Medieval II: Total War™ - manual

Warnings & Ratings

Important Health Warning About Playing Video Games

Photosensitive Seizures

A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these “photosensitive epileptic seizures” while watching video games.

These seizures may have a variety of symptoms, including lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects.

Immediately stop playing and consult a doctor if you experience any of these symptoms. Parents should watch for or ask their children about the above symptoms—children and teenagers are more likely than adults to experience these seizures. The risk of photosensitive epileptic seizures may be reduced by taking the following precautions: Sit farther from the screen; use a smaller screen; play in a well-lit room; and do not play when you are drowsy or fatigued. If you or any of your relatives have a history of seizures or epilepsy, consult a doctor before playing.

Precautions to take during use

• Sit a good distance away from the monitor.
• Avoid playing if you are tired or have not had much sleep.
  
• Make sure that the room in which you are playing is well lit.
  
• Rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes per hour while playing a video game.
  

Welcome to Medieval II: Total War

Medieval II: Total War is an epic strategy game that puts you in charge of one of the powers of the Middle Ages, challenging you to lead your soldiers on the battlefield, as well as plan the expansion of your empire across the Old World. Total War games separate the action of battle from the management of your empire, forming the battle and campaign sides of the game respectively.

Medieval II: Total War's realistic battle mechanics and historical accuracy offer the complete warfare experience. You will need to master the same tactics as real medieval commanders, and fight with the same troops, armor and weapons used on the battlefield in the Middle Ages. This is the time of great leaders, of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. This is the time of noble knights, of mighty castles, of chivalry and crusades. This is the time for you to conquer the world!

Installation

As part of the Steam purchasing process, the game has already been installed on your computer. Read the Getting Started section to start playing the game.

Controls

The default keyboard configuration is detailed below; these controls can be customized by selecting Options → Keyboard Settings from the Main Menu. Please note that the instructions in this manual refer to the default controls; if you have customized your controls, the instructions will no longer apply.

Medieval II: Total War requires you to right-click in order to perform many commands. If you are using a Magic Mouse or a Trackpad, your secondary click may not be activated by default: see Can I play Medieval II: Total War using my Magic Mouse or Trackpad? in the FAQs for detailed instructions on how to enable secondary click.

If you have a short keyboard, you will need to use modifier keys for certain commands. For instructions on how to do this, see My short keyboard does not have certain keys. How can I use the game commands that are mapped to them? in the FAQs.

Camera

Battles

Beginning Medieval II: Total War

The Main Menu

• Single Player – Start a Grand Campaign, custom battle, quick battle or historical battle.
• Continue Campaign – Instantly load your last saved campaign game and continue your conquest.
• Multiplayer – Access all of the multiplayer modes. For detailed instructions on getting started with multiplayer, see Multiplayer Battles.
• Load Game – Load saved campaigns, custom battles and battle replays.
• Options – Adjust the options for video, audio and game controls.
• Quit – Exit Medieval II: Total War and return to the desktop.

Single Player Menu

• Tutorial – This is the recommended way to start playing Medieval II: Total War! The tutorial will guide you through how to play the game.
• Grand Campaign – This begins your epic conquest of the Old World as the ruler of one of the great powers of the Middle Ages.
• Custom Battle – Fight the battles you want to fight, the way you want to fight them. Choose the place, the conditions, the rules and the armies to create your dream battle scenario.
• Quick Battle – This instantly teleports you to a battlefield where a pre-assembled army awaits your command. You must adapt your tactics to the troops you have been given to claim victory.
• Historical Battle – This gives you the chance to relive the greatest battles of the medieval era. It's an opportunity to prove that you too could have defeated the superior French army at the Battle of Agincourt.

Help, Advice and the Tutorial

Medieval II: Total War is a sophisticated strategy game with a huge number of different options.

To ensure that you can focus on ruling your empire rather than reading this manual repeatedly, there are three features to explain how things work:

• The tutorial
• Your advisors
• Help buttons

The Tutorial – “Hands On” Lessons

The first option in the Single Player menu takes you to the Medieval II: Total War tutorial, The Norman Conquest, which is a prologue split into two parts. First, The Battle of Hastings guides you through fighting battles in Medieval II: Total War. After that, The Norman Conquest gives you a hands-on lesson in controlling your empire during a campaign, including two siege tutorials, one in a city and one in a castle.

We strongly recommend that you play through both parts of the tutorial before starting a Grand Campaign.

Advice Preferences

You can adjust the amount of advice you receive before starting a Grand Campaign.

When starting a Grand Campaign, you will see the following options:

• Turn Advice Off - This stops the advisors from appearing on screen at all, except when you explicitly request help or advice.
• Only Vital Info – Your advisors will only give you warnings and vital status updates.
• Get Me Started - Your advisors will give you enough help to play the game, but give you room to experiment yourself.
• Tell Me Everything – Your advisors will provide detailed instructions and explanations of most aspects of the game as you play.

If you want to adjust the amount of advice you receive after you have started the campaign, you can do so in the Game Options menu, accessible from the in-game Pause menu.

Starting a Grand Campaign

To start a Grand Campaign, select Single Player from the Main Menu, then select Grand Campaign.

Before you start playing, you must select a faction. This is also when you decide on any special settings you'd like for this particular campaign. Once you've adjusted the settings for the campaign, click on the Next button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to begin!

The campaign settings include:

• Campaign Rules – Choose between short and long victory conditions. The exact conditions vary from faction to faction.
• Advice Level – Choose the amount of advice given during the campaign.
• Difficulty – The higher the difficulty, the more effective AI-controlled factions are, and the more offense other factions will take to diplomatic transgressions.
• Battle Difficulty – The higher the difficulty, the more effective AI-controlled opponents are in battle.
• Manage All Cities – Enabling this option allows you to manage cities without installing a governor in them.
• No Battle Time Limit – Enabling this option removes the time limit from battles during the campaign.
• Show CPU Moves – Enabling this option makes the game show the movement of AI-controlled factions' armies and characters that are visible to the player.

Playing the Grand Campaign

How to Win a Campaign

Your main goal in the Grand Campaign is to expand your empire by conquering regions of land, near and far. Your secondary goal is to either take control of a certain settlement or wipe out an opposing faction. The secondary goal will depend upon whether or not you have selected to play a long or short campaign.

You can view your victory conditions at any time during the campaign by clicking on the faction shield button on the control panel.

