TWC Wiki - User contributions [en]

Denmark (M2TW Faction)

2008-09-08T16:11:17Z

205.211.141.243: /* Expansion and Diplomacy */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_denmark_.jpg|Denmark's Faction Symbol]]|Name=Kingdom of Denmark|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Catholic]]|Culture=[[Northern European]]}}

== Overview ==

Denmark begins the campaign with only Arhus under its control, though it is surrounded by rebel provinces, and the faction most likely to be its main enemy, the Holy Roman Empire, lacks the effective early era troops Denmark has.

Danish units not-so-subtly imply an assault orientated faction as the majority are heavy infantry, but they also have access to norse archers, effective early hybrids.
In addition to this, the Danes can also recruit Norse war clerics, powerful early/high period heavy cavalry. Defensive troops aren't ignored either, as the Danes can recruit Swordstaff armed troops, including a militia variety. But Danish heavy infantry will be the mainstay of its armies, from Viking Raiders to Obudshaer's, all unique troops are effective in a fight and can all pierce armour.
the Danish navy is also strong in the early period, having access to Longboats.

In the upcoming kingdoms expansion, the Danes will also have to ability to merge with Norway and recruit the finest Norwegian troops, including the famed Gotland Footmen, the Sami axeman (cheaper versions of Norse axeman) and the Svenner (a more powerful version of the scout).

Overall, the Danes give the impression of a faction that's at its best in the early period, but whose skill wanes as more time passes, that said, it is not to the degree of the Byzantines.
The Danes can get access to fine gunpowder-armed troops and several good variety gunpowder artillery. The axes of the Danes will prove useful against the knights of more armored factions.

== Expansion and Diplomacy ==
Quickly move into Hamburg, this will allow alot more expansion in mainland Europe, and will slow the growth of the HRE. Make alliances with Milan and Hungary, as they need the HRE destroyed as well. Consider moving west and capturing Britain.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]

Venice (M2TW Faction)

2008-09-08T16:07:46Z

205.211.141.243: /* Cavalry */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_venice.jpg|Faction Symbol for Venice]]|Name=Republic of Venice|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Catholic]]|Culture=[[Southern European]]}}

== Overview ==

*'''Author:''' ''[[dad_savage]]'' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=24524]
*'''Original Thread:''' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91203''Venice: Review'']

----

The 'complex' of cities in Northern Italy (Florence, '''Venice''', Genoa, [[Milan]], Bologna) is probably the greatest single production area in the entire game. Converting Bologna and Florence to castles is expedient; very soon you'll have three mutually supportive huge cities and two citadels able to produce three entire full stack armies every four turns. Europe cannot compete with this concentrated production. So grab those cities!

Now aside from in the very early game Venice has a fantastic unit line-up, it's really quite amazing, and the game may claim they do not boast a 'Noteworthy land army' but don't let this intimidate you as Venice's forces are easily the equal of any major European nation. It's not all very easy, though, if you want a nice challenge try leaving Sicily alone and not rushing them; as although they can easily be taken out with a swift rush by about turn sixteen if you leave them you're going to have some very fun battles being outclassed by their superb early and middle game soldiers.

Normally I consider tier one units only when I review a factions early game forces, but when it is Venice in question, as with the other Italian states, their early cities and first conquests are advanced and fast growing Italian cities, so I will consider city units, rather than large town units, as tier one in this instance. Now, on to the unit review.

== Infantry ==
'''Venice''''s early game infantry is not particularly dangerous, but their trump card is availability. Most factions can produce Armoured Seargents and Seargent spears in the early game from castles, with their towns producing far inferior spear and town militia. For Venice this is not the case, as Italian Militia are as effective as Seargent Spearmen, and Italian Spear Militia are as effective as Armoured Seargents.

Carrocio standards are the one early game unit Venice gets that is truly special, and it can really make a difference to your early game armies. Not only does it bolster the morale of everyone around it, making it feasible to fight without generals in certain situations, the standard itself is accompanied by a small bodyguard of Armoured Seargents who cannot be broken. This makes them a very useful unit! They literally cannot run away, point blank, and fight to the death regardless of odds. This can give your army invaluable second chances as if your main line is broken, and you possess a few standards in the rear the enemy must kill every single guard, giving you precious time to rally your men and form a new battle line. This unit is also quite cheap, although the initial investment of 700 or so Florins certainly isn't, their upkeep of a mere 70 per turn certainly is! And as their initial price is so high the game engine considers them one of the best units you can train, and what that means is it's quite possible to be rewarded with four of them for free on completion of certain missions. Very handy. They do slow your forces down, but in the claustrophobic environment of Northern Italy in your early battles with Milan this is not so noticeable.

As the game progresses and you're packing fortresses and large cities your infantry becomes quite the impressive force. Not only do you receive the standard European DFK, you get quite literally the finest infantry soldiers on earth. Venetian Heavy Infantry are truly as hard as nails. With 16 attack nothing can confidently stand up to their armour-piercing war hammers, and with 16 defence they are very well protected for a unit of shock infantry, with shields to give them far more survivability against missile attacks than contemporary 2-handed ap troops. Of course the shield is currently a liability in melee, but don't let this deter you. Even with their shield value reduced Venetian Heavy Infantry are still one of the finest infantry units in the game, they're simply that lethal on the offensive. Now such a fine unit usually costs allot, comparable troops such as the HRE's fantastic armour-piercing dismounted Imperial Knights have a crippling upkeep of 250 a turn, you might expect something similar for Venetian Infantry, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. With a mere 150 upkeep they're actually cheaper to support than armoured seargents! So cheap are they, in fact, that they easily can be used as Garrison troops in castles. Try fighting through the gate against them! It's not pretty.

As the game grinds onward and you begin building Citadels and Huge cities you may initially be somewhat upset with your new infantry choices. When you view the statistics of dismounted men at arms and see that they're no better than dismounted Feudal knights you might wonder to yourself how you're going to go about storming castles in this late era. Well, the answer is of course Venetian Heavy Infantry. Build one from a citadel with a sword smiths guild and take a look at their stats now. Scoring a free chevron at this stage and with armour and weapon upgrades they come off the shelf with 18 armour piercing attack and 18 defence. They are quite literally unstoppable. but lose to heavy knights of most european faction and also moorish christian guard.

In your cities, at this stage, you score militia pikemen. A lovely unit that makes your cities almost impossible to assault, and a unit which validates Venice's fine late game gunpowder by giving them the ability to produce pike and shot formations.

In the end, Venice's infantry is largely vanilla in the early game with the simple advantage of availability (being able to produce decent spearmen from castles and cities) and the bolstering Carrocio standard to stiffen the line. They're hardly on a par with, say, the Danish, but they certainly get the job done.

In the middle game Venetian Heavy Infantry ensure you a battleline that will not be outclassed, and in the late game they rise to the occasion with fantastic upgrades and perks to give you the same end result. Throw in dismounted men at arms and dismounted fuedal knights for units that, although not overly useful considering you have acess to something better and cheaper, will keep the game from getting too boring at the very least. Militia pikes round out their forces nicely for defensive purposes and also as an invaluable compliment to muskets in the gunpowder age. The easy availabiliy of italian spear militia in the middle and late era's only gets better as they have plentiful armour upgrades starting with leather tanner and their vast numbers makes your enemies cavalry nearly obsolete and they can hold a line from enemy infantry well enough till venetian heavy infantry or flanking troops arrive. This makes the Italian spear militia the backbone of your average armies throughout the whole game.

== Archers ==
As with their infantry Venetian archers start relatively slow but have some nice perks to round themselves out with. In the early game you'll have the standard lineup in your castles, Peasant Crossbowmen for cheap AP fire support and of course the ever-present peasant archers. Nothing special really, but from their cities Venice can produce Pavise Crossbow Militia, a fine unit at any stage of the game, with superb defence against missiles and with a long range, dauntingly high armour piercing attack of 12 they can really compliment your early game spear forces, providing an excellent way to tune up even the most heavily armoured foes before the mellee, and with decent enough armour to survive a little combat unsupported. These units allow any city to have an effective number of archers on the walls to mow down enemies before they reach your gates. The large numbers of these units you can afford to put in an army will allow you to overpower most factions in ranged troops as they need to create their elite ones in fortress's or citadels.

By the middle game your pavise crossbow militia are still a fine unit to use in many situations, from defending towns to the open field, but another unit comes along to compliment them here. Venetian Archers are a fine missile unit with 9 attack that can loose much faster then crossbow militia and use flaming missiles and they have mellee stats that are good enough for them to enter combat when the odds are in their favor. Though they cannot compete with the cream of the game's archery units (Dismounted Dvor, Byzantine Gaurd, Ottoman Infantry, Janissary Archers,Longbowmen etc) you'll still find them a very valuable unit to have on your side. Their upkeep is low enough for them to be placed in castle garrisons, and on the open field they can do all the things you would demand of a good archery unit. Whether this is punishing the enemy at range, or standing off against horse archers and other skirmishers they won't let you down in a hurry.

In the late game Venice does not receive anything new regarding archers, aside from being able to give their Venetian Archers full plate, until gunpowder.

All in all, Venice has a capable corps of archers from the early to late game. They're not so good that you would consider building your army around them at any point, but in a support role they're unlikely to let you down.

== Cavalry ==
The game has something against Venice's cavalry lineup, claiming it's rather weak. Well I'm going to say this is rubbish. Venice may not be the equal of Poland, the HRE or France but if you can't make effective use of the cavalry they do have then you're simply not a very good cavalry commander.

In the early game they're dull, vanilla, with the basic lineup of Mounted Seargents and Mailed Knights. Nothing special, but good enough to round out armies consisting of Carrocio standards, Pavise Crossbows and Italian Spear Militia. Their cavalry at this stage is identicle to that of France, Milan, the HRE, etc. there's nothing unique or particularly effective about it, but for smashing into infantry and running down routers they do the job.

In the middle game Venice is still on equal footing with the standard European Armies, receiving Fuedal Knights from their fortresses, but with the advantage of also getting a solid militia cavalry unit. Don't mistake these guys for Merchant Cavalry! They have lances and a decent charge bonus, and are very capable for their price and high level of availability which can allow you to have every army have enough of these to obliterate archers and crash into flanks and kill routers very quickly. I personally prefer them to Fuedal Knights as the upkeep of these 'true' Knights is extortionistically high, and in addition building allot of cavalry militia is likely to score you a Horse Breeders guild. This is very important for Venice as they don't get jousting lists to improve their cavalry, so shoot for that guild HQ!

By the late game Venice's castle-built heavy cavalry drop off. When many western nations are training the fantastic Chivalric Knights you receive Men At Arms, a reasonable unit with a solid armor value and a charge bonus of 7, but no match for Chivalrics, their upkeep is not particularly low although their recruitment cost is cheaper than Fuedal Knights, so think before you start building them as their price advantage cancels itself out the longer they're on the field.

Of course getting mounted Crossbowmen from your castles helps to even the odds with cavalry, we all know how effective this unit can be after all. That's not all though as from their citidels Venice also receives quite possibly the best light cavalry in the game. The fantastic Stradiots. With a charge bonus of five and the "can_formed_charge" attribute they're the second best chargers in their category (after Hussars) in the game, and they also carry AP maces with a good attack as a secondary weapon. The best advantage of Stradiots is, however, their sheer speed. Their in-game mount is a 'fast pony' as opposed to the 'pony' of most light cavalry, allowing them to outrunn even units as quick as Border Horse and Hobilars. With their AP maces, then, it follows that Stradiots make fantastic troops for catching and butchering horse archers and other missile cav. In fact they're the ultimate answer to things like Jinetes and Reiters. With their feirce mellee stats and ap weapons Stradiots also do good service against hostile heavy cavalry. Although in equal numbers they loose, you must remember they're far cheaper than, say, Chivalric Knights. However the true asset of Stradiots is their flexibility via micromanagement. It's a proven fact that a unit of Stradiots can defeat a unit of Lancers if you make use of their speed to escape mellee to perform multiple charges, and this asset is just as effective against infantry units. Of course to do this in a pitched battle where many units are present is quite tough, but the option is there whether or not you choose to use it.

Again Venice compliments its castle-built units with a solid city built unit and this time it's a nice one; Broken Lancers. Much like Demi Lancers they lack the solidity of elite western cavalry, but have all of the punch. With 12 attack and a charge bonus of 8, there are few infantry units these chaps can't all but eradicate in one solid charge.

