Medieval Total War

Medieval: Total War plays decently on my system. I had to turn down the number of units on the battlefield to get it to run smoothly. I bought this game recently and was very pleased to find it was the type of game I was looking for. I wanted a game that would let me command soldiers on the battlefield from a general's perspective. I found it.

Medieval: Total War is a hybrid of sorts. It is definitely strategy but it manages to mix two types. On the world map the game is turn based with you playing a king with control over the development of your provinces. Construction of improvements is like in most other turn-based strategy games. Build a farm, increase your income. Build an armory and improve your units' defense. This works well as, really, the focus of the game is the battles. These take place in real-time on one of hundreds of battlefields included with the game.

When you move an army into an enemy province or the enemy attacks a province you are defending you will engage in battle. You can choose to simulate the battle quickly if you prefer the turn-based aspect of the game but you will hopefully want to try increasing your skills as a leader in combat. You can take command of thousands of troops in combat and things can get quite confusing at times for the novice. Fortunately there is a pause feature. You can order your units into formations by click-dragging the mouse. Quite simple. Formation can be very important in battle as you could spread your forces too thin and the enemy could bust right through the unit's center and have a great advantage. Probably causing your unit to rout (run away). The different types of units will need to work together. You couldn't expect to win a major battle with nothing but archers! You need units to protect your archers while they do their work (launching hundreds of arrows at the approaching enemy). The variety of units can be confusing but at heart they tend to use a spearman beats knight, knight beats heavy infantry formula, though this is not always the case as there are many other factors that determine who is winning the brawl.

Every army must have a general. Be it a peasant or a royal knight, you will always have a leader unit. Leaders will rise in ability as they progress through battles. They can have a great affect on your units in combat. Most importantly morale. Units with low morale will flee the battle in cowardice. This is effect is amplified if your general dies.

Terrain will play a key role in your battles in Medieval: Total War. Archers have longer range when firing from a hill. Also, if you position your units in a defensive location like.. that same hill, the enemy would have to march up the hill to get to your units. This will tire them of course, and weaken their charge dramatically. If you charged DOWN the hill, your units would move faster, consume less stamina and have a very powerful charge. I've used this to great effect several times already. A unit with a tough charge going downhill will hurt very much the enemy who is unprepared. There are forests on some maps and you can conceal your units within. Picture this: Several units of normal infantry defending in a valley with forested hills to the left and right. The enemy, largely outnumbering them, is marching forward for attack. Just as the enemy units are nearing my somewhat frightened infantry I order 2 units of cavalry to charge down the hills from the left and right. Suddenly the enemy is caught on three sides. The suprise attack severely drops the enemy's morale and soon they are fleeing the field while my losses are minimal. Medieval:TW includes siege combat as well, allowing you to attack fortified castles and attempt to take over a province. Siege engines are used heavily in this type of combat as you will want powerful catapaults to knock down the walls allowing your troops to pour in.

Overall, I like Medieval: Total War and recommend it. I had no bug problems with the game as I got it after it had been out quite some time and installed the patch before I even played. The only fault I find in this game is how I had to limit the number of units on the field, though this is really a limitation of my computer and not a problem with the game itself. People with better PCs will find they can use the highest number of units on the field and thus will probably have more dramatic battles than myself. Medieval: Total War was just what I was looking for in a historical battle simulation. Buy it here.