Moving the View

You can move your view of the campaign map in the following ways:

• Move the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen to move the view in that direction.
• Use the W/A/S/D keys to move the view in the “compass point” directions.
• Use your mouse wheel (or the Numpad “+” and “-” keys if your mouse doesn't have a wheel) to zoom the view in and out.
• Click on the mini-map (in the bottom-left corner of the screen) to instantly move the view to that location on the map.

You can also get more information about what you can see in the area you're viewing by:

• Moving the mouse cursor over a character or object to receive more information in a pop-up tooltip.
• Holding down the Right Mouse button on the map without a unit or settlement selected to see which sort of terrain is under the cursor.

The Review Panel

In the center of the bottom of the screen you will find the review panel. This is where you can see which units, buildings, agents and fleets are in a selected location. It's also where you transfer units in and out of your armies.

At the top of the panel, there are a number of tabs:

• Army/Navy – Click on this tab to see which units are garrisoned in the currently selected army/navy or settlement. Right-click on it to open the military forces roster, which lists all of your faction's armies.
• City/Castle – Click on this tab to see which buildings have been built in the currently selected settlement. Right-click on it to open the settlements roster, which lists all of your faction's cities and castles.
• Agents – Click on this tab to see which non-military characters are in the currently selected army or settlement. Right-click on it to open the agents roster, which lists all of your faction's agents.
• Fleets – Click on this tab to see which ships are in the currently selected fleet or settlement.

The review panel display area is the large area below the tabs. This display area changes depending on which tab you have selected. For example, if you select the Army tab, you will see military units. If you select the City tab, you will see the buildings within a settlement.

Right-click on any card in the review panel display area to open an information scroll about the unit, building or character depicted on the card.

The Mini-map Panel

In the bottom-left corner of the screen, you will find the mini-map panel. This is where you can see which faction owns each region that you can currently see. It's also where you will find the Missions button (envelope icon).

• “+” and “-” buttons – Use these two buttons to zoom the mini-map in or out.
• Missions button – Click on the envelope icon to open up the missions scroll, where you can find a record of the missions your faction is currently undertaking.
• Mini-map – Click on a location on the mini-map to center the campaign map view on that location.

Events and Missions

What are Events?

In Medieval II: Total War, events are reports of occurrences within your faction or news from around the world. Events arrive as square icons that drop down on the left-hand side of the main display area. Click on them to read the full message, which could be anything from a declaration of war, to news about a natural disaster, to an announcement of a royal wedding. There are hundreds of different events in Medieval II: Total War.

To use event icons:

• Left-click on an event icon to see a full description of what has happened.
• Right-click on an event icon to dismiss it.

Your First Event and Mission

The first event icon that appears when you start a campaign is a mission. That mission will be given to you by your Council of Nobles, and will challenge you to take control of a nearby rebel settlement within a certain number of turns. All missions have a time limit.

Important Tip: Completing missions is always optional. However, ignoring them means failing them, and there's sometimes a penalty for failure. You can always check the status of your current missions by clicking on the Missions button (envelope icon) in the corner of the mini-map panel, which opens the missions scroll.

Mission Rewards and Penalties

When you complete a mission, you will receive a reward. Not all missions have a penalty for failure, but if a mission does, its penalties are detailed in the missions scroll.

It's always wise to assess what the rewards or penalties will mean for your current plans for your faction, and what effort will be required to complete the mission. If something happens that would prevent you from being able to complete the mission, that mission will be cancelled. This does not count as failing the mission.

Examples of rewards include:

• A financial reward
• A bonus unit
• Improved relations with another faction

Examples of penalties include:

• Excommunication from the Catholic Church
• Having an inquisitor sent to your lands
• A deterioration of relations with another faction

Faction and World Events

Most messages will be reports about things that have happened in your faction, such as which units were recruited, which buildings were constructed, which family members have died and which missions can be undertaken.

You will also receive news of diplomatic events, such as a declaration of war or an announcement that a foreign power has become the richest kingdom in the world. Reading these messages will help ensure that you are aware of what's going on both within your borders and beyond them.

Military Class Characters

These are the characters that appear as soldiers or ships on the campaign map. Their use is explained in Using Armies.

Generals

Available to: All factions
Role: Commands armies and governs settlements

Generals are the most important characters in your faction, as they are the only ones who can recruit mercenaries, build field structures such as forts and watchtowers, and govern settlements. They also have a positive effect on troops in battles. The way you use them plays a large part in determining the sort of leaders they become and the strengths and weaknesses they acquire.

Generals that weren't bribed to join your faction are considered to be a part of your Family Tree and can become successors to the throne.

Captains

Available to: All factions
Role: Temporary commander

When an army has no general, a captain will step forward from among the ranks of ordinary units to lead the army. Captains do not earn traits from accomplishments in battle unless they are promoted to a general: the opportunity to promote them may be offered to you during play. Armies led by a captain are more vulnerable to bribery from foreign diplomats.

Admirals

Available to: All factions
Role: Naval commander

Admirals command a fleet of ships in battle, and can develop their combat ability in the same way that a general can, by winning battles. They cannot govern a settlement like a general: they are only a naval commander.

Spies

Available to: All factions
Role: Espionage and propaganda

Spies are intelligence operatives capable of moving undetected by foreign forces. Their main task is to infiltrate foreign settlements, where they will report on the buildings and garrisons within the settlement. While spies are within an enemy settlement, they inspire unrest in the population, and there is a chance that they will disable wall defenses if you attack the city. Finally, spies are also the most effective character at spotting other hidden agents.

Assassins

Available to: All factions
Role: Elimination and sabotage

Assassins are similar to spies, in that they have a good chance of moving and operating undetected, but their job is to directly target a person or building for elimination.

Assassination attempts are considered an act of war.

Merchants

Available to: All factions
Role: Trade

Merchants serve your people by traveling to distant lands to find resources and establishing a lucrative trade route back to your capital. Merchants can attempt to put a foreign merchant out of business. This does not count as an act of war, and neither does entering foreign lands.

Loyalty

Used by: Generals

This is a measure of how seriously a character honors their role of servitude. During the course of the game, there will be numerous situations that will test the loyalty of your generals, and the higher this attribute, the more likely they are to honor their pledge to you.

