Papal States (M2TW Faction)

The Papal States is a non-playable faction in Medieval II: Total War. Historically the Papal States was one of the major Italian states, until the Unification of Italy in 1861. The head of the States is always the Pope, who leads "God's Armies" into battle, and governs the only Papal city in the game, Rome. Players can easily modify the descr_strat file to make them playable, but further modifications are needed to allow them to call Crusades properly. They are similar to the Senate of Rome Total War in that they are not meant to be played, and because gameplay may be buggy.

Papal States (M2TW Faction)
Name:	The Papal States
From Game:	Medieval II: Total War
Religion:	Catholic
Culture:	Southern European
Playable:	With Simple Modifications

Gameplay

Starting Position

Papal States Starting Position.

They start in the middle of the Italian Peninsula.

Their settlement is;

• Rome: Capital - Minor City

Victory Conditions

• Long campaign: Hold 100 regions.
• Short campaign: Hold 80 regions.

Campaign Play

The Papal States is different from all the other factions. For starters, they have no family tree at all. Their faction leader is the Pope, who cannot marry. When the Pope dies all the Cardinals elect the next Pope from among their ranks. A new Pope spawns in his capital, usually Rome, or in the countryside of Rome if the Papal States have no regions. The Papal States can still get generals through adoptions and Man of the Hour the same way other factions can, but these generals will never become Faction Heir or Leader.

Another interesting thing about the Papal States is that they have a relationship with the Pope like all Catholic factions, although this is hidden. Very often the Pope does not like the Papal States very much! For this reason, you cannot always call Crusades as you please, you need high Papal Approval just like everyone else. Without modifying the game the relationship with the Pope seems to be stuck at a low level, which means you have to wait for someone else to call a Crusade. Normal methods to increase your standing with the Pope, such as building priests and churches, converting other religions, participating in Crusades, and listening to Papal Missions do not seem to work. However, the Papal States can never be Excommunicated. Crusades will eventually be requested by other Catholic factions and the Papal States can join them.

When playing as the Papal States, you don't send missions to other Catholic rulers, and you cannot choose to Excommunicate other factions directly. However, if the Papal States and another Catholic faction go to War, the other faction is automatically Excommunicated, even if the Papal States were the aggressor! They can also offer Reconciliation with Catholic factions who have been Excommunicated in Diplomacy, which gives the Papal States an excellent Diplomatic advantage, particularly in ending wars.

The Catholic AI is more cautious attacking the Papal States when they are an AI faction, but when the player is the Papal States the AI seems as aggressive towards them as they would be towards any other player faction. The Papal States as the AI rarely attack a non-Excommunicated Catholic faction but it can happen, and their armies and navies will assist allies in battle, even if this causes a declaration of war.

The Papal States faction also controls Inquisitors. These Agents spawn in Catholic ruled regions with heresy. They increase conversion but also increase Unrest, and can denounce anyone who is not part of the Papal States, even generals. Characters with high Piety are harder to Denounce, and Inquisitors with more Piety are more effective. If the player does not give Inquisitors orders they act on their own, looking for heretics and other blasphemous individuals to denounce. They disband once heresy is no longer an issue, or after 3 successes or 3 failures.

The Papal States are never completely destroyed. Unlike any playable faction, the Papal States can survive losing their last region and all of their armies. They get a continuous stream of Popes from Papal Elections as long as there are any Catholic Priests on the map. The Papal States can only 'lose' if all Catholic priests are dead, no more are recruited, and they have no regions, armies, and agents. Even at that point the Papal States still exist technically but are effectively destroyed; they have no power or influence and no ability to rise up again.

Other than these differences, the Papal States function exactly the same as any other Catholic faction.

Enabling Crusades

To enable the Papal States to call Crusades, add this script to the campaign_script file, located in Medieval II Total War/data/world/map/campaign/imperial_campaign . The descr_strat file is also there.

monitor_event FactionTurnStart FactionIsLocal
set_faction_standing papal_states papal_states 1.0
end_monitor

This sets the Papal States relationship with themselves to perfect at the beginning of every player turn. With a Perfect Relationship with the Pope, the Papal States should be able to get any Crusade they want on any eligible target.

Units

The Papal States army functions mostly like a generic Italian faction. This means they have some very strong Militia units, especially in the Early Game. They also get some unique and very powerful Infantry from cities with a Stone Wall or higher; this gives them an enormous Military advantage. Like the other Italians, their late game Swordmen and Cavalry is a little lackluster, since they aren't Knights, although they are well armoured and cheap. The Papal States is similar to Milan in that it can build a strong army without Castles.

Papal States Generals Bodyguard.

• Light Infantry
  • Peasants
  • Italian Militia
• Heavy Infantry
  • Halberd Militia
  • Dismounted Feudal Knights
  • Dismounted Men at Arms
  • Swiss Guard
• Spearmen Infantry
  • Sergeant Spearmen
  • Armoured Sergeants
  • Pike Militia
  • Italian Spear Militia
  • Papal Guard
• Missile Infantry
  • Peasant Archers
  • Peasant Crossbowmen
  • Pavise Crossbowmen
  • Pavise Crossbow Militia
  • Arquebusiers
  • Hand Gunners

• Light Cavalry
  • Mounted Sergeants
• Heavy Cavalry
  • Knights Hospitaller
  • Knights Templar
  • Cavalry Militia
  • Broken Lances
  • Men at Arms
  • Feudal Knights
  • Mailed Knights

• Missile Siege
  • Ballista
  • Catapult
  • Tebuchet
  • Bombard
  • Mortar
  • Ribault
  • Culverin
  • Great Cross

• Naval
  • Galley
  • Lanternas
  • War Galley
  • Carrack

Faction Details

If you have further detailed information on the faction, such as strategies, AARs, pictures, or history, please post it on the Faction Details page in a new sub-section so that this page can be kept clean of opinionated information.

Papal States Details (M2TW Faction)

See Also

For technical details of modding a faction using the papal_faction mechanic see Papal faction modding (M2TW).

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