General advice for the Total War franchise?

[DarklordKyo]

Primarily because of Hyrule Total War, I'm interested in getting into the Total War franchise. As HTW is apparently made for people who are good at Total War though, I'll need to, metaphorically, bang my head enough to actually learn how to play decently.

As a way to lessen my possible metaphor concussion, anyone have any general Tota l War tips? If it helps, I'm hoping to use Tptal War Warhammer's human faction as my training wheels (though I do have Medieval 2 TW, no Kingdoms expansion though, if TWW is too different from the typical TW).

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

I found Total Warhammer to be more punishing than the others, because you have loads of weird new mechanics on the battlefield. Seeing as Hyrule is a fantasy setting it might well have magic and other weird shit in as well.

Generally this works well:


He might sound like he's being a bit facetious, but really, avoid fighting if you can unless you know it'll be a walkover. Send your armies round in pairs, or at least within a turn's movement distance so they can back each other up.
I don't know how this mod works, but the economy of Medieval means you can support a lot more armies than Warhammer.

Have a decent mix of troops so you can counter most things.

If you can't roflstomp them on autoresolve and you actually have to fight on the battlemap, generally you want a line of archers backed by spearmen, then your regular troops + any elites behind that and artillery behind that. Archers run behind your regular troops once the enemy get close (be careful, they usually get a speed boost in charge range so they can get into your archers before they can get away if you leave it too late) so your spearmen take the charge.

Spears on the flanks to stop their cavalry riding round the back. Your cavalry on outer edges to keep missile cavalry away from your main line and to engage/chase off any of their cavalry that try to circle round your spearman flanks and get into your back line. Don't chase too far though, because you want the cavalry around to cycle charge into the rear of their line once they've engaged. You can also put some missile troops on the flanks to scare off missile cavalry as they can usually outshoot them, depending on your army composition and theirs.

That should generally do vs the computer.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

Historical examples tend to offer some of the best basic and introductory information for the Total War series. Namely, troop deployment, army compilation, positioning, and the battlefield environment. Actually implementing this, somewhat naturally, into the gameplay is what gave the series its notoriety.

The Battle of Cannae is probably a good introduction:

Beyond all of that, would be any quirks with the UI, AI, and battle mechanics (some quirks being unique from one title to another). There's kind of too many for me to list right now... but most of it is fairly common sense:

IE, try not to run your troops around all the time and end up tiring them out, don't directly into spears/pikes, charging cavalry directly into the front-facing of an infantry line is risky even if they aren't spearmen, troops get demoralized when their general dies in battle, etc.

 

[LostCrusader]

To add on to what RiseOfTheWhiteWolf said, they changed how the campaign map outside of the battles is played with Rome 2 so if what you want is a mod for Medieval 2 then Warhammer will be very different. If you do play warhammer, keep in mind that each city is part of a region that shares things like public order, growth, and unit recruitment. Also many leaders and hero units will have abilities that you will need to pay attention to, and your army has a shared mana bar for all of its casters.

Some commands that will help you on the battle map in any of the games in the series:
P will pause the battle so you can plan out what you want to do and issue orders all at once.

Space bar will show where all of your units are going, with arrows to units they are attacking and outlining where the whole unit will be standing where they are going.

Right click and drag to set where you want a unit to go and how much space you want them to occupy, very useful before a battle starts for setting up your lines or when the game is paused.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

1. Combat is a rock-paper-scissors deal; cavalry kill ranged units, ranged units kill infantry, infantry kill cavalry. That's the gist of it, but because of the scale, enough of any one thing will usually kill a smaller number of the other.

2. Morale is tremendously important. Certain scenarios, such as being attacked in the flank or seeing the general die, will trigger what's basically a morale check. If the unit's morale is already low, those triggers can cause them to rout and - in later TW games - "shatter", which is a type of rout which can't be recovered from; a shattered unit is basically out of the game. A unit that routs normally will recover if they get away from the enemy and are given some time; you can keep an enemy unit routing by pursuing them with cavalry.

3. Flanking is tremendously important. For infantry units, their defence statistics and resistance to being charged depend a lot on whether they're stationary and what angle they're being attacked from. Exactly how this works will be different from game to game in the franchise; in TW:W, units with shields could avoid up to 50% of frontal ranged attacks, but this would be ignored entirely if shot from behind.