So, all in all, Venice's cavalry is hardly weak. Their mixture of units is eclectic, with some decent, albeit difficult to use elites (Stradiots and Broken Lancers) and allot of the basic European lineup (Feudal Knights and such) you have a good amount of choice and good counters to the things that might be inclined to cause you trouble while still packing some good heavy cavalry for the real business of smashing infantry.

== Special Note ==
In the late game, post-gunpowder, Venice is one of only four factions ([[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan ]], [[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]] and '''Venice''') capable of fielding muskets and pikes, and one of only five factions ([[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]], '''Venice''' , [[Turks (M2TW Faction)|Turkey]] and [[Russia (M2TW Faction)|Russia]]) capable of receiving muskets. They are one of only five factions to receive mortars ([[Scotland (M2TW Faction)|Scotland]], [[England (M2TW Faction)|England]], [[Sicily (M2TW Faction)|Sicily]], [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]] and '''Venice''') and one of only two factions to receive Monster Ribaults ('''Venice''' and [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]]) their gunpowder navy is also quite powerful. Venetian Galleass' absolutely crush Gun Holks and also defeat the Eastern Equivalent. All this said Venice is a true power in the gunpowder age.

My final thoughts on Venice are that they're one of the few factions that is truly strong through the entire game, with an effective, balanced army that does not come up wanting in any department. A great all-rounder, but with a nasty edge in city trained militia troops, infantry and gunpowder waiting to be exploited. One of the most rewarding elements of playing Venice is that although their early game forces do are nothing special, there's always better units to unlock and use until you play through to gunpowder. In other words, they start strong and they keep getting stronger. This makes their campaign a paced and relaxing affair as you never feel the need to rush, a fitting mood in which to take command of The Most Serene Republic of Venice.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]
[[Category:M2TW - Campaign Strategy]]

Venice (M2TW Faction)

2008-09-08T15:47:32Z

205.211.141.243: /* Special Note */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_venice.jpg|Faction Symbol for Venice]]|Name=Republic of Venice|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Catholic]]|Culture=[[Southern European]]}}

== Overview ==

*'''Author:''' ''[[dad_savage]]'' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=24524]
*'''Original Thread:''' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91203''Venice: Review'']

----

The 'complex' of cities in Northern Italy (Florence, '''Venice''', Genoa, [[Milan]], Bologna) is probably the greatest single production area in the entire game. Converting Bologna and Florence to castles is expedient; very soon you'll have three mutually supportive huge cities and two citadels able to produce three entire full stack armies every four turns. Europe cannot compete with this concentrated production. So grab those cities!

Now aside from in the very early game Venice has a fantastic unit line-up, it's really quite amazing, and the game may claim they do not boast a 'Noteworthy land army' but don't let this intimidate you as Venice's forces are easily the equal of any major European nation. It's not all very easy, though, if you want a nice challenge try leaving Sicily alone and not rushing them; as although they can easily be taken out with a swift rush by about turn sixteen if you leave them you're going to have some very fun battles being outclassed by their superb early and middle game soldiers.

Normally I consider tier one units only when I review a factions early game forces, but when it is Venice in question, as with the other Italian states, their early cities and first conquests are advanced and fast growing Italian cities, so I will consider city units, rather than large town units, as tier one in this instance. Now, on to the unit review.

== Infantry ==
'''Venice''''s early game infantry is not particularly dangerous, but their trump card is availability. Most factions can produce Armoured Seargents and Seargent spears in the early game from castles, with their towns producing far inferior spear and town militia. For Venice this is not the case, as Italian Militia are as effective as Seargent Spearmen, and Italian Spear Militia are as effective as Armoured Seargents.

Carrocio standards are the one early game unit Venice gets that is truly special, and it can really make a difference to your early game armies. Not only does it bolster the morale of everyone around it, making it feasible to fight without generals in certain situations, the standard itself is accompanied by a small bodyguard of Armoured Seargents who cannot be broken. This makes them a very useful unit! They literally cannot run away, point blank, and fight to the death regardless of odds. This can give your army invaluable second chances as if your main line is broken, and you possess a few standards in the rear the enemy must kill every single guard, giving you precious time to rally your men and form a new battle line. This unit is also quite cheap, although the initial investment of 700 or so Florins certainly isn't, their upkeep of a mere 70 per turn certainly is! And as their initial price is so high the game engine considers them one of the best units you can train, and what that means is it's quite possible to be rewarded with four of them for free on completion of certain missions. Very handy. They do slow your forces down, but in the claustrophobic environment of Northern Italy in your early battles with Milan this is not so noticeable.

As the game progresses and you're packing fortresses and large cities your infantry becomes quite the impressive force. Not only do you receive the standard European DFK, you get quite literally the finest infantry soldiers on earth. Venetian Heavy Infantry are truly as hard as nails. With 16 attack nothing can confidently stand up to their armour-piercing war hammers, and with 16 defence they are very well protected for a unit of shock infantry, with shields to give them far more survivability against missile attacks than contemporary 2-handed ap troops. Of course the shield is currently a liability in melee, but don't let this deter you. Even with their shield value reduced Venetian Heavy Infantry are still one of the finest infantry units in the game, they're simply that lethal on the offensive. Now such a fine unit usually costs allot, comparable troops such as the HRE's fantastic armour-piercing dismounted Imperial Knights have a crippling upkeep of 250 a turn, you might expect something similar for Venetian Infantry, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. With a mere 150 upkeep they're actually cheaper to support than armoured seargents! So cheap are they, in fact, that they easily can be used as Garrison troops in castles. Try fighting through the gate against them! It's not pretty.

As the game grinds onward and you begin building Citadels and Huge cities you may initially be somewhat upset with your new infantry choices. When you view the statistics of dismounted men at arms and see that they're no better than dismounted Feudal knights you might wonder to yourself how you're going to go about storming castles in this late era. Well, the answer is of course Venetian Heavy Infantry. Build one from a citadel with a sword smiths guild and take a look at their stats now. Scoring a free chevron at this stage and with armour and weapon upgrades they come off the shelf with 18 armour piercing attack and 18 defence. They are quite literally unstoppable. but lose to heavy knights of most european faction and also moorish christian guard.

In your cities, at this stage, you score militia pikemen. A lovely unit that makes your cities almost impossible to assault, and a unit which validates Venice's fine late game gunpowder by giving them the ability to produce pike and shot formations.

In the end, Venice's infantry is largely vanilla in the early game with the simple advantage of availability (being able to produce decent spearmen from castles and cities) and the bolstering Carrocio standard to stiffen the line. They're hardly on a par with, say, the Danish, but they certainly get the job done.

In the middle game Venetian Heavy Infantry ensure you a battleline that will not be outclassed, and in the late game they rise to the occasion with fantastic upgrades and perks to give you the same end result. Throw in dismounted men at arms and dismounted fuedal knights for units that, although not overly useful considering you have acess to something better and cheaper, will keep the game from getting too boring at the very least. Militia pikes round out their forces nicely for defensive purposes and also as an invaluable compliment to muskets in the gunpowder age. The easy availabiliy of italian spear militia in the middle and late era's only gets better as they have plentiful armour upgrades starting with leather tanner and their vast numbers makes your enemies cavalry nearly obsolete and they can hold a line from enemy infantry well enough till venetian heavy infantry or flanking troops arrive. This makes the Italian spear militia the backbone of your average armies throughout the whole game.

== Archers ==
As with their infantry Venetian archers start relatively slow but have some nice perks to round themselves out with. In the early game you'll have the standard lineup in your castles, Peasant Crossbowmen for cheap AP fire support and of course the ever-present peasant archers. Nothing special really, but from their cities Venice can produce Pavise Crossbow Militia, a fine unit at any stage of the game, with superb defence against missiles and with a long range, dauntingly high armour piercing attack of 12 they can really compliment your early game spear forces, providing an excellent way to tune up even the most heavily armoured foes before the mellee, and with decent enough armour to survive a little combat unsupported. These units allow any city to have an effective number of archers on the walls to mow down enemies before they reach your gates. The large numbers of these units you can afford to put in an army will allow you to overpower most factions in ranged troops as they need to create their elite ones in fortress's or citadels.

By the middle game your pavise crossbow militia are still a fine unit to use in many situations, from defending towns to the open field, but another unit comes along to compliment them here. Venetian Archers are a fine missile unit with 9 attack that can loose much faster then crossbow militia and use flaming missiles and they have mellee stats that are good enough for them to enter combat when the odds are in their favor. Though they cannot compete with the cream of the game's archery units (Dismounted Dvor, Byzantine Gaurd, Ottoman Infantry, Janissary Archers,Longbowmen etc) you'll still find them a very valuable unit to have on your side. Their upkeep is low enough for them to be placed in castle garrisons, and on the open field they can do all the things you would demand of a good archery unit. Whether this is punishing the enemy at range, or standing off against horse archers and other skirmishers they won't let you down in a hurry.

In the late game Venice does not receive anything new regarding archers, aside from being able to give their Venetian Archers full plate, until gunpowder.

All in all, Venice has a capable corps of archers from the early to late game. They're not so good that you would consider building your army around them at any point, but in a support role they're unlikely to let you down.

== Cavalry ==
The game has something against Venice's cavalry lineup, claiming it's rather weak. Well I'm going to say this is rubbish. Venice may not be the equal of Poland, the HRE or France but if you can't make effective use of the cavalry they do have then you're simply not a very good cavalry commander.

In the early game they're dull, vanilla, with the basic lineup of Mounted Seargents and Mailed Knights. Nothing special, but good enough to round out armies consisting of Carrocio standards, Pavise Crossbows and Italian Spear Militia. Their cavalry at this stage is identicle to that of France, Milan, the HRE, etc. there's nothing unique or particularly effective about it, but for smashing into infantry and running down routers they do the job.

In the middle game Venice is still on equal footing with the standard European Armies, receiving Fuedal Knights from their fortresses, but with the advantage of also getting a solid militia cavalry unit. Don't mistake these guys for Merchant Cavalry! They have lances and a decent charge bonus, and are very capable for their price and high level of availability. I personally prefer them to Fuedal Knights as the upkeep of these 'true' Knights is extortionistically high, and in addition building allot of cavalry militia is likely to score you a Horse Breeders guild. This is very important for Venice as they don't get jousting lists to improve their cavalry, so shoot for that guild HQ!

By the late game Venice's castle-built heavy cavalry drop off. When many western nations are training the fantastic Chivalric Knights you receive Men At Arms, a reasonable unit with a solid armor value and a charge bonus of 7, but no match for Chivalrics, their upkeep is not particularly low although their recruitment cost is cheaper than Fuedal Knights, so think before you start building them as their price advantage cancels itself out the longer they're on the field.

Of course getting mounted Crossbowmen from your castles helps to even the odds with cavalry, we all know how effective this unit can be after all. That's not all though as from their citidels Venice also receives quite possibly the best light cavalry in the game. The fantastic Stradiots. With a charge bonus of five and the "can_formed_charge" attribute they're the second best chargers in their category (after Hussars) in the game, and they also carry AP maces with a good attack as a secondary weapon. The best advantage of Stradiots is, however, their sheer speed. Their in-game mount is a 'fast pony' as opposed to the 'pony' of most light cavalry, allowing them to outrunn even units as quick as Border Horse and Hobilars. With their AP maces, then, it follows that Stradiots make fantastic troops for catching and butchering horse archers and other missile cav. In fact they're the ultimate answer to things like Jinetes and Reiters. With their feirce mellee stats and ap weapons Stradiots also do good service against hostile heavy cavalry. Although in equal numbers they loose, you must remember they're far cheaper than, say, Chivalric Knights. However the true asset of Stradiots is their flexibility via micromanagement. It's a proven fact that a unit of Stradiots can defeat a unit of Lancers if you make use of their speed to escape mellee to perform multiple charges, and this asset is just as effective against infantry units. Of course to do this in a pitched battle where many units are present is quite tough, but the option is there whether or not you choose to use it.

Again Venice compliments its castle-built units with a solid city built unit and this time it's a nice one; Broken Lancers. Much like Demi Lancers they lack the solidity of elite western cavalry, but have all of the punch. With 12 attack and a charge bonus of 8, there are few infantry units these chaps can't all but eradicate in one solid charge.