Authority

Used by: Faction leader

This is a measure of the respect commanded by a faction leader. A faction leader with high authority is more likely to retain the loyalty of his generals, while a leader with low authority is more likely to face rebellion.

Charm

Used by: Princesses

This is a measure of how adept a princess is at persuading others. The higher a princess's charm, the more effective she is in diplomacy, and the more likely she is to successfully convince a general to marry into her family.

Influence

Used by: Diplomats

This is a measure of how effective this man is at convincing others to accept diplomatic proposals during negotiations. The higher a diplomat's influence rating, the more successful he will be in negotiations.

Improving your Characters

As your characters perform actions during the campaign, they will develop traits and gain followers depending on whether they succeed or fail. Sometimes, they will develop traits just as a result of sitting around or remaining in a certain environment.

With both logic and observation, you should be able to see a connection between what you do with your characters, and the sorts of traits they develop. Leave a general in a town with a big tavern forever and he'll eventually turn to drink. On the other hand, proactive behavior will help a character develop positive traits and gain useful followers.

There are hundreds of things that can lead to a character receiving traits, followers and items. Some examples include:

• Hereditary traits, passed down through either the bloodline or the parents' beliefs
• The outcome of a battle
• Actions taken personally during a battle
• Getting married
• Succeeding or failing at agent missions
• How governors manage their settlements
• Completing certain missions
• Building certain buildings
• The environment in which the character lives

Using Armies

Total War Armies

Your armies are your primary weapon in Medieval II: Total War. Each army contains 1-20 military units that move and fight together. When you select an army on the campaign map, the review panel shows you which units it contains.

There are a number of things you should know about armies on the campaign map:

• Clicking on an army on the campaign map selects the entire army.
• Gold stars to the left of the army show the command rating of the general in charge (0-10); the more stars, the better the general is at leading armies in battle.
• An army's banner color and symbol indicate which faction owns the army.
• The darker color that “fills” the banner from the bottom shows the strength of the army; the stronger the army, the more of the banner is filled.
• There are certain things that armies led by a captain cannot do, including hiring mercenaries and building fortifications.

Who Commands in Battle?

If an army has multiple possible commanders, the commander is determined by the following rules:

• Usually, the general with the highest command rating is the army's commander.
• The only exception is when the faction leader is present: he is always the commander, regardless of his command rating.
• The commanding general's unit card is marked with a gold star.

How to command armies in battle is explained in the Battles in Medieval II: Total War section. This section covers forming armies, and using them on the campaign map.

Forming Armies

To form an army, you need to either recruit new troops in a settlement or hire mercenaries with a general outside of a settlement. Troops from multiple sources can be merged together to form a larger, more capable army.

Tips on forming a balanced army:

• Always try to have a mixture of infantry, spears, missile troops and cavalry. This will ensure you have a unit to counter whatever the enemy sends at you.
• When building an army, start with infantry. Most missile, cavalry and artillery units are poor at defending themselves without help.

Tips on producing an army for a particular purpose:

• If you're creating a siege army, include artillery units capable of destroying walls. This is more reliable than building siege equipment during the battle.
• If you're creating a defensive garrison, missile units are extremely effective when shooting from walls and can be defended with little infantry.
• If you want to capture prisoners, ensure that you have multiple cavalry units to make it easier to chase down routing units.

Merging Armies

To merge two of your armies, move one onto the other (the other army can be either on the campaign map or garrisoned in a settlement). It may be useful to merge units before attempting to merge two armies. You can't merge units at the same time as merging armies.

The general with the highest command rating takes command of a merged army. When an army led by a captain is merged with one led by a general, the captain is demoted to the ranks and disappears.

If there are fewer than 20 units in both armies together, the merging process is completely automatic. If there are more than 20 units, the army merging scroll will appear. To use the scroll:

• Click on units in either army to select the ones that you wish to move to the other army. You can make multiple selections by holding down the Command (⌘) key as you click.
• Some units may be grayed out. These have already moved as far as they are able this turn, and therefore cannot move to another army.
• When you're happy with your unit selections, click on the arrow button in the center of the scroll to move the selected units. Alternatively, you can drag and drop units between the two armies.
• Once you're happy with the merged armies, click on the tick button in the bottom-right corner of the scroll to close it.

Unit Experience

The number and color of the chevrons on a unit card in the review panel indicate the unit's experience. A unit with experience is more effective in combat, and will usually beat a unit of the same type that has a lower experience level.

Experience is gained by killing enemy soldiers during battles. Experience can also be gained as a result of being commanded by a general with a high command rating or by being recruited in a settlement with appropriate training facilities.

• No chevrons indicate that the unit has little or no experience in battle.
• Bronze chevrons indicate that the unit has some experience in battle.
• Silver chevrons indicate that the unit has a lot of experience in battle and is composed of veteran soldiers.
• Gold chevrons indicate that the unit is full of veterans of field warfare who can always be relied upon.

Building Forts and Watchtowers

Only an army under the command of a general can build watchtowers and forts.

• Click on the Construct Fort or Watchtower button in the control panel to open the field construction scroll. From this scroll, you can select either a watchtower or fort to build. Each has a cost associated with it.
• Watchtowers are permanent structures that you can erect in your lands to give your faction a better view of incoming foreign armies and characters.
• Forts must have an army garrisoned in them to remain on the map. If a fort is empty at the end of any turn, it will fall into disrepair and be removed from the map.
• Forts do not belong to any particular faction. If one faction constructs a fort and leaves it empty, another faction's forces can move into the fort and take it over. Be aware of this if you declare war on another faction.
• You can build as many watchtowers and/or forts as you want in a single turn, limited only by your general's movement points (i.e. his ability to move to a new site).

Forts can be extremely useful for defending strategic “choke points” such as mountain passes: an enemy will have to lay siege to the fort before they can advance. It's even possible to build a “wall” of forts to cut a location off from surrounding areas.

Attacking with an Army

With an army selected, right-click on the enemy army or settlement you wish to attack.

• When you attack an enemy, the battle deployment scroll will appear. This shows a breakdown of your forces and those of the enemy.
• The most important piece of information is the “balance of power” shown in the center of the scroll. To see your odds of winning the battle, move the mouse pointer over the crossed swords.
• Any reinforcements from nearby armies are also shown on the scroll. See Using Reinforcements for more information.
• You can choose to fight the battle yourself or resolve it automatically. Resolving the battle automatically may lead to heavier casualties, and because you cannot protect your general from harm, he may be killed.
• If you're attacking a settlement, the battle will be a siege. See Sieges and Siege Battles for more information.

