《欧陆风云4》拜占庭帝国玩法指南：本指南将向玩家展示如何扩张、巩固和防御拜占庭帝国。内容涵盖初始目标、战略规划、军队/单位配置、经济管理、外交策略、同盟建立及敌人应对。还包含通用技巧等内容。 本指南面向新手和缺乏经验的玩家，更像是为他们提供的入门介绍。自游戏发行以来，我在各种设置下都玩过这款游戏，并且乐在其中，但本指南是专为普通新玩家量身定制的。 适用模式： grand campaign（大型战役）、vanilla game（原版游戏）（SP/单人模式） 简介

拜占庭帝国 该派系对新玩家而言颇具挑战。从一开始，它就面临着来自各个边境的敌对势力，这些势力都渴望吞并其领土。与相对紧凑的不列颠群岛、意大利半岛和伊比利亚半岛相比，这个帝国的领土更为分散、暴露，且难以防御。 在游戏初期，由于兵力不足，军队可能会过度扩张，边境容易受到攻击。每个边境都至少有一个敌对势力，因此不存在安全的边界。此外，由于帝国信奉东正教而非天主教，所以无法号召十字军来摆脱危险敌人带来的困境。 不过，情况并非全是坏事。拜占庭帝国被众多优越的地理防御屏障所环绕，你只需部署足够的兵力来守卫这些区域。君士坦丁堡城西有巴尔干山脉，北临多瑙河，东接安纳托利亚的山口要道。同时，它地处绝佳的贸易区域，能够获取珍贵的物资与资源。拜占庭拥有多样化的部队类型，具备极高的灵活性、机动性和选择空间。若发展得当且防御稳固，该帝国足以抵御任何来犯之敌。 本指南是我在游戏过程中积累的经验总结以及一些成功策略的汇编。我建议你不要盲目照搬这些策略的每一个细节，因为游戏中总会出现一些你可以利用的独特机会。这些策略可能并不适合所有玩家的风格，有些技巧和策略或许并不适合你，但你可能会发现其中一些元素可以调整以满足自己的需求。 我唯一的硬性规则是，不要在游戏初期过度扩张。你拥有的地盘越多，防御起来就越困难。如果你过早地野心勃勃，此时你可能没有足够的收入或经济基础来负担和维持军队的扩充，最终可能会陷入严重的经济困境。使用指南 首先，如果你不喜欢浏览大量文字，只想了解一些对付那些讨厌的蒙古人的技巧，可以使用索引并随意跳读，很多章节都是独立的，不需要按特定顺序阅读。 指南大修 随着时间推移，本指南一直在不断扩展，这固然很好，但内容实在太多，我觉得这对新玩家来说可能是一堵令人望而生畏的文字墙，甚至我有时也会忘记内容在哪里。我尤其认为索引需要改进，因为它看起来非常杂乱，不够用户友好。所以这次主要是编辑和索引方面的大修。 欢迎来到……欢迎新接触《中世纪2：全面战争》及拜占庭派系的玩家。在继续阅读前请注意：我的军队骑兵比重较大，会运用各类骑兵单位。我采用机动防御战术，倾向于主动出击在野外击败敌人，而非坐守城墙等待敌军来犯。 如果你是新手，尚未熟悉不同骑兵类型（尤其是远程骑兵）及其有效用法，可以从本指南中汲取有用信息，但请忽略战术部分。拜占庭拥有多种骑兵单位，因此了解并快速掌握各类骑兵的特点，是充分发挥这些单位战力的关键。游戏风格/偏好 我并不急于以最快速度赢得游戏。我更喜欢慢慢来，探索游戏的各个方面，而不仅仅是军事。我尤其喜欢城市建设和将经济发展到极致。这些策略旨在帮助玩家促进经济和城市发展，而非以最快速度获得大战略胜利为主要目标。 骑兵和机动战是我的偏好和游戏风格。我喜欢充分发挥各种拜占庭骑兵单位的作用，也享受与蒙古人正面交锋的挑战，所以请记住，我不是一个城墙防御者。我并不是说静态据点防御毫无效果，只是本指南中的战术和策略均基于我的个人偏好，因此可能并不适合所有人。 这里有许多优秀的玩家，他们拥有非常完善的静态据点防御策略，或许愿意为你提供其他建议。 初始策略

基础战役 我对拜占庭帝国的早期游戏有一套非常具体的策略。我的首要任务是尽快摧毁或严重削弱威尼斯，防止他们站稳脚跟并成为严重威胁。我最初会进军小亚细亚，夺取叛军控制的地区，之后稍晚但仍在游戏早期阶段向土耳其人发起进攻。 我倾向于直接击败土耳其人，这可以相当快速且轻松地完成。这让我有一段短暂的时间可以专注于对付威尼斯，而不必担心后方的威胁。此外，这些东部的征服行动为我对威尼斯的战役提供了资金支持。在游戏早期的第一阶段，我在欧洲只推进到多瑙河东部（索菲亚地区），并防守该地区以及通往西巴尔干的路线和关隘。我的初始策略是整合以下省份，将其作为帝国的核心：君士坦丁堡、索菲亚、塞萨洛尼基、雅典、罗得岛、尼西亚、士麦那、尼科西亚。 游戏早期，帝国的最大疆域西起萨格勒布，东至阿达纳、凯撒利亚、特拉布宗，不再向外扩张。安纳托利亚的山口非常适合防御战，有很多咽喉要道。 我会进行劫掠和洗劫，摧毁敌人的设施以补充收入，并将新占领的定居点赠予盟友，从而建立缓冲区。在蒙古入侵之前，我会专注于经济和城市发展，尤其是港口建设。现在的重点是安抚、教化、开发和巩固我最近征服的地区，而非进一步扩张。这种策略非常有效，一旦所有新建筑和港口建成启用，资金就会滚滚而来。 【帝国扩张：早期游戏】

These provinces are on my initial shopping list and are made up of priority objectives and secondary ones. Absolute top of the list is the rebel settlement at Sofia, that's first quickly followed by the other rebel areas in the vicinity. Slightly later I seize the Turkish held regions east of Nicaea and take Crete from Venice. Once acquired I don't sack settlements that I want to grow as I want to keep the population high in order to access higher level buildings, barracks etc, asap. Short term profit can hurt you long term. I don't expand beyond these regions at this point, except to conduct sacking raids. However If things are going well the opportunity may arise to capture Zagreb, this is worth taking due to it's high income mines. If the player can take Zagreb a lot of the Venetian forces will probably have been destroyed thus opening the door to Venice which may allow you to destroy the faction. If I'm conducting a lower risk balanced campaign I won't keep Venice at this time as my armies will be a bit overstretched but withdraw to Zagreb. I'd gift Venice to an ally. Hungary usually attacks when you move armies west. The secondary objectives, are non essential at the moment but are desirable later on, so I view them as targets of opportunity if I see an opening I'll go for it but they're not take at all costs. After the priority objectives are completed I then focus on province development, military and economic. I adopt a defensive posture after the first expansion phase is over as I really want to avoid getting myself over-extended early game. I like to have these regions under my control before the Mongols arrive. I do not advance further into Europe until after the major events have passed, horde invasions, plague, etc. Italian Campaign If I'm playing an aggressive campaign I use the same objectives as above but with Italy added. This is a bit riskier due to the northern border being harder to defend as your troops are geographically stretched leaving your empire vulnerable to attack. There is no longer any distinction between targets, it's now an all out effort to capture Italy although the eastern targets and border limits remain the same. On the positive side of things though you can destroy Venice (faction) and you are richly rewarded when you plunder the cities of Italy plus these cities generate a lot of money. When I make my first attack in Italy I keep Venice, garrison the city and withdraw the army back to Zagreb to repulse Hungarian attacks. After the Zagreb border is secured I move this army to Ragusa, sail from there to Italy and take Naples as I'm usually at war with Sicily. If diplomacy has failed and I'm at war with the Papal States I can then march on Rome and then Florence. I can rest at Florence to refit my armies and strike out from there to take the remaining Italian ciites. Economy To carry on war, three things are necessary: money, money, and yet more money. - Gian Jacopo Trivulzio Tax When I start a new game the first thing I do is examine all my settlements and check their tax levels. I then increase taxes across all my settlements. I can usually max out tax in all of them. Construction I then examine what buildings these settlements have and see which one's are lacking basic economic infrastructure. Priority building goes to settlements that do not even have basic roads, so the first thing that get's built is a dirt road, then basic ports are built, traders and basic farms. This process is then repeated for the next tier. Get the basic things built first. My number one economic goal is transport, travel and trade e.g roads, ports and wharves. Remember to build those traders as you can then recruit merchants and send them out to farm resources. Characters - Family Members Always check the traits of any family members who are governing a settlement. They can have positive and negative effects on the income of any settlement. These traits can either