So, all in all, Venice's cavalry is hardly weak. Their mixture of units is eclectic, with some decent, albeit difficult to use elites (Stradiots and Broken Lancers) and allot of the basic European lineup (Feudal Knights and such) you have a good amount of choice and good counters to the things that might be inclined to cause you trouble while still packing some good heavy cavalry for the real business of smashing infantry.

== Special Note ==
In the late game, post-gunpowder, Venice is one of only four factions ([[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan ]], [[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]] and '''Venice''') capable of fielding muskets and pikes, and one of only five factions ([[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]], '''Venice''' , [[Turks (M2TW Faction)|Turkey]] and [[Russia (M2TW Faction)|Russia]]) capable of receiving muskets. They are one of only five factions to receive mortars ([[Scotland (M2TW Faction)|Scotland]], [[England (M2TW Faction)|England]], [[Sicily (M2TW Faction)|Sicily]], [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]] and '''Venice''') and one of only two factions to receive Monster Ribaults ('''Venice''' and [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]]) their gunpowder navy is also quite powerful. Venetian Galleass' absolutely crush Gun Holks and also defeat the Eastern Equivalent. All this said Venice is a true power in the gunpowder age.

My final thoughts on Venice are that they're one of the few factions that is truly strong through the entire game, with an effective, balanced army that does not come up wanting in any department. A great all-rounder, but with a nasty edge in city trained militia troops, infantry and gunpowder waiting to be exploited. One of the most rewarding elements of playing Venice is that although their early game forces do are nothing special, there's always better units to unlock and use until you play through to gunpowder. In other words, they start strong and they keep getting stronger. This makes their campaign a paced and relaxing affair as you never feel the need to rush, a fitting mood in which to take command of The Most Serene Republic of Venice.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]
[[Category:M2TW - Campaign Strategy]]

Venice (M2TW Faction)

2008-09-08T15:45:26Z

205.211.141.243: /* Archers */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_venice.jpg|Faction Symbol for Venice]]|Name=Republic of Venice|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Catholic]]|Culture=[[Southern European]]}}

== Overview ==

*'''Author:''' ''[[dad_savage]]'' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=24524]
*'''Original Thread:''' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91203''Venice: Review'']

----

The 'complex' of cities in Northern Italy (Florence, '''Venice''', Genoa, [[Milan]], Bologna) is probably the greatest single production area in the entire game. Converting Bologna and Florence to castles is expedient; very soon you'll have three mutually supportive huge cities and two citadels able to produce three entire full stack armies every four turns. Europe cannot compete with this concentrated production. So grab those cities!

Now aside from in the very early game Venice has a fantastic unit line-up, it's really quite amazing, and the game may claim they do not boast a 'Noteworthy land army' but don't let this intimidate you as Venice's forces are easily the equal of any major European nation. It's not all very easy, though, if you want a nice challenge try leaving Sicily alone and not rushing them; as although they can easily be taken out with a swift rush by about turn sixteen if you leave them you're going to have some very fun battles being outclassed by their superb early and middle game soldiers.

Normally I consider tier one units only when I review a factions early game forces, but when it is Venice in question, as with the other Italian states, their early cities and first conquests are advanced and fast growing Italian cities, so I will consider city units, rather than large town units, as tier one in this instance. Now, on to the unit review.

== Infantry ==
'''Venice''''s early game infantry is not particularly dangerous, but their trump card is availability. Most factions can produce Armoured Seargents and Seargent spears in the early game from castles, with their towns producing far inferior spear and town militia. For Venice this is not the case, as Italian Militia are as effective as Seargent Spearmen, and Italian Spear Militia are as effective as Armoured Seargents.

Carrocio standards are the one early game unit Venice gets that is truly special, and it can really make a difference to your early game armies. Not only does it bolster the morale of everyone around it, making it feasible to fight without generals in certain situations, the standard itself is accompanied by a small bodyguard of Armoured Seargents who cannot be broken. This makes them a very useful unit! They literally cannot run away, point blank, and fight to the death regardless of odds. This can give your army invaluable second chances as if your main line is broken, and you possess a few standards in the rear the enemy must kill every single guard, giving you precious time to rally your men and form a new battle line. This unit is also quite cheap, although the initial investment of 700 or so Florins certainly isn't, their upkeep of a mere 70 per turn certainly is! And as their initial price is so high the game engine considers them one of the best units you can train, and what that means is it's quite possible to be rewarded with four of them for free on completion of certain missions. Very handy. They do slow your forces down, but in the claustrophobic environment of Northern Italy in your early battles with Milan this is not so noticeable.

As the game progresses and you're packing fortresses and large cities your infantry becomes quite the impressive force. Not only do you receive the standard European DFK, you get quite literally the finest infantry soldiers on earth. Venetian Heavy Infantry are truly as hard as nails. With 16 attack nothing can confidently stand up to their armour-piercing war hammers, and with 16 defence they are very well protected for a unit of shock infantry, with shields to give them far more survivability against missile attacks than contemporary 2-handed ap troops. Of course the shield is currently a liability in melee, but don't let this deter you. Even with their shield value reduced Venetian Heavy Infantry are still one of the finest infantry units in the game, they're simply that lethal on the offensive. Now such a fine unit usually costs allot, comparable troops such as the HRE's fantastic armour-piercing dismounted Imperial Knights have a crippling upkeep of 250 a turn, you might expect something similar for Venetian Infantry, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. With a mere 150 upkeep they're actually cheaper to support than armoured seargents! So cheap are they, in fact, that they easily can be used as Garrison troops in castles. Try fighting through the gate against them! It's not pretty.

As the game grinds onward and you begin building Citadels and Huge cities you may initially be somewhat upset with your new infantry choices. When you view the statistics of dismounted men at arms and see that they're no better than dismounted Feudal knights you might wonder to yourself how you're going to go about storming castles in this late era. Well, the answer is of course Venetian Heavy Infantry. Build one from a citadel with a sword smiths guild and take a look at their stats now. Scoring a free chevron at this stage and with armour and weapon upgrades they come off the shelf with 18 armour piercing attack and 18 defence. They are quite literally unstoppable. but lose to heavy knights of most european faction and also moorish christian guard.

In your cities, at this stage, you score militia pikemen. A lovely unit that makes your cities almost impossible to assault, and a unit which validates Venice's fine late game gunpowder by giving them the ability to produce pike and shot formations.

In the end, Venice's infantry is largely vanilla in the early game with the simple advantage of availability (being able to produce decent spearmen from castles and cities) and the bolstering Carrocio standard to stiffen the line. They're hardly on a par with, say, the Danish, but they certainly get the job done.

In the middle game Venetian Heavy Infantry ensure you a battleline that will not be outclassed, and in the late game they rise to the occasion with fantastic upgrades and perks to give you the same end result. Throw in dismounted men at arms and dismounted fuedal knights for units that, although not overly useful considering you have acess to something better and cheaper, will keep the game from getting too boring at the very least. Militia pikes round out their forces nicely for defensive purposes and also as an invaluable compliment to muskets in the gunpowder age. The easy availabiliy of italian spear militia in the middle and late era's only gets better as they have plentiful armour upgrades starting with leather tanner and their vast numbers makes your enemies cavalry nearly obsolete and they can hold a line from enemy infantry well enough till venetian heavy infantry or flanking troops arrive. This makes the Italian spear militia the backbone of your average armies throughout the whole game.

== Archers ==
As with their infantry Venetian archers start relatively slow but have some nice perks to round themselves out with. In the early game you'll have the standard lineup in your castles, Peasant Crossbowmen for cheap AP fire support and of course the ever-present peasant archers. Nothing special really, but from their cities Venice can produce Pavise Crossbow Militia, a fine unit at any stage of the game, with superb defence against missiles and with a long range, dauntingly high armour piercing attack of 12 they can really compliment your early game spear forces, providing an excellent way to tune up even the most heavily armoured foes before the mellee, and with decent enough armour to survive a little combat unsupported. These units allow any city to have an effective number of archers on the walls to mow down enemies before they reach your gates. The large numbers of these units you can afford to put in an army will allow you to overpower most factions in ranged troops as they need to create their elite ones in fortress's or citadels.

By the middle game your pavise crossbow militia are still a fine unit to use in many situations, from defending towns to the open field, but another unit comes along to compliment them here. Venetian Archers are a fine missile unit with 9 attack that can loose much faster then crossbow militia and use flaming missiles and they have mellee stats that are good enough for them to enter combat when the odds are in their favor. Though they cannot compete with the cream of the game's archery units (Dismounted Dvor, Byzantine Gaurd, Ottoman Infantry, Janissary Archers,Longbowmen etc) you'll still find them a very valuable unit to have on your side. Their upkeep is low enough for them to be placed in castle garrisons, and on the open field they can do all the things you would demand of a good archery unit. Whether this is punishing the enemy at range, or standing off against horse archers and other skirmishers they won't let you down in a hurry.

In the late game Venice does not receive anything new regarding archers, aside from being able to give their Venetian Archers full plate, until gunpowder.

All in all, Venice has a capable corps of archers from the early to late game. They're not so good that you would consider building your army around them at any point, but in a support role they're unlikely to let you down.

== Cavalry ==
The game has something against Venice's cavalry lineup, claiming it's rather weak. Well I'm going to say this is rubbish. Venice may not be the equal of Poland, the HRE or France but if you can't make effective use of the cavalry they do have then you're simply not a very good cavalry commander.

In the early game they're dull, vanilla, with the basic lineup of Mounted Seargents and Mailed Knights. Nothing special, but good enough to round out armies consisting of Carrocio standards, Pavise Crossbows and Italian Spear Militia. Their cavalry at this stage is identicle to that of France, Milan, the HRE, etc. there's nothing unique or particularly effective about it, but for smashing into infantry and running down routers they do the job.

In the middle game Venice is still on equal footing with the standard European Armies, receiving Fuedal Knights from their fortresses, but with the advantage of also getting a solid militia cavalry unit. Don't mistake these guys for Merchant Cavalry! They have lances and a decent charge bonus, and are very capable for their price and high level of availability. I personally prefer them to Fuedal Knights as the upkeep of these 'true' Knights is extortionistically high, and in addition building allot of cavalry militia is likely to score you a Horse Breeders guild. This is very important for Venice as they don't get jousting lists to improve their cavalry, so shoot for that guild HQ!

By the late game Venice's castle-built heavy cavalry drop off. When many western nations are training the fantastic Chivalric Knights you receive Men At Arms, a reasonable unit with a solid armor value and a charge bonus of 7, but no match for Chivalrics, their upkeep is not particularly low although their recruitment cost is cheaper than Fuedal Knights, so think before you start building them as their price advantage cancels itself out the longer they're on the field.

Of course getting mounted Crossbowmen from your castles helps to even the odds with cavalry, we all know how effective this unit can be after all. That's not all though as from their citidels Venice also receives quite possibly the best light cavalry in the game. The fantastic Stradiots. With a charge bonus of five and the "can_formed_charge" attribute they're the second best chargers in their category (after Hussars) in the game, and they also carry AP maces with a good attack as a secondary weapon. The best advantage of Stradiots is, however, their sheer speed. Their in-game mount is a 'fast pony' as opposed to the 'pony' of most light cavalry, allowing them to outrunn even units as quick as Border Horse and Hobilars. With their AP maces, then, it follows that Stradiots make fantastic troops for catching and butchering horse archers and other missile cav. In fact they're the ultimate answer to things like Jinetes and Reiters. With their feirce mellee stats and ap weapons Stradiots also do good service against hostile heavy cavalry. Although in equal numbers they loose, you must remember they're far cheaper than, say, Chivalric Knights. However the true asset of Stradiots is their flexibility via micromanagement. It's a proven fact that a unit of Stradiots can defeat a unit of Lancers if you make use of their speed to escape mellee to perform multiple charges, and this asset is just as effective against infantry units. Of course to do this in a pitched battle where many units are present is quite tough, but the option is there whether or not you choose to use it.

Again Venice compliments its castle-built units with a solid city built unit and this time it's a nice one; Broken Lancers. Much like Demi Lancers they lack the solidity of elite western cavalry, but have all of the punch. With 12 attack and a charge bonus of 8, there are few infantry units these chaps can't all but eradicate in one solid charge.

