UNFAIR

[danconnors]

Everything about this game is unfair. It is understood that the AI will move first, since a computer's reflexes are infinitely faster than a human's. Seeing what the AI is going to do--attack your town full of peasants--does you no good, since the attack will come before you can place your regular army in the way.

The Black Death razes my kingdom on a regular basis. Apparently my kingdom is the only one affected. If I am facing an AI army on an equal basis I will always win, since I don't waste any of my peasants in the army. I have only just begun to list the ways this game is unfair. More to come.

[Derpy]

Solution; sink immediate resources into army building. Make a force of 50 men, leave enough population for taxable resources. Let the computer do its "take a county" thing. Raze their crops in both counties after dispatching the remnants of their attacking force. Leave, do the same to another AI if you have one nearby. Save all available money to buy mercs to shore up defenses against any other players then do the same thing with them once your first razing force dies. Remember, your army can raze fields just as efficiently with 1 soldier as 1000. Hit villages if they have them (unlikely if you're on top of them) and hit blacksmiths to prevent weapons from being made. This game isn't unfair it just expects you to do a lot of early game military focus to compensate for everything else. Well unless you play on high difficulties, then it's unfair, but that's how all turn-based strategy games are at high difficulty.

[Jimmy Hunter]

Originally posted by danconnors:

Everything about this game is unfair. It is understood that the AI will move first, since a computer's reflexes are infinitely faster than a human's.

You can move your army before they move theirs on the beginning of the turn. Turn down the game speed if it's set too high for you to move before them.

Seeing what the AI is going to do--attack your town full of peasants--does you no good, since the attack will come before you can place your regular army in the way.

Build a castle ASAP and fill it with Archers. Take control of combat. Mott and Bailey and Norman Keeps can defend against anything the AI can throw at you. Upgrade to a Royal Castle when you've got the resources, and your 600 archers will slay even max armies with zero losses.

The Black Death razes my kingdom on a regular basis.

When it hits, change your rations to Triple for a single turn. It will make the health of your people from Sick (light red) to Average (yellow). A few turns at Normal rations or half that if you can afford the food loss at Double and you'll be back to Healthy.

Or you could take the cheap way out and reload before ending the previous turn and simply not get it if you don't want to deal with learning how to handle it.

I have only just begun to list the ways this game is unfair. More to come.

None of these are really "unfair".

[danconnors]

It is impossible to get your army into shape. Try to shape your pikemen into a rectangle, and they keep side stepping all over the place. Pikemen will even wander away from the battle they're supposed to be joining. How do you slow the game down? Your men hug every tree line they come upon, even if you're trying to get them to avoid the trees. Swordsmen are just expensive pikemen--no faster or harder to kill. Knights are okay, but much harder to get than they're worth.

Okay I see how to slow the game down. But after the battle starts I have to speed it up a lot or everyone moves like molasses.

[Jimmy Hunter]

Originally posted by danconnors:

It is impossible to get your army into shape. Try to shape your pikemen into a rectangle, and they keep side stepping all over the place.

Micro your units like you would in any other RTS-esk battle. Move them one by one to block and make use of the terrain to force the AI to engage at a dis-advantage.

I assumed you at the begining of the turn on the map, since the AI is absolutely terrible when it comes to taking control of battles. They will leave their archers vulnerable as the rest of their army goes and moves to fortify up a certain area or regroup before diving you.

Macemen can murder most of the AI armies with their swift movespeed and high damage value against unarmored targets like Archers/Crossbows/Peasants. They can do so without large losses against the majority of army comps you'll see the AI use.

Pikemen will even wander away from the battle they're supposed to be joining.

Drag and select Pikemen, move to battle. Select Pikemen not fighting and click on enemy. This is an RTS style battle, Microing is expected to make up for the heavily outdated system.

Your men hug every tree line they come upon, even if you're trying to get them to avoid the trees.

They move in groups based on how many units you have selected. Don't just click across the map since they have pathing issues, which isn't a surprise as per how old it is.

Swordsmen are just expensive pikemen--no faster or harder to kill. Knights are okay, but much harder to get than they're worth.

Swordmen move faster than Pikemen with a high damage value nearly matching Macemen, but also have armor so Archers/Peasants aren't able to effectively overwhelm them. Pikemen are excellent tanks against anything while your Crossbows and/or Archers pick away. Knights have the fastest movespeed, highest damage value, nearly as high armor value as Pikemen, however they're expensive and cannot fill moats during a Siege.

[Ybbe]

If you need help or are interested in mods for the game feel free to join the discord: https://discord.gg/P68BSne

[danconnors]

Thanks for all the information. It's been very helpful.

[danconnors]

One last thing I just remembered. Usually the baron or the bishop will attack your army with a force that outnumbers it at least two to one. They will then take up a strong defensive position and wait for YOU to attack them. There is no way to get them to attack you, so it's either attack the army that outnumbers you or push the autocalc button. What can be done in a situation like this?

[MnM Ondreyson]

Ive played on Impossible since I was young, after I learned to play the game properly.

You cant get an army blocking the town before AI moves? Just move the army next to the town itself, AI is forced to fight it.

Make pure macemen armies, supplemented by free archers from any castles you build. Use merc armies of bows/xbows to garrison border castles. Watch your macemen armies absolutely demolish anything the AI sends against you, even on impossible.

Its super easy once you learn it.

[MnM Ondreyson]

Originally posted by psyberaven:

Well unless you play on high difficulties, then it's unfair, but that's how all turn-based strategy games are at high difficulty.

Read my above comment.