increase or reduce income sometimes substantially even going into the thousands. If you are unsure about this you can easily see it by replacing governors, you can then see the income levels of the settlement rise or fall as you switch characters. Merchants - Rich Trading Regions Antioch, Aleppo, Alexandria, Mosul, Dongola Some of the best trading areas have clusters of valuable resources around their settlements which are high earning locations for any established merchant. Also the more towns and cities you have the more merchants you can recruit, that's another good reason for converting some of your castles to civilian settlements. There are some high yield mines in the Balkans but I have found in the early game my merchants are at greater risk from hostile merchants. I found it easier to establish my merchants in the east as there are fewer factions with access to these locations at the start. Also if the Byzantine player blocks the sea straight crossing points from Europe to Anatolia, it can stop any characters gaining access to the Middle East. This is useful in stopping all faction agents, merchants, spies, assassins, priests and even Crusading armies (although these will sail instead). Castles, Towns and Cities I found that when playing as the Byzantines a good way to increase my income was to convert my island, internal province and coastal castles to towns/cities but keep the border castles. I would retain a castle at Sofia and develop it as a military hub because of it's strategic location as it offers protection to Constantinople and allows the player to control the Danube river and Western mountain passes. I found I could get by with a reduced number of castles, a good number of them are not needed. This gives you the added bonus of having better developed castles as your money is not diluted and spread out across too many weak ones. Converted Castles Corinth, Nicosia, Rhodes, Smyrna These castles should be converted to civilian settlements gradually, as soon as public order, religious and security factors allow. Note: Converting Nicosia to a city will allow you to recruit spies, assassins, priests and merchants in a relatively secure position close to the frontline. In economic terms this is very useful due to the rich resource area surrounding Antioch and Aleppo. Nicosia's proximity to it will allow you to quickly flood the area with merchants. Income, Trade & Resources The Trade Scroll & Trade Resources Some new players may find the following extract from the trade and resources section of the Medieval II manual of interest. " There are two ways to raise the income from a settlement : one is to change the tax rate (through the Settlement Scroll); the other is to improve the economic structures in a settlement. Taxable trade income is improved by having better traders and markets in your settlements, and by the quality (and number) of connecting routes to other settlements (roads and sea routes). There are three potential generators of taxable income: trade, farming and mining. All of these can be improved by constructing different buildings, although all three also rely on the resources in the province. Any resources in the surrounding province will be traded automatically, if only within the local settlement. Mines can be built to extract precious metals that can be seen on the campaign map as metallic resources. These need to be constructed like any other building. Farms increase the income from farming and the growth rate of a settlement as more food is generated. However, not all regions are equally fertile, so don't expect farms to have the same effects in all parts of the world. That said a settlement always benefits from farming improvements. Market buildings in a settlement improve the efficiency of trade, and the amount of money it generates. It will also allow you to recruit Merchants. A Port (and it's subsequent upgrades) allows trade goods to be moved greater distances, with a consequent increase in the value of exports and imports. Ports always appear on the coastline of the region, although they are part of the settlement. They also help train naval units, of course. Finally, landlocked regions cannot have ports. Sea Trade buildings also increase your overall trade income after you have constructed a Port, and allow more trade fleets to connect to your settlement via the port. Roads allow trade goods to be carried to neighbouring settlements automatically. They also allow the faster movement of armies and agents as well. Merchants can also be sent to distant trade resources to earn extra trade income for your faction. Trade routes are shown on the map as convoys of wagons moving along roads, or as dashed lines between ports. Trade routes can be blocked by enemy armies (including rebels and bandits) on land, and by enemy fleets at sea." (Medieval II manual) Trade (Sea) Trading Ports Build up your commercial ports, especially the settlements close to Constantinople. Convert the castles to towns on the Greek coast, asia minor coast and the islands. As the game goes on, this can create a nice zone of six closely grouped trading ports all trading with the capital. If these ports are developed the income of Constantinople will vastly increase. If you have played Rome 1 you will remember that this was always a very lucrative area to seize and it can be developed in a similar way with rich results. Individually you might not think a port returns a lot of cash but when you get clusters of ports which you can further develop trading with each other then you see real increases in trade and income. Never view these structures in isolation their real value is only seen when they have other ports to trade with. The player should view this not as building an individual port but rather an interconnected network of ports. This also applies to roads. The benefit and revenue comes from the network. These are late game examples, the green lines are trade routes connecting ports.