So, all in all, Venice's cavalry is hardly weak. Their mixture of units is eclectic, with some decent, albeit difficult to use elites (Stradiots and Broken Lancers) and allot of the basic European lineup (Feudal Knights and such) you have a good amount of choice and good counters to the things that might be inclined to cause you trouble while still packing some good heavy cavalry for the real business of smashing infantry.

== Special Note ==
In the late game, post-gunpowder, Venice is one of only four factions ([[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan ]], [[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]] and '''Venice''') capable of fielding muskets and pikes, and one of only five factions ([[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]], '''Venice''' , [[Turks (M2TW Faction)|Turkey]] and [[Russia (M2TW Faction)|Russia]]) capable of receiving muskets. They are one of only five factions to receive mortars ([[Scotland (M2TW Faction)|Scotland]], [[England (M2TW Faction)|England]], [[Sicily (M2TW Faction)|Sicily]], [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]] and '''Venice''') and one of only two factions to receive Monster Ribaults ('''Venice''' and [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]]) their gunpowder navy is also quite powerful. Venetian Galleass' absolutely crush Gun Holks and also defeat the Eastern Equivalent. All this said Venice is a true power in the gunpowder age.

My final thoughts on Venice are that they're one of the few factions that is truly strong through the entire game, with an effective, balanced army that does not come up wanting in any department. A great all-rounder, but with a nasty edge in infantry and gunpowder waiting to be exploited. One of the most rewarding elements of playing Venice is that although their early game forces do are nothing special, there's always better units to unlock and use until you play through to gunpowder. In other words, they start strong and they keep getting stronger. This makes their campaign a paced and relaxing affair as you never feel the need to rush, a fitting mood in which to take command of The Most Serene Republic of Venice.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]
[[Category:M2TW - Campaign Strategy]]

Venice (M2TW Faction)

2008-09-08T15:29:50Z

205.211.141.243: /* Infantry */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_venice.jpg|Faction Symbol for Venice]]|Name=Republic of Venice|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Catholic]]|Culture=[[Southern European]]}}

== Overview ==

*'''Author:''' ''[[dad_savage]]'' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=24524]
*'''Original Thread:''' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91203''Venice: Review'']

----

The 'complex' of cities in Northern Italy (Florence, '''Venice''', Genoa, [[Milan]], Bologna) is probably the greatest single production area in the entire game. Converting Bologna and Florence to castles is expedient; very soon you'll have three mutually supportive huge cities and two citadels able to produce three entire full stack armies every four turns. Europe cannot compete with this concentrated production. So grab those cities!

Now aside from in the very early game Venice has a fantastic unit line-up, it's really quite amazing, and the game may claim they do not boast a 'Noteworthy land army' but don't let this intimidate you as Venice's forces are easily the equal of any major European nation. It's not all very easy, though, if you want a nice challenge try leaving Sicily alone and not rushing them; as although they can easily be taken out with a swift rush by about turn sixteen if you leave them you're going to have some very fun battles being outclassed by their superb early and middle game soldiers.

Normally I consider tier one units only when I review a factions early game forces, but when it is Venice in question, as with the other Italian states, their early cities and first conquests are advanced and fast growing Italian cities, so I will consider city units, rather than large town units, as tier one in this instance. Now, on to the unit review.

== Infantry ==
'''Venice''''s early game infantry is not particularly dangerous, but their trump card is availability. Most factions can produce Armoured Seargents and Seargent spears in the early game from castles, with their towns producing far inferior spear and town militia. For Venice this is not the case, as Italian Militia are as effective as Seargent Spearmen, and Italian Spear Militia are as effective as Armoured Seargents.

Carrocio standards are the one early game unit Venice gets that is truly special, and it can really make a difference to your early game armies. Not only does it bolster the morale of everyone around it, making it feasible to fight without generals in certain situations, the standard itself is accompanied by a small bodyguard of Armoured Seargents who cannot be broken. This makes them a very useful unit! They literally cannot run away, point blank, and fight to the death regardless of odds. This can give your army invaluable second chances as if your main line is broken, and you possess a few standards in the rear the enemy must kill every single guard, giving you precious time to rally your men and form a new battle line. This unit is also quite cheap, although the initial investment of 700 or so Florins certainly isn't, their upkeep of a mere 70 per turn certainly is! And as their initial price is so high the game engine considers them one of the best units you can train, and what that means is it's quite possible to be rewarded with four of them for free on completion of certain missions. Very handy. They do slow your forces down, but in the claustrophobic environment of Northern Italy in your early battles with Milan this is not so noticeable.

As the game progresses and you're packing fortresses and large cities your infantry becomes quite the impressive force. Not only do you receive the standard European DFK, you get quite literally the finest infantry soldiers on earth. Venetian Heavy Infantry are truly as hard as nails. With 16 attack nothing can confidently stand up to their armour-piercing war hammers, and with 16 defence they are very well protected for a unit of shock infantry, with shields to give them far more survivability against missile attacks than contemporary 2-handed ap troops. Of course the shield is currently a liability in melee, but don't let this deter you. Even with their shield value reduced Venetian Heavy Infantry are still one of the finest infantry units in the game, they're simply that lethal on the offensive. Now such a fine unit usually costs allot, comparable troops such as the HRE's fantastic armour-piercing dismounted Imperial Knights have a crippling upkeep of 250 a turn, you might expect something similar for Venetian Infantry, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. With a mere 150 upkeep they're actually cheaper to support than armoured seargents! So cheap are they, in fact, that they easily can be used as Garrison troops in castles. Try fighting through the gate against them! It's not pretty.

As the game grinds onward and you begin building Citadels and Huge cities you may initially be somewhat upset with your new infantry choices. When you view the statistics of dismounted men at arms and see that they're no better than dismounted Feudal knights you might wonder to yourself how you're going to go about storming castles in this late era. Well, the answer is of course Venetian Heavy Infantry. Build one from a citadel with a sword smiths guild and take a look at their stats now. Scoring a free chevron at this stage and with armour and weapon upgrades they come off the shelf with 18 armour piercing attack and 18 defence. They are quite literally unstoppable. but lose to heavy knights of most european faction and also moorish christian guard.

In your cities, at this stage, you score militia pikemen. A lovely unit that makes your cities almost impossible to assault, and a unit which validates Venice's fine late game gunpowder by giving them the ability to produce pike and shot formations.

In the end, Venice's infantry is largely vanilla in the early game with the simple advantage of availability (being able to produce decent spearmen from castles and cities) and the bolstering Carrocio standard to stiffen the line. They're hardly on a par with, say, the Danish, but they certainly get the job done.

In the middle game Venetian Heavy Infantry ensure you a battleline that will not be outclassed, and in the late game they rise to the occasion with fantastic upgrades and perks to give you the same end result. Throw in dismounted men at arms and dismounted fuedal knights for units that, although not overly useful considering you have acess to something better and cheaper, will keep the game from getting too boring at the very least. Militia pikes round out their forces nicely for defensive purposes and also as an invaluable compliment to muskets in the gunpowder age. The easy availabiliy of italian spear militia in the middle and late era's only gets better as they have plentiful armour upgrades starting with leather tanner and their vast numbers makes your enemies cavalry nearly obsolete and they can hold a line from enemy infantry well enough till venetian heavy infantry or flanking troops arrive. This makes the Italian spear militia the backbone of your average armies throughout the whole game.

== Archers ==
As with their infantry Venetian archers start relatively slow but have some nice perks to round themselves out with. In the early game you'll have the standard lineup in your castles, Peasant Crossbowmen for cheap AP fire support and of course the ever-present peasant archers. Nothing special really, but from their cities Venice can produce Pavise Crossbow Militia, a fine unit at any stage of the game, with superb defence against missiles and a dauntingly high armour piercing attack of 12 they can really compliment your early game spear forces, providing an excellent way to tune up even the most heavily armoured foes before the mellee, and with decent enough armour to survive a little combat unsupported.

By the middle game your pavise crossbow militia are still a fine unit to use in many situations, from defending towns to the open field, but another unit comes along to compliment them here. Venetian Archers are a fine missile unit with 9 attack and mellee stats that are good enough for them to enter combat when the odds are in their favor. Though they cannot compete with the cream of the game's archery units (Dismounted Dvor, Byzantine Gaurd, Ottoman Infantry, Janissary Archers,Longbowmen etc) you'll still find them a very valuable unit to have on your side. Their upkeep is low enough for them to be placed in castle garrisons, and on the open field they can do all the things you would demand of a good archery unit. Whether this is punishing the enemy at range, or standing off against horse archers and other skirmishers they won't let you down in a hurry.

In the late game Venice does not receive anything new regarding archers, aside from being able to give their Venetian Archers full plate, until gunpowder.

All in all, Venice has a capable corps of archers from the early to late game. They're not so good that you would consider building your army around them at any point, but in a support role they're unlikely to let you down.

== Cavalry ==
The game has something against Venice's cavalry lineup, claiming it's rather weak. Well I'm going to say this is rubbish. Venice may not be the equal of Poland, the HRE or France but if you can't make effective use of the cavalry they do have then you're simply not a very good cavalry commander.

In the early game they're dull, vanilla, with the basic lineup of Mounted Seargents and Mailed Knights. Nothing special, but good enough to round out armies consisting of Carrocio standards, Pavise Crossbows and Italian Spear Militia. Their cavalry at this stage is identicle to that of France, Milan, the HRE, etc. there's nothing unique or particularly effective about it, but for smashing into infantry and running down routers they do the job.

In the middle game Venice is still on equal footing with the standard European Armies, receiving Fuedal Knights from their fortresses, but with the advantage of also getting a solid militia cavalry unit. Don't mistake these guys for Merchant Cavalry! They have lances and a decent charge bonus, and are very capable for their price and high level of availability. I personally prefer them to Fuedal Knights as the upkeep of these 'true' Knights is extortionistically high, and in addition building allot of cavalry militia is likely to score you a Horse Breeders guild. This is very important for Venice as they don't get jousting lists to improve their cavalry, so shoot for that guild HQ!

By the late game Venice's castle-built heavy cavalry drop off. When many western nations are training the fantastic Chivalric Knights you receive Men At Arms, a reasonable unit with a solid armor value and a charge bonus of 7, but no match for Chivalrics, their upkeep is not particularly low although their recruitment cost is cheaper than Fuedal Knights, so think before you start building them as their price advantage cancels itself out the longer they're on the field.

Of course getting mounted Crossbowmen from your castles helps to even the odds with cavalry, we all know how effective this unit can be after all. That's not all though as from their citidels Venice also receives quite possibly the best light cavalry in the game. The fantastic Stradiots. With a charge bonus of five and the "can_formed_charge" attribute they're the second best chargers in their category (after Hussars) in the game, and they also carry AP maces with a good attack as a secondary weapon. The best advantage of Stradiots is, however, their sheer speed. Their in-game mount is a 'fast pony' as opposed to the 'pony' of most light cavalry, allowing them to outrunn even units as quick as Border Horse and Hobilars. With their AP maces, then, it follows that Stradiots make fantastic troops for catching and butchering horse archers and other missile cav. In fact they're the ultimate answer to things like Jinetes and Reiters. With their feirce mellee stats and ap weapons Stradiots also do good service against hostile heavy cavalry. Although in equal numbers they loose, you must remember they're far cheaper than, say, Chivalric Knights. However the true asset of Stradiots is their flexibility via micromanagement. It's a proven fact that a unit of Stradiots can defeat a unit of Lancers if you make use of their speed to escape mellee to perform multiple charges, and this asset is just as effective against infantry units. Of course to do this in a pitched battle where many units are present is quite tough, but the option is there whether or not you choose to use it.

Again Venice compliments its castle-built units with a solid city built unit and this time it's a nice one; Broken Lancers. Much like Demi Lancers they lack the solidity of elite western cavalry, but have all of the punch. With 12 attack and a charge bonus of 8, there are few infantry units these chaps can't all but eradicate in one solid charge.

So, all in all, Venice's cavalry is hardly weak. Their mixture of units is eclectic, with some decent, albeit difficult to use elites (Stradiots and Broken Lancers) and allot of the basic European lineup (Feudal Knights and such) you have a good amount of choice and good counters to the things that might be inclined to cause you trouble while still packing some good heavy cavalry for the real business of smashing infantry.

