r/totalwar

literally every second custom battle lobby i join has some guy who box-camps in the corner of the red line with pikes and heavy missiles. it’s so annoying to play against.

normally i try to just bring heavy artillery or wait them out, but it completely ruins the fun of the match.

was talking about this with my campaign/battle group last night and we couldn’t agree on the best way to crack them open without taking massive losses. what’s your go-to strategy to deal with these guys?

I'm very excited for Medieval III and am interested in their choice of starting date for 1140. It's not a year where much of big consequence happened (i.e. 1066), but there is a lot of important stuff going on around that time. So I just wanted to discuss the five announced nations and some content that could surround them.

1. England: In 1140 England is ruled by Stephen I of England and is in the Civil War with his Cousin Matilda for control of the thrown. The Anarchy was in early days, but Matilda had a secure position in the West Country and Anjou and East Anglia was about to defect to her in 1140. Additionally, she had support from Scotland.. The main content for England is to win the Anarchy as one side or end in a compromise whereby Matilda's son Henry becomes the heir. This would occur if the civil war goes on too long. I'm not sure if Creative Assembly would let you pick a side at the start of the war, buy it should be interesting as a tutorial nation that makes you focus on your internal realm before beginning to expand into Europe.

2. France: in 1140 is ruled by Louis VII who is only 20. However, he is recently married to THE Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most powerful woman in Europe. However, the marriage was not happy and that led to their divorce and her later marrying the King of England (Henry II), really upsetting the balance. Louis also got into conflict with Pope Innocent II over some appointments that saw him in conflict with the Duke of Champagne. Early content for France would therefore focus on trying to keep the marriage with Eleanor going and how much power you cede to the Pope to maintain good relations.

3. Holy Roman Empire: In 1140 the HRE is ruled by Conrad III who was a compromise candidate designed to check the power of the Salian Dynasty and replace it with the new Hohenstaufen Dynasty. Conrad and his successor (nephew) Frederick Barbarossa had to deal with trying to bring the Italian city states to heal as well as conflicts with the Welfs in the HRE proper. Barbarossa had a very long and eventful reign when he came to power in 1153 and focused on trying to control the various princes of his empire.

4. Byzantine Empire: In 1140 the Eastern Romans are Ruled by John II, who has spent his reign reconquering Anatolia from the Turks and trying to subjugate Antioch. John had four sons, but in 1142 his two eldest sons died and in 1143 he would pass away paving the way for his youngest son Manuel to become Emperor for the next 37 years. Byzantine content would focus on the multiple directions of threat to them from the Sicilian Norman's, the Turks of Iconium, maintenance of the border with Hungary, and getting Antioch back from the Crusaders. Additionally, there would be concerns over the succession of John II with his sons scripted to die and the fate of the Empire between his son Isaac and the dynamic Manuel.

5. Seljuk Sultanate: In 1140 the idea of the Seljuk Sultanate is a bit of a misnomer more analogous to the HRE than anything else. The various warlords of the Empire were fairly independent. The most famous of these was Imad al-Din Zengi who conquered Edessa and sent Saladin to overthrow the Fatamids (Saladin was a bit too successful). Edessa fell in 1144 and set the stage for the 2nd Crusade (more on this later). There was also the breakaway Sejuk Sultanate of Rum (Rome) based in Anatolia that most westerns are more familiar with as the precursor to the Ottoman. This was made up of exiles from the main Sultanate and in 1140 it was ruled by Mesud I. Not much is known of his reign besides fighting the 2nd Crusade. If the Sejuk Sultanate of Rum is the playable faction the content will be focused on fighting to defeat the other kingdom on the Anatolian Plateau (the Danishmendids) and then deciding whether to make a home in Anatolia among the Turks and Greeks of Eastern Rome or fight back and take over the crumbling Seljuk Sultanate of the Middle East.

6. Kingdom of Jerusalem: In 1140 Jerusalem is ruled by King Fulk and is trying to consolidate power among the Crusader States as well as maintain peace with the Emir of Damascus. Historically he died in 1143 (the same year as John II) and resulted in Melisende becoming Queen of Jerusalem as regent for her son Baldwin III. The main focus would be on the Crusades and Preservation of the Crusder States by confederate the smaller kingdoms and principalities.

7. The Almohad Caliphate: In 1140 the Almohad Caliphate was in the process of overthrowing the Almoravids and were about to begin conquering the independent Muslim lands of Spain. Although they aren't an announced faction, I feel they have a strong case to be made. Iberia at this time was very interesting and has been a focus of CA's presentations.

What are your thoughts? What other content do you feel would be good to include?Empire.

The other major bit of content to add would be the 2nd Crusade following the capture of any Crusader region to the forces of Islam (historically Edessa, but it could be anywhere for scripting). This would see the Pope call the 2nd Crusade and the different player nations would have different reactions and effects. The English would send a Crusade that probably ends up fighting in Iberia (capture of Lisbon), France and the HRE would have decisions for the King/Emperor to go and fight, the Byzantines and Turks would have to supply or fight the Crusaders passing through their lands. Jerusalem would have to try to direct the Crusade to its benefit and failure to do so would see the alliance with Damascus destroyed and the risk of it falling into the hands of Zengi or a more powerful rival, weakening their overall position.

I sincerely hope 40k handles this better. I just can't even bring myself to play a full campaign anymore because it's so tedius.

every battle feels inconsequential because armies are replenished and recruited almost instantly.

Large, pitched battles should feel defining. instead I have to beat the same ratmen stack like 5-6 times before it's over. it's just tiring more than it is fun.

Then you're often playing factions that are absolutely surrounded by other enemy factions with basically zero option for diplomacy. So you're often fighting 2-3 factions at the same time with no ability to negotiate aside from extremely short term "non-aggression pacts" which any designated enemy faction will simply ignore after a few turns.

This just makes the issue worse, as I know even after I've fought this current faction down to the last pebble there's simply another one eating away at my opposite border.

Is three kingdoms better with this?

I'm looking for a lot less battles, more diplomacy options, and a lot more emphasis on the battles themselves. I don't want to have to fight a faction 7 times in massive battles before I finally win against one single faction.

I'm not asking to steam roll either, but having so many battles just makes each one feel meaningless.

Y algunas configuraciónes que tuvieron que hacer para mejorarlo