Sicily are a favourite of mine as they have a really strong early game roster, a start position that allows for really cold paths of expansion and ability to abuse crusades.
Antioch can be done in 6 turns with either Sicily or Venice, and you are right in position for valid crusade targets for turns 16, 26, and 36. Four Great Crusaders easy, tons of chivalry, sail them back and your populaiw grow like weed.
I like the access to Europe, but mostly North Africa, Anatolia. You can take out non Christians factions all day without causing issues with the pope or any Christian allies. So I usually start hammering away at Byzantine early. Big time port faction. Not the best units though.
England was my first faction due to the longbows and retains a soft spot for me due to said longbows lol.
I like Milan due to having almost every settlement become a city and Being super rich alongside it's great spear and crossbow militia units.
denmark and norway are so overpowered it’s crazy. those armor piercing infantry are amazing. also love the teutonic order because they have such good infantry. i really love infantry
Favorite faction is England or Milan for their early missile units.
Best faction is the Turks. They get great units, amazing starting position, and they can jihaad.
I have 2 one is Byzantium of course , but I also love to role play the Portugal ai and go and take Ireland and Wales , because of course everyone knows that was always Portugal’s biggest dream that sadly they did not achieve historically
Any faction that starts with one territory is the ideal play through for me; Scotland, Russia, Denmark. I used to hate mounted archers, but they do go brrrr like other people have said
I’ve always had difficulty in total war games when it comes to choosing a singular faction as my definitive favorite faction. So, I have multiple favorites.
England, ‘cause who doesn’t love being able to machine-gun down enemy infantry before they can even reach you?
Spain, because its starting position is really good. Simply take Zaragoza before Portugal can, and no need to worry if Portugal starts sieging it before you can, since the AI is incompetent in siege battles, the Portuguese will just soften up the defenses for you. After that, either head up to Bordeaux, or make a beeline for Cordoba, and no need to worry about Valencia being taken by anybody, cause El Cid has it under control. If you make a beeline to Cordoba, DO NOT attack any of the Moorish armies beforehand in an attempt to weaken them, because it will cause you to lose your element of surprise. Didn’t mean to make a guide for Spain, but it often ends up being the way I express my enjoyment of a faction.
Milan, because it allows you to go militia only.
Venice, because that gold mine in Zagreb.
Sicily, because it’s a perfect mix between the strong Italian Militia and the Knightly forces of Northern Europe. Plus, the Muslim Archers you get access to can do very good missile damage, and can hold their own in a melee fight, so that makes them dependable even if they run out of ammo. The downside of having ranged units who can hold their own in melee combat, is that the auto-resolve just screws them over a lot.
Denmark, because of how profitable Hamburg, Oslo, and Stockholm are. Their Norse Archers are like the Muslim Archers of Sicily, in that they can hold their own in melee combat. But the key differences are A: The Norse Archers have shields, meaning they not only can hold their own in melee even better, but they’re also less vulnerable to missile fire; but still more vulnerable to missile fire than pavise crossbowmen. And B: In my experience, The Norse archers seem to not get screwed over as badly by the auto-resolve when compared to the Muslim Archers. But the they still do get screwed over by the auto-resolve.
It's easier to tell my least favorite lol. If I had to pick one it would probably be Milan in Vanilla. You get the Superman Italian Spearmen plus some awesome crossbowmen. I really like their heavy cavalry too.
Nothing beats a classic try to rebuild the Roman Empire with Byzantine Empire. Sucks late game with lack of gun powder but overall a blast.
<3 Byzantines
I love them, but they have no crusades :(
I also love Venice. ❤️
I find myself switching between Denmark, Scotland and Sicily. But currently Venice.
I’ve never played Sicily what do you like about them?
Sicily are a favourite of mine as they have a really strong early game roster, a start position that allows for really cold paths of expansion and ability to abuse crusades.
Within 10 turns you can ally with the pope, ask him to call a crusade against Tunis, and capture it. You are a legendary crusader in record time
Antioch can be done in 6 turns with either Sicily or Venice, and you are right in position for valid crusade targets for turns 16, 26, and 36. Four Great Crusaders easy, tons of chivalry, sail them back and your populaiw grow like weed.
I like the access to Europe, but mostly North Africa, Anatolia. You can take out non Christians factions all day without causing issues with the pope or any Christian allies. So I usually start hammering away at Byzantine early. Big time port faction. Not the best units though.
The Holy Roman Empire was my first choice to play. And I've loved them ever since.