== Special Note ==
In the late game, post-gunpowder, Venice is one of only four factions ([[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan ]], [[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]] and '''Venice''') capable of fielding muskets and pikes, and one of only five factions ([[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]], '''Venice''' , [[Turks (M2TW Faction)|Turkey]] and [[Russia (M2TW Faction)|Russia]]) capable of receiving muskets. They are one of only five factions to receive mortars ([[Scotland (M2TW Faction)|Scotland]], [[England (M2TW Faction)|England]], [[Sicily (M2TW Faction)|Sicily]], [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]] and '''Venice''') and one of only two factions to receive Monster Ribaults ('''Venice''' and [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]]) their gunpowder navy is also quite powerful. Venetian Galleass' absolutely crush Gun Holks and also defeat the Eastern Equivalent. All this said Venice is a true power in the gunpowder age.

My final thoughts on Venice are that they're one of the few factions that is truly strong through the entire game, with an effective, balanced army that does not come up wanting in any department. A great all-rounder, but with a nasty edge in infantry and gunpowder waiting to be exploited. One of the most rewarding elements of playing Venice is that although their early game forces do are nothing special, there's always better units to unlock and use until you play through to gunpowder. In other words, they start strong and they keep getting stronger. This makes their campaign a paced and relaxing affair as you never feel the need to rush, a fitting mood in which to take command of The Most Serene Republic of Venice.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]
[[Category:M2TW - Campaign Strategy]]

Byzantine Empire (M2TW Faction)

2008-08-13T16:45:14Z

205.211.141.243: /* Campaign Strategy */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_byzantium.jpg|Faction Symbol for Byzantium]]|Name=Byzantine Empire|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Orthodox Christianity]]|Culture=[[Greek]]}}

Byzantium is the shadow that remains of the old Roman Empire. It is a mere shadow because despite retaining the civilised ways of the Roman legacy, the Byzantines have done little to further it. In fact, it is their reverence of the old ways that has brought the empire to a point of stagnation, in a world that has gradually kept moving on. The differences between the thinking in Byzantium and the west were most profoundly highlighted with the Great Schism, the division of Christendom.

Despite boasting the world's trade capital and home of Orthodox Christianity in Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire is well past its zenith and is now in steady decline. The outer regions of the empire have been slipping from the Emperor's grasp for decades now. To the west, the Normans have taken southern Italy, and in the east the Turks have moved into Asia Minor after their decisive and terrible victory at Manzikert. The latter of these two losses was the worst defeat the Empire had suffered in its entire history. To make matters worse, general corruption, chaos and dissent has lead to some of the other provinces closer to home to rebel.

Arguably, the greatest threat to Byzantium lies in its independence from Rome. There is significant risk that the lords of the west will consider the lands of Orthodox Christianity to be fair game unless the Pope decrees otherwise. It is a true irony that Constantinople may now have to appease Rome after becoming the new capital of the Roman Empire centuries ago.

If the Byzantine Empire is to once again become the dominant power of the east again, then it will first need to reclaim its heartlands wholly before encroaching upon the borders of another power. The Byzantine legacy is long and predominantly proud, but unless the Emperor can turn things around and once again instill, it is a legacy that will soon end.

== Campaign Strategy ==

The Byzantine Empire begins with 5 provinces under its control with castles at Corinth and Nicosia and cities at Thessalonica and Nicea and its capital city of Constantinople. Early plans for expansion involve the capture of rebel settlements to North, such as Sofia, which is very important to keep the hungarians in check, for some reason hungary goes for this settlement within the first few turns and if they get it, then they will have two good castles and a very rich capital to form a very solid base. So it is best to lay seige to this castle in the very first turns with the faction leader and some spearmen from Constantinople, and send the faction heir to the South East to Smyrna. Once the Byzantines have expanded sufficiently they should set their sites on the Turks to the East whilst remaining wary of Hungarians to the North and the Italian factions to the West especially the Venetians.

The early Byzantine forces consist mainly of Byzantine Spearmen and Trebizond Archers. These are supplemented by a set of highly effective cavalry units including the Byzantine cavalry, Vardariotai and Skythikon. In the early game cavalry archers from castles will dominate feild battles against the militia infantry of Hungary and Venice. Throughout the campaign it will be the Byzantine cavalry and missile troops that will be crucial to success in battle. These troops will have to compensate for the Byzantines lack of gunpowder units late in the campaign.

Grand Campaign Objective
Hold 45 regions, including: Rome and Jerusalem.

== Diplomacy ==
Make military alliances with Sicily and Milan (because they both want to destroy Venice), and Moors (they want the Egyptians destroyed). Stay on the Pope's good side, otherwise you may suffer from Crusades. Polish should also be allied with as they will also provide some assistance with the hungarians.

== Byzantine Units ==

===Light Infantry:===

====Peasants ====
Life at the bottom rung of medieval society is not easy or healthy. In times of war peasants are forced from their farms and drafted into levies, and if they are lucky, given some kind of simple weapon to fight with. Unsurprisingly peasants are undisciplined troops who are better at fleeing than they are fighting.

====Town Militia====
Common throughout Europe, Town Militia are commoners and peasants who have been levied into local militias to defend towns, roads and bolster armies. Given some training and equipped with a spear and little to no armour these units are useful in support roles for heavier and better units.

===Spear / Pike Infantry===

====Byzantine Spearmen ====
Byzantine Spearmen are a step up from spear militias, better trained and equipped these troops are able to form a defensive ring. These are longer serving soldiers, used to defending settlements and bolstering armies. Equipped with a spear and light armour these troops are a little more robust than local militias formed by peasants.

====Spear Militia ====
These troops are peasants from villages and small towns across the Byzantine Empire who have been levied into local militias to defend towns, roads and bolster armies. Given some training and equipped with a spear and light little to no armour, these units are useful in support roles for heavier and better units.

===Heavy Infantry ===

====Byzantine Infantry====
Made up of soldiers recruited with small 'pronoiai' land grants, these Infantry "made up of peoples from all lands", fight for the Byzantine Empire more for profit then any sense of loyalty. These soldiers are equipped with a sword and large shield and wear mail armour for protection.

====Varangian Guard ====
The most famous of all Byzantine units, made up wholely of Norsemen, the Varangian guard were initially a military levy sent to the Byzantine emperor from the 'Rus' which are now a permanent unit often used as a royal bodyguards. These superbly skilled warriors wield two handed axes with vicious abandon, hacking down the Emperor's enemies. They are highly powerful and are able to take down many opponents in one battle.

====Dismounted Byzantine Lancers ====
Well trained and well disciplined, Byzantine Lancers are well armoured and equipped with a lance and a sword. Common throughout the Byzantine Empire, their training and discipline allows makes them very useful on the battlefield, whether mounted or on foot.

====Dismounted Latinkon====
Latinkon is the collective term in Latin for western European troops, mostly mercenaries, in the Byzantine army. Despite fluctuating numbers, there are enough of them to warrant the position of Megas Konostabllos being created to oversee them. Wearing heavy armour these experienced and well trained fighters are armed with lances and swords and are effective both mounted or on foot.

===Missile Infantry===

====Peasant Archers ====
While most peasants in Europe were levied into the army, at sword point if need be, some welcomed the opportunity to earn some pay, and travel. Peasant Archers are accustomed to using their bow for hunting. These peasant archers are armed with a small bow, knife, and if lucky enough, some armour.

====Archer Militia ====
Members of such militias within the Byzantine Empire, are not career soldiers but a type of trained civilian guard called,' tzakones'. Responsible for protecting settlements, roads and forts, these archers are armed with a small bow and sword and wear padded armour.

====Trebizond Archers ====
Hailing from the edge of the Black Sea and plying their trade in the service of Byzantium, these men are recruited from the peasantry but well trained in the use of the composite bow. They are effective against light infantry and when grouped in large numbers and can become a thorn in the side of any opponent.

====Byzantine Guard Archers====
Byzantine guard troops are financed by the Emperor himself and unlike many Byzantine units consist purely of Greek troops. Skilled in the use of the composite bow, these troops issue a challenge to all Byzantium's enemies at range. Also equipped with a sword and wearing mail, the Guard Archers can withstand more combat than many other missile units.

===Heavy Cavalry ===

====Kataphractoi ====
The Kataphractoi trace their origins back to Roman times and are normally recruited from amongst the middle classes, providing the Byzantine army with a force of well trained and well disciplined cavalry units. Well protected and armed with a lance and a mace and although somewhat outdated by modern heavy cavalry, they still make for formidable fighters on the battlefield.

====Byzantine Lancers====
Well trained and well disciplined, Byzantine Lancers are well armoured and equipped with a lance and a sword. Common throughout the Byzantine Empire, their training and discipline allows makes them very useful on the battlefield

====Latinkon====
Latinkon is the collective term in Latin for western European troops, mostly mercenaries, in the Byzantine army. Despite fluctuating numbers, there are enough of them to warrant the position of Megas Konostabllos being created to oversee them. Wearing heavy mail through to plate mail these experienced and well trained fighters are armed with lances and swords.

====Militia Cavalry ====
Used throughout the Byzantine Empire to protect merchants, provincial towns and roads, Militia Cavalry are poorly trained and armoured in light mail armour and equipped with a spear. These men are very good at chasing down archers and light infantry and light cavalry.

====General's Bodyguard ====
These truly formidable troops are the general's personal bodyguard who accompany him on the battlefield. Selected for their loyalty and martial prowess these elite warriors fear little and shrug off odds that would crush many other units. Wearing heavy mail or partial plate and wielding lances this unit is capable of devastating charges and riding down most foes.

===Missile Cavalry ===

====Byzantine Cavalry ====
Made up of soldiers with small land grants, 'pronoiai', these cavalrymen are a type of reservist who is called up from time to time. These medium cavalry are influenced by Turkish tactics and training exercises and are better than most horse archers in melee. They wear padded to heavy mail armour and are equipped with a composite bow and sword.

====Skythikon====
Skythikon is the Byzantine term used to describe the mainly Cuman, Asiatic Nomads, who serve the Byzantine Empire exclusively as horse archers. Accustomed to being on horseback in the plains and steppes of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region, these cavalrymen wear little to no armour and are armed with a composite bow and a small sword.

====Vardariotai ====
The Vardariotai are drawn mainly from the Magyars that settled in the Vardar Valley (Today's FY ROM), and their descendants. Disciplined and highly trained, the Vardariotai are elite horse archers. They wear light mail to light brigandine armour and fire a composite bow from horseback. Able to relentlessly pepper their enemies with arrows and use their mobility to stay out of trouble.

===Mercenary Units ===

====Alan Light Cavalry====
Alan Light Cavalry are hardy horsemen, accustomed to the plains and steppes of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region. Having fought against the Byzantine Empire previously, now ironically they are highly valued as mercenaries by their former enemy. Allan Light Cavalrymen are equipped with spear and light armour, useful for skirmishing, raiding and ambushing tactics and for covering flanks.

===Artillery===

====Catapult====
Constructed of wood and capable of flinging stones large enough to crush a man's head, the catapult was a common site on the ancient Roman battlefield. Now in the medieval era the catapult is being replaced by newer and more powerful weapons.
Trebuchet
The counter-weight Trebuchet is an evolution of the man-powered mangonel and catapults dating back before the 11th century. It has quickly spread throughout the world as an effective siege engine capable of lobbing large wall- crushing boulders. The Trebuchet is also able to fling such things as burning missiles and rotten animal remains to devastate enemy units.

====Ballista====
Invented in ancient Greece and resembling nothing more than a giant crossbow, the Ballista is capable of flinging a javelin with lethal force well over 100 meters! Unlike the crossbow the Ballista derives its force from twisted animal sinew and not tension from the frontal arms. No matter where the power comes from this weapon can impale any unit.

==== Trebuchet ====
Trebuchet, probably the modern equivelent of a rocket launcher, these hard hitting "catapults" were Europes, best siege Artilary until the invention of gunpowder. The counter-weight Trebuchet is an evolution of the man-powered mangonel and catapults dating back before the 11th century. It has quickly spread throughout the world as an effective siege engine capable of lobbing large wall- crushing boulders. The Trebuchet is also able to fling such things as burning missiles and rotten animal remains to devastate enemy units.