意大利地区可能利润丰厚

BTW these shots are from an alternative military strategy, but the economic strategy used is the same as the ones I outlined in this guide. Byzantine Units Basic early forces consist of: The usual Med 2 militia/peasant spearmen and archers. Pretty weak militia cavalry only really useful for pursuit and dealing with rebels. Byzantine Cavalry (average missile cav), Skythikon (average MC), Vardariotai (Strong MC). I recommend hiring the excellent mercenary Armenian Heavy Cavalry and Alan Light Cavalry. Armenian merc archers are a useful stop gap while you are building your archery facilities. Reward Units Try and complete some of the early council missions as you will be rewarded with four units of Vardariotai Missile Cavalry for some missions. These are high quality units. This can save you a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on recruitment costs. Byzantine Units & Mercenaries This section now has it's own dedicated unit guide. All unit descriptions, capabilities and statistics can now be found below in the guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1419870134 My Byzantine Armies I have found that I really have to tailor my armies according to the combat style of the opposition. western armies fight very differently to eastern and nomadic armies. Personally I try to mirror the style and composition of these factions when I'm in the west or east. So that usually means I effectively have three different regional army types plus an additional cavalry only army class. Byzantine Western Army Standard mix of heavy infantry, spearmen, missile troops, heavy cavalry etc. Similar composition/tactics to western european armies. Substantial use of local mercenaries when fighting in the west, Heavy Cavalry, crossbows etc. In the west I recommend replacing Byzantine spearmen with Merc spearmen as it's a stronger more reliable unit, common and easy to recruit. I prefer to use crossbowmen instead of guard archers in the west. When facing superior western enemy heavy infantry in the early period usually before you have access to Dismounted Latinkon compensate by increasing the melee cavalry contingent in the western army and use them to flank the opposing force and attack the enemy rear asap routing them before your inferior infantry break. Speed is essential. Units: Byzantine Infantry (early), Byzantine spearmen (early), Latinkon HI/HC, Kataphractoi, Byzantine Lancers HI/HC, Vardariotai. Mercenaries: local HC, crossbows/Pavise crossbows, spearmen/pike units. Eastern Europe Army Similar to above but increase missile cavalry, archers, faster cav units to counter the use of fast missile cavalry by E.European factions. Units: Byzantine Infantry (early), Byzantine spearmen, Latinkon HI/HC, Kataphractoi, Skythikon MC (early), Byzantine Cavalry, Vardariotai, Byzantine Lancers HI/HC. Mercenaries: crossbows, local HC Franks (early), Serbians (later), Bulgarian Brigands (early) some use of slav infantry (very early). Byzantine Eastern Army Different composition when facing eastern/nomad factions, increased missile cavalry/archers, light cav, less heavy infantry as more mobile forces are needed. Mostly cavalry armies with a minimal infantry component. I tend to use and recruit Skythikon and local mercenary MC units as emergency back up when I'm fully stretched and all my reserves are already committed (usually nomad invasions). They are used to bolster damaged and understrength armies and to plug gaps when damaged regular units have been withdrawn for retraining and no regular replacement units or reserves are available. My latest eastern armies are now split into two types. Cavalry only armies for field battles (large formations of missile cavalry supported by heavy and light cavalry) commanded by a night fighter general with movement bonuses/traits. Infantry only armies are used for seige and settlement assaults. The cavalry armies are really performing well against the Mongols (player controlled). Units: Byzantine Infantry, Byzantine spearmen, Byzantine Guard Archers, Latinkon HI/HC, Kataphractoi, Byzantine Cavalry, Vardariotai, Byzantine Lancers HI/HC, Skythikon MC. Mercenaries: Armenian Cavalry, Alan Light Cavalry, local Miissile Cavalry. How to create a "Mongol" type army Firstly go through the various units in your army comparing them with the Mongol units (right clicking respective unit cards) either by using option 1 or 2 below. Try and match the closest unit types (stats/abilities) to the enemy. Also go through your military buildings (stables/barracks/ranges) and right click the unit names to see if there are any suitable units that you have not yet recruited. Examples would include matching Mongol Heavy Archers with Vardariotai and Dismounted Heavy Archers with Byzantine Guard Archers. Option 1: Mongol Guide My Mongol guide details the number, combat stats and composition of arriving units/armies. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=876478247 Option 2: In-game This method requires a group of good experienced spies ready and waiting to go. Send the spies after a group of Nomad armies, not all the enemy army/unit information may be available so you may have to conduct spy missions against these armies. Successful missions will reveal all the unit info you need. This will allow you to browse through the enemy stack (right click the unit card) giving you their stats and abilities. Recruit, transfer and assemble your selected units into armies that have a similar build to the Mongols. Match up as best you can unit type for unit type (best quality available/affordable), similar numbers and composition. If they have ten horse archers in an army then your army will have a roughly similar number. You'll find that you are mostly recruiting units from my eastern army list (above). Note The army unit descriptions represent the composition of the armies over an extended timescale. Specific units described for different regions may not appear in the regional armies at the same time although some combination of the described unit types will. Military Strategy The Hub An important part of my military strategy is to designate particular settlements as "military hubs" a limited group of castles that get priority investment and development. By focusing on these castles I can access higher quality troops more quickly than if I spread the cash around. This strategy is an evolution of my Western Roman Empire river defence strategy from Rome TW: Barbarian Invasion, were similar hubs were used to defend the river Rhine and Danube crossing points against nomad hordes. The idea is to create strongpoints at strategic locations near the frontier. This strategy involves keeping field armies on the border, but to keep them on the border I need reserve units (of equal quality), which I station at these military hubs. If the roads are not fully developed or the frontline is a bit distant, I build forts closer to the field armies and place reserves in them.

