I just got the game a few hours ago, and have had a chance to play the campaigns for awhile. I have to say, this game is great.

In the American campaigns, (the most interesting I think) I played as the Spanish, and I found it interesting how they tried to balance the factions out. The Spanish being the weakest in the start of the game, was giving a large number of florins (or whatever their called, I forget ) as a Trade off. The Aztecs were given the largest army, though their troops are weak, etc. The first thing I noticed about the Spanish Campaign was... the Senates back! O.K. O.K, not the Senate we loved to hate back in the Rome: Total War Days, but the King of Spain himself, giving you direct orders much like the Senate did in RT:W. You are rewarded with Prestige, which in turn, rewards you with the ability to recruit new and better units. The downfall with the Spanish however is that the best units they can recruit, musket-men for example, can only be recruited by towns with ports built. So for your inland provinces, your outta luck. You have to rely on the Coastal Provinces. Another down fall, is that the Spanish cannot create castles. That's right. I'm sure many of you were dreaming of thousands of Aztecs attempting to sieve your walls, whilst your musket-men pick them off one by one. Well it ain't happening'. Also, later in the game, much like the hordes, the English and French arrive, but instead of 20 stacks, its just 3-4.
But I've only Talked about Europeans, what about the "Indians"? Well, you'll find that the troop recruitment in many of them, is pretty much the same as it was for the Aztecs in Medieval 2, but here, I"m focusing my attention on the Apaches. In my opinion, out of all the Indians, they had the most thought put in them. They are one of the few Factions/Tribes that can use the Europeans technology against them. Whether it be guns, or horses. Another VERY interesting thing about them, is their warpaths. Acting much like a Jihad in Medieval 2, you need a priest with a high Deity, then you may call a war path against another settlement, such as Vera cruz. After that you may chose which army you wish to use. Then, the Warpathing army acts much like one from a Jihad, or a Crusade. It has double the movement points, and mercenaries a dirt cheap.

As for the English campaign, some things remind me of the Barbarian Invasion days. The English reminded me a lot of the Western Roman Empire in that game. You know, the one that was strong and power full, but you had to work HARD to get it to stabilize. As for the "lesser" factions in this game, The Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Etc. Were like the Barbarian tribes in BI. Small, yet strong. They take on the English, though are obviously out numbered. I found this game interesting and hard at some points. The permanent forts really added to the game play, and made me change a lot of ways I play on the Campaign map. Another thing I also found interesting was the lack of Rebel Provinces. So right a way I found myself at war with the mighty English. I was pulverized, and could barely hang on. This campaign game, from what I saw at least, will keep you interested enough, until we see the Irish Conquer Britain at least.

The Teutonic campaign was also interesting. The fact the Teutonics could only convert settlements once, and couldn't change them back really affected the game play. I found my self having to chose what province I took over next on the map, so I would have an even Town/ Castle amount on the map, so my economy wouldn't crash. Another interesting part of the game play was the "reinforcements" Units, from another Catholic faction, that you were given the chance to use in your campaigns against the pagans.
Your goal, when you get such an army, is to see now I"m quoting from the game, how much pagan blood can they spill. So essentially, you have to see how many pagans you can kill with that army before the say, 10 turn period in which you were given control of them is up. I also like how religion affected your recruitment. You couldn't capture a settlement and go in expecting to recruit an army of Ritterbruder. As the Teoutonics, being allies with some one is a must. Your a surrounded by potential enemies, and allies. Overall this Campaign was fairly good, and I plan on playing a LOT more later.

As for the Crusades, I haven't played enough to tell you if this is a good campaign or not, but from what I've seen it was O.K. Most of the factions are equal in power, except of course the mighty Byzantines. Early in the game, your best bet is to seal alliances with the nearby factions of your religion, so later you are not overwhelmed by Christians/Muslims. Another interesting thing about this campaign is Hero abilities. They range from having units stop in their tracks for a few moments to causing your routing soldiers to stop and come back to the fight. I found the Byzantine campaign very enjoyable, mostly due to the Greek Fire. Unlike musketeers, that route the moment an enemy either A) Attacks them in Melee or B) 1 or 2 guys get killed by a horse, I found the Greek Firethrowers, could take serious punishment, and Dish it back out. This was a very good campaign from what I've played, and I recommend it.


The only downside I can see with the games is the unit selection in some of the factions. The Spanish for example, have practically the same unit selection from medieval 2, and same with the English/French. Now their is a 1 or 2 unit deference, but all the units they can recruit now, are pretty much the same as the old game. I would like to see the English being able to recruit more better gunpowder units, and for the Spanish to recruit more Gunpowder units too.


Overall, from what I've seen from the game play, I'd give this game a 9/10. I'll be updating my post when I play more.

[This message has been edited by blaster fodder (edited 09-12-2007 @ 08:04 PM).]

I was stumbling around the Total War community and couldn't resist wasting everyone's time with pedantry.

The Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Etc. Were like the Barbarian tribes in BI. Small, yet strong. They take on the British, though are obviously out numbered.

They are the British. Britain and England mean completely different things.

O I'm so Sorry.:P

[This message has been edited by blaster fodder (edited 09-12-2007 @ 08:04 PM).]

The TWH staff review of Kingdoms is available on the M2TWH front page.

What do ye think of it? Agree/disagree?

O, I see, I worked on mine for nothing :P (Jk) It's great, espescially the Northern Lights pics.... wonder how you get em'.

was wondering (i dont have the game) but could someone list the cities in Ireland. Go raibh moi agat sibh. Donal

EoJ has written a sterling review of the music in the expansion which I've added to the review.
There's more to come once I've finished playtesting the remaining two campaigns.

"Jesus Christ Superstar Lead"
Honestly...

Mummy
SirDracko
blaster fodder

hey i haven't been on here since rtw was popular but i recently got m2tw kingdoms and it's alot better then i thought. the hotseat campaign is also really fun to do with a friend of mine although it takes awhile and you have no secrecy when your enemy is sitting right next to you but it quenched my thirst to beat him that game

[This message has been edited by mercury9 (edited 02-17-2008 @ 11:59 PM).]

Hotseat is great fun. Myself & EnemyofJupitor had a game going until he chickened out.
A nice trick is to send spies into his cities. This allows you to see where his troops are and also to reduce public order so he'll lose tax income and have to waste troops garrisoning the city.

I was stumbling around the Total War community and couldn't resist wasting everyone's time with pedantry.
What do ye think of it?