England Details (M2TW Faction)

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England Overview

At the game's start in 1080, England's position is hopeful. They are surrounded by Rebel settlements, the Scots to the North, The French to the South and already have castles in place on either side of the Channel (Nottingham and Caen).

Nottingham is located in what now is Central England, Caen is located in Northern France and London is located in what now is South East England.

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 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.

Though they do face trouble on multiple fronts, due to their position. The Scots to the north are isolated from the rest of Europe, and do not have a strong ally from the mainland. The French Royal forces are have enough fronts to deal with right now that they are unlikely to be able to drive them from the continent anytime soon.

The English navy can be used to fight and transport troops, through long stretches of hostile waters unlike the navies of Byzantium, Venice or Portugal. A weakness that England have is their complete lack of missile cavalry, and must rely on mercenaries if such a need arises.

Strategy

Strengths

Very secure starting position and some very good ranged units. Ability to deploy stakes, only faction with access to Woodsman guild and Sherwood archers. Tough and varied medium and heavy infantry. Some strong cavalry and good gunpowder troops and cannons in the late period.

Once you've united British Islands, it will make a real advantage as you'll only have to defend your continental possesses, British Islands won't need a great army (so, few upkeep costs) and will be useful to make reinforcements and economy. Moreover, all British Islands settlement can have a port, so expect great trade.

Weaknesses

Has to contend with France and Scotland and possibly Denmark to secure the empire. Lacks pikes and easy access to the holy lands. Some of the British Isles are devoid of resources and severely backward in development. A strong and well developed trade empire and maritime power will take time to construct and significant manpower and skill to manage.

Conclusion

A good faction to start off with as they have a good starting position and have a good amount of capable units. Once the British Isles are yours (meaning Scotland is gone as well) you will now be able to develop your economic strength unchallenged as you are now an island nation. You also have a hold in northern France keeping you in the main stream of Europe. Use Caen as a base to take nearby rebel settlements of Rennes, Bruges and if not already taken Antwerp. With those settlements under your rule you will be in a very good location and will be more than ready to take on the French who will probably be in a war with Spain or Milan or maybe if your lucky the Holy Roman Empire (those factions I mentioned will make great allies as they often fight the french for there lands).

Starting Info

Starting Position

• London: English Capital; - South East England

• Nottingham: English Castle; - Central England

• Caen: English Castle; - Northern France

Infantry Details

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 Details

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 ou a circle of stakes. Just place your stakes in a circle and all your infantery and archers inside to let enemy's cavalry impale themselves on it. 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 Details

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

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.