Reinforcements, Replacements and Retraining This enables me to send replacement units to damaged armies and withdraw the damaged units for retraining at the hub while always maintaining a full strength army on the border. It's essentially unit rotation. Remember you can also merge damaged units and withdraw the donor units for repair (that's why it's always useful to have groups of units of the same type in your armies). For this unit rotation to work, it's crucial that the road network is developed to enable the swift transfer of troops. Advantages One of the advantages that this strategy offers is allowing the player to keep an army in place. Say the player really wants to hold a bridge but the army has suffered casualties, Instead of withdrawing the whole army and losing your position and advantage this approach allows you to retain control of the area and stop hostile forces crossing. This strategy really comes into it's own when I'm fighting the Mongols and Timurids in the mountain passes approaching Adana and Caesarea were it's vital to keep them bottled up and stop them breaking out. If Caesarea has been developed into a powerful base were strong units can be raised and maintained, armies can be kept in strategic positions as their combat strength can be maintained by reserves sent from Caesarea and their damaged units repaired due to it's proximity. This also buys me enough time for my reinforcement's to arrive from the West. Caesarea really is the lynchpin on my Eastern frontier and key to victory in the east. It's all a bit defensive isn't it ? Well yes, but it's only intended for the early/mid game period. This strategy buy's time and creates the space needed for the player to develop and protect their settlement's and grow their economy. This will in turn allow the player to afford and mantain bigger and better quality armies. Once the economy and income are right, you can recruit substantial quality forces then breakout and conquer. My Byzantine Military Hubs Initial Hubs: Sofia, Caesarea and (later) Ragusa Troops from these castles are rotated with frontier field armies to allow replacement and repair of units/armies. Captured Settlements Settlements can either be absorbed into the empire be swapped, sold or gifted to other factions which is a useful way to seal marriage deals, improve faction relations, create alliances, create buffer zones and draw other factions into a war with your enemies as the previous owners usually try to get the settlement back. Reducing Casualtiies - Avoiding City Assaults Taking cities can be expensive in terms of losing experienced troops, damage and repair of walls, buildings and unit retraining. If you're not a fan of seige warfare or direct assaults or just want to save a bit of cash try and draw the enemy out. Look for any enemy armies lurking next to their city walls then attack this army not the city. Once battle is commenced the garrison army will automatically rush out the city gates to reinforce their comrades, once you've wiped them all out you can take the city unopposed. Note: don't use autoresolve. Venice Strategy Venice The biggest pain in the backside and threat early game is Venice but you should attack the Turks first. If you attack the Turks asap they can be destroyed really quickly and easily. After they've been KO'd concentrate on Venice they'll probably attack first. Never let up on Venice, take Crete first and then go for their castle at Ragusa. It's a trap (using Ragusa as a diversion) Going for Ragusa can draw a lot of Venetian forces into the Balkans leaving the city of Venice weakly defended. After taking Ragusa it may be worth using the castle as bait leaving it weakly defended and blocking the valley with a few forts in front of the castle to delay the enemy assault on the castle. Meanwhile sail your main army up the coast and take Venice (hire some mercenary galleys if you have no ships nearby). It's usually worth having an agent in the Venice region so you can keep an eye on the size of the garrison. When it's weakly defended and any reinforcements are out of range sail your army to Venice. Sack the city and demolish all the buildings, gift the city to an ally and sail back to Ragusa. Taking Ragusa and sacking Venice will not only severely weaken Venice making them a spent force but should leave you in a really good position both financially and strategically. Zagreb may also be vulnerable, this is a wealthy settlement with great mines. After this you should be in a stable and secure position. Venice is the greatest threat early game, dealing with them quickly should give you the space and time to develop your settlements and economy. Asia Minor: Turks Strategy Destroy the Turks as soon as you can preferably before the Mongols arrive. I've always found Venice to be a bigger threat and nuisance and consider them a priority target but I prefer going for a quick KO against the Turks before I make a substantial attack on Venice. Advantages of early assault Simple, quick easy victory against the Turks and faction destruction which allows you to better prepare for the Mongol onslaught. Danube/Western Frontier Under pressure At some point I will be attacked by Hungary while I'm already at war with Venice and have armies fighting in the east. Again this is were I see the benefit of the military hub, this one being Sofia. As I have chosen the Danube as my northern border I have to defend the bridges over it. Sofia's reserve units allow me to keep my field armies in place and stop the enemy from crossing. Counter Attack After the enemy attack has been repulsed I go on the offensive and quickly sack Bucharest demolishing every building in the city. I Ignore Bran at this time. I leave the city and quickly return to my original defensive positions on the other side of the river. I do not keep the city as I don't want to over-extend myself and weaken my border. The river is much easier to defend and I have the better position. Holding the city will not stop continued Hungarian attacks. The Buffer Zone So I'm looking for a way to stop the attack and one that doesn't cost a lot of money. The solution for me is to gift the city to an ally. This will protect the north eastern part of my European border and bring in another (powerful) faction into the war as it's almost inevitable that Hungary will try and reclaim the city. So I'm really trying to put Hungary on the defensive, hmm I wonder which faction would be best at doing that.....The Papal States. So Hungary drags the Papal States into the war, bingo !, excommunication and maybe a crusade against them. In fact any powerful reliable ally will do. With Hungary now on the defensive I am now free to take Ragusa from Venice which will really make my border a lot more secure and reduce the Venetian threat. Note If you are an ally of the Papal States the 100% guaranteed way to get them involved in a war with one of your enemies is to attack an enemy unit while one of the PS units is in the vicinity. Being your ally they will reinforce you in battle and therefore enter the war. This is easier done at sea but it can be done on land by good positioning and timing. Always make sure your diplomats gain and give military access, it makes this a lot easier to do. Imperial Expansion: The Empire Strikes Back After the Nomads are vanquished, if they have taken the southern Invasion route, the Middle Eastern factions are usually in pretty bad shape and can be easily defeated. Slightly longer if they took