Using Fleets

Total War Fleets

The ships that you see sailing the seas on the campaign map are fleets. Each fleet has an admiral, who has his own command rating for combat at sea. Fleets engage each other in the same way that armies do. However, battles between fleets are always resolved automatically.

Fleets serve two useful roles besides attacking enemy fleets:

• Transporting – Fleets can be loaded with armies and agents to take them to distant shores that they otherwise could not reach.
• Blockading – Fleets can be used to block passage into foreign ports, cutting off the sea trade of the settlement in the same region.

Who Commands in Naval Battles?

Each fleet can have only one admiral, so he always commands the fleet. The most important things to know about admirals are:

• Admirals earn command stars from winning naval battles, improving their performance in future battles.
• Once an admiral has earned a command star, his fleet cannot merge with another fleet.

Merging and Splitting Fleets

To merge two fleets, simply move one fleet onto another. If there are more than 20 ships in the two fleets together, you'll be asked to decide which ships end up in each fleet. In every other case, one large fleet will be created. You cannot merge two admirals into one fleet if one of them has earned a command star.

To split a fleet, select the ships you want to form a new fleet in the review panel, then drag and drop them to a new destination on the map. They will automatically leave the old fleet, and a new admiral will be appointed for the new fleet. Any passengers in the original fleet remain in that fleet.

Attacking with a Fleet

All naval battles are resolved automatically. To start a naval battle, click on your fleet to select it, and right-click on the fleet you wish to attack.

• Fleets that lose ships in combat will lose any military units or characters that the lost ship(s) were carrying.
• The command rating of the fleet's admiral influences its chance of winning a battle.
• After combat, the losing fleet will either be sunk or sail away from the victor's fleet.

Blockading Ports

It's possible to blockade an enemy port and cut off its trade links with the outside world. The blockaded faction will not receive income from sea trade while the blockade is in force.

• To form a blockade, select a fleet, then right-click on the port you wish to blockade. A barrier will be placed around the port to show that a blockade is in force.
• You can lift a blockade at any time by moving your fleet away from the port.
• You can attempt to break enemy blockades by attacking the blockading fleet. If you win the battle, the blockade will be broken.

How do I Manage a Settlement?

To properly manage a settlement, you need to install a general to serve as governor (unless you selected Manage All Cities in the Grand Campaign settings prior to starting the campaign).

If you do not install a governor, you won't be able to perform any of the following tasks vital to properly managing a settlement:

• Recruit units for your armies, and agents for non-military tasks.
• Construct new buildings, which improve various aspects of your settlement.
• Adjust the tax rate in cities to ensure that they generate as much income as possible for your faction.
• Retrain units, to replenish their ranks, and upgrade their weapons and armor if the right buildings are present.
• Repair buildings damaged by siege attacks, rioting or disasters.
• Keep control of public order. If you do not do this, you will face the prospect of riots and possibly even a rebellion in the settlement.

All of these tasks will be explained in the sections that follow.

Understanding Cities and Castles

Cities and castles are very different types of settlement, but the way you improve them is identical: by constructing buildings. Different types of buildings can be constructed in each type of settlement.

Cities

Cities are settlements that encourage trade and support a large population. In fact, it is population that drives cities. When a city reaches a high enough population, it can grow into a larger settlement with better city walls.

Inside cities, you'll find buildings such as inns, markets, town halls, churches and schools of alchemy. Some buildings offer access to agents that can be of great use to your faction.

Cities provide the following benefits:

• The ability to set the tax rate for the region as desired.
• Several types of buildings that improve trade income.
• Buildings that spread your faction's faith.
• Buildings that allow you to recruit spies, assassins, priests, diplomats and merchants.
• Buildings that allow you to recruit militia and siege artillery.
• Free upkeep for some militia units while they are garrisoned.

Cities come with the following problems:

• Public unrest, which can lead to riots and rebellion.
• Governors can become corrupt due to the wealthy city environment.
• A lack of buildings to recruit cavalry and missile infantry.
• Only one defensive wall for forces to breach during sieges.

Cities can be upgraded as follows:

The Governor

When you move a general into a settlement, he becomes its governor. While a high command rating makes him a capable leader on the battlefield, it is a general's piety, chivalry and dread that determine his success as a governor.

• Governors with a high piety rating reduce disorder caused by religious unrest and improve the public order of the settlement.
• Governors with a high chivalry rating improve the public order and population growth of the settlement.
• Governors with a high dread rating increase the public order of the settlement.
• Governors can also have traits or retinues that have various positive effects on the settlement. Hold the mouse pointer over a trait or retinue to see details of its effects.
• If there are multiple generals in a settlement, the one with the highest piety rating will be installed as governor. The people prefer a man of faith.

The Building Browser

You can open the building browser by clicking on the Show Building Browser button at the bottom of the settlement scroll. The building browser is where you can find all the information you need on all of the things you can construct.

The building browser is split into two parts: the panel on the left shows a display of the available buildings of the currently selected building type, with the different sizes of settlement. The panel on the right shows which building types are available in a city or a castle, depending on which tab you have selected.

• The settlement images on the left show which level your settlement has reached. Items that are grayed out represent the sizes to which your settlement can grow later.
• The building images beneath the “City” heading show which levels of this type of building type are available in a city. Items that are grayed out represent buildings you have yet to construct. Right-click on any building image to see its building information scroll.
• The building images beneath the “Castle” heading show which of this type of building are available in a castle. Items that are grayed out represent buildings you have yet to construct. Right-click on any building image to see its building information scroll.
• If a building image does not have an equivalent building at the same level of the other type of settlement, then the building will be destroyed if you choose to convert the settlement.
• The types of buildings that you have already constructed in your settlement have their names shown in black in the panel on the right-hand side.
• The types of buildings you have not yet constructed in your settlement have their name shown in a lighter shade in the panel on the right-hand side.

Recruiting Units, Ships and Agents

To form armies, construct ships and enlist the services of agents, you must recruit them in a settlement. Recruiting units and agents costs money, which will be deducted from your treasury, to cover their training, equipment and starting wages.

Um die verfügbaren Einheiten zu sehen, klicken Sie auf den Tab "Rekrutierung" in der Schriftrolle "Siedlung".