====Bombard====
The first primitive gunpowder siege artillery, bombards were created in China and Western Europe in the early 14th century and spread to the rest of the world by the late 14th century. Forged from bronze or iron, and designed to fire stone balls to crumble enemy defences. They also shoot inaccurate flaming balls wrapped in pitch-soaked rags, that can incinerate enemy troops!

{{M2 Factions}}

[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]

England (M2TW Faction)

2008-08-13T16:22:42Z

205.211.141.243: /* Infantry */

{{Faction|image=[[Image:Symbol_england.jpg|Faction Symbol for England]]|Name=Kingdom of England|Game=[[Medieval II: Total War]]|Religion=[[Catholic]]|Culture=[[Northern European]]}}

==Overview==

At the game's start in 1080, England's position is hopeful. They are surrounded by rebel settlements and already have castles in place on either side of the Channel.

From these castles, conquering and developing the conquered rebel provinces from Rennes to Antwerp can create a strong high period economy, especially if Caenarvon is converted to a city.
Another possible route the English King can take would be to unite the British isles first, concentrating all military efforts on quickly destroying the [[Scotland|Scots]] in as short a time as possible, thus avoiding [[Excommunication]]. Although this tends to be less lucrative than developing a Kingdom on both sides of the English channel, it is more secure.

The English navy is at best average and cannot be relied upon to transport troops through long stretches of hostile waters unlike the navies of [[Byzantium]], [[Venice]] or [[Portugal]].
A second weakness that England have is their complete lack of missile cavalry, and must rely on mercenaries if such a need arises.

In stark contrast to this, England's foot archers are amongst the best in the game, all but one unit being armed with longbows (which are effective against armour) and being able to deploy stakes to ward off cavalry charges.

==Infantry==

Aside from the early period, English infantry is of high quality. Like all factions they gain the standard town, spear and archer militia, but also gain bill militia and heavy bill militia. Although they both have weak defensive stats (standard bill militia being only 3 in total), they are effective against amour and have a good attack, meaning that both units are far better suited to guarding a city's walls, as it's likely that walls will be assaulted by foot soldiers. The best use of them would be to use bill militia where it's likely the enemy will use ladders, and heavy bill militia where they will use towers.

English infantry trained in castles is of even higher quality, and are even effective against cavalry, provided that the unit survives the charge. Dismounted English Knights are among the most powerful offensive infantry in the game, are effective against armour and can hold there own against nearly any enemy infantry.

England also has access to armoured swordsmen, who are basically DFK with a cheaper upkeep and the ability to upgrade its armour, which makes this unit so effective that it never really becomes obsolete,allowing them to constantly build up experience. Armored swordsmen are excellent against the infantry of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Italy, particularly against dismounted Broken Lances, who they will massacre in close combat.

==Missile==

English archers are amongst the finest available in the game. Upon gaining the unique Woodman's Guild, archers trained start with more experience.

Due to their ability to lay stakes that effectively cut off cavalry from one direction and double as light infantry, it is reasonably safe to leave skirmish mode off for English archers, and hide them behind a line of stakes. These abilities make the English archers, particularly the Retinue Longbowmen, some of the best in the game.

England also has access to the Sherwood archers, which can hide anywhere while having a high missile attack value, making them perfect for ambushes.

English gunpowder troops are lacking and aren't really worth the price you have to pay for the infrastructure required to build them, especially when yeomen and retinue longbowmen still outclass them in terms of range and utility.

English artillery is also lacking (although for settlement defense they do gain the use of mortars), with no real unit that's effective as field artillery such as a monster ribault or serpentine, and their cannon for use against walls being the culverin instead of the basilisk, grand cannon or monster bombard that are available to other factions.

All things considered, longbows will make up the core of most English armies.

==Cavalry==

English cavalry lacks in variety, being composed of the standard knights available to all factions. There are, however, the unique hobilars, which make effective light cavalry and excel at chasing down missile cavalry.

English knights have a high charge value and are armed with armour piercing poleaxes, making them highly effective at confronting other mid-game knights, however they will struggle against elites such as Gendarmes or the mighty French lancers.

Demi-Lancers are trainable from military academies, and are the faster, weaker version of the French lancers.

==In Conclusion==

England is a defensive faction, who are best suited for defending a hill, or any other defensive position. Their armies should be deployed with longbowmen in front of supporting melée infantry but behind stakes, with English knights, both dismounted and mounted, on the flanks to make sure no enemy cavalry tries to maneuver around the army.

In terms of siege defense, England are possibly the best faction in the campaign, as stakes can be deployed in front of settlement gates or roads, and once the battle starts the longbows can be moved onto the walls where they can reap a heavy toll on any advancing foot knights and stand a good chance of winning any melee battle with the survivors, whilst mortars hide behind the walls and target enemy siege engines.

A possible way to force a defensive battle is to besiege a settlement then wait for another army to try and lift the siege.

England see their military zenith in the high period, so all efforts must be made to crush factions that are strong in the late period before they have a chance to bring their best units to bear (Venice, France, Milan etc), unless harder battles are what you look for in the campaign.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]

Norway (M2TW:K Faction)

2008-05-16T18:13:18Z

205.211.141.243: /* Infantry */

{{M2TW Kingdoms}}

== Overview ==

Norway is a faction in [[Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms]] which is highly based on powerful melee units being used to powerful and speedy extent. Norway is often considered the hardest faction in brittania due to generals constantly rebelling and lack of power in field battles. However their units are highly advanced and even the cavalry are pretty good.
They suffer from massive economic problems, but their islands arent likely to get attacked by the AI, Although there is always an inherent problem in competetive hotseat.
To survive norway must either go and quickly take a large part of a rich land like ireland , or must sack until your finincial reserves are high enough.To sack well you must use the manueverability and superiority of your boats to your advantage and ferry troops to advanced cities and then remove the troops after you destroyed every building in the city and sacked.

Using the viking tactics described above will help you get settled in economically after about 10-20 turns after the death of King Haakon. It is sometimes better to just stay on your islands while raiding and wait for the right time to strike (make sure you have deployed spies in order to keep track of the other factions)When you finally see a weak, unguarded, region that would be easy to defend; strike hard and fast and show those fools the fury of the Northmen!

== Starting Area ==
Norway starts on several islands off the coast of Britain and one region at the very north tip of the main Isle. The starting capital is Castle Town, located on the Isle of Mann. Castle Town will prove most valuble when launching attacks on any of the other four factions. Be sure to use your naval supremacy to secure the remaining smaller islands that begin under Rebel control before making any big assault moves on the two main islands (Ireland & Britain). It is a very good idea to have this task completed before King Haakon arrives; this will allow you to use his army more effectivly and not be forced to split up his advanced units.

== Victory Conditions and Agents ==
Long:
Hold 35 Regions
Hold Dublin , Perth , London . Ceanervon and Castle Town
Short:
Hold 25
Hold Dublin , Perth, London , Ceanervon and Castle town

== Units ==
Good selection of siege assault weapons and anti-infantry field battles. Suffers against powerful ranged power and regular battles (although regular battles they still have a slight advantage over most factions)

===Infantry ===
Mostly shock troops with heavy 2 handed weapons that are effective against armour, but can be weak against archers.

===Ranged Infantry ===

===Cavalry===

===Artillery===

===Hero (Haakon Haakonsson; also called Haakon the Old) ===

Be prepared to use Haakon and his arriving army quickly and decisivly. When he does arrive, his army will be well equiped for a good seige, or perhaps you could use him to fight off the Scottish invaders in the Wick region? Whatever you decide to do, know this, King Haakon will die '''''soon''''' and his son Magnus will be left as the new king. Historically this is supposed to be the point at which Scotland and Norway make peace with each other, however it is very hard to convince the AI to ceasefire. Make sure that you use Haakon to his full potential because things go down hill once he dies.

=== Dynamic Kings purse ===
Of all the kingdoms factions the most diverse in the kings purse is norway , which gets a substantial boost when the king appears which is lost several turns later

=== Mercenaries ===
There are several mercenaries your enemies can recruit when they take a town with high norway culture.

[[Category:M2TW Kingdoms Factions]]

Ireland (M2TW:K Faction)

2008-05-16T18:08:04Z

205.211.141.243: /* Overall strategy */

{{M2TW Kingdoms}}

'''Ireland''' are a new faction introduced in M2TW Kingdoms. They control half the island of Ireland due to an English invasion, which started in 1171 under King Henry II with the support of a Papal Bull.

==Starting Position==

At first glance, the Irish starting position0 seems weak, as the English control half the settlements on Ireland and all 4 Irish settlements are spread out around these English settlements. However this is misleading, the culture of English controlled parts of the island is still strongly Irish, the English themselves will be busy fighting the Welsh for much of the early game so few elite units will be in Ireland.
The Irish also start the game with their unique character, Brian O'Connor.

Once the island of Ireland itself has been united, its a prosperous and secure base to build up to the stronger Irish units and plan further conquests.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0020-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0021-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0022-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0024-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0023-4.jpg

==Victory conditions and starting agents==

Long: Hold 35 Regions,, and hold Dublin and Trim

Short: Hold 25 regions and hold Dublin and Trim

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0025-4.jpg

==Units==

===Unit Summary===

Ireland has a weak early game roster, which gets much stronger as time goes on, they are notably lacking in archers compared to England and Wales yet Deisi Javelinmen can fulfill much of this role even until the late game and this is compensated for by their excellent cavalry (such as lord's retinue and calivermen).
Also of note is that Irish spearmen can only be recruited in towns, but as Irish cavalry is the best in the campaign, spearmen are not often a high priority for Irish generals.
Early units are mostly made up of very weak infantry and the few Galloglach mercenaries you can gather, along with a few scattered weak cavalry and Gaelic archers making for a very melee-based force with a severe weakness in attacking and defending walls.
High units are quite good, with some decent units from castles joining the fight, Ulster Swordsmen and Gallogliach are effective offensively and against the armoured units England, Scotland and Norway tend to employ at this time and they are very affordable, you can also get Horseboys who are good javelin throwing horse archers.
Late on units are very good, with Mounted Calivermen and Muire who are expensive and have low numbers but with 2 hitpoints and high attack and defense values can dominate opponents in seiges where there is a very small front and no chance for flanking, you're basically unstoppable against everything except a very powerful ranged force ([[England(M2TW Kingdoms)]] and [[Wales (M2TW Kingdoms)]] unfortunately may be good enough sometimes).

===Infantry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0000-3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0001-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0002-3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0004-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0005-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0006-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0007-3.jpg

===Ranged Infantry===

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0003-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0008-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0009-3.jpg

===Cavalry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0010-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0011-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0012-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0013-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0015-3.jpg

===Ranged Cavalry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0016-5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0017-5.jpg

===Artillery===

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0018-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0019-5.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0029-5.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0030-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0031-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0032-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0033-4.jpg

==Irish Mercenaries==
If another faction captures an area with high Irish culture then they will receive Irish mercenary units.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0026-5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0027-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0028-4.jpg

==Irish Kings purse==
You get 1000 added to the purse at the start if the AI is playing Ireland, but it removes 500 from the purse at turn 15 and 20.

==Overall strategy==
After uniting Ireland, ,the Irish should then try and develop their economy and to help weaken the English through assassins and spies, or help the English and destroy the other factions in the map and then betray the English . If choosing the first option you should always try and attack the English through subterfuge.
When your army reaches about 2 full stacks or so, that you can definitely support (the upkeep doesn't make you bankrupt) then you should attack England or Scotland and take over the northern part of the mainland. After achieving that you should destroy Norway and take the nearby islands.
You should encourage the barons alliance at all times, preferably by making sure the enemy's leaders are always low authority ones. Since after securing all of Ireland your relations with the English are abysmal it is easiest to assist Wales with the destruction of England but if Wales is winning the conflict with England or the Barons alliance has happened Wales will be your biggest threat and should be your target, Scotland and Norway usually fight amongst themselves and are better to take out in the late game as it's less convenient then Wales and England and owning Wales and England and taking out Scotland is much easier then owning Scotland and taking out the advanced England or Barons or Welsh who have dominated this conflict.

