I just got this great game, but im finding it rather difficult. Ive spent a few days getting familiar with the game and scanning the book. But I find them lacking in some areas, especially the tutorials. First of all, I havent found anything explaining what the "Route" and "Rally" functions do, nor is it explained Im supposed to do with the people caught after a battle(e.g 156 men caught and 2 nobles. then i have three options: Execute all, execute ringleaders or free all. Whats the difference/effects?). Lastly, what is a good way to gain wealth? Im running rather low, and am not gaining enough more(about 500 florins per year/turn), and Ive got all provinces at full taxing and most have the 60% farm-thing. Lastly, Im thinking of starting over. I was playing with the English, but is there a better option out there(thinking about Egyptians or the Byzantines), I now notice that the English are classed "Moderate" in difficulty...

If you execute all prisoners, there's a chance the province might revolt. It happens a lot if you're in a completely different region than where youi originally come from. I found out that the most hazardous places regarding local uprisings are in eastern europe (where the Novgorod people live) and the middle east (Almohads and Egyptian territory), unless you leave a massive army behind to secure the place.

You probably know that during combat, you also take a lot of enemy soldiers captive. Here you have two options as well. You can either execute them right away, which can either lead to them fighting until the bitter end, because they know you show no mercy, or they flee the battlefield much sooner, also because of your "reputation" to kill prisoners. It can go in both directions.

Then there's the option to NOT execute them, which can result in them surrendering much faster the next time, because you've shown mercy in previous battles. Get it ?

About making money: first you gotta develop your economy, upgrading farms and mines first. You also gotta build tradehouses and harbours, and make sure you connect them to your allies' provinces with ships. If you don't have connections to your allies'provinces which also have tradehouses, then you won't be making any money through trade. And then of course there's the story of pillaging your conquered territories, although that hardly ever cuts it. It's almost impossible to maintain massive armies all over the map and conquer the whole area without using a moneycheat from time to time. I hate cheating, but i have to admit that in this game i sometimes use the moneycheat, otherwise i'd be overrun by a much stronger enemy fairly early in the game. It's simply not fair the CPU has huge armies early from the start, while all you can do is trying to build up your economy.

In case you're interrested, the code is .deadringer. It will give you 1.000.000 Florins. Cheating sucks, but not being able to win sucks even more. :D

Yeah it is a great game but does take time to get used to. The route option is there so that you can make your soldiers flee the field if things have gone tits up while Rally is there so you can try and bring black your cowardly deserters. If you take enemy prisoners you can ransom them back to their empire (if they want them back that is) kings, high ranking generals an princes can get a good price if you're in need of cash. However don't forget that once you hand them back they can come to fight against you again one day. High tax rates and poor quality troops in provinces that are very safe are good ways of keeping cost down while trade is another viable option. Howeber a good old war also reaps financial benefits (if you win that is). My favourite empires to go are the Poles, Danes and Russians. They are all real fun scenarios but can be very tricky if too many mistakes are made. Enjoy.

thanks johnny, that helps alot. I hate cheating too, and will try to do without it, but it would suck alot if the money i used on this game would go to waste because I get bored fast...btw, are there any special things I need to do to make a trade route, or are they made automatically?

Land trade routes are really made outwith your control. All you can do is biuld trading posts. Sea routes are made by joing your ports up with other empire ports by sea using a chain of boats. You will find exact directions of how to do this in your manual. However you will not be able to trade with enemy states.

They are made automatically IF there's a tradehouse in all the connecting provinces. If there's one province between them with no tradehouse, the traderoute is interrupted, and there will be no business. A strong fleet, connecting all the waterways is therefore very recommendable. It also comes in handy later if you want to conquer the islands in the southern part of the map.

Keep away from Rome as long as possible. The Pope's army is easily overthrown, but he keeps reappearing, and biting large chunks out of your occupation forces.

If there are provinces controlled by rebel armies, try sending an emissary. They are easily bribed, and if things go well, you'll not only rule that province one year later, but also you get control over the rebel armies. Good bargain, innit ?

I prefer playing with the English. Not only do they have a good strategic starting position, but when time expires, you'll get the famous longbow archers. In combination with the Royal Knights heavy cavalry, it's an unstoppable army. Your enemies like to stand and wait until you attack, especially on maps where there's only one small bridge to cross a river. If you deploy longgbow archers along the shores, they are sitting ducks, and will be forced to come to you instead of waiting. You can then overrun them with your heavy cavalry.

Peanuts. :D

The game suddenly took a leap towards easier. Im making nearly 6 grand/turn and I have about 125000 florins, AND I have my king and 4 heirs. Spain was ranked with the strongest military force, and they fell rather easily. I like this game very much :D . BTW johnny, I couldnt get the cheat to work...

You have to type one dot before, and one after deadringer. You'll hear the sound of coins dropping if it worked. And of course your amount of money looks a little different. :D

So how did you become so lucrative all of a sudden ? Did you build those tradehouses ?

[ 05-07-2004, 05:53 PM: Message edited by: johnny ]

i enjoyed this game immensely. I could not win in the end though. I conquered 3/4 of europe and I have so much troops but I was blocked by the remaining enemeis (more like thier last stand) which has all thier troops that retreated and such that it resulted in a stalemate. Oh well. I cant wait for Rome Total War coming out 3rd Quarter of the Year. :D

I dont rightly know...I just built most of the farm improvements and merchant thingies in all the provinces, maxed the taxing(still have 200% loyalty in most provinces) and conquered some more provinces. I also made the generals with high acumen dukes and such, so that the provinces would make the highest possible amount of florins.

One thing I havent figured out is how to put men into boats...Id figure that all I'd have to do is drop the men onto the ship, but they dont get highlighted...