4. If you think a ranged unit might come under attack, turn on skirmish mode.

5. As a combination of the above, formation tactics is the way the game is played. How and where you place your units will shape how the battle unfolds. In general: cavalry usually go on the flanks a little way away from the main force, unless you want to keep your opponent guessing or use them as reinforcements, in which case you put them in the centre behind the main line. Ranged units need line of sight to the enemy (not such a big deal with archers in Medieval, but a huge deal with musketeers from Empire onwards), but also need to be kept safe from cavalry, so they need infantry between them and the cavalry; not to mention infantry between them and the infantry. Infantry need their flanks guarded, preferably by other infantry, and they need to be able to encircle and horseshoe their opponents in order to increase the chance they rout. Try to "fold up" the enemy's battle line; put a stronger force on one side of the battle line, such as the right side, so that it will overcome the resistance on that flank and then turn 90-degrees to flank the rest of the army. Locking down a unit with infantry and then using ranged units or cavalry to attack from the flank is a devastating combination.

6. Your economy is tremendously important. The economy is what determines how many units you'll have in a campaign battle and how powerful those units are going to be. All units have an upkeep cost that is subtracted from your income at the start of every turn; keep an eye on a unit's upkeep cost before building it, because it might put you into negative income. Reducing the size of your army during peacetime and building it up again when you really need it is more cost-effective than maintaining a huge standing army 100% of the time, because if your upkeep costs stay really high you won't be able to upgrade your infrastructure, which is what will eventually make you more money. The economic mechanics got dramatically simplified after Empire.

7. Public order is mainly controlled by two things: taxation and enemy raiding. Relieving a tax burden can stop or delay a public order crisis, but the only way to get rid of the raiding penalty is to go out and fight the army raiding you.

8. Total War works on what's called an "unstable equilibrium," which is where winning a victory early on will make future victories easier by providing you with more resources with which to win; in short, the game is hardest at the start and nearly always gets easier towards the end. To solve this problem, CA introduced guys like the Mongols in Medieval or Archaon in TW:W, which are large, powerful horde armies that spawn in the late game to serve as an "end boss."

The best Total War games, in my personal opinion, would be Shogun 2 and Total War: Warhammer. Shogun 2 has probably the most finely tuned, balanced, and engaging battlefield mechanics out of any installment, but the downside is that every army is mostly identical.

TW:W is just plain fucking fun for the opposite reason; there's incredible variety in unit rosters. You might see dwarves with flamethrowers being eaten by an ogre, for example, or a dragon fighting a fleet of helicopter gunships in mid-air.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Total War games can be seperated into 2 categories, Before and After Empire Total War because Empire introduced a new engine called Warscape that was not before hand.

Shogun 1 and Medieval 2 are completely dated to the point that's its almost unplayable. Rome 1 is techinically the true, Polished Total War game since they do incorporate 3D models and while not as dated as the older 2 games it is still not as polished, but really if you want to play the "classic" games just stick with Medieval 2, its the pinnicle and arguably still is right now.


For the Warscape Engine games. Skip Empire, Its just boring, and its not because of the style of Warfare it because it definately feels like a techdemo at times.

So for me I would go with....Rome 2 and Attila.

"GASP"

Yes the infamous Rome 2 for how broken it was at launch, and I have been warned against, but what convinced me to buy it was this, I asked in the Steam Forums if Rome 1 is worth it now and they said it is, but it is extremely dated, and the highly recommended me Rome 2 and they assured me that they game is MASSIVELY better than it was at launch especially when combined with the Radious Mod. So I bought it and played it back at december and I was like "wow this is the game people said was a broken travesty?" its actually pretty good and surprisingly deep. And the standalone Expansion Attila Total War is even more better than Rome 2 aswell as its Radious Mod. So I recommend Rome 2 and Attila, but make sure you get it in a sale because that's how I got all the DLCs, because back in the winter sale all the DLC's prices dropped to such a low price it was practically a steal.

As for Warhammer well....lets just say its not as deep. Its pretty much dumbed down, but who knows what they may fix and add to in the upcoming expansions for the game. But I say get it if you love Warhammer Fantasy. Land Battle wise it can get epic.

 

[iwinatlife]

I am alwasy a sucker for medieval 1 and 2 because I poured a massive amount of time in them. Since everyone has the battle map covered I will give my campaign map advice.

Butter before guns. Build up as much infrastructure as you can before making big armies because if you don't have the economic base wars will make you broke. Roads farms mines are all the first things I build in any province. Get some basic troops to prevent any rebellion and keep an eye on happiness if you are above 150% raise taxes. if you drop below 100% get soldiers there and lower taxes.

Assassins and priests are useful tools for making invasion easier. Have your assassin practice on easy targets like emissaries and low ranking generals and in not too much time you will have an Altair who can open the gates for your army or kill an enemy king depriving them of the power of leadership. Priests are good for causing religious unrest not sure if it is a thing in Warhammer but always important in Medieval as it can start revolutions in key border provinces. Priests also let you get influence with the pope if the become bishops or become the pope and then you're unlikely to be excommunicated for attacking your christian neighbors.