==Strategy Guides==
*[http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=91160 Britannia Campaign: Ireland] on Org

==AAR's==
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=119994 For Ireland! A Brittania AAR] on TWC

[[Category:M2TW Kingdoms Factions]]

Ireland (M2TW:K Faction)

2008-05-16T17:54:26Z

205.211.141.243: /* Unit Summary */

{{M2TW Kingdoms}}

'''Ireland''' are a new faction introduced in M2TW Kingdoms. They control half the island of Ireland due to an English invasion, which started in 1171 under King Henry II with the support of a Papal Bull.

==Starting Position==

At first glance, the Irish starting position0 seems weak, as the English control half the settlements on Ireland and all 4 Irish settlements are spread out around these English settlements. However this is misleading, the culture of English controlled parts of the island is still strongly Irish, the English themselves will be busy fighting the Welsh for much of the early game so few elite units will be in Ireland.
The Irish also start the game with their unique character, Brian O'Connor.

Once the island of Ireland itself has been united, its a prosperous and secure base to build up to the stronger Irish units and plan further conquests.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0020-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0021-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0022-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0024-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0023-4.jpg

==Victory conditions and starting agents==

Long: Hold 35 Regions,, and hold Dublin and Trim

Short: Hold 25 regions and hold Dublin and Trim

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0025-4.jpg

==Units==

===Unit Summary===

Ireland has a weak early game roster, which gets much stronger as time goes on, they are notably lacking in archers compared to England and Wales yet Deisi Javelinmen can fulfill much of this role even until the late game and this is compensated for by their excellent cavalry (such as lord's retinue and calivermen).
Also of note is that Irish spearmen can only be recruited in towns, but as Irish cavalry is the best in the campaign, spearmen are not often a high priority for Irish generals.
Early units are mostly made up of very weak infantry and the few Galloglach mercenaries you can gather, along with a few scattered weak cavalry and Gaelic archers making for a very melee-based force with a severe weakness in attacking and defending walls.
High units are quite good, with some decent units from castles joining the fight, Ulster Swordsmen and Gallogliach are effective offensively and against the armoured units England, Scotland and Norway tend to employ at this time and they are very affordable, you can also get Horseboys who are good javelin throwing horse archers.
Late on units are very good, with Mounted Calivermen and Muire who are expensive and have low numbers but with 2 hitpoints and high attack and defense values can dominate opponents in seiges where there is a very small front and no chance for flanking, you're basically unstoppable against everything except a very powerful ranged force ([[England(M2TW Kingdoms)]] and [[Wales (M2TW Kingdoms)]] unfortunately may be good enough sometimes).

===Infantry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0000-3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0001-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0002-3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0004-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0005-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0006-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0007-3.jpg

===Ranged Infantry===

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0003-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0008-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0009-3.jpg

===Cavalry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0010-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0011-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0012-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0013-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0015-3.jpg

===Ranged Cavalry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0016-5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0017-5.jpg

===Artillery===

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0018-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0019-5.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0029-5.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0030-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0031-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0032-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0033-4.jpg

==Irish Mercenaries==
If another faction captures an area with high Irish culture then they will receive Irish mercenary units.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0026-5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0027-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0028-4.jpg

==Irish Kings purse==
You get 1000 added to the purse at the start if the AI is playing Ireland, but it removes 500 from the purse at turn 15 and 20.

==Overall strategy==
After uniting Ireland, ,the Irish should then try and develop their economy and to help weaken the English through assassins and spies, or help the English and destroy the other factions in the map and then betray the English . If choosing the first option you should always try and attack the English through subterfuge.
When your army reaches about 2 full stacks or so, that you can definitely support (the upkeep doesn't make you bankrupt) then you should attack England or Scotland and take over the northern part of the mainland. After achieving that you should destroy Norway and take the nearby islands.
You should encourage the barons alliance at all times, preferably by making sure the enemy's leaders are always low authority ones.

==Strategy Guides==
*[http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=91160 Britannia Campaign: Ireland] on Org

==AAR's==
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=119994 For Ireland! A Brittania AAR] on TWC

[[Category:M2TW Kingdoms Factions]]

Ireland (M2TW:K Faction)

2008-05-16T16:26:50Z

205.211.141.243: /* Unit Summary */

{{M2TW Kingdoms}}

'''Ireland''' are a new faction introduced in M2TW Kingdoms. They control half the island of Ireland due to an English invasion, which started in 1171 under King Henry II with the support of a Papal Bull.

==Starting Position==

At first glance, the Irish starting positions seams weak, the English control half the settlements on Ireland and all 4 Irish settlements are spread out around these English settlements, however this is misleading, the culture of English controlled parts of the Island is still strongly Irish, the English themselves will be busy fighting the welsh for much of the early game so few elite units will be in Ireland.
The Irish also start the game with their unique character, Brian O'Connor.

Once the island of Ireland itself has been united, its a prosperous and secure base to build up to the stronger Irish units and plan further conquests.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0020-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0021-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0022-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0024-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0023-4.jpg

==Victory conditions and starting agents==

Long: Hold 35 Regions and hold dublin and trim

Shrot: Hold 25 regions and hold dublin and trim

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0025-4.jpg

==Units==

===Unit Summary===

Ireland has a weak early game roster, which gets much stronger as time goes on, they are notably lacking in archers compared to England and Wales yet Deisi Javelinmen can fulfill much of this role even until the late game and this is compensated for by their excellent cavalry (such as lord's retinue and calivermen).
Also of note is that Irish spearmen can only be recruited in towns, but as Irish cavalry is the best in the campaign, spearmen are not often a high priority for Irish generals.
Early units are mostly made up of very weak infantry and the few gallogiach merceneries you can gather, Along with a few scattered weak cavalry and gealic archers making for a very melee force with a severe weakness in attacking and defending walls.
High units are quite good, with some decent units from castles joining the fight, Ulster swordsmen are effective offensively and agaisnt armour you can also get horseboys which are good javelin throwing horse archers.
Late one are very good, with mounted calivermen and muire, your basically unstoppable against everything except a very powerful ranged force ([[England(M2TW Kingdoms)]] and [[Wales (M2TW Kingdoms)]] unfortunatly are this good)

===Infantry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0000-3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0001-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0002-3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0004-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0005-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0006-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0007-3.jpg

===Ranged Infantry===

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0003-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0008-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0009-3.jpg

===Cavalry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0010-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0011-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0012-3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0013-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0015-3.jpg

===Ranged Cavalry===
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0016-5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0017-5.jpg

===Artillery===

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0018-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0019-5.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0029-5.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0030-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0031-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0032-4.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0033-4.jpg

==Irish Merceneries==
If another faction captures a area with high irish culture in the area then they will recieve irish mercenery units .

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0026-5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0027-4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x228/Dordor333/0028-4.jpg

==Irish Kings purse==
You get 1000 added to the purse at the start if the AI is playing ireland , but it removes 500 from the purse at turn 15 and 20

==Overall strategy==
After uniting Ireland, ,the irish should then try and develop their economy and to help weaken the english through assasins and spies, or help the english and destroy the other factions in the map and then betray the english . If choosing the first option you should always try and attack the english through assasins and spies .
When your army reaches about 2 full stacks or so that you cant definitly support (the upkeep doesnt make you bankrupt) then you should attack england or scotland and taking the northern part of the mainland. After achieving that you should destroy norway and take the nearby islanads.
You should encourage the barons alliance at all times, preferably by making sure the enemies leaders are always low authority ones.

==Strategy Guides==
*[http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=91160 Britannia Campaign: Ireland] on Org

==AAR's==
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=119994 For Ireland! A Brittania AAR] on TWC

[[Category:M2TW Kingdoms Factions]]

Venice (M2TW Faction)

2008-02-14T14:57:18Z

205.211.141.243: /* Archers */

== Overview ==
[[Image:Symbol_venice.jpg|Faction Symbol for Venice]]

*'''Author:''' ''[[dad_savage]]'' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=24524]
*'''Original Thread:''' [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=91203''Venice: Review'']

----

The 'complex' of cities in Northern Italy (Florence, '''Venice''', Genoa, [[Milan]], Bologna) is probably the greatest single production area in the entire game. Converting Bologna and Florence to castles is expedient; very soon you'll have three mutually supportive huge cities and two citadels able to produce three entire full stack armies every four turns. Europe cannot compete with this concentrated production. So grab those cities!

Now aside from in the very early game Venice has a fantastic unit line-up, it's really quite amazing, and the game may claim they do not boast a 'Noteworthy land army' but don't let this intimidate you as Venice's forces are easily the equal of any major European nation. It's not all very easy, though, if you want a nice challenge try leaving Sicily alone and not rushing them; as although they can easily be taken out with a swift rush by about turn sixteen if you leave them you're going to have some very fun battles being outclassed by their superb early and middle game soldiers.

Normally I consider tier one units only when I review a factions early game forces, but when it is Venice in question, as with the other Italian states, their early cities and first conquests are advanced and fast growing Italian cities, so I will consider city units, rather than large town units, as tier one in this instance. Now, on to the unit review.

== Infantry ==
'''Venice''''s early game infantry is not particularly dangerous, but their trump card is availability. Most factions can produce Armoured Seargents and Seargent spears in the early game from castles, with their towns producing far inferior spear and town militia. For Venice this is not the case, as Italian Militia are as effective as Seargent Spearmen, and Italian Spear Militia are as effective as Armoured Seargents.

Carrocio standards are the one early game unit Venice gets that is truly special, and it can really make a difference to your early game armies. Not only does it bolster the morale of everyone around it, making it feasible to fight without generals in certain situations, the standard itself is accompanied by a small bodyguard of Armoured Seargents who cannot be broken. This makes them a very useful unit! They literally cannot run away, point blank, and fight to the death regardless of odds. This can give your army invaluable second chances as if your main line is broken, and you possess a few standards in the rear the enemy must kill every single guard, giving you precious time to rally your men and form a new battle line. This unit is also quite cheap, although the initial investment of 700 or so Florins certainly isn't, their upkeep of a mere 70 per turn certainly is! And as their initial price is so high the game engine considers them one of the best units you can train, and what that means is it's quite possible to be rewarded with four of them for free on completion of certain missions. Very handy. They do slow your forces down, but in the claustrophobic environment of Northern Italy in your early battles with Milan this is not so noticeable.

As the game progresses and you're packing fortresses and large cities your infantry becomes quite the impressive force. Not only do you receive the standard European DFK, you get quite literally the finest infantry soldiers on earth. Venetian Heavy Infantry are truly as hard as nails. With 16 attack nothing can confidently stand up to their armour-piercing war hammers, and with 16 defence they are very well protected for a unit of shock infantry, with shields to give them far more survivability against missile attacks than contemporary 2-handed ap troops. Of course the shield is currently a liability in melee, but don't let this deter you. Even with their shield value reduced Venetian Heavy Infantry are still one of the finest infantry units in the game, they're simply that lethal on the offensive. Now such a fine unit usually costs allot, comparable troops such as the HRE's fantastic armour-piercing dismounted Imperial Knights have a crippling upkeep of 250 a turn, you might expect something similar for Venetian Infantry, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. With a mere 150 upkeep they're actually cheaper to support than armoured seargents! So cheap are they, in fact, that they easily can be used as Garrison troops in castles. Try fighting through the gate against them! It's not pretty.

As the game grinds onward and you begin building Citadels and Huge cities you may initially be somewhat upset with your new infantry choices. When you view the statistics of dismounted men at arms and see that they're no better than dismounted Feudal knights you might wonder to yourself how you're going to go about storming castles in this late era. Well, the answer is of course Venetian Heavy Infantry. Build one from a citadel with a sword smiths guild and take a look at their stats now. Scoring a free chevron at this stage and with armour and weapon upgrades they come off the shelf with 18 armour piercing attack and 18 defence. They are quite literally unstoppable. but lose to heavy knights of most european faction and also moorish christian guard.

In your cities, at this stage, you score militia pikemen. A lovely unit that makes your cities almost impossible to assault, and a unit which validates Venice's fine late game gunpowder by giving them the ability to produce pike and shot formations.

In the end, Venice's infantry is largely vanilla in the early game with the simple advantage of availability (being able to produce decent spearmen from castles and cities) and the bolstering Carrocio standard to stiffen the line. They're hardly on a par with, say, the Danish, but they certainly get the job done.