the northern route. You can then advance to Jerusalem, Yerevan and Baghdad. After these areas have been converted and pacified you can then take Egypt. Gaining the Egyptian cities gives your trade and economy a massive boost enabling you to expand your military forces. At this point you can turn your attention to Europe as the eastern borders are secure (freeing up a lot of troops) and you now have an economy and income strong enough to support the larger and more powerful forces needed to push into Europe. I find when I'm at this point in the game that I create 2 army groups one to advance from Eastern Europe and another which assembles at Alexandria and pushes along the North African coast. If I have a strong enough fleet a number of armies sail along the N.African coast with the goal of quickly taking Tunis while another advances by land clearing enemy armies on the way. If Italy has not already been taken the African force sails from Tunis to Sicily and marches on Rome from the south taking the settlements in it's path while another army marches south from N.Italy and links up with them at Rome. They then push north to secure the alpine passes. Meanwhile the E.European force should have already taken Bran, Bucharest, Budapest and should have just taken Vienna. By this point I should either have achieved my victory conditions or be within touching distance of them. Mongols and Timurids Southern Invasion Strategy Southern Invasion Route (Anatolia/Middle East) Prepare for the invasion by building watchtowers all along the edge of your eastern frontier so you can track the enemy and avoid any nasty sneak attacks. This means you can see the enemy coming and judge their rate of advance and direction allowing you to prepare and position your forces. Do everything you can to track down every last general, army and family member of each wave, send out spies to locate and track them. In the east have experienced assassins on hand ready to act as soon as the enemy arrives. I recommend keeping spies on the far eastern map edge from north to south. As soon as the Mongols arrive send every unit of missile cavalry and Byzantine Guard Archers in the armies in Europe eastwards to Adana. The MC can be replaced with Byzantine Lancers in Europe. Barracks/stables and archery facilities may still be under construction at Caesarea but if you have wisely prepared the facilities at Sofia should be advanced enough to recruit Guard Archers and a respectable amount of missile cavalry. Recruit and transfer from here until the eastern facilities are ready. Recommmended "anti-Mongol" units/army build: Bodyguard, Byzantine Cavalry, Vardariotai, Alan LC, Trebizond Archers, Byzantine Guard Archers, Armenian Cavalry. Elite Byzantine heavy cavalry may be unavailable in the necessary numbers at this time so you may have to rely on Armenian and General units for HC support. Victory against the Mongols is usually a matter of attrition and is reliant on successful army management, raising and maintaining full strong army stacks in the field. Therefore the players army should use high volume units i.e. those that have a high recruitment pool back at the hub. In a mainly cavalry army units like Byzantine Cavalry should be used in large numbers as they are plentiful and easily replaced, this is an important factor against the Mongols due to the heavy casualty rate. Armies which include large amounts of Vardariotai may be better and more powerful in every way but they will quickly run out of replacements at their castles. However Byzantine cavalry replacements hardly ever run out due to the large unit pool. It's vital that the player sends full army stacks against the Mongols, so this is an important consideration as you do not want to run out of troops. Byzantine Cavalry should be the larger missile cavalry contingent supported by a smaller Vardariotai group in an army. Lead from the front It's a good idea to have your faction leader and heir in these armies due to their large powerful bodyguard units. They can really tip the balance in a close fight. Mongols/Timurids (South) Fly you fools (Run to the hills) If the Mongols/Timurids take the southern invasion route then in the face of a powerful Mongol/Timurid advance then exposed settlements on open plains must be abandoned don't get surrounded by superior numbers and trapped in a Stalingrad scenario. Gift settlements in their path that you are going to abandon anyway to allies to draw them into conflict with the nomads. These settlements can be easily regained after the nomads are defeated. Ideally this will include the Papal States when they attack their newly acquired settlements and are at war with the Pope the chances of a crusade against them are greatly increased. You shall not Pass! Fight them in the mountains. Withdraw to and assemble as many armies you can spare around Caesarea, here you can concentrate your forces by occupying strategic choke points and fighting the nomads on a relatively narrow front when they're bottled up in the mountain passes approaching Adana and Caesarea were they cannot take advantage of their superior numbers. The key to repelling and defeating the Mongols in Anatolia is holding one particular mountain pass (choke point) on the road to Adana. The Mongols will throw their forces up this one narrow pass. It's vital that you hold it. First of all block the entrances of the valley with forts, garrison them with one peasant unit each, the idea is to slow their advance enough to give the player the time to retrain units and repair armies. Every time they destroy the forts and after you repulse an enemy attack replug the valley with a new fort. Withdraw any severely damaged armies for repair at Adana while the enemy reseige the forts on the border. The small delay gives the player time to transfer replacements/reinforcements from Caesarea to the front and send understrength units to Caesarea for retraining. Remember to make good use of night attacks and enemy general assassination in this valley. (Note, only for Mongols, forts are useless against Timurids due to their elephants) Tag Team Wrestlers At the end of my turn I make sure I have enough movement points left to allow for a safe withdrawal when my army falls below an effective fighting strength. You have to know when enough is enough and it's time to hit the withdraw button. Imagine your armies are tag team wrestlers. It's the same principle, go in hard and get out fast when you tire and start hurting and then put a fresh guy in the ring and repeat. As one army is withdrawn for retraining another is slotted into the valley in the upcoming turn and the cycle is repeated. Fight, destroy, withdraw, retrain, replace and repeat, all the time rotating my armies in this cycle. Mongols: Raiding/Night Attacks (South) Diversionary Attacks: Behind the Lines When the Mongols arrive I strongly recommend creating a small force to operate behind Mongol lines. This force will patrol up and down the E. Mediterranean coast from Antioch to Alexandria looking for weakly defended Mongol settlements to raid in hit and run target of opportunity attacks. The objective is to take the pressure off the Adana pass by diverting Mongol armies towards the settlements you have recently captured/raided instead of Adana. This force can be raised or operated from either Adana or Cyprus. I gift or trade the captured settlements and move on to the next target. It's a good way to drag other factions into a war with the Mongols. Make sure