As far as armies go Quality beats quantity most times so if you get into higher tech before your neighbor and can flood them with superior troops you will generally win. Pick your faction based on what fighting style you like usually each faction has some specialty. Islamic nations for instance generally have a wide variety of units and early gunpowder. English get the best bowmen and so on.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Don't be afraid to restart a campaign. Odds are your first time or two you'll be getting your sea legs and you'll massively underestimate the importance of economy. Early investments and focus on your income early is way more important than building up a sizeable army that's going to eat all of your meager income. Economy first, always.

Total War is a franchise than can appear a little impenetrable at the outset but once you commit to it and acknowledge it's okay to take your time and figure things out you'll eventually get a grasp on it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Primarily because of Hyrule Total War, I'm interested in getting into the Total War franchise. As HTW is apparently made for people who are good at Total War though, I'll need to, metaphorically, bang my head enough to actually learn how to play decently.

As a way to lessen my possible metaphor concussion, anyone have any general Tota l War tips? If it helps, I'm hoping to use Tptal War Warhammer's human faction as my training wheels (though I do have Medieval 2 TW, no Kingdoms expansion though, if TWW is too different from the typical TW).

Generally speaking, most Total Wars skirmishes will break down into "exploit flanking".

There's a certain amount of rock/paper/scissors in terms of using swift cavalry units to run down archers and artillery, but the surest way to win is to play hammer/anvil with your infantry/cavalry. Especially in Warhammer, where for the most part ranged units don't carry their weight.

You need a strong front line of melee with good defensive abilities. In Warhammer, you'd use your Chosen here, or Ironbreakers. If those units are too expensive, you can accomplish the same end with more mid-tier infantry, especially if you want/need to hold a wider line and don't want to get encircled. The infantry isn't there to kill. They're there to be the anvil.

Once the AI is engaged, you employ your hammer...usually 2-4 units of fast moving/hard hitting cavalry with good charge bonuses. You can use mobile super aggressive infantry in this role as well, like Greatswords, but they won't be nearly as fast or effective as cavalry (and cannot be used for post battle mop-up nearly as effectively). The hammer loops around the battle line, and hits their exposed infantry in their back. After the initial charge resolves, you pull your cavalry back, regroup, and charge again. And again. And again. Hammer hitting anvil. Usually it won't take more than 2-3 charges for the first groups to start collapsing/breaking, and then you can roll their entire line up.

Once you've broken the AI's infantry line, the AI *will* lose the battle.

 

[Faaip]

I'm pretty terrible at the campaigns in Total War games and mostly stick to multiplayer. For battlefield tactics, I would say pay attention to the tutorials at the beginning as they're actually pretty helpful for getting familiar with the game. There are a lot of online resources and youtube channels dedicated to TW as well. That's where I learned a lot and started to get better at unit management, situational awareness, etc.

My go to is usually Napoleon though. I've been playing the Civil War mod recently.. its fantastic

 

[pookie101]

Historical examples tend to offer some of the best basic and introductory information for the Total War series. Namely, troop deployment, army compilation, positioning, and the battlefield environment. Actually implementing this, somewhat naturally, into the gameplay is what gave the series its notoriety.

The Battle of Cannae is probably a good introduction:

Beyond all of that, would be any quirks with the UI, AI, and battle mechanics (some quirks being unique from one title to another). There's kind of too many for me to list right now... but most of it is fairly common sense:

IE, try not to run your troops around all the time and end up tiring them out, don't directly into spears/pikes, charging cavalry directly into the front-facing of an infantry line is risky even if they aren't spearmen, troops get demoralized when their general dies in battle, etc.

death to carthage ! they are a bunch of noobs who used hacks at the battle of cannae

 

[Erttheking]

Random bits of advice.

1. Build as many buildings dedicated to raising funds as possible.

2. Don't be afraid to autoresolve a battle if the odds are massively in your favor, it usually results in fewer enemy survivors if that is the case.

3. Always leave a few melee units to guard your archers and don't send archers into the thick of things.

4. Calvary should be mainly used for flanking attacks, attacking archer units that have been left unguarded, and hunting down retreating enemies.

5. Look ahead on the tech tree and plan ahead what you're going to research.

6. When it comes to sieges, starve out the enemy if possible. Only rush it if massive enemy reinforcements are on the way. At the very lease, get them to sortie out to you, where they have to fight you on equal terms.

7. Money is important, but don't push taxation too hard, otherwise you'll have a revolt on your hands.

8. In the base game of Total War Shogun 2, rifles are not all they're cracked up to be.

9. If you have a border with a nation you're not a war with, have an army stationed there just to be safe.

10. If you want Total War Warhammer, get the Humble Bundle Monthly. You essentially get it at an 80% discount, plus some other free games when the month ends. Just be sure to unsubscribe after if that's all you want.

 

[Zhukov]

For TW:Warhammer just get a max size army of the most expensive units, then effortlessly roll over everything in your way.

(Assuming we're talking single player.)