There are several key things to know about how recruitment works before you begin:

• Recruitment Queue – When you select a unit to recruit, it is added to the recruitment queue.
• Recruitment Slots – The highlighted slots on the left-hand side of the queue are the recruitment slots. As a settlement grows in size, it gains more recruitment slots, allowing it to recruit more units per turn. Units in the recruitment slots will be recruited on the following turn.
• Recruitment Pools - Units are recruited from a “pool” of men that are ready to be trained. The number in the top-right corner of the unit icon represents how many units are ready to be trained right now. This number will decrease as you recruit units of that type, and be replenished over time.
• Buildings Allow Recruitment – You will need to construct buildings in order to recruit units.
• Recruitment Effects Combine – If you have two buildings that can recruit the same unit in one settlement, that unit will have a larger recruitment pool limit, and the pool will be replenished more quickly.
• Agent Limits – There is a limit to how many agents, such as priests/imams and merchants, you can recruit. When you construct higher-level buildings, the number of agents you can recruit will increase. You will find details of these limits on the relevant building information scrolls.

The Unit Information Scroll

This scroll gives you information about a unit, including its historical background, training and upkeep costs. The unit information scroll also allows you to disband the unit, letting you stop paying its upkeep costs.

Click on this button to disband the unit. The soldiers in the unit are added back to the unit pools for the region's settlement. This makes the unit available for recruitment, but it loses any military experience it had gained.

Retraining and Upgrading Units

You can replenish a unit's numbers and ensure that it has the best weapons and armor that a settlement can provide by retraining it.

To replenish a unit's numbers, you must have a building in the settlement able to recruit the type of unit you want to replenish.

To upgrade weapons and armor, you must have the appropriate building(s) and have the funds to pay for the upgrade.

A unit in a garrison can be retrained if it meets one of two conditions:

• The unit is numerically under full strength: it has taken losses and has fewer men in its ranks than it did originally. Under-strength units that are retrained may lose some experience as new recruits enter their ranks.
• The unit's armor or weapons can be upgraded (see below).

Important tip: Be aware that retraining costs money, and it can be quite expensive to upgrade and replenish your units at the same time.

Upgrading Armor

Upgrading a unit's armor allows it to sustain more damage during battle without being killed.

• The maximum level to which you can upgrade armor depends on the unit.
• The higher the level of smith building available, the higher the level to which you can upgrade a unit's armor.

The Guilds

In medieval times, guilds used their widespread influence to regulate trade throughout the Western world. Each guild represents a particular trade, study or order, such as the Masons’ Guild, Theologians’ Guild or the Knights Templar.

• All guilds offer benefits – You can see which guilds are available to your faction by checking the building browser, and see the benefits of each guild by checking their building information scrolls.
• Some guilds are only available to certain factions – For example, the Knights of Santiago are exclusive to Spain and Portugal.
• Guilds are “invite only” – They approach you about constructing a guild house in your settlement. They are more likely to offer to do this if you support their trade or cause.
• Guild houses and minor chapter houses are the lowest ranks of a guild building, and cost 1000 florins to build. They can be built in any settlement in your faction.
• Master guild houses and major chapter houses are the second rank of guild building, and cost 2000 florins to build. Only one can be built in each faction.
• Headquarters are the highest rank of guild building, and cost 3000 florins to build, but offer incredible benefits. Only one of these can exist in the entire world at any given time.
• Keep working for upgrades – You will need to continue to support your guild's interests to receive an offer to upgrade to the next rank of building. Only factions that focus closely on a guild will be allowed to build a headquarters in their lands.

Faction-specific Buildings

There are a series of special buildings that are only available to certain factions. These offer unique benefits that can greatly aid a faction. For example, the Turks, Egyptians and Moors can all construct horse racing buildings, allowing them to recruit cavalry in cities.

The Trade Scroll and Trade Resources

There are two ways to increase the income a settlement generates: the first is to change the tax rate (using the settlement scroll), and the second is to improve the economic structures in a settlement.

You can increase taxable trade income by building better traders and markets in your settlements and by improving the quality and number of connecting routes to other settlements (both roads and sea routes).

Taxable income is generated in three ways: trade, farming and mining. All of these can be improved by constructing buildings, although all three are also dependent on the natural resources in the province.

• Any resources in the surrounding province will be traded automatically, but only within the local settlement.
• Mines can be built to extract any precious metals that are visible on the campaign map. Mines are constructed like any other building.
• Farms increase the income from farming and the growth rate of a settlement. 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 improved farms.
• Market buildings in a settlement improve the amount of money generated by trade. They also allow you to recruit merchants.
• Ports (and their subsequent upgrades) allow trade goods to be moved across greater distances, with a consequent increase in the value of trade. Ports always appear on the coastline of the region, but they still form part of the settlement. They can also train naval units. Ports cannot be built in landlocked regions.
• Sea trade buildings also increase your trade income, and can be built after you have constructed a port. They also allow more trade fleets to connect to your settlement via the port.
• Roads allow trade goods to be carried to neighboring settlements automatically. They also allow armies and agents to move more quickly.
• Merchants can be sent to distant trade resources to earn extra trade income for your faction. This is covered in detail in the Using Agents section of this manual. 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.

City Upgrades and Conversions

Castle Upgrades and Conversions

Using Merchants

Trading - Passive ability
Merchants generate trade income for their faction when they stand on a trade resource on the campaign map, sending the precious goods or minerals back to their faction capital.

There are several things to know about how trade works:

• Checking income per turn – To see how many florins per turn a merchant will earn from a resource, select the merchant and place the mouse pointer over the resource.
• Finance rating – The higher a merchant's finance rating, the more florins he will generate per turn.
• Trade rights – If your faction has trade rights with the faction that owns the resource a merchant is trading, the amount of florins generated will be higher.
• Resource value – The value of a resource varies based on the resource itself: resources like gold and silk are more valuable commodities.
• Distance bonus – The further the closest instance of a trade resource is from a merchant's capital, the more income he earns from it.

Acquisition – Active ability
Acquisition is when one merchant attempts to forcibly seize the assets of another merchant, putting him out of business. Success means an immediate financial bonus, and control of any trade resource the foreign merchant is standing on. Failure could mean the end of the aggressor's career.