this "commando" force is carried by a fleet that is stronger than anything any enemies have in the vicinity. This force should be led by a general with movement bonus traits to increase the army's strike range. This can allow and make easier a rapid withdrawal from the target settlement. Having a significant heavy cavalry contingent and a group of trained/experienced spies in this army can make more distant settlements viable targets by using cavalry only attacks (this requires spies to open the gates).as your force can quickly attack and safely withdraw without running out of movement points. These raids have the silver or should I say golden lining of raising vast amounts of cash through sacking enemy settlements and demolishing their buildings. I once raised over 30,000 florins by sacking Cairo in a sea-borne cavalry raid and that was before I demolished any buildings, however it did take two turns to get back to the ships but fortunately the coast was clear. It has the added bonus of severely damaging their unit production as you have destroyed their high end barracks/stables and it stops your ports getting blockaded as you have destroyed their ports and shipbuilding capacity. Note: The raids require good intelligence, as you need to know how strongly/weakly defended a settlement is and if there are any strong reinforcements in the area. So in addition to the experienced spies that accompany your army have other spies on dry land scouting these coastal areas. Hire local merc units, in particular Kwarizmian Cavalry and Sudanese tribesmen. Combine assassinations with night attacks Make sure to put generals with the night fighter trait in command of your armies. Most nomad armies are commanded by night fighters so you must assassinate these enemy commanders before you launch your night attack. If you can eliminate their generals enemy armies will be unable to reinforce each other at night. This means one of your armies can take on and destroy a larger group one at a time. It's vital that no enemy night fighter generals remain alive within the local vicinity (reinforcement area) before you attack. Mobility In combat I like to match their mobility and avoid being too static. I like to beat them at their own game, use their own tactics against them as there is no point in having a lot of slow moving heavy infantry plodding about while the nomads gradually whittle you down before you get anywhere near them. The Byzantines have the ideal range of mobile and missile units that are capable of matching and even surpassing nomad mobilty and firepower. Mongols/Timurids: Combat & Tactics (Gen)

Tactics These tactics rely on using a large mixed cavalry army as it's my preferred force when facing nomads. I'm also biased as I'm a cavalry fan and like mobile battles. Tactically It's a simple concept: given a similar army build with similar units, capabilities and numbers to the AI opponent the human player should always win. However this all depends on the player knowing how to use the various missile and cavalry units. When I play as the Byzantines against the Mongols or Timurids, I mirror the composition of the opposing nomad armies in my own army. Meaning, I try to have the same mixture/balance of units that they have and fight in the same style. I have a substantial amount of horse archers supported by Alan light cavalry along with Armenian and General bodyguard HC. Byzantine Guard Archers are used as the main battleline replacing the infantry (they have good melee capability). Additional Heavy Cavalry units are used instead of BGA when using a Byzantine cavalry only army. This is a viable option for a battleline in this case due to the fact that Mongol horde armies have no spearmen. However this line must be used offensively, cavalry cannot hold a static defensive line. When facing the Timurids I have the same kind of army composition but now elite Byzantine cavalry should be available in sufficient numbers to effectively deploy. I also add two/three long range artillery units to the "Mongol" build, really need some big elephant guns. It's pointless charging after their horse archers with HC as they will never catch them so you need a mixed cavalry force. Alan LC can catch anything the Mongols have and Vardariotai in large groups can cut Mongol cavalry to pieces if used correctly, An arrow can catch a horse archer quicker than a sword or spear. My typical Byzantine v Mongol battle Byzantine Army: The minimum core of the Byzantine force would be at least six Vardariotai/Byzantine cavalry or MC combo, six Byzantine Guard Archers, two Alan LC backed up by a varying force of some combination of Bodyguard and Armenian Heavy Cavalry. No infantry or artillery. Always a full army stack. Byzantine Cavalry Army: Essentially the same as above except that the Byzantine Guard Archers are replaced by additional Heavy Cavalry and are lined up in the middle of the formation. Remember horde armies have no spearmen so it's a great opportunity to take advantage of this fact by unleashing large numbers of cavalry to full effect i.e. smashing them into their missile infantry battleline. Mongol Army Formation:The typical Mongol veteran army (full stack) will line up with mixed missile cavalry on the wings usually some combination of Mongol Horse and Heavy Archer cavalry, Mongol missile infantry in the middle battleline with artillery in the second or third line with the General and heavy cavalry behind them. Byzantine Formation: This is my deployment. Byzantine Guard Archers (Cavalry only army: Heavy Cavalry) in a single line formation in the middle, six Vardariotai grouped together in a double line formation in an advanced position on my left flank supported by a group of Alan LC and Heavy Cavalry. Two cavalry units covering my right flank. Battleplan: My initial objective is to smash the Mongol missile cavalry on the enemy right flank (my left) and turn right charging into the side of the main enemy force. At the same time my Guard Archers (or HC) should be slowly advancing towards the enemy, if I get the timing right both sections should engage the main Mongol force simultaneously. My cavalry wing group will approach the enemy missile cavalry from my far left hand side being careful not to get too close to the main body of Mongol missile infantry. If they advanced from a more central position they would be in range of both missile infantry and missile cavalry sustaining early heavy casualties. By attacking from my extreme left I can remain out of range of their "heavy hitters" and can "outgun" their missile cavalry by having local superiority. I can then quickly rout the Mongol horse archers by charging my entire cavalry force into a melee attack shattering their cavalry screen. Once the enemy right flank is destroyed their infantry battleline is wide open and my cavalry are able to attack it from the rear and side. I also charge the BGA (Cavalry only army use HC in a line) into the enemy frontline. It's then a case of slugging it out with repeated charges until they eventually break and then it's pursuit mode making sure no substantial Mongol units escape destruction. Post battle I always execute nomad prisoners. Destroying Mongol Artillery When facing the large Mongol veteran armies they often have a long range artillery contingent which usually includes rocket launchers. It goes without saying that these units have to be destroyed before I can implement the above attack. This requires a little tweaking of the plan. The