Warhammer II: Total War - Who's playing?

[solops]

One of the first things I look for in most TW games is a mod to limit or eliminate agents. I find they are mostly overpowered, too numerous and a pain to manage. Less so in Warhammer than the others, but still overdone.

[solops]

TW2 dlc: My opinion - I have all of them except the latest. They are all mostly useless, overpriced and unnecessary. Do not buy any of them unless they are deeply discounted. They do add to the game, but the benefit is mostly color, nothing essential.

[Martok]

One of the first things I look for in most TW games is a mod to limit or eliminate agents. I find they are mostly overpowered, too numerous and a pain to manage. Less so in Warhammer than the others, but still overdone.

Huh, I didn't even know that mods limiting/eliminating agents even existed (shows how little I know about the scene, I guess).  Might have to see if I can find one for Rome II. 

Agents in the Warhammer games are at least somewhat fun, as they tend to be characters in their own right.  The fact that they can participate in battles as powerful, one-man "hero" units (thus greatly increasing their utility) helps with this a great deal. 

TW2 dlc: My opinion - I have all of them except the latest. They are all mostly useless, overpriced and unnecessary. Do not buy any of them unless they are deeply discounted. They do add to the game, but the benefit is mostly color, nothing essential.

Unless you have a burning desire to play specific DLC factions (like the Wood Elves in WH1 or Tomb Kings in WH2), I would save your money and just purchase the base version of each game.  The DLC is nice, but not worth the florins IMO; and the base games already include plenty of content & replayability.

Great minds think alike?   

[Jarhead0331]

Is it just me, or has the game gotten harder since it was released? I'm struggling to get a good start in the Empire campaign. The sessionists are giving me a really hard time and there are vampire, chaos and ork armies roaming across my very small territory at random. There are also events that are forcing me to make decisions that put me in an even worse position, like one that forced me to declare war on a neighboring empire? I mean, literally, I cannot catch a break.

[undercovergeek]

The Castille campaign actually starts with a massive battle against the Almohads with Navarre and Aragon as allies (about 15000 each side) which took place before i promised Gus screenshots, so none were taken, but heres what i know so far, needless to say we kicked ass





Everything i know of the world -



Fancy province pics -

[Queeg]

Is it just me, or has the game gotten harder since it was released? I'm struggling to get a good start in the Empire campaign. The sessionists are giving me a really hard time and there are vampire, chaos and ork armies roaming across my very small territory at random. There are also events that are forcing me to make decisions that put me in an even worse position, like one that forced me to declare war on a neighboring empire? I mean, literally, I cannot catch a break.

They revamped the Empire campaign back in September, and I find it both more difficult and more fun.  They increased the number of map regions, and made some of them fort regions with bigger and stronger garrisons.  The Empire Secessionists start the campaign owning the fort region, and it can be tough to root them out.

In addition, several regions within the Empire are now owned by enemy non-human factions, so uniting the Empire now involves more than just fighting other elector counts.  And there's a new imperial system that changes the mechanics for confederation, etc.

Finally, I have noticed more wandering bad guys than before.  I've found it pays to pay attention during the between-turn movements to keep an eye out for roving bands of Beastmen, Skaven, etc.  You usually can see them coming a few turns away, and I've sometimes been able to ally with other elector counts around the edges of the Empire and get them to attack the bad guys before they ever get to my home land. 

All in all, a much deeper campaign experience, I think.   

Full list of changes here (at least as of September - they may have tweaked a few since then):  https://www.totalwar.com/blog/total-war-warhammer-ii-patch-notes-the-empire-undivided-update/ 

[Gusington]

Thanks Geek. At this point does the 1212 campaign feel fleshed out or half baked?

[undercovergeek]

It seems ok to me but I've only just scratched the surface

[Martok]

Is it just me, or has the game gotten harder since it was released? I'm struggling to get a good start in the Empire campaign. The sessionists are giving me a really hard time and there are vampire, chaos and ork armies roaming across my very small territory at random. There are also events that are forcing me to make decisions that put me in an even worse position, like one that forced me to declare war on a neighboring empire? I mean, literally, I cannot catch a break.

Interesting.  Unfortunately I can't give you a good answer, as I've not yet played the Empire in the ME campaign (although you've now made me want to try doing so...gah!). 

When CA released the "Empire Undivided" update in September, my understanding was that one of its primary aims was to make the Empire more fun/interesting...which I think would also mean *not* making the faction absurdly difficult to play as.  But maybe that's just the crazy in me talking.  :P 


(Here are the relevant patch notes, by the way...) 
[spoiler]
Empire Overhaul (Mortal Empires Campaign)

By popular demand, the factions of the Empire race have undergone a grand-scale overhaul for Mortal Empires. This grants them a new and richly-themed level of gameplay variety, in line with more-recently introduced races and factions.

-    Territory rework: Empire territory now features 12 new regions. Many provinces have been upgraded from three to four regions, representing in aggregate a significant enlargement and variety in Empire holdings.

-    The enemy within: Three new provinces can be found in Empire territory. The Forest of Laurelorn next to Nordland plays host to the Wood Elf faction of the same name, while the Misty Hills north of Middenland and Solland in the south (Balthasar Gelt's new home province) are subject to Greenskin incursions.

-    New Fort settlements: Three new regions are the sites of newly-designed Empire fort settlements. These settlements are Helmgart, Fort Soll and Fort Bergres. In battle, forts are deeper than normal cities, offering multiple, increasingly higher fallback positions for defenders, and bringing new challenges and opportunities to siege gameplay.

-     Balthasar Gelt: The Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic gets his own campaign start-position! Leading the Golden Order faction from his base in Pfeildorf, he is in close proximity to the Greenskin-infested region of Solland to the east.

-    Tech tree: Empire factions now have access to the comprehensively reworked Empire tech tree. The new tree removes all building locks, offers far greater choice and variety, introduces more diplomacy-enhancing techs, and unique techs which interact with the new Imperial Authority system.

-    Imperial Authority: The Empire Offices system is gone. In its place, Empire players can now extend their authority across the empire by engaging in internal politics and quelling agitators in their efforts to confederate or go to war with the Elector Counts leading other major Empire factions.

-    Prestige: Prestige can be used to manage the player's Imperial Authority, and is acquired through winning battles and constructing ever-more impressive edifices. High Authority grants enhanced growth, tax rate, and increases the chances of improved Fealty from the Elector Counts. Low Authority incurs the reverse, plus reduced public order and leadership. If your Imperial Authority falls too low, you risk the Elector Counts turning against you en-masse in an Imperial civil war!

-    Fealty: Fealty is an overall measure of an Elector Count's loyalty towards the Empire and is influenced by many factors, including (but not limited to) Imperial Authority, your overall tech-level, diplomatic attitude, and the new Political Events. When an Elector Count's Fealty reaches a certain height, they will pledge their unswerving loyalty to the Empire with an offer of confederation. If their Fealty drops low enough however, they may secede from the Empire altogether.

-    Summon the Elector Counts!: The new Elector Counts panel displays the characters which occupy Elector Count roles and tracks their Fealty towards the Empire. Should you own an Empire State's capital city, you can assign a character as its Elector Count (for example, you may own Bechafen in Ostermark, and choose to assign Wolfram Hertwig to the position). This will unlock one of the legendary Runefang weapons (The Ostermark Runefang: Troll Cleaver in this case), and grants access to an elite, unique Empire unit variant (Ostermark grants the Knights of the Everlasting Light).

-    Political Events: Political Events are a new type of event which can trigger during the course of an Empire campaign. These can directly impact your Prestige, Imperial Authority, your economy, or the Fealty of the Elector Counts – for good or ill! These events can drive meaningful real-world consequences. For example, if a civil war ensues, you'll have to choose sides between the Elector Counts. From time to time you may be called upon by an Elector Count, via a Political Event, to assist them militarily against roaming invaders. Whether you choose to do nothing, offer money to fund mercenary assistance, or choose to fight directly alongside them against their aggressors, there'll be a relevant impact on their Fealty.

-    Territory: If you capture a settlement considered to be the rightful property of an Elector Count, you may gift them that settlement as a post-battle option, increasing their Fealty towards you. If you capture one of the Empire province capitals, you may instead install a new Elector Count of your own choosing.

-    The Empire reforged: Though usurped long ago, Sylvania and Marienburg are still considered rightful Empire territory. If they are liberated, players may install their own Elector Counts there.

-    Flummox the Elector Counts!: Through the new Electoral Machinations panel, players can expend some of their Prestige to influence relations between the Elector Counts, increasing bonds, inciting wars, or ostracizing bad eggs as appropriate. This works in a similar way to the High Elves' Intrigue system.

[/spoiler]

The Castille campaign actually starts with a massive battle against the Almohads with Navarre and Aragon as allies (about 15000 each side) which took place before i promised Gus screenshots, so none were taken, but heres what i know so far, needless to say we kicked ass

Fun fact:  Aragon's campaign starts with that same battle.  (Guess where I pulled those screenshots from?)  ^-^ 

[Jarhead0331]

Thanks for the info., guys. No wonder it feels so different!

[Martok]

I take it then, that if I start up an Empire campaign, I shouldn't feel shame in choosing plain ol' Normal difficulty? 

[W8taminute]

I had to finally lower the difficulty to 'Easy' from 'Normal' in my current mortal empires game I'm playing as the Orks.  This game is really hard but I suspect that's because I haven't learned all the nuances yet. 

I realized that I needed to drop the difficulty level when the wife told me to cool it when she heard me scream this is "farging horsie poopie" after the damn dwarfs decimated my mighty Ork empire for the third time. 

[Gusington]

 8)

[Sir Slash]

I've been farged a few times by the Dwarves myself. And, as the Dwarves, by the Orks. Lots of horsie poopie to go around in this one.

[solops]

The dwarves were a pain even before the last patch. I started a new game as vampires and they are double horse poopy PAIN.