Medieval 2: Total War Heaven

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New to Medieval 2: Total War? Check out our Game Overview. Don't forget to check out our Frequently Asked Questions about the game, as well as the latest discussions on our forums.

Recent News

Empire Dev Diary: AI

Empire: Total War Podcast

M2TW Tip(s) of the Week

Rheims v Scipii replay review

Empire: Total War delayed until Spring 2009?

News Archives

Empire Dev Diary: AI

Posted by Foamy on July 4, AD 2008 @ 9:18 PM

Trucking along the road to completion, we spy another sign of progress! The Empire team has one of their AI programmers, Jack Lusted, tipping us in on what's going on creating the AI that will challenge, befriend, or betray us on the battlefield!

Discuss the newest blog in our forums,

Empire: Total War Podcast

Posted by Foamy on July 3, AD 2008 @ 7:18 PM

Seems the lads over at CA are working hard as ever on their next installment on the Total War series! New to the fray of development info is the debut of Empire: Total War Podcasts! This week focuses with Designer Kate Watson, as she delves into the mechanics of writing for Empire, as well as touching on the Diplomacy.

Discuss it in our thread on the forums.

M2TW Tip(s) of the Week

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 27, AD 2008 @ 1:45 PM

There are actually two tips this week as I was pushed for time last week. Both have to do with sieges. You can view these tips and previous ones at our Medieval 2: Total War Heaven Tips of the Week page.

HAMandCHEESE has been working hard on seeing what the AI does when defending sieges and has discovered the following:

Want to take the castle or town with minimal losses?

Build one battering ram and a lot of ladders. Usually I have a unit of peasants on the ram and about 4 or 5 units of archers manning ladders. At the beginning of the battle, put your ram right in front of the main gate and deploy your ladders around the sides and front corners of the enemy settlement. Make sure the ladders are well out of range of the enemy archers and towers and that they are spread out quite a bit from each other.

You will notice that the AI is more concerned with defending against the ladders as opposed to the ram. Most times, there isn't even an enemy unit at the main gate which allows my ram to go in untouched. If the AI has enough units to place one or two at the front gate, they generally won't use their archers which means your ram is only hit by the towers there.

Once you batter down the gate, have your infantry rush in. The units on the walls will sprint to the town center and once engaged, tend to flee quickly. I have been using this for a while against the AI and have had astounding results.

crusading1 has a tip to allow quick expansion and eliminating the pesky problem of having to build up a garrison in your new city before you leave.

Whenever you plan to take a city, include in your army the number (and type) of militia which will qualify for free upkeep in your new city. If feasible, keep them out of the fray when you assault and when you move in the rest of your army will be free to go forth into the world. Otherwise, it will take two to three more turns until you can recruit any militia units for occupation purposes.

Rheims v Scipii replay review

Posted by EnemyofJupitor on June 20, AD 2008 @ 4:23 AM

Our resident replay reviewer, el_bandito, has reviewed a fierce battle between Rheims and Scipii, two of our forumers on the ladder. This was also the first ladder battle on Kingdoms, so the two of them played Crusades...

As in most cavalry heavy battles, both sides wasted no time to maneuvre their units. Scipii rushed forward his foot units immediately towards Rheims while his cavalry also rode up on the right with the intention of assaulting Rheims’ left flank. Rheims was not going to sit there and become stuck in a pincer, for he had a plan of his own.

Who wins? Find out here!

Empire: Total War delayed until Spring 2009?

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 19, AD 2008 @ 8:19 PM

Initially, Empire: Total War was due for release late in 2008 but Eurogamer reported that the release has been put back to Spring 2009. While it would be great to have the game before release, I'd prefer to have the best quality game with no corners cut to meet release deadlines. Also Rome: Total War was actually released a year late! That's what I think. What do YOU think? Pop onto our forums and join in the conversation.

M2TW Tip of the Week

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 16, AD 2008 @ 6:29 PM

el bandito has come up with this week's tip and it has to do with improving your general's chivalry rating. You can find the Tip of the Week page here.

One easy way to raise chivalry is to let the general govern a settlement with "normal" or preferrably "low" tax settings. Within few turns he will gain "fair in rule" trait and 1 chivalry. As the time goes he will add as many as 3 chivalry ratings. His loyalty meanwhile will soar as well.

If you don't like idle generals then there is another way to raise chivalry. Engage every enemy with equal "strength". It doesn't necessary mean equal numbers so check your troops' quality, etc. Do it right and your general will immediately earn "fair fighter" trait and 1 chivalry. If you keep doing it his chivalry rating will go 2 or 3 more times. Releasing some non-vital prisoners also help but generally it is inadvisable to release even a single soldier.

Empire: Total War Teaser Trailer!

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 14, AD 2008 @ 10:50 AM

Finally we have a trailer to whet our appetites. You can find the download link and discuss it here on our forums.

It's flabbergastingly beautiful! Look at the water effects and the ship could nearly pass for real with the quality of the graphics.

It's only a teaser but what a teaser it is! I can't wait for the next trailer, let alone the game!

Empire: Total War Stunt Man Q&A

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 14, AD 2008 @ 10:40 AM

There's been a lot of attention lately on the motion-capture being used by CA for in the in-game movies and there's a good Q&A at the total war website.

It's interesting that they've been doing other stuff besides actual fighting such as simulating loading of cannons, rioting & being put on fire.

And 50 to 60 fight sequences!
Sounds like there will be a lot of creative ways to die in hand-to-hand combat. Discuss it here on our forums.

The Byzantines crush all beneath their feet

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 12, AD 2008 @ 9:38 PM

There's a Byzantine Swap Game happening in the War Stories forum of Total War Heaven so be sure to drop in and look at the pretty pictures of our progress in turning the world map imperial purple.

A swap game is a Medieval 2: Total War campaign where a number of players play the game for three days and then email onto the next person. EnemyofJupitor started the game and I took over from him. Scud is next up and he'll have a challenge on his hands!

Two new TWH staff but one shuffles off this plane

Posted by Gaius Colinius on June 10, AD 2008 @ 11:21 AM

Firstly, it is my duty to report that Andrew Dunn is leaving TWH staff due to lack of enthusiasm for the role. It's sad to see him go but we wish him all the best and thank him for his work on the site.

However, I do have some good news. Aftermath will be joining TWH staff to work on the M2TWH side of the heaven and Hussarknight will be joining to help us out with RTWH coverage.
Congratulations to them both.