problem with the artillery units is that they are usually in the heart of the Mongol army surrounded by powerful units. So I need to separate them from the main force, but how? The "how" is to manipulate the Mongol army into swinging to the right (their left). When it does this the slow moving artillery units will fall behind the swifter melee/archer units and will become detached from the main force. This can be achieved by moving a substantial cavalry force to my right flank in an advanced position close to the Mongols, but out of range of their missile troops. The Mongols will try to counter this by making a substantial reorganisation of their formation eventually resulting in the artillery becoming detached. This is the signal for me to send my Alan LC quickly followed by a detachment of heavy cavalry in support on a hit and run attack on the enemy artillery. After the artillery are destroyed I quickly withdraw my cavalry back to my own lines. I then redeploy my army to it's original formation and continue with the original battleplan (above). Elephants Timurid elephants should be targeted with concentrated missile and artilllery fire. Use special ammo, flaming arrows etc., Guard archers have excellent range. Targeted properly the elephants can be panicked into running amok well before they reach your battleline. It's so important to make sure you have enough missile troops in your armies when fighting in the Middle East. Note on the Timurids Before the player faces the Timurids I strongly recommend that they upgrade their troops equipment and armour and build very long range artillery/gunpowder facilities. You'll need cannon and trebuchets against them. They are a little bit more dangerous than the Mongols with their "elephant tanks" etc. Develop and invest in your smithing facilities it's worth it in the long term, also try and get the swordsmiths guild in military hub locations to get weapons upgrades. Northern Invasion: River Defence Strategy European Invasion: Sofia & River Danube If they take the northern route then the players focus should be on defending the bridges over the Danube and using Sofia as the focal point of your defence. Block those crossing points with full army stacks and slaughter them with missile/artillery fire as they try to cross the river. This is very much along the same lines as the Adana pass defence, but this time Sofia is the military hub and the bridges/crossing points are the choke points. Assemble as many armies as you can at Sofia and the Danube bridges to stop them crossing and use the same army/unit rotation techniques as described previously to maintain/repair your bridge army stacks. These bridges/crossings must be held at all costs as they are some of the last choke points between the enemy and Constantinople. Remember your army stack must be standing on the bridge (strategy map) to defend it. European River Defence This is a necessary change to my preferred mobile tactics and it's different from my eastern Mongol strategy as it requires the player to be more static. These bridge armies require a spear contingent to hold your side of the river and plenty of missile troops to decimate the enemy as they cross the river. The enemy cavalry should be blocked by your spearmen on your end of the bridge, as the enemy army becomes bottled up on the bridge/river bank open up with your archers, missile cavalry and artillery. It's an absolute meat grinder, they're pushed forward onto your spears with nowhere to run and are completely exposed to your missile fire. In a river defence battle when facing an opponent with a lot of missile troops I usually deploy my army slightly back from the river bank. If you deploy your troops (especially spearmen) too close to the bridge/bank they can be easy targets for enemy missile fire, instead deploy your troops back from the river bank safely out of range and rush your spearmen forward to block the bridge end only when the first enemy unit starts to cross the river. Assassination Strategy

蒙古人让你感到沮丧？今天特别不想费力应对蒙古或帖木儿的猛攻？那就试试刺客公会的改良暗杀策略吧。以下是组建一支精英刺客大师队伍的方法。 如果我要使用这个策略，我会在第一批蒙古人到来前准备至少10名经验丰富的杀手。如果能建造刺客公会就更好了，因为这能提升刺客的训练水平，从而增加暗杀成功率。此外，如果你能在有赛马场的城市招募刺客，他们会获得马匹，每回合能移动更远的距离。 只要你有足够多技艺高超的刺客，就能消灭对方整个家族，从而摧毁所有蒙古军队。记住游牧民族会一波波来袭，忽略第一个蒙古派系被摧毁的消息，因为更多军队正在赶来。为每一波敌人派出你的刺客。帖木儿也适用此策略。 如果你采用暗杀策略并已招募和训练了刺客，而蒙古/帖木儿选择了北路而非南路进军，用你的间谍追踪他们的军队，并无论如何派遣刺客追击，安全总比后悔好。 如何快速组建一支精英刺客队伍

如果你遇到麻烦，没人能帮你，而且你能找到他们的话，或许可以雇佣“A-Team”。 不要消灭所有叛军，如果他们挡住了道路，只需迫使他们撤退，不要赶尽杀绝。这些叛军单位非常适合让你的刺客快速升级，且失败和死亡的风险极低。没有将军带领的弱小敌军也是低风险目标。同一队刺客可以一回合又一回合地反复攻击同一支叛军单位，几乎肯定能获得更高的等级、辅助单位或额外特性。随着他们技能的提升，就可以转而攻击敌方特工、宗教特工、外交官等目标。通过每回合持续招募（如同流水线一般）并派遣他们攻击叛军单位，可以组建一支庞大的军队。 你招募的刺客数量及其执行的任务将使你有机会获得刺客公会建筑。尽量将这些建筑建造在靠近边境的城市，伊康（Iconium）是理想选择，如果你将尼科西亚（Nicosia）转化为城市，那里也是不错的地点。你的最终目标是获取总部建筑，这意味着你招募的刺客在能力、技能和特质方面将更具优势，成为刺客大师的过程也会大大缩短。刺客在城市中驻扎时，还能获得其他特质以及随从/追随者。通过采取这些步骤和方法，可以组建一支技艺高超的刺客部队，随时准备迎击蒙古人和帖木儿人。 十字军/圣战军队 刺客可以在几个回合内迅速消灭十字军/圣战军队，方法是刺杀他们的将军。这些宗教军队的士兵如果失去领袖，将会大规模逃散。 外交与联盟 这种外交策略可能对刚入门的新玩家有所帮助，但需要注意的是，在较高难度设置下，有效的外交和交易更难实现，也不太可能长期持续成功。就我个人而言，在最高难度下，除了短期和简单的贸易协议外，我很少费心进行外交活动。对于拜占庭玩家，我建议的首个外交行动是与教皇国结盟，并在游戏过程中给予他们一些小礼物（金钱或不需要的定居点）以保持其友好态度（至少在游戏初期如此，当你开始向西扩张时情况会发生变化）。我还会在早期与西部和北部的天主教派系结盟，因为他们对君士坦丁堡没有兴趣。 十字军部队 允许十字军部队穿越你的领土，不要攻击他们，因为此时你最不希望的就是与西方开战以及被宣布为十字军东征的目标。通过精心部署部队，你可以通过封锁咽喉要道、海峡、桥梁和其他渡口来控制十字军的移动和过境路线。联姻 另一个不错的外交策略是持续安排家族成员联姻。如果锁定某个势力，不断将公主嫁入该势力，同时让对方的公主嫁入己方势力，就能建立并巩固联盟。这种联姻可以代代相传，从而形成真正可靠且稳定的联盟。永远记住，要从那些与己方势力战略目标不同的势力中寻找长期盟友。 短期协议 拜占庭帝国永远无法与威尼斯或土耳其建立长期可靠且忠诚的联盟，因为控制君士坦丁堡是他们实现胜利条件的必要部分。不过在游戏中某些时刻，与他们达成短期交易可能是值得的，但要始终记住，在游戏的某个阶段他们终将背叛你。大多数盟友都无法被100%信任，而这些特定派系则完全不可信。因此，查看其他派系的胜利条件并找出那些需要君士坦丁堡的派系，总是一个好主意。 需要君士坦丁堡的派系：埃及、米兰、俄罗斯、土耳其、威尼斯。尽管匈牙利不需要君士坦丁堡，但他们通常也会在某个时刻发动攻击。 外交官-提升技能 踏上旅途 一旦招募了外交官，提升他们技能的最佳且经济的方法之一，就是派他们进行一次欧洲或世界巡回。尝试让每位外交官尽可能游历并访问更多地区。他们的语言特质会得到提升，例如掌握双语、多语，同时在旅途中还能获得随从及其他特质。游历广泛的外交官等级更高，也更擅长达成条约或协议。 通常，他们走得越远，能力提升就越显著。只要你不忘记他们并让其持续移动，他们的等级就能相对快速地提升。 盟友与敌人 我早期结盟的部分势力：丹麦、法国、波兰、苏格兰、教皇国

我发现这些派系在游戏初期相当可靠，也愿意结盟。一旦结盟，你仍需密切关注与这些派系的关系，因为任何派系都可能背叛你。它们之间也可能爆发战争，迫使你选择保留哪一个盟友。我尤其喜欢与法国和丹麦联姻。联姻比普通条约能建立更稳固、更可靠的联盟。当联姻生下子嗣时，派系关系会得到提升。此外，与盟友派系的贸易时间越长，联盟就越稳固，所以尽快达成联盟和贸易协议吧。盟友：赚取额外资金 游戏初期，当我的外交官与其他派系接触并提议结盟时，系统会显示“慷慨”或“非常慷慨”的评分。出现这种评分时，我很有可能借此赚取一些额外现金，通常可以从对方那里榨取几千资金作为结盟条件的一部分。我会尽早尝试与遇到的所有派系结盟，实际上，我会招募尽可能多的外交官去寻找所有派系，通过结盟筹集尽可能多的资金。 注意！ 如果在游戏初期缔结大量联盟，当盟友之间发生冲突时，你将不可避免地需要在他们之间做出选择。系统会弹出消息，询问你是否支持盟友发起的攻击，或者拒绝支持。根据你的选择，这将破坏你所在派系与未被选择的盟友之间的联盟。破坏联盟或条约会对你的声誉和可靠性评级产生负面影响，使未来的外交协议、联盟或联姻更难达成。因此，只有当你不在乎自己的声誉、可靠性或未来外交时，才可以像上述那样利用众多盟友。 敌人与对手 土耳其 威尼斯 埃及 匈牙利 米兰 蒙古 帖木儿 俄罗斯 西西里