• To make an acquisition attempt, right-click on a foreign merchant. The chance of success will be shown on a panel. Click on the Acquisition button to proceed.
• A merchant's finance rating is the primary factor in determining success or failure.
• Acquisition is not an act of war, but it may annoy the aggressed faction.

Using Spies

Stealth – Passive ability
Spies constantly attempt to remain unseen by other factions: while you can see your spies on the campaign map, other factions cannot.

• Subterfuge rating – A spy's subterfuge rating directly affects both his ability to remain hidden and his ability to detect other hidden agents, such as spies and assassins.
• Constant, not foolproof – Even though stealth is a constant passive ability, it is not foolproof, and there is always a chance of a spy being detected by a foreign character.

Infiltration – Active ability
Spies will attempt to infiltrate any army or settlement they are moved into, unveiling information about the target. Success means the information is gathered and displayed immediately. Failure will mean that the spy is either driven away before they gather information, or caught in the act and killed.

• To make an infiltration attempt, right-click on a settlement, army or agent. The chance of success will be shown on a panel. Click on the Infiltrate button to proceed.
• Subterfuge rating – a spy's subterfuge rating determines his chances of infiltrating a settlement successfully.
• If a spy infiltrates a settlement, he will begin to spread propaganda, which will damage public order in that settlement.
• If a spy is caught attempting to infiltrate a settlement, it will be considered a transgression. However, if the spy succeeds, the enemy is none the wiser.
• Leaving voluntarily – To move a spy out of a settlement, double-click on the settlement he is in, select the Agents tab in the review panel, then click on your spy on the enemy settlement details scroll. He can be moved out of the settlement as normal.

Using Diplomats

Diplomacy – Active ability
Diplomacy is the act of negotiating with other factions, and is very different to all other agent actions. It is covered in its own section of this manual (see Diplomacy).

• To enter into diplomacy with an army, character or settlement, right-click on it.
• Influence rating – A diplomat's influence rating affects the chances of his proposals being accepted during diplomacy.
• Able to bribe – Diplomats can attempt to bribe foreigners to join their own faction. No other character can do this.
• Only generals, captains, settlements and other diplomats can be approached to enter into diplomacy. Other character types can only be bribed, and some characters, such as princesses, faction leaders and faction heirs, cannot be bribed at all.

Religion

Religion in Medieval II: Total War

Faith played an enormous role in both daily life and politics in medieval times, and this is reflected in the Grand Campaign.

Your main concerns regarding religion are:

• Ensuring your religion is dominant in your regions.
• Ensuring heresy does not get out of hand in your regions.
• Considering how your actions may affect your relationship with other factions of your religion, and with the Pope.

Spreading your Faith

To ensure that your lands are free of religious problems, you will need to invest money in building churches or masjids, and in recruiting priests or imams. Churches and masjids will help spread the faith, meaning that a percentage of the population that follows other religions will convert to your faction's religion. Priests and imams have the same effect in the regions they're in.

• You can check the religious breakdown of the population of a region by looking at its settlement details scroll.
• It can be advantageous to send a priest or imam into a region you plan to conquer if the population there has a different religion from your faction. This is not considered an act of war or a diplomatic transgression.
• A heretic will spread heresy in the regions they enter in the same way that a priest or imam spreads religion.

Excommunication and Reconciliation

The reason that maintaining a healthy relationship with the Pope is so important for Catholic factions is that if he believes a Catholic faction leader is behaving poorly, does not support the faith or is actively opposing him, he may excommunicate their faction.

When the Pope excommunicates a faction, it is only the leader that he is shunning. However, this is no consolation for the people of that faction, who are cut off from the Pope, their spiritual leader. In fact, when a faction leader is excommunicated, his people will be upset with him for allowing problems with the Catholic Church to escalate, rather than annoyed at the Pope for excommunicating them. Reconciliation is when the Pope “forgives” the faction that he has excommunicated, and is the opposite of excommunication.

• Both your population and your generals will be displeased if your faction is excommunicated. It may lead to public order issues and rebelling generals.
• An excommunicated faction will not receive any missions from the Pope.
• A crusade may be called against an excommunicated faction.
• Catholic factions can attack an excommunicated faction without fear of repercussions from the Pope.
• It is possible to request a reconciliation with the Pope during diplomatic negotiations with the Papal States. There is also a chance that the Papal States will offer reconciliation themselves.
• Excommunication is a personal matter between the current Pope and a faction leader. If the faction leader dies, or a new Pope is elected, the new Pope may decide to reconcile with the faction.

The College of Cardinals

The Catholic Church has a council of the highest ranked priests within the faith, called cardinals. These men, of whom there are never more than thirteen, form a collective called the College of Cardinals.

Click on this button at the bottom of the overviews scroll to open the College of Cardinals scroll. This shows who the current cardinals are, and where they are from.

• A Catholic priest must have a sufficiently high piety rating for the Pope to consider promoting him to a cardinal.
• The College of Cardinals does not need to fill all thirteen seats. If there are not enough Catholic priests in the game of sufficient piety, there will be fewer cardinals.
• Cardinals are immune to the effects of heresy, and can never become a heretic character. This makes them extremely useful for removing heretics from the campaign map.
• When the Pope dies, a new Pope will be elected from the College of Cardinals (see below).

Special Religious Agents

There are two sorts of blasphemous characters that wander the campaign map, leaving a trail of strife and spiritual unrest in their wake: heretics and witches. Both encourage the spread of heresy in the region they're in, and each has additional unique effects.

Heretics

A heretic is a man of faith who has adopted a different take on one of the major religions, or has even attempted to start an entirely new religion. He is utterly convinced that what he is doing is correct, but he is also aware that the major religions find his attempts to spread a message of faith other than their own to be blasphemous.

• Heretics may appear suddenly in regions with high heresy.
• Heretics spread heresy in the regions they are in.
• Heretics can be denounced by a priest or imam.
• Heretics have a chance to convert a priest or imam into a heretic if they fail in an attempt to denounce him.

Witches

A witch is a woman believed to have magical powers, granted to her through the practice of foul, blasphemous arts. Once a woman is considered a witch, she is an outcast, forced to wander the map in an effort to escape religious authorities that seek to end her heretical practices.

• Witches may appear suddenly in regions with high heresy.
• Witches spread heresy in the regions they are in.
• Witches move about the campaign map, approaching people of interest.
• Generals approached by a witch may end up being cursed (or at least, believing that they have been…)
• The higher a witch's magic rating, the more likely she is to curse a general.
• Witches can be denounced by a priest or imam.
• A witch may kill a priest if he fails to denounce her.

