeast with my limited forces. So I will try what you suggest and see if I can get a peace with the other Welsh faction to buy some time. Frankly I think all would have been fine if Kent hadn't gone rogue smile

How back stabby is the AI?


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#4377312 - 09/01/17 02:33 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Originally Posted by DBond


How back stabby is the AI?


I've noticed in Attila and the two DLC's that factions that start off the campaign not liking you (-50 diplomatic status or lower) or at war with you will almost certainly backstab you later if you happen to get peace with them. The worst mistake you can do is to get peace with that faction and then to move all of your armies away to another part of the campaign map. I usually try to leave at least one medium sized army behind so that I don't get caught with my pants down when they inevitably declare war on me again.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 09/01/17 02:43 PM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4377337 - 09/01/17 03:56 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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It's been quite a while since I played AOC, but I also played as Mercia my first two campaigns. It's been so long now that I simply don't remember a lot about them. I do remember that in all that time, the British Isles were never invaded by the Danes or anyone else, so I was able to play unmolested by any outside factions just as you have surmised. I have heard this same experience from other players on the TW fan sites. Charlemagne is indeed hard to get a trade agreement with, but I finally did at some point. One point that you may already have figured out has to do with the new province structure that has 3 physically and financially intertwined settlements with only one being walled. The A.I. will go out of its way to avoid attacking the walled settlement, so if you have an army in the area--always put it in the most appropriate unfortified settlement. The garrison troops are fairly competent in these games, so a relatively small force along with those of the garrison can hold off a much larger attacking force using the choke points with your troops in a shield wall or static testudo in the main Attila game.

If I remember correctly, it takes a while to get the necessary building to recruit cavalry for the Mercians, However, along with a few onagers, cavalry can really help with taking out archers, hitting engaged infantry with rear attacks, and running down routing troops, so you don't have to face them again. One can recruit merc cavalry in a tight spot, but their maintenance costs are so high that one has to usually dismiss them immediately after use. Also there is a long standing mechanic in all the TW games since Medieval II--- in that if your army has long range artillery and the enemy has none, or you just have more than they do, the enemy will become the aggressor no matter who initiates the battle. Obviously, even in field battles, managing a static defense and getting to choose the ground can be a great advantage. For this reason alone, I always work toward building whatever structure is needed for siege engines so I can recruit them as quickly as possible, which in turn forces the enemy A.I. to always be the aggressor on the field.

After taking all of the British isles, I avoided going up against Charlemagne, and managed to pick on everybody else around his domain to achieve the victory conditions. I think I went directly to Iberia (Spain), and worked my way along the north shore of the Mediterranean/. I don't know why I was afraid of taking on Charlemagne. I have a Kingdom of the Danes campaign half completed that I sort of abandoned for the same reason. I conquered all the British Isles, then tackled the few provinces not held by Charlemagne on the Normandy coast and then just sort of held off going up against them. I acquired another game about that time (Mad Max, I think) and just stopped with the TW campaign. It's been so long since I left that campaign in limbo, that I'd have trouble trying to restart it.

Playing as the Danes in AOC was initially was interesting. You get big bonuses for sacking English settlements without taking them, so you have to do this at first since it's your only source of income and then eventually capture the town for occupation The Danes also get a "restless Warrior" trait that gives them a large negative faction wide public order penalty until they raid and sack a certain number of settlements on the British mainland. After they take the islands, then they play like any other faction.

Maybe, I'll try to restart that campaign after I finish as the Saxons in the main Attila campaign.

Cheers






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#4377339 - 09/01/17 04:08 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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I had a ton of fun playing as the Emirate of Cordoba in AOC. Not only are they unique in being the only Muslim playable faction, but I also like the unique architecture of the buildings and other structures you could build for your settlements. The end game is also pretty straight forward. Just conquer all of Spain and you are good to go. smile No need to go into France and fight Charlemagne and the other Christian factions.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4377378 - 09/01/17 06:24 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: Forward Observer]  
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Originally Posted by Forward Observer


managed to pick on everybody else around his domain to achieve the victory conditions.




Thanks again. So how do the victory conditions work? In other TW games you pick short, long or domination. In this one I guess you can do all 3 in the same run? Or am I getting it wrong?

How many turns is the AoC campaign, or what is the end year, if any? My first impression led me to believe that perhaps I would aim to expand at a slower pace than what I am accustomed to.

So much new stuff to learn. One example... when I decided to create the army to guard London I had to pick a general, as FO alluded to earlier. I understand how to pick by stats, but I wondered if there was a drawback to selecting a figure listed as a Statesman for instance. I should start a new thread.


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#4377379 - 09/01/17 06:28 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Originally Posted by DBond
[



How many turns is the AoC campaign, or what is the end year, if any? My first impression led me to believe that perhaps I would aim to expand at a slower pace than what I am accustomed to.

.