Note: Although I have included a group of European factions as enemies in the overall list, from time to time and especially very early in the game you can trade and make treaties with them. However the Byzantine player must always be aware and prepared for betrayal and attack from these factions. The Papal States At the beginning of the game the Pope usually hates me immediately and relations are going down the drain quickly. To rectify this and gain an alliance, I find it's a question of getting my princess and diplomats to Italy asap. I start off by giving the Papal States an unconditional trade deal (free) that usually improves things. I leave a diplomat in PS (throughout the game) and continue to offer them gifts of money and unwanted settlements. This is one of the benefits of raiding as it allows you to give cities/castles away. I usually gain an alliance by giving them a settlement, Bucharest is ideal. To keep in their good books I continue to gift settlements usually ones that I've just sacked when I'm conducting raids against Egypt. I don't ask for anything in return as the Pope likes free stuff, although I can get military access later on when my relations are high enough. You can also top up and maintain the relations level by making the odd donation or two. Money talks. The Papal States can be quite a tricky and expensive ally to manage, and it's not always possible to maintain an alliance or avoid war with them but it's worth trying in the early game, at least until you build up your military strength. I really don't want to be fending off multifaction religious wars and campaigns with the armies of both Western Christendom and Islam marching on Constantinople at the same time. So I try to do everything I can to maintain an alliance with the Papal States for as long as possible. Crusades, no thanks, one religious war at a time please. When to Stop Simply put, when you're weak keep'em sweet and end it when you have a strong military. It's not necessary to completely end the alliance right away but I wouldn't continue the gift giving when I don't need to. Later on end the alliance when you want Rome. Conclusion So there you go, that's just an outline of some potential strategies that can be used in this game, it's not the only way to approach the Byzantine Empire, just a selection of strategies I've used but maybe some players new to Medieval II and find themselves struggling with this faction will find something they can use or adapt. I'm sure other players have there own successful strategies. If it's not working, adapt and be flexible It's all too easy for a windbag like myself who has played this game for years to simply say follow my brilliant masterplan to the letter and victory shall be yours. That's a very convenient thing to say but it's also a complete lie. If you are struggling with certain aspects of the strategy then you should adapt and tinker with it, you'll probably come up with something better. Maybe the Mongols are particularly troublesome for you, remember It's the general principle that counts not obsessive attention to detail and sticking to a rigid plan, if the plan's not working change it to something that works for you. When fighting the Mongols, Anatolia is the ideal killing ground all you need is a secure defensible base to retrain and reinforce your armies from. If you don't think you can hold a line at Caesarea then make either Iconium or Smyrna the military hub. (If you choose Iconium convert it to a castle asap) The selection depends upon your confidence in your own abilities. Make an honest assessment about what you're actually capable of holding against the Mongols because the eastern hub is crucial when fighting in Anatolia and you cannot afford to lose it. Make sure to choose early because you need to prioritize the development of the military facilities of the selected hub settlement so your armies are ready and waiting to receive our uninvited guests from the east. The key to defeating the Hordes in open battle in Anatolia is to use the geography (choke points) to reduce their reinforcements thus giving your armies a fighting chance by evening the odds as your armies are not vastly outnumbered when you engage them. Remember if all else fails and you're really struggling against the Mongols and need a get out of jail card fast, you can always murder your way to victory by assassinating all their family members. Reason for doing this I was going through my previous Steam Forum posts when I noticed that I had replied to a number of Byzantine related questions, mainly from new players. I also noticed there wasn't a Byzantine guide at that time on Steam. So I thought I'd bring my previous posts together here instead of reposting them whenever a similar question was posted in the Med 2 forum in the future. I've expanded on the original posts and added an number of other topics. The purpose of this guide is not to arrogantly dictate how a player should play the game or make general assumptions about players (exp/knowledge/ability) but instead present a small selection of examples of potential options, choices and strategies that can be made in the game which may or may not inspire players to develop their own different solutions. It's a demonstration of what can be done and what is possible within the game. I understand that we have players with differing levels of experience, ages, and that some of you may be unfamiliar with older TW games. And......Finally When I started this I never expected it to be this big, just a couple of paragraphs I thought, ah, the best laid plans of mice and men. Things just snowballed out of control and now I've created a monster. If it get's any bigger I'll have to rebrand it as Byzantine Empire: Deluxe Edition or some equally ridiculous meaningless term like Gold or Platinum edition. To those of you that got this far I congratulate you on your patience, fortitude, stamina and tolerance of an overly verbose narcissist. Enjoy the game. Cheers, Wrath of Santa More Medieval II Guides by Wrath of Santa http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=819119509 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=876478247 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1419870134 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1077314383 Links (Mods, Guides & General) Total War Center (Fan Site) M2TW Mods & Downloads:http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?556-M2TW-Kingdoms-Hosted-Modifications http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?211-Medieval-II-Total-War-Hosted-Modifications M2TW TWC Forum: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?3-Medieval-II-Total-War TWC Home: http://www.twcenter.net/ Medieval II TW font (Kingthings Petrock font) downloadhttps://www.1001fonts.com/kingthings-petrock-font.html Mod Installation guides, videos and more links Third Age https://youtu.be/MbgCnKTT7zU Divide and Conquer (Third Age sub-mod) https://youtu.be/6mV-cCHrIEg https://youtu.be/zZthZHjq7qE Official TW site http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Medieval_II_Total_War http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Units_in_Medieval_II:_Total_War Steam Guides: Alternative Strategies & Useful Infohttp://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=909957531 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=580921788 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=184608652 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=184927447 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256234465 Mongol (Static Defensive Tactics)http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=861288820 Glossary and Abbreviations Anatolia: The peninsula of land that today constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey Asia Minor: As above. Buffer Zone: A neutral area serving to separate hostile forces or nations Choke Point: In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint) is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or a bridge, or at sea such as a strait which an armed force is forced to pass, sometimes on a substantially narrower front, and therefore greatly decreasing its combat power, in order to reach its objective. A choke point can allow a numerically inferior defending force to successfully thwart a larger opponent if the attacker cannot bring superior numbers to bear. (early) stating the obvious, units I only use in the early part of the game BGA: Byzantine Guard Archers HC: Heavy Cavalry HI: Heavy Infantry LC: Light Cavalry MC: Missile Cavalry