Requesting Crusades

A crusade is an incredibly serious undertaking, and not something that the Pope will approve lightly. After all, he is asking the able-bodied men of Christendom to travel a great distance and perhaps even to give their lives for the cause. Here are some things to know about requesting a crusade:

• You can request that the Pope call a crusade using the pope overview scroll (see The Pope). You must then select a crusade target settlement before the Pope decides to accept or reject your request.
• The chances of the Pope agreeing to a crusade request are strongly influenced by his relations with the faction that makes the request.
• The greater the percentage of the population that has taken to heresy in a settlement, the more likely it is that the Pope will approve a crusade there.
• The larger the Catholic population in a settlement owned by a non-Catholic faction, the more likely it is that the Pope will approve a crusade there.

Joining or Leaving a Crusade

There are both penalties and benefits for an army on a crusade, and it is important to understand how to join one:

• There is a time limit within which you must decide whether or not to join a crusade.
• All Catholic generals have the option to join a crusade, provided that their faction has not been excommunicated.
• To join a crusade, a general must be outside a settlement and have at least eight units in his army. To make him join, double-click on him to open his army details scroll, then click on the Join the Crusade button at the bottom of the scroll.
• It's possible for a general to abandon the crusade, but doing so will cause his units to begin deserting. This can cause the loss of a huge military force, so be careful!

This crusade marker will appear at the top of a crusading army's banner.

Jihads

A jihad is a Muslim holy war against the enemies of Islam. Jihads have almost identical effects to crusades, but the way in which they are called is very different. Since there is no single spiritual leader in Islam, Islamic faction leaders do not have to seek someone else's approval to call a jihad.

• Any Islamic faction that has an imam with a sufficient piety rating can call a jihad. To do so, click on the Declare a Jihad button at the bottom of the imam’s character information scroll.
• Islamic generals join a jihad in the same way that Catholic generals join a crusade, using the Join the Jihad button on their army details scroll.
• A jihad army experiences exactly the same restrictions and bonuses that a crusading army does.
• Jihads end for exactly the same reasons as crusades, except that there is no equivalent of excommunication.

Diplomacy

Although it might be your destiny to conquer the known world, your faction is but one of many in the Grand Campaign. It's sometimes wiser to deal with other factions in a civilized manner. This is where diplomacy comes in.

Diplomacy in the Grand Campaign is a system of proposals: one faction makes a proposal, and the other faction accepts, refuses or counters it. Choosing to counter is the way to haggle in negotiations.

During diplomacy, you will hear the other party speak to you, and their tone will give you an idea of what they thought of your last proposal. It's possible to insult someone badly enough to damage your relations with their faction, should you be too demanding…

Demeanor – Reading their Reaction

A large part of negotiating is figuring out what the people you're dealing with are thinking, or are prepared to accept. This is where “demeanor” comes in.

When you start diplomacy, the first demeanor reaction you receive from the other party will be a greeting, which will vary according to whether or not you are at war, allied or neutral with them. From that point on, all demeanor reactions you hear and see on the demeanor display are reactions to the last proposal you made.

Proposal Items

The items available to you to add to proposals as offers, demands or private dealings vary. Here are some things to know about special situations and proposals:

• Offering trade rights is an ideal first proposal for neutral factions.
• Only a diplomat can attempt to bribe a settlement, army or character.
• Only a princess can offer herself in a marriage alliance, and she can also be approached personally for one. A marriage alliance is a serious contract, and both parties are expected to honor the deal.
• Military access means granting passage through a faction's lands, without it being considered a hostile action.
• If you are negotiating for Papal election votes, relevant offers and demands will appear here.

Proposal Balance

The “Proposal Balance” displayed at the bottom of the proposal scroll is a very useful tool, which lets you know how generous or demanding your proposal is.

It tells you how balanced the proposal is in and of itself, without considering both parties' unique circumstances. What might normally be generous could be unappealing to the faction you are dealing with for any number of reasons.

Managing your Empire

In the Grand Campaign, you will discover that as your empire becomes larger and more powerful, it will also become more difficult to manage. You will have to deal with increasing numbers of enemies, the prospect of rebellion within your realm, deaths in your ruling family, and much more!

This section of the manual covers running your empire, from knowing where all your forces are to handling your allies and enemies.

The Family Tree Scroll

The family tree scroll shows all the important characters in your faction, including the men who can be generals and governors, as well as your noble daughters who will become princesses.

• Portraits in color are living characters; characters shown in gray are dead.
• The two most important characters are the faction leader and the immediate faction heir.
• All of the larger portraits are characters in your faction that you can currently use in the campaign. Place the mouse cursor over a portrait to see the character's name and abilities displayed at the bottom of the scroll.
• To see a character's location on the campaign map, select one of the larger portraits by clicking on it, then click on the magnifying glass icon.
• The smaller portraits are wives or children who have not yet come of age.

The Faction Rankings Scroll

This scroll lets you see your progress in the game, and compare your strength with that of your rivals. The graph shows your faction's power over time as an absolute value: it does not show the proportion of the world's “power” that you control.

• You can choose which aspect of your faction's power to view: production, territorial, financial, population or overall.
• You can choose which selection of factions to compare: your own, all factions, the top five, neighboring factions or a custom selection.
• You can use the faction symbols to toggle the graph lines on and off for any particular faction. This can be very useful when judging your success in a war.

The Rosters Scroll

The rosters scroll is actually three roster lists in one. You can access the rosters either by clicking on the button at the bottom of the faction overview scroll, or by right-clicking on the tabs at the top of the review panel:

• Military Forces Roster – This roster lists your faction's generals, admirals and captains. It also displays their attributes, their status and location, and how many soldiers they have under their command.
• Settlements Roster – This roster lists your faction's settlements. It shows the level of settlement, population, public order, income, governor (if any) and icons that indicate when construction or recruitment is taking place.
• Agents Roster – This roster lists your faction's agents. It also shows their attributes, their character types, and where they are located.

How to Make Money

There are several ways to make money for your faction in the Grand Campaign. It's important to remember that doing some of these things may have other repercussions.

