Veteran player getting *** kicked on Hard as Saxons

[Nostra]

I played all TW games since Rome Total war. So I view myself as a pretty decent Total war player. I started a campaign on Hard with the Saxons and I'm getting my ♥♥♥ kicked (not pretty :)). My units are weak, losing to similar size stacks and from the moment I leave my provinces or recent conquested regions, rebels appear and omg if you don't kill the stacks directly they grow too powerfull to deal with (again with only very light and light units...).

So I geuss my question is, what am I doing wrong? Any tips, do & don't? Notable differences from Rome 2 or Shogun 2 for example?

[An Dun]

So I geuss my question is, what am I doing wrong? Any tips, do & don't? Notable differences from Rome 2 or Shogun 2 for example? [/quote]
Hi Nostra yes the game is very difficult one of the reasons i love it. Yes your units are rubbish at the start but checkout the military research screen you will notice in the first couple of techs you can upgrade spear and axe units (depends on the faction). See what builds you should go for, try to avoid sanitation problems at all costs. I play VH difficulty but im sure the stratgey works just as well on hard. I try to research military until i can get good melee units and Cav, i dont have the money at the start for the civic side of things anyway.
In battle you first one or two will be tight the enemies units seem to have slightly better moral than yours i was forced to use some gamey battle tactics. Watch the enemy slingers if left unchecked they can decimate your low armor melee units. war dogs are great if used correctly i use them to attack the skimishers and they are also great at holding say an enemy spear unit in place so it cant advance then hit them will your slingers great little trick.
Go raiding to make up your income
Mercenaries are useful at the start
Keep you family influence etc as high as you can as this can effect troop moral, also watch your armies integ
Good luck and remember attila is coming
P.s. the rebels i let them hang around for two turns as this help lower the unrest in the provence. Eventually with some building upgrades and govenors you should have this undercontrol in a while.

[Revolter]

saxons are easiest faction in the game to win with


nordic bands are your friends dont ever buy the tier 2 upgrade

at standard they
cost 50 gold
upkeep 50 gold

one single ranged attack

buy full stacks of these and a stack will cost you about 1000 gold to buy and a 1000 gold for upkeep

other armies have 5 units for the same cost some have 3 units for the same cost


so your thinking ah they must be naff

they are except for that single ranged attack

on mass it will kill a lot and i mean a lot of enemies and using this single ranged attack is what holds the power for the saxons





your one stack vs a stack of 10 you should win and even full stack vs full stack you inflict serious casualties that when you come with your next full stack they win


if you said the enemy with 10 units have a leader 3 cav 3 melee and 3 ranged

if your 19 units kill 3-4 of enemy with the ranged you still have

19 units vs there 6-7 flanks and rear became a lot easier

once you get the nordic bands just get economy

you can max your stacks and it dont matter if you lose thgem you get a new stack a turn it cost so little they cannot keep up

the crazy thing is

a stack to buy almost cost the same to upkeep it has little to no effect on you if they die or live

sometimes its better for them to die cause you can get them to replenish quicker

[SuperGorp]

I don't mind a challenge either but this game is more frustrating than fun. Tried it over free-weekend and didn't have much fun with it. The gamers who like playing "Legendary" campaigns might like this, the game seems a bit masochistic.

[The Standing Tortoise]

Originally posted by Zimboy69:

nordic bands are your friends
one single ranged attack
so your thinking ah they must be naff
they are except for that single ranged attack

This is a very overlooked potential. Large damage if you shoot from the rear/right. Does substantial damage to light cavalry (not as much anymore after cavalry HP buff)

[Revolter]

i just gave the game a little try and nordic bands have lost a fair bit of firepower

but they are still cheap

so when i play again i will use them to pad out armies instead it might work better

i also notice they didnt shoot very often not like before i wasnt sure if they had a ranged attack or if its turned off but i couldnt get them to shoot

it could also be because my units/leaders are not leveled up

but still 50 gold for 120 men they are still cheap and they still have a little upkeep

they are still good but not as good as before

[Nostra]

I think I'll set my pride asside and start again on normal diff. just to get a better feel of the units...

[RIP Chicken]

Dude I feel for you so much I started playing just yesterday and my first faction was Saxon on hard difficulty too and I've tried at like 5 times now and each time I've been utterly annhilated by just the Franks, forget everyone else.

[Nostra]

A quick question. With your stack starting on see. Do you conquer britain? Attack the Franks? If you Attack Britain do you try to capture and hold the settlements or just sack?

[RIP Chicken]

Originally posted by Nostra:

A quick question. With your stack starting on see. Do you conquer britain? Attack the Franks? If you Attack Britain do you try to capture and hold the settlements or just sack?

Who're you asking? Lol. For me I liberate Comuldunon or however you spell it and use that as a haven to sack cities.