These factions generally head towards a similar style though, which is massed knights with supporting peasant infantry. Local nuances colour the early game and these need to be used to advantage. This progression did not happen within a bubble and those factions on the edge of Christendon will adapt to the enemies they face, especially the horse hordes of the Russian, Turks and Mongols.Įarly PeriodThis period is everything up until the advent of Feudal Knights from Fortresses. Gunpowder revolutionises warfare and we get to experience the decline of nobility to early modern armies, much as what happened to the samurai in the 1800s, culminating in what we call pike and shot warfare. As the knights wane we see cities producing the bulk of the armies and some of the largest aggregate forces in the period. However, just as they reach their peak, the cities start to provide credible alternatives in the form of stronger economies to provide counter units in a quantity to beat the quality of the knights. These factions also can obtain religious order buildings that give access to Knights that are stronger than Feudal Knights, useful in the early game or for cavalry weak factions like Scotland.Īll of these factions start of with some local nuances, but as time progresses, the Catholic militaries normalise around powerful knights in castles. All are united by the the fact that they can recruit Feudal Knights (Norman Knights in the case of Sicily). OverviewThese are all the Catholic factions: England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, HRE, Milan, Venice, Sicily, Hungary and the Papal States. Each faction description will highlight the units that represent these conflicts. Scotland vs England, England vs France, Spain vs Portugal vs Moors, Italian states vs Holy Roman Empire, Turks vs Byzantines vs Venice, Turks vs Egypt, Russians vs Polish vs Mongols. In the game, these are represented in the units that each faction has.
#Medieval total war factions professional
The end of the period is the beginning of the Renaissance which saw large conflicts fought with professional armies by large nation states.ĭuring this period, some great rivalries were forged with each party having great influence on the other. In the east we see more civilised armies initially react to the knightly armies while their military elite begins to shape the modern army. Italy shows a sign of what is to come - merchant cities with communal militias instead of the military class.Īs time progresses we see western Europe perfect nobility based militaries which then get supplanted by professional armies from cities, with very different styles of warfare. The middle east is a melting pot of the old and the new: Byzantines, Berbers and Turks with no love between any of them.
The north east is dominated by horse riding peoples, a forebear of what is to come.
Iberia is a swirling conflict between Christians and Muslims, although the lines blur as personal interests take priority over piety. In the west, France and the Holy Roman Empire are the descendents of Charlemagne’s Franks the progenitors of the Knights. The only place of stability is the Byzantine Empire, a continuation of Greco-Roman civilisation amongst a sea of change. At the start of the period, most of Europe is composed of petty kingdoms leftover from various events: the collapse of the western Roman Empire, the Muslim conquest and Turkic incursions into the Middle East. Medieval Europe in changeThe time period that the grand campaign covers is from 1080 to 1530 and spans a significant period of European history.