These are some of the basic ways to improve the amount of money your faction is generating:

• Establish trade rights – Send your diplomats and princesses out to establish trade rights with everyone you can.
• Increase your tax rates – Ensure you're not going to send your settlements into a state of riot and unrest by doing so.
• Construct buildings that improve trade income – Constructing trade buildings may cost money, but they pay for themselves over time and make your settlements more profitable in the long run.
• Disband surplus units – Most troops have an upkeep cost each turn. If you are keeping units you will never put into action, disbanding them will help cut down your military expenditure.
• Ransom prisoners – When you fight battles, attempt to capture lots of prisoners, then ransom them back to the enemy.
• Use merchants – You can earn considerable money by placing merchants on valuable trade resources.

Battles in Medieval II: Total War

How Battles work in Total War

Total War battles are realistic, large-scale conflicts. Unlike many real-time strategy games, where you can continually recruit troops during battle and use sheer numbers to overwhelm your opponent, battles in Medieval II: Total War require you to master the same field and siege tactics as commanders of the period would have.

As a commander, your duties include:

• Making sure your units are organized and positioned strategically.
• Looking for parts of the terrain where you can use one unit to hold back many enemies, or where you can defend the high ground and fire down on your enemies.
• Choosing the right units to do the job. You don't want to send cavalry charging into a row of spears, for example.
• Paying attention to what the enemy is doing, and moving to counter his plans.
• Looking for opportunities to outnumber and outflank enemy units.
• Ensuring that you don't let your men become exhausted or lose morale. Your men are no good to you if they are spent, or running for their lives!
• Using your generals to rally troops and influence the battle.

How to Win Battles

To win a battle, you normally need to drive the enemy from the battlefield.

• This may involve killing many enemy troops, but a crisis of morale (following the death of a general, for example) will make the enemy flee the battle.
• Battles have time limits. If you haven't defeated the enemy when the time runs out, you lose the battle.
• When you are defending, the time limit works in your favor. Remain on the field until the time runs out and the attacker is automatically defeated.
• To win a siege battle, the attacker must capture the central square or plaza in the settlement before the time runs out.
• During a battle, you can press the F1 key to view information about the battle, including the victory conditions.

Deploying your Units for Battle

At the start of a battle, you may be given a chance to deploy your troops. The rules of deployment work as follows:

• When you are attacking, your army always deploys on a section of the battlefield that matches the line of its approach: march into battle from the north, and that's where your forces will deploy. Siege battles are an exception: you always approach from the side of the settlement that has a gate.
• When defending, your forces deploy on an area of the battlefield opposite the attacking army.
• Units must be positioned within the boundaries of your deployment zone. This is the area on the map bordered by your faction's color.
• If you are ambushed, you will not be given the opportunity to manually deploy your units.
• Reinforcements always appear on the edge of the battlefield that matches their position on the campaign map. It can therefore be very worthwhile to position supporting armies on the campaign map on the flanks or at the rear of an enemy position before you attack.

The Battle View and HUD

What you see on screen during a battle can be divided into four main sections:

• The Battlefield View – This is the actual display of the battlefield. Many controls in battle involve clicking on the men and terrain.
• The Battle Mini-map – On the left-hand side of the screen, you'll see the mini-map and game speed controls.
• The Battle Review Panel – In the center of the screen, you'll see the unit cards, each of which represents one of your units on the battlefield.
• The Battle Control Panel – On the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see the controls for individual units, groups of units and the army as a whole.

The Battle Control Panel

There are two sets of buttons on the battle control panel: unit controls and group controls.

Unit Controls

1. Click here to cancel the current orders being carried out by the selected unit(s). Alternatively, press the Backspace (←) key.

2. Click here to make the selected unit(s) withdraw from battle. The units will retreat into the out-of-bounds area of the map. A unit that is given orders to withdraw can be stopped and recalled to the fight at any point until it leaves play.

3. Click here to switch the unit formation between “tight” and “loose”. This alters the spacing between men within the selected unit(s).

4. Click here when a unit is selected to switch its movement speed between walking and running. A unit that runs will tire more quickly than one that marches at a steady pace.

5. Click here to set the selected unit(s) to guard mode. When a unit is in guard mode, it will hold position and formation at all costs, and let the enemy come to it. A unit on guard will not pursue fleeing enemies. This can be useful for holding an important location (such as a gateway).

6. Click here to switch skirmish mode on and off. When a missile unit is in skirmish mode, it will try to keep a safe distance between itself and the enemy (usually the range of its missile weapons). If a unit cannot skirmish, this button will be grayed out and cannot be selected.

7. Click here to switch “fire at will” mode on or off. When a missile unit is in “fire at will” mode, it will fire at any nearby targets without being specifically ordered to do so. When a unit without missile weapons is selected, this button will be grayed out and cannot be selected.

8. These buttons are reserved for a variety of special abilities, depending on the type of unit currently selected. See Using Special Abilities.

9. This displays the number of prisoners you have captured during the battle.

States and Effects on Units in Battle

The unit cards in the control panel also let you monitor what your units are doing without having to dash to each one in turn. Each unit card has symbols superimposed on it that give you a shorthand notification of what is happening to the unit:

• When a unit takes casualties the number of men in the unit shown on the unit card will turn red.
• A single arrowhead at the top of the card means that the unit is moving at a steady march towards its ordered destination.
• A double arrowhead at the top of the card means that the unit is running towards its ordered destination, or is charging an enemy unit and is yet to make contact.
• Crossed swords mean that the unit is engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
• A bow-and-arrow symbol means that the unit is firing (this symbol is used even if the unit is using ammo other than arrows).
• Arrows mean that the unit is under fire. It may be wise to move the unit out of range or order it to counter-attack!
• An arrow-and-tree symbol shows that the unit is currently hiding and enemy forces may not be able to spot it.
• A white flag symbol means that the unit has suffered a crisis of morale and is now routing (running from the enemy). The unit banner on the battlefield also becomes white. It may be possible for a general to rally troops that are routing.

It's possible for more than one of these symbols to apply at any one time. If this is the case, the symbols that apply are displayed in turn.

The Battle Cameras

The default battlefield camera in Medieval II: Total War is an RTS-style camera, which can be controlled using mouse or keyboard controls (there is also second mode which is explained below):

• Moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen moves the camera. The cursor will change shape to show that the view is being moved. The view will move in the same direction as the side of the screen the mouse pointer was moved to.
• The mouