Turks are a bit weak on campaign map - I wiped them out after 5 turns!

[jurcek1987]

Those two names were just off the top of my head and Dorylaion was later rebuilt by Manuel. Currently there's a big gap between western Anatolia and Konya and Ankara so adding one of those two cities would make sense imo.

[MWY]

I already did change the tunis region a bit for the next release.

Well, the only faction we could add for that time would be the zirids, but they were not really a faction anymore. I know that the area is somewhat lacking right now, but I can't really change that. Pisa and Venice are obviously important to balance italy a little. Mongols will be pretty scary with the next version.

So no, no factions changes will be coming atleast for the next release, sorry.

Concerning anatolia: Name me an important city under rum control at that time and I will definitely check it. One more region would be good for them, but I don't just want to give them historically unimportant/useless cities.

[Lifthrasir]

Actually, the only faction I can see in that area for that period is the Armenians of Cilicia. Not sure it is worth to include them and to remove another faction.

[jurcek1987]

Mongols will be pretty scary with the next version. .

They seem scary enough already. In my last ERE campaign I won about 30 battles and they were still militarily by far the the strongest faction. They blitzed the Great Seljuks in about 20 turns. I actually stopped playing because I got bored defending the same settlements over and over again.

Will check regarding important Rum cities at that time, but if none can be found it might be best to add an unimportant but strategically well positioned city just for gameplay sake.

[achilles-91]

They seem scary enough already. In my last ERE campaign I won about 30 battles and they were still militarily by far the the strongest faction. They blitzed the Great Seljuks in about 20 turns. I actually stopped playing because I got bored defending the same settlements over and over again.

Will check regarding important Rum cities at that time, but if none can be found it might be best to add an unimportant but strategically well positioned city just for gameplay sake.

I also mostly get bored by defendind same cities over and over from Mongols.

@MWY Can you tell us changes about Mongols in next version?

[bigdaddy1204]

I already did change the tunis region a bit for the next release.

Ooh great, sounds exciting! Can't wait to see

Concerning anatolia: Name me an important city under rum control at that time and I will definitely check it. One more region would be good for them, but I don't just want to give them historically unimportant/useless cities.

Did you mean one of the existing rebel-held cities, or to create an entirely new region? If it is the former, I'd say give them Sivas, since that will stop Georgia from expanding too far west. If it is the latter, possibly something similar to what jurcek suggested, a settlement in that region between Ankara/Konya and the coastal cities. One that comes to mind is Eskisehir, also known as Dorylaeum. It does seem to have been an important strategic location. If the Turks could hold it, then they'd have a base close to Nicaea, enabling them to threaten the entire Byzantine western Anatolia. But if the Byzantines could hold it, they'd have a base dangerously close to the Rum Seljuk capital at Konya, enabling them to threaten or even conquer central Anatolia.

The city was fortified by Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos during his Myriokephalon campaign in 1176. It was also the sight of battles during the First and Second Crusades. Isparta, and Laodicaea, are two other possibilities.

[bigdaddy1204]

Well, the only faction we could add for that time would be the zirids, but they were not really a faction anymore.

Yes, you're right.

Looking at the sources for Tunisia, we have Zirid rule until 1057, at which point much of the region is overrun by the Banu Hilal emirates. This situation continues until the Normans capture much of it between 1134 and 1160. But in 1160 the Almohads (Moors) capture it, and hold it until 1229, when the Hafsid dynasty establishes the first major power centred in the region since the Zirids nearly 200 years earlier.

So it's true, there was a power vacuum and chaos in the region at exactly the time our game is set. I guess it (the history) is just a shame from the gameplay point of view. If I was working for CA, my inclination would be to 'bend' the history a little bit and have a merged Zirid/Hafsid faction.

To be fair though, I'm glad the mod is alive and well and will be happy to see it released, whatever form it takes

[Swarbs]

Did you mean one of the existing rebel-held cities, or to create an entirely new region? If it is the former, I'd say give them Sivas, since that will stop Georgia from expanding too far west. If it is the latter, possibly something similar to what jurcek suggested, a settlement in that region between Ankara/Konya and the coastal cities. One that comes to mind is Eskisehir, also known as Dorylaeum. It does seem to have been an important strategic location. If the Turks could hold it, then they'd have a base close to Nicaea, enabling them to threaten the entire Byzantine western Anatolia. But if the Byzantines could hold it, they'd have a base dangerously close to the Rum Seljuk capital at Konya, enabling them to threaten or even conquer central Anatolia.

The city was fortified by Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos during his Myriokephalon campaign in 1176. It was also the sight of battles during the First and Second Crusades. Isparta, and Laodicaea, are two other possibilities.

But Sivas was held by the Danishmends, and Dorylaeum, Isparta and Laodicaea were all Byzantine or ruined at the time. Although of course technically the Danishmend leader Melik Gazi conquered Ankara in 1127, and Mesud didn't recapture it until 1143 so we are already taking a bit of a liberty with historical accuracy in that region.

Aksaray and Gangra would be the best candidates for additional cities held by the Seljuks in 1132.

Perhaps one alternative would be to have a scripted AI sequence which sees the AI Seljuks progressively acquire Kayseri, Sivas and Malatya from rebels at the appropriate intervals, simulating the collapse of the Danishmends and their incorporation into Rum. Although that would require them to survive a determined human player for more than a few turns, and doesn't necessarily help them fare better against the AI.

[bigdaddy1204]

They are doing OK in my current Egypt campaign, which is now over 100 turns in. As you can see, the AI Turks have taken over their historical territories, and have even captured Attaleia from the Byzantines. I haven't interacted with Anatolia at all during my campaign, although to be fair I did slaughter the Byzantines by sacking Dyrrhachion, Thessalonica, Constantinople, Nicaea, Smyrna and exterminating their population, as well as capturing Crete.

[bigdaddy1204]

It's easy to forget when playing Medieval 2 Total War that until 1072, the nearby island of Sicily was under Arab rule and Palermo was in Arab hands. Syracuse was Arab until 1086 (a fact conveniently ignored by CA when they released M2TW - even though the game is set in 1080, they incorrectly gave Syracuse to the Normans).

In my Egypt campaign, much of my effort has gone into capturing the provinces to the west, in Libya, Tunisia and then recapturing Sicily for the Fatimid caliph. I captured Sicily fairly early in my campaign, but then lost it again to a Norman Sicily invasion and due to a combined Abbassid and Zengid invasion of Syria, plus a rebellion in Mecca, it was quite some time before I was in a position to raise an army and transport them all the way west to recapture the island. But eventually I defeated the combined armies of the Normans and the Venetians and recaptured Palermo once more. This time I decided to take no chances, and I have stationed a full army in the city. I've also made peace with the westerners, although I do not trust them. But for the time being, the island is securely mine. I am now thinking, with the west secured, to turn to the east once more and liberate Iraq.

Alternatively though, I could take an Arab army north and strike at Rome... it's not far from Palermo! I have a strong fleet, and the thought of unseating those Crusader dogs in their Catholic homeland is appealing. The cry 'Allahu akbar' shall replace the sound of church bells in Rome. La ilaha illla-lah, Muhammadur rasulla lah!

[Lifthrasir]

In my campaigns, it really depends: sometimes Rûm gets ripe out quite fast and some other times, they get pretty well.

@bigdaddy1204, if you go further North, I'm sure you'll get a lot of "Crusader dogs friends" up there

[+Marius+]

Syracuse was Arab until 1086 (a fact conveniently ignored by CA when they released M2TW - even though the game is set in 1080, they incorrectly gave Syracuse to the Normans).

Actually we do not know that for sure, in 1038, the Byzantine general George Maniakes conquered the city and half the island, sending the relics of St. Lucy to Constantinople.
The conquest of 1086 might have just been a Norman taking of an independent settlement since there was no known Emir since 1044, a lot of the christian cities in the island already rebelled long before the Normans came...which is one of the main reason they came in the first place.

The cry 'Allahu akbar' shall replace the sound of church bells in Rome. La ilaha illla-lah, Muhammadur rasulla lah!

Yeah, calm down there buddy.

[bigdaddy1204]

@bigdaddy1204, if you go further North, I'm sure you'll get a lot of "Crusader dogs friends" up there

Yes lol, I have written a very fun AAR post about it in the 'post your empires' thread, which can be seen here with lots of pictures

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post14736696

Actually we do not know that for sure...The conquest of 1086 might have just been a Norman taking of an independent settlement since there was no known Emir since 1044, a lot of the christian cities in the island already rebelled long before the Normans came...which is one of the main reason they came in the first place.

Wow, interesting. I didn't know that.

Yeah, calm down there buddy.

[Lifthrasir]

Yeah, calm down there buddy.

Let's call a crusade upon him

[bigdaddy1204]

Let's call a crusade upon him

I will convert you! Lol, do you remember Age of Empires...?

In that game, there was a priest unit, and you could convert enemy units to join your faction. They would change colour, and turn against their former comrades.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Lifthrasir]

Oh yes, these priests gave me some hard time

[Dekhatres]

The cry 'Allahu akbar' shall replace the sound of church bells in Rome. La ilaha illla-lah, Muhammadur rasulla lah!

rofl how to turn med2 into a jihad simulator 101

[bigdaddy1204]

rofl how to turn med2 into a jihad simulator 101

Lol. Yup!

Of course, the real scholars of Islam are a bit uncomfortable with the word in the way I've used it, as political jihad is not universally accepted as the correct way of the term. It also has another meaning, which many people say is the primary one, in which it means 'the inner struggle with our own emotions', where we seek to master negative emotions such as anger or pride and instead change them into positive emotions of peace, mercy, respect, kindness and goodness.

This position is supported by the Hadith (sayings) of the Prophet Muhammad, who said that the 'inner jihad' to become a better, more honest and truthful person is the greater jihad. It's a shame that newspapers in mainstream media never bother to report that. But it's known by Muslims.

[Larkin]

Oh yes, these priests gave me some hard time

Army of monks gg

[Lord Minotaur]

Actually, I do like playing Scots

As mentioned before, there's no plan to delete any faction for now. Removing Scots is not a good idea for the gameplay. That would leave England alone on their island. None of the other factions would be able to give them trouble when controlled by the AI (as the AI is not able to manage a real naval invasion).

Everytime i play any other faction other than the English, Scotland takes over The British Isles. Absolute blasphemy smh tbh fam