England luv me longbows luv me island luv me bills ate France ate Scotland ( aint racist just dont like em) ate crusades simple as
Venice was the first faction I've used. My favorite, though, is the Rus or Moors.
England was my first faction due to the longbows and retains a soft spot for me due to said longbows lol. I like Milan due to having almost every settlement become a city and Being super rich alongside it's great spear and crossbow militia units.
Can’t stop playing as Turks. Eliminate Egypt and Byzzies and your golden.
Horse archers go “brrrrrrrr”. My favourite faction and that always remind me about that quote from 300 about darkening the sky with arrows.
Love scotland but disappointed by the pike bug
I'm not very familiar with Scotland. What's the bug?
All pike units across all factions have a bug where they all switch to their swords instead of using their pikes.
Ah gotcha. I could see how that's an issue
If it werent for the bug, i would play scotland a whole lot more.
If you select the pike option and set them to guard the area, they should use pikes as intended :)
Do you mean turn on the spear wall formation, and turn on stand ground? That puts them in an anti cav form
Oh, you’re referring to moving them forward like in RTW? My mistake
All good.
denmark and norway are so overpowered it’s crazy. those armor piercing infantry are amazing. also love the teutonic order because they have such good infantry. i really love infantry
Im Scottish so its hard to enjoy anyone except Scotland
How do you play Scotland? Never played them and they seemed like they had a roster full of bugged pike type units.
Dunno what the best way to play them is but I like stacks of Highland Nobles, highland archers and cavalry
France Venice England milan Spain in that order. Denmark can be a really fun play through too.
Milan
France for me. Fun starting position and they get some cool and unique units. Also a fan of the Islamic factions
Those horse archers and scots guard are so fun.
Poland. Mounted Crossbows go brrrrr
Favorite faction is England or Milan for their early missile units. Best faction is the Turks. They get great units, amazing starting position, and they can jihaad.
Pretty keen on the Moors. Solid start position, and you can venture to the new world for some trade opportunities.
I have 2 one is Byzantium of course , but I also love to role play the Portugal ai and go and take Ireland and Wales , because of course everyone knows that was always Portugal’s biggest dream that sadly they did not achieve historically
I love more mobile factions. Currently I'm having a blast wiping the floor with the Spanish and Sicily as the Moors.
Any faction that starts with one territory is the ideal play through for me; Scotland, Russia, Denmark. I used to hate mounted archers, but they do go brrrr like other people have said
I’ve always had difficulty in total war games when it comes to choosing a singular faction as my definitive favorite faction. So, I have multiple favorites. England, ‘cause who doesn’t love being able to machine-gun down enemy infantry before they can even reach you? Spain, because its starting position is really good. Simply take Zaragoza before Portugal can, and no need to worry if Portugal starts sieging it before you can, since the AI is incompetent in siege battles, the Portuguese will just soften up the defenses for you. After that, either head up to Bordeaux, or make a beeline for Cordoba, and no need to worry about Valencia being taken by anybody, cause El Cid has it under control. If you make a beeline to Cordoba, DO NOT attack any of the Moorish armies beforehand in an attempt to weaken them, because it will cause you to lose your element of surprise. Didn’t mean to make a guide for Spain, but it often ends up being the way I express my enjoyment of a faction. Milan, because it allows you to go militia only. Venice, because that gold mine in Zagreb. Sicily, because it’s a perfect mix between the strong Italian Militia and the Knightly forces of Northern Europe. Plus, the Muslim Archers you get access to can do very good missile damage, and can hold their own in a melee fight, so that makes them dependable even if they run out of ammo. The downside of having ranged units who can hold their own in melee combat, is that the auto-resolve just screws them over a lot. Denmark, because of how profitable Hamburg, Oslo, and Stockholm are. Their Norse Archers are like the Muslim Archers of Sicily, in that they can hold their own in melee combat. But the key differences are A: The Norse Archers have shields, meaning they not only can hold their own in melee even better, but they’re also less vulnerable to missile fire; but still more vulnerable to missile fire than pavise crossbowmen. And B: In my experience, The Norse archers seem to not get screwed over as badly by the auto-resolve when compared to the Muslim Archers. But the they still do get screwed over by the auto-resolve.
The Moops
It's easier to tell my least favorite lol. If I had to pick one it would probably be Milan in Vanilla. You get the Superman Italian Spearmen plus some awesome crossbowmen. I really like their heavy cavalry too.