Cities generate much larger income and are technological centers of a faction, but are more difficult to defend and only have access to militia troops, which are generally inferior to those trained at castles except for a select few unique units. Castles have better defensive capabilities and have access to a larger selection of soldiers, but generate less income, cannot train as many priests as cities, and have no access to higher civilian technologies.

Unlike previous Total War titles, there are two kinds of settlements, each with different advantages and disadvantages: cities and castles. Reviews and guides for Medieval II: Total War.Each faction controls a number of settlements, and must conquer others in order to continue growing. This post is part of the series: Medieval II: Total War Use their stakes to deter cavalry charges into your ranks. Be sure to train plenty of longbows as they are the English key unit and can make a decisive victory. You can train whatever cavalry you want but be sure to have some English Knights in your forces. In the later game train some Arquebusiers to replace your longbows with gunpowder units. Every army should also have several units of longbows. Dismounted knights are another key unit to have in your army. Your key unit to train towards is armored swordsmen which is a great infantry unit. Militia units are only good for city defense but donвЂ™t use them in a fight they arenвЂ™t worth it. Levy spearmen make a great early unit as do billmen. If any faction armies come into your territory you need to watch them closely because they may attack a weak city or castle, they are best eliminated right away. You can also set up border posts to watch for enemy troop movements. Check the pope screen and see which factions have a low rating with the pope or are excommunicated themselves and work towards eliminating those factions first.ДЄs you expand your empire put your castles on the edges of your territory to help defend and use cities inside your empire. This can lead to more wars then you have troops for and your downfall. DonвЂ™t attack fellow Christian nations unless you really need to in the beginning since you donвЂ™t want to be excommunicated from the church. If you have the army for it you should complete these emissions which can reward you with some troops once you complete them. Occasionally the pope will ask you to take settlements.

Move your diplomat to the highlighted tiles and make contact for rewards. As you move your diplomat you should get missions to make contact with other factions. It is to your advantage to take the early missions given to you by the Pope. Try to get your diplomats as far as the middle east for some great additional income. Be sure to recruit extra priests and send diplomats to establish trade rights with other countries you need the cash early on to build up your armies. To win youвЂ™ll need 45 provinces on the long campaign as well as Jerusalem province. Build up Nottingham and Caen until they can both produce longbows. Your cavalry arenвЂ™t as strong as other factions but you have great infantry and the longbow can be decisive is early battles. Your initial troops are weak so youвЂ™ll want to work towards Longbows as soon as possible which will give you a distinct advantage over your foes. After York has fallen the English player can work toward eliminating the Scots from the island and then move onto the French mainland. In England thereвЂ™s York, which should be the first target. Nearby are several rebel towns and these should be taken first. English players start with London, Caen in the Normandy region, and Nottingham.

England makes a great starting faction for most players. Medieval II Total War is a great addition to the medieval war games genre and a big improvement upon the first installment.

Medieval 2 total war