[MnM Ondreyson]

Originally posted by danconnors:

One last thing I just remembered. Usually the baron or the bishop will attack your army with a force that outnumbers it at least two to one. They will then take up a strong defensive position and wait for YOU to attack them. There is no way to get them to attack you, so it's either attack the army that outnumbers you or push the autocalc button. What can be done in a situation like this?

If your army is macemen, it wont matter if they have a 2:1 advantage.

Whenever you fight, ALWAYS have your macemen go after any ranged units > anything else.

If they have no ranged units but outnumber you? Use choke points to mitigate losses if the map has any, or to do maximum damage even if you lose. I regularly use merc armies to absolutely shred AI armies down to nothing, even non macemen ones.

Also, protip: if you hire 250 burgundian macemen, save them(can also use the 150 stacks, but 250 are preferred). Add them to your own macemen army you build, and add in free archers from castle building. You can use this to easily get a 3 stack army(600+ men) very early, and as long as you reinforce it occasionally, that army can carry you across the entire map. Once I have 2 triple stack armies going, Ive generally won the game(on impossible, as Ive said).

Unlike the other strats stated above, I actually almost never destroy crops. I DO destroy villages all the time though, easily the most effective way to stop AI from building armies, if they dont have the population to do it. I dont kill the crops, so that I have less rebuilding to do after I take the province.

Also, if an AI takes a huge kingdom? Cut it in half. To own territory, you MUST have it all connected. If an empire gets cut in half, half is kept, and the other half automatically becomes neutral. Easy way to finish off an AI with a lot of stone/royal castles, or to stop an AI whos steamrolling the map.

More questions? Follow my channel link on steam, and use my !discord command. Im known for playing strategy games(civ v, EU4), and known for giving advice. If I dont know it, my community usually does.

[danconnors]

I used to build a bunch of mace men, but lately I've given them up for pike men. I know that pike men are slow as Hell, but they are extremely tough. I used to play on impossible difficulty where armies ate, but I've gotten older, and now play the game more for relaxation. I don't make knights unless it's a VERY easy game, and I have resources to blow. They look neat, but they cost way more than they're worth.

I've done the cut kingdoms maneuver before. I also often use the burned bridge play. If I see my county's about to be overrun I send aid from it to one of my adjacent counties. Specifically I strip the county bare, and leave my enemy with a starving, overtaxed, ticked off peasantry. I don't know if you grade the opposition, but in my opinion the Countess is the most difficult, followed by the bishop, the baron, and--dumbest of all--the knight.

[Zod Rau]

Newbie Tip:

When engaging in combat out in the field, think of your troops movement like water.

Vertical movement - they spread out more, like a wave. That's good, because you'll have less over them standing around in the back ranks doing absolutely nothing when you send them charging into the enemy line.

Horizontal movement - they're spread out the most, but it's a bad angle to attack from because they're like a jet of water - very few units in front - get murdered by concentrated fire or surrounded easier. Four units of 4 macemen is better than one unit of 16 for tying up more enemy units.

Diagonal movement is the worst to attack with, as they're all strung out single file. A squirt.

Now moving on with the water comparison, you've got to keep urging them forward. If you send a group of them at the enemy ranks with just a single click, they'll all stop once the first of them make contact. If however you target a spot just behind your enemy - They're in between your ranks and that spot, and then keep clicking that spot once they engage in melee, the group will flow around the enemy ranks like water, in effect flanking. Then once they're around behind as well, send them all into the middle to get maximum melee contact.

You've got to keep an eye on them. If you've got 6 macemen units vs 1 pikeman unit and 12 peasants, all your macemen are likely to be bashing on that pikemen unit while the peasants whittle them down. The pikemen will keep. Murder the peasants first.

[danconnors]

I always go for the missile troops first, while trying to protect my own. It's amazing how fast a couple hundred pikemen and archers can massacre just about anything very fast. Pikemen also have an ability--I don't know if other infantry have it or not--they can go after a single mass of boiling oil with a single unit of pikemen and destroy the oil. This is extremely useful if you're getting into a royal castle where there are at least half a dozen units of boiling oil that can incinerate hundreds of your men.

[ShadowFox]

Originally posted by danconnors:

Everything about this game is unfair. It is understood that the AI will move first, since a computer's reflexes are infinitely faster than a human's. Seeing what the AI is going to do--attack your town full of peasants--does you no good, since the attack will come before you can place your regular army in the way.

The Black Death razes my kingdom on a regular basis. Apparently my kingdom is the only one affected. If I am facing an AI army on an equal basis I will always win, since I don't waste any of my peasants in the army. I have only just begun to list the ways this game is unfair. More to come.

Lower your game speed and you can move before the AI as much as you want, for the black death taxes to zero and triple food and you will be fine the next turn. Any other issues or questions please feel free to reach out :)

[jbrock868]

Protip for delaying an AI army:

1. Position an at least 2 spaces away from an enemy army. It doesn't have to be a big army, the point is for it to be an army on the map, not a force capable of doing any damage. Literally 1 peasant is enough.

2. Turn your speed down to 1, and then press "End turn." The season transition will proceed extremely slowly.

3. Watch the enemy army extremely carefully with your mouse pointer hovering over "Options." The instant the army in question starts moving, click "Options" and turn the game speed down to zero.

4. Move your delaying army 2 squares (It won't actually move while the game speed is zero, but it will register the commands.).

5. Change the game speed back to 1.

The enemy army expects you to stand still while they march, and marches not at the army, but at your army's location. If you move while they are moving, they will stop when they reach your original position. Just keep your army at least two spaces away from the enemy army every season and they will keep following after you and stopping after moving just two spaces. You can delay a massive enemy force for years with an army of literally any size. Sometimes, while garrisoning a castle I'll end up with an army of 2 or 3 soldiers left outside. I keep them around near the border of my county for this delaying tactic