AoC is 4 turns per year and there is no end year time limit to finish the campaign. The victory conditions are a bit unique in that all you have to do to reach a "minor" victory is to reach a specific imperium level. If you want to get the total or "dominant" victory though you also have to take a certain number of settlements in addition to the imperium level. If you play as the Danes I think you also have to sack a certain number of settlements.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 09/01/17 06:29 PM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4377384 - 09/01/17 06:39 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Right, I see the VCs, but it's not something you need to choose at the start right? You just play until you hit any or all of them?


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#4377386 - 09/01/17 06:54 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Originally Posted by DBond
You just play until you hit any or all of them?



Correct!

I actually have always found it funny whenever a TW campaign doesn't have an end year time limit. Wouldn't it be silly to be playing a Rome 2 campaign well into the 14th century? biggrin

Shogun 2 was the last TW title to have time limits for the campaigns.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4377514 - 09/02/17 12:26 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Thanks. Started over again and got a much better handle on things. This time around I avoided a DoW from Kent and that makes things much easier. Knocked out Powys and Gwynedd. Gwynedd would not agree to any sort of peace, so now exist only in history books smile

My main complaint with the TW series has always been what I feel is weak non-combat/peace time gameplay. Politics, espionage, trade, diplomacy and so on. It's clear playing AoC that CA has made an effort to address some of these shortcomings. It's still a long way from what I'd like to see, but they are making some effort.

I have yet to get a grasp on the 'dynasty' mechanics. Control, influence, court and that sort of stuff. I've appointed a couple of dudes to posts, though one had failed and I had to choose a decision to trade influence for installing him in that position. Any insight in to what you guys are looking to do. What should I be paying attention to? Am I setting myself up for rebellion or something by trading influence for example?


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#4377532 - 09/02/17 02:32 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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I'm not sure I totally understand the political side of the game. It's sort like trying to herd cats. There are two factors: 1. Dominion and 2. Control. If you go to your main faction political page--at the left on the top you will see a line of ten rolled up scrolls that measures your dominion. On the right will be a half dial that shows your control level. These are somehow averaged to give a percentage of total power level, which you should attempt to keep balanced somewhere between about 40 and 60%.

Dominion is simply all of yours and your family's influence points when totaled against that of your generals and governors. Both your heirs, their wives, and your wife will gain influence points as will your generals. Mostly for winning battles with the exception of the wives in your family. There is no way to control those points gained by the wives that I can tell, so it must be simply a percentage of what the husbands get. Sometimes if you or one of your heirs marries the daughter of another faction, they will snag a wife who comes with a bonus number of influence points. This just seems to be pure chance though.

One of the imbalances seems to stem from appointing Admirals. There is simply a not a lot of naval action compared to land battles, so your few admirals don't seem to gain many influence points. This would be OK if it were not for the fact that then you have to skip over them for political appointment which can effect their loyalty.

Obviously, you want to use your king and any of his generals who are family to fight most of your battles, so they gain lots of influence points. However, once your holdings get big, that becomes a bit harder to control and if you don't have a lot of heirs it's even harder. If course by appointing your generals to offices, they have to spend influence points, so this how your try to keep a balance. You just have to be careful when appointing generals because if you are forced to skip over a general or an admiral because he does not have enough influence points for an office, he will get pissed off if you appoint someone of a lower rank who has the necessary points. This may cause the passed over officer's loyalty factor to drop to dangerous levels and this is where that issue of Admiral inactivity comes into play. The only way to counter wavering loyalty is for you or a member of your family to spend influence points to secure their loyalty. Alternatively, one of you can also spend points to have him assassinated. You might choose this if both his loyalty is wavering and he has developed some nasty traits that keep him from being effective in the field.


Control is supposed to be your control over the political situation. It's shown as a percentage, but the game is less clear about how to manage it. One of the things that will happen is when a political decision comes up such as one of your subjects wanting to get married or there are objections to one of your political appointees. If you have the choice of letting the appointee spend some of his influence point to obtain the office, then that is the obvious choice since it increases your dominion and does not decrease your control. If you have to spend your influence points then it's less desirable. You will then have a choice of spending influence points or alternatively loose a small percentage of control. If your power is in good shape, but your dominion is low then take the power hit and do not spend your influence points.

Clear as mud--right?


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#4377546 - 09/02/17 03:50 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Hey F/O, thanks for taking the time. That helps alot, and there is certainly more to it than I had guessed. Much appreciated.


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#4377900 - 09/05/17 11:03 AM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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One major thing to keep in mind with the internal political aspect is to make sure that you don't give offices to characters who have a lower rank over characters who have a higher rank. Doing that incurs a major loyalty hit and you risk a general or a governor revolting against you. So for example, if you have a level 5 general who doesn't have enough influence to be given an office, then it is best to NOT give an office to anyone else who is level 4 or lower. Just wait until your level 5 general accumulates enough influence and then you can assign offices.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4377925 - 09/05/17 02:05 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Great tip about the promotions PM. I noticed at one point a general's loyalty had a malus for promoting someone he outranked. Got it now smile

Can you go more in to what you mean by 'not enough influence'. What is enough? I would like to understand all of this better so I can control my empire efficiently. Like when an event pops up about a character making a move for office. Is he the right one? Is it better to lose control or influence? That sort of stuff. I understand it's situational, but I have yet to get the feel for it.


