Game Corner

Medieval II: Total War

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An extraordinary task to try and improve on Rome: Total War, but Medieval II is most definitely an improvement. The graphics on the battlefield are beautiful, however slower systems with older graphics cards struggle to capitalize. The big improvements to gameplay are with the AI on the battlefield. In Rome, the AI was idiotic at defending fortified cities. The enemy commander would place few units to defend walls and often needlessly retreat back to the city center. In regular combat the AI could be severely outdone by using feint cavalry charges to break up large enemy armies into manageable bits, that could be locally outnumbered and broken by cavalry charges to the flanks and rear. In Medieval II, the computer opponent places infantry and archers on the city walls opposite your troops and moves them to counter your movements and it is much harder to win regular battles. While the experienced player can still make enough progress to keep the game interesting, one can not depend on the same battlefield advantage as with Rome: Total War. The level of challenge involved in the campaign game is inspiring. I hope that in the near future the Total War series will come out with a multi player campaign game.

This excellent video by Attila16 will introduce you to the thunder of battle

I've got to warn you, campaigns last a long... long... time. I've been playing the same campaign for about an hour and a half twice a week for the last 6 months. Granted the game goes much slower when you fight all your battles yourself and manage all the castles & towns in a large empire.

This next video shows part of a full campaign.

Ready to play?

Here's a few tips...

Battle

Since there is a wide variety of troops of all types, these are general pointers.

  • Use Spearmen against Horse
  • Use Heavy Infantry against Spearmen
  • Use Knights or light Horsemen either to charge skirmishing archers or to out flank infantry formations.
  • Use Pikemen against anything as long as they are in tight formation
  • (most)Archers are best against lightly armored adversaries.

The object in battle is not so much to win by attrition, but rather to use outflanking maneuvers to cause your enemy to flee. The main formula is to pin down strong units with infantry to allow your horse to charge them in the rear. The main exception is the enemy general, (usually a powerful horse unit). Pin the general down with knights and finish him off with spearmen. Don't leave your knights in a long fight. Withdraw them and charge again.

Campaign

The campaign moves through many phases as the years progress. There is a total of 225 turns, spanning the years 1080-1520.

  • Turn 1-15: Go all out to capture any rebel towns you can, while concentrating on building up farms in all your cities & castles. A well used merchant might be worth it. Also, consider sending an expeditionary force to conquer a more distant rebel town. Have diplomats gain trade agreements and map info. Don't bother with alliances unless you really want to.
  • Turn 10-20: Begin to specialize cities & castles to build certain units. Use one castle for knights, one for infantry, one for archers and siege weapons. Choose a town for spearmen and another for priests/merchants etc. Start building ports and other trade related buildings.
  • Turn 10-30: Choose your first victim (they may well choose you). Pick a neighboring kingdom to attack. Choose one that will not upset the Pope if you have the option, but don't be too afraid of excommunication. Attack as many of your enemies cities & castles as you can in one or two turns. If possible, provoke your enemy to attack an army next to their city as a defensive victory in that circumstance will capture the town or castle without a siege. Sacking cities & castles provides an excellent source of income. The Pope usually gets upset and asks you to stop attacking. Decide based on your military's ability to score more quick conquests whether to regroup or continue and get excommunicated.
  • Turn 20-50: Your main source of income will change from farms to trade and taxes. Also, consider sacking at least 1 city or town every turn to keep your cash flow up and your money moving. Your conquests should include the territories of at least one or two former kingdoms. The specialized cities & towns of your earlier kingdom will loose their value as they become further away from the front lines. Acquire trebuchet for quick sieges. Ignore the Pope.
  • Turn 50-120: Grow your Empire. Part of the genius of the Campaign game is that, even though you should now have a dominant empire, you'll still find yourself fighting challenging battles on multiple fronts. Though your capitol is likely safe, you'll be threatened across your frontier.

If you are not playing on Very Hard Battles/Very Hard Campaign, then much of the challenge of the game is lost. I recommend playing a campaign or two on the Very Hard setting until you gain enough experience to do well in the first 20 turns and want to see the campaign to the end. If you play until the 1400's there will be a "world is round" event that will allow you to build the larger boats needed to sail to the Americas. Send a very large army or two with lots of priests/merchants. Oh, and a crusade or two to the Holy Land never hurts.

I once had a general lead a crusade from England to the Holy Land. His ship was defeated in battle, so he fled to Rhodes. Then conquered Rhodes, raised a new army and attacked Jerusalem. Was soundly defeated, fled, raised a mercenary army while hiding in the desert and eventually conquered several Middle Eastern cities. Very fun...

Further Resources