Subscriptism said:
Small list of problems I have with it: It is impossible to storm walls, almost any unit can defend the walls against even the strongest invader (by ladder at least)
Very untrue. While ladders are terrible for storming walls due to how they trickle guys onto the battlements, strong/armored units will fare incredibly well against spears or militia of any flavor. Try holding your walls with spears against dismounted knights. See how that works out for you. Realistically though, "A man on a wall is worth 10 below it". It's supposed to be hard, and you're supposed to want/need a breach.
Subscriptism said:
The diplomacy is broken to the degree that AI don't accept any offer more complicated than trade unless it massively favours them
I find mods address this reasonably well, but you can play a "Chivalry" game and have a very good diplomatic experience without them. You need to keep your reputation high, which means forming as many alliances as possible early on and keeping them, not expanding aggressively, and not behaving like a capital douche nugget (don't run around murdering prisoners, etc). A high reputation makes diplomacy a cinch. The trick with Total War is it's very easy to end up with a TERRIBLE reputation, especially on higher difficulties where the enemy is more disposed to declare war at the drop of a hat, and every war you're in makes your reputation worse whether you started it or not.
Subscriptism said:
It takes forever for units to kill each other. Say in shogun 2 setting two units on each other probably finishes in about 30-40 seconds, in medieval it took two minutes at least which gave the battles a torturously slow pace.
I actually like this, it's reflective of the actual slog/grind of a medieval battle. Shogun 2 feels like Starcraft. It's paced WAY too fast.
Subscriptism said:
You can't steam roll your enemies
You most certainly can.
Subscriptism said:
Archers can't aim for shit
This is true of early archers, less so later ones. Peasant archers are arguably the singularly most useless unit in the game.
Subscriptism said:
Cavalry were almost useless
Completely false. Used correctly, cavalry were wildly overpowered to the point of being game breaking. Medieval doesn't use a hard rock/paper/scissors formula like Shogun 2 does (which is one of many reasons I found that game shallow and bland), so you can't just roll up with cavalry and knock enemies over like bowling pins. You need to make sure they're lined up properly in a wedge or line (not straggling), and you need to make sure they have sufficient distance to get momentum. And then a cavalry charge is inhumanly devastating. Pretty much only entrenched pikes can stop them, and even then only with ugly losses. By using "hammer and anvil" techniques and flanking/hitting engaged infantry from behind with staggered cavalry charges you can rout entire armies in a matter of seconds.
Subscriptism said:
Artillery couldn't aim for shit
It's devastating, so if it was more accurate it would be ridiculous. Ballistas are quite accurate vs troops, mind you. It's catapults that aren't, but they're meant for walls, not anti-personnel.
Subscriptism said:
The fucking pope wouldn't stop crying.
Restricted to Catholic factions, but true. It's an interesting check/balance that adds a layer of strategy to the game, but it can be very annoying. If you're in North-Western Europe and your enemies are all Catholics you might as well call the game Total Pope.