In the middle game Venetian Heavy Infantry ensure you a battleline that will not be outclassed, and in the late game they rise to the occasion with fantastic upgrades and perks to give you the same end result. Throw in dismounted men at arms and dismounted fuedal knights for units that, although not overly useful considering you have acess to something better and cheaper, will keep the game from getting too boring at the very least. Militia pikes round out their forces nicely for defensive purposes and also as an invaluable compliment to muskets in the gunpowder age.

== Archers ==
As with their infantry Venetian archers start relatively slow but have some nice perks to round themselves out with. In the early game you'll have the standard lineup in your castles, Peasant Crossbowmen for cheap AP fire support and of course the ever-present peasant archers. Nothing special really, but from their cities Venice can produce Pavise Crossbow Militia, a fine unit at any stage of the game, with superb defence against missiles and a dauntingly high armour piercing attack of 12 they can really compliment your early game spear forces, providing an excellent way to tune up even the most heavily armoured foes before the mellee, and with decent enough armour to survive a little combat unsupported.

By the middle game your pavise crossbow militia are still a fine unit to use in many situations, from defending towns to the open field, but another unit comes along to compliment them here. Venetian Archers are a fine missile unit with 9 attack and mellee stats that are good enough for them to enter combat when the odds are in their favor. Though they cannot compete with the cream of the game's archery units (Dismounted Dvor, Byzantine Gaurd, Ottoman Infantry, Janissary Archers,Longbowmen etc) you'll still find them a very valuable unit to have on your side. Their upkeep is low enough for them to be placed in castle garrisons, and on the open field they can do all the things you would demand of a good archery unit. Whether this is punishing the enemy at range, or standing off against horse archers and other skirmishers they won't let you down in a hurry.

In the late game Venice does not receive anything new regarding archers, aside from being able to give their Venetian Archers full plate, until gunpowder.

All in all, Venice has a capable corps of archers from the early to late game. They're not so good that you would consider building your army around them at any point, but in a support roll they're unlikely to let you down.

== Cavalry ==
The game has something against Venice's cavalry lineup, claiming it's rather weak. Well I'm going to say this is rubbish. Venice may not be the equal of Poland, the HRE or France but if you can't make effective use of the cavalry they do have then you're simply not a very good cavalry commander.

In the early game they're dull, vanilla, with the basic lineup of Mounted Seargents and Mailed Knights. Nothing special, but good enough to round out armies consisting of Carrocio standards, Pavise Crossbows and Italian Spear Militia. Their cavalry at this stage is identicle to that of France, Milan, the HRE, etc. there's nothing unique or particularly effective about it, but for smashing into infantry and running down routers they do the job.

In the middle game Venice is still on equal footing with the standard European Armies, receiving Fuedal Knights from their fortresses, but with the advantage of also getting a solid militia cavalry unit. Don't mistake these guys for Merchant Cavalry! They have lances and a decent charge bonus, and are very capable for their price and high level of availability. I personally prefer them to Fuedal Knights as the upkeep of these 'true' Knights is extortionistically high, and in addition building allot of cavalry militia is likely to score you a Horse Breeders guild. This is very important for Venice as they don't get jousting lists to improve their cavalry, so shoot for that guild HQ!

By the late game Venice's castle-built heavy cavalry drop off. When many western nations are training the fantastic Chivalric Knights you receive Men At Arms, a reasonable unit with a solid armor value and a charge bonus of 7, but no match for Chivalrics, their upkeep is not particularly low although their recruitment cost is cheaper than Fuedal Knights, so think before you start building them as their price advantage cancels itself out the longer they're on the field.

Of course getting mounted Crossbowmen from your castles helps to even the odds with cavalry, we all know how effective this unit can be after all. That's not all though as from their citidels Venice also receives quite possibly the best light cavalry in the game. The fantastic Stradiots. With a charge bonus of five and the "can_formed_charge" attribute they're the second best chargers in their category (after Hussars) in the game, and they also carry AP maces with a good attack as a secondary weapon. The best advantage of Stradiots is, however, their sheer speed. Their in-game mount is a 'fast pony' as opposed to the 'pony' of most light cavalry, allowing them to outrunn even units as quick as Border Horse and Hobilars. With their AP maces, then, it follows that Stradiots make fantastic troops for catching and butchering horse archers and other missile cav. In fact they're the ultimate answer to things like Jinetes and Reiters. With their feirce mellee stats and ap weapons Stradiots also do good service against hostile heavy cavalry. Although in equal numbers they loose, you must remember they're far cheaper than, say, Chivalric Knights. However the true asset of Stradiots is their flexibility via micromanagement. It's a proven fact that a unit of Stradiots can defeat a unit of Lancers if you make use of their speed to escape mellee to perform multiple charges, and this asset is just as effective against infantry units. Of course to do this in a pitched battle where many units are present is quite tough, but the option is there whether or not you choose to use it.

Again Venice compliments it's castle-built units with a solid city built unit and this time it's a nice one; Broken Lancers. Much like Demi Lancers they lack the solidity of elite western cavalry, but have all of the punch. With 12 attack and a charge bonus of 8, there are few infantry units these chaps can't all but eradicate in one solid charge.

So, all in all, Venice's cavalry is hardly weak. Their mixture of units is eclectic, with some decent, albeit difficult to use elites (Stradiots and Broken Lancers) and allot of the basic European lineup (Feudal Knights and such) you have a good amount of choice and good counters to the things that might be inclined to cause you trouble while still packing some good heavy cavalry for the real business of smashing infantry.

== Special Note ==
In the late game, post-gunpowder, Venice is one of only four factions ([[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan ]], [[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]] and '''Venice''') capable of fielding muskets and pikes, and one of only five factions ([[Portugal (M2TW Faction)|Portugal]], [[Spain (M2TW Faction)|Spain]], '''Venice''' , [[Turks (M2TW Faction)|Turkey]] and [[Russia (M2TW Faction)|Russia]]) capable of receiving muskets. They are one of only five factions to receive mortars ([[Scotland (M2TW Faction)|Scotland]], [[England (M2TW Faction)|England]], [[Sicily (M2TW Faction)|Sicily]], [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]] and '''Venice''') and one of only two factions to receive Monster Ribaults (Venice and [[Milan (M2TW Faction)|Milan]]) their gunpowder navy is also quite powerful. Venetian Galleass' absolutely crush Gun Holks and also defeat the Eastern Equivalent. All this said Venice is a true power in the gunpowder age.

My final thought's on '''Venice''' are that they're one of the few factions that is truly strong through the entire game, with an effective, balanced army that does not come up wanting in any department. A great all-rounder, but with a nasty edge in infantry and gunpowder waiting to be exploited. One of the most rewarding elements of playing Venice is that although their early game forces do not lack, there's always better units to unlock and use until you play through to gunpowder. In other words, they start strong and they keep getting stronger. This makes their campaign a paced and relaxing affair as you never feel the need to rush, a fitting mood in which to take command of The Most Serene Republic of Venice.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]
[[Category:M2TW - Campaign Strategy]]

Scotland (M2TW Faction)

2008-02-06T15:54:21Z

205.211.141.243: /* Military */

Scotland, a country in the north of Great Britain, it is a country of plains, forests, mountains, and streams. It has however always been under England's boot, and it is up to you to make England bow before Scottish rule!

[[Image:Symbol_scotland.jpg|Faction Symbol for Scotland]]

== Religion ==
Scotland is a [[Catholic]] faction, and thus has to do the Pope's will unless they want to be [[excommunicated]] by the Pope.

== Military ==
Infantry:
Scotland has a very good Infantry force. If you train castle units you get barbarian-like highlanders to do your bidding, with feudal knights and dismounted knights too. If you recruit from a town/city, you can recruit a lot of different spearmen types.
Missles:
Scotland must have the worst selection of archers possible, but it isn't a problem early on because the English will have superior archers anyway. They also do not have hand gunners... a must for any faction.
Cavalry:
The Scots are also lacking in Cavalry, but the border horse is one of the best light cavalry in the game... I survived a charge at a spearwall with them! They get the standard cavalry of other catholic factions.

USEFUL UNITS:

Highlanders:

These are going to make up the bulk of your early and high period armies, along with Highland Nobles.

Border Horse:

As mentioned before, these are very good, for taking out the English archers too.

Mortar:

Great for defending Sieges

Gallogliach:

effective against armour and powerful for their relatively low cost.

All the Pike units:

Ideal for dealing with some of the supreme European cavalry.

== Economy ==
Scotland in the beginning of the game does not have a great economy, so it would be wise to capture Dublin, upgrade it to large town and build silver mines. The British Isles do not have many available economic resources in comparison to other parts of the in-game world.

== Expansion ==
Scotland starts with 1 province and quite a few rebel cities surrounding them. Depending on the difficulty level, you can conquer these towns and quickly become the stronger faction on the British Isles.

== Defense ==
In the beginning of the game Scotland's only main worry is the [[England|English]] to the south. If they quickly destroy the English and take control of the British Isles, they may be able to operate without much fear of invasion.

{{M2 Factions}}
[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]

Spain (M2TW Faction)

2008-02-06T15:47:14Z

205.211.141.243: /* Infantry */

[[Category: Medieval 2: Total War Factions]]

== Overview ==
[[Image:Symbol_spain.jpg|Faction Symbol for Spain]]

Spain is one of the harder factions to play as it completely lacks spearmen in the early (and start of the high) period, excepting spear militia which are at best a sacrificial unit used to protect more important troops that cannot take a charge. This makes Spain quite weak when facing [[Catholic]] factions which rely on knights unless of course the Spanish crown buys some mercenary spearmen.
In the late game, Spain lacks heavy armor piercing infantry, which will take its toll on Spanish armies fighting against other catholic factions. However, as most of their troops have light armor and are used to fighting in hot weather, Spain has an advantage when fighting Muslim armies as well as the [[Aztecs]].
Spain also has an effective navy, being able to field grand carracks instead of the normal carracks.
Iberia itself, is contested by 3 factions, and Spain is in the fairly weak position of having a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] province either side of it.
However, there are also great opportunities with nearby rebel provinces, and lots of nearby [[Islam|Muslim]] armies to fight in order to gain [[Pope|Papal]] favor.

== Infantry ==

Spanish infantry is at best, average, until the high period, where Spain are one of the few factions that gain access to Sword and Buckler men, as well as Tercio pikemen, who are both effective and Tercio pikemen unique to Spain (Sicily and Portugal have Sword and Buckler men as well however.).
They also have access to dismounted Conquistadors, who are trainable in the new world only, and are well suited to fighting its natives.
If playing with a mod which allows dismounted Knights of Santiago, they are highly effective swordsmen, offering Spain a unit of heavy infantry which is a niche it under performs in.

== Cavalry ==

Spain make use of the average knights available to the other catholic factions, but also gain Jinetes, who can be trained in cities with a bullring.
Jinetes are excellent light cavalry that can protect the main Spanish army from other catholics knights if used correctly (work in pairs, draw off units of knights from the enemies main army with the jinites' javelins, then charge into the rear of the unit, and if necessary, charge with the second unit of the pain, though this tactics will likely get your cavalry killed if the enemy have a good amount of effective missile troops)
Spain is one of two factions that also get Knights of Santiago, who are a match for all other knightly orders.
Spain also gets to use Gendarmes, which are professional heavy cavalry of the late period.

== Missile ==

Spain make use of the average crossbow armed missile units available to all factions, but also used Javelinmen and Almugavars. At a stretch they can also enter melee and give a good account of themselves, however, neither is a match for true melee units.

Spain also uses musketeers, who, although weak in melee, have a long range and are quite effective at neutralising the foot knights used by Spain's neighbors.

Spanish artillery is also of the highest quality, with access to the fearsome Basilisk cannons

== Conclusion ==

Spanish forces give the feel of commanding a light, fast, and flexible army that is well suited to ambushes and skirmishing against heavier catholic knights, however they also posses units that are capable at siege assault, as well as a powerful navy.
Due to their ability to train cavalry in cities, its possible to take all of Iberia and defend it with only 2 castles, making the faction a potential economic powerhouse, especially when considering the relative closeness of Tombuctu and all the riches that province possesses.
Spain are unfortunately a long way from the Holy Land, so any crusades will almost certainly have to travel by sea.

Although they rely on light troops, Spain should in no circumstances be underestimated as an enemy.

== See Also ==
*[[Spain]] - Country and disambiguation page.

{{M2 Factions}}