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#4377927 - 09/05/17 02:12 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Originally Posted by DBond


Can you go more in to what you mean by 'not enough influence'. What is enough? I would like to understand all of this better so I can control my empire efficiently. Like when an event pops up about a character making a move for office. Is he the right one? Is it better to lose control or influence? That sort of stuff. I understand it's situational, but I have yet to get the feel for it.



I don't remember the specific values but each office in the hierarchy requires a specific amount of influence and there's also a minimum age requirement.


The great thing about Age of Charlemagne is that the office appointments are permanent and don't expire after 8 turns like they do in Attila and The Last Roman DLC. You can keep the character in that office until they die or get killed.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4379597 - 09/14/17 02:47 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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OK, I've now played every Total War game aside form Warhammer, Rome 2, Shogun and Medieval. How is Warhammer by the way? I'd guess that most of us are historical type players, but I'm curious if Warhammer is worth a look?

So with that in mind I will update my list.

1. Attila and Age of Charlemagne. -- Maybe it's because I'm currently in to it, but this is my favorite. I still prefer the combat from Napoleon, but it's everything else about the game that I find improved. The non-combat stuff is more interesting, involved and challenging. Welcome agent limits have eliminated AI agent spam. Diplomacy is improved if still rather basic, but it uses a more robust modifier system reminiscent of Paradox games. City planning is more challenging, as you try to keep the balance between order, religion, income, food and sanitation. The design of this game eliminates much of the tedium found in earlier games. I don't know what the historical title is that CA have in the works, but I would love to have a gunpowder game in this engine. No mods used yet.

2. Napoleon -- It's kind of a toss-up between Nappy and Shogun 2. But the gunpowder combat swings it. Fall of the Samurai is a great campaign, and there is gunpowder in it (Shogun 2 for that matter). But Nappy edges it, and is the only TW game where I enjoy playing some of the smaller campaigns. I use Darthmod.

3 Shogun 2 and Fall of the Samurai-- Great art style, interesting period. Cool tech tree, dreadful trade mechanics and AI agent spam. Fun game, especially FotS which fixes the trade crap. Awesome artillery. Realm Divide isn't much fun. Overall though a really good TW game that has a few missteps. I use no mods.

4 Medieval 2 and Kingdoms -- I think is the most strategic campaign. Possibly the best melee combat of the series as well. The grand campaign truly is. But the micromanagement required causes this game to fall down my list. But it has Crusades! I like the general/governor mechanic and the military//economic city mechanic. Terrible siege battles and poor battle AI. Best trait system for me. Late game turns can take an hour, and that's without battles! Stainless Steel 6.4 mod.

5. Empire -- Another good gunpowder game with some terrible naval combat and a map that perhaps is too ambitious. There is plenty to like, but this game suffered from a poor release. It's better now, but there isn't enough of anything that's great to push it further up my list. I play with Darthmod, which improves the gameplay significantly.

6. Rome -- This was my entry in to the series. I have fond memories and had not played anything like it. Love the strat map music. But it hasn't held up well in my opinion.


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#4379614 - 09/14/17 03:49 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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As far as Warhammer goes, being a non historical based game, I have no interest in it. I can't speak for Panzer, but I think I've heard him say essentially the same thing. I think the game is doing well since fantasy based RTS seem to have a large following. I just hope it doesn't do so well that CA/Sega makes a major shift away from historical games.

Cheers


Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
#4379645 - 09/14/17 06:06 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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Yeah, I can dig it. I would think I'm right there with you. But at the same time I like playing RPGs and FPSs that are fantasy. And it seems it's a big hit. I might have to give it a go if it goes on sale to see what I think. If it can be bought for 10 clams why not?

Warhmammer is to be a trilogy, as I imagine you already know. So CA are obviously happy with sales. None of their other TW games have gone to number 3.


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#4380387 - 09/20/17 10:48 AM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: Forward Observer]  
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Originally Posted by Forward Observer
As far as Warhammer goes, being a non historical based game, I have no interest in it. I can't speak for Panzer, but I think I've heard him say essentially the same thing. I think the game is doing well since fantasy based RTS seem to have a large following. I just hope it doesn't do so well that CA/Sega makes a major shift away from historical games.

Cheers



You are correct FO. I'm glad the game is doing well because it benefits Creative Assembly.


I'm not worried about CA dumping the historical stuff anytime soon since they did announce officially that they are working on a new title and DLC.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4380498 - 09/20/17 07:32 PM Re: What's your favorite Total War Title? [Re: DBond]  
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This guy wanted to play along but I guess he couldn't find SimHQ? anyway he makes some good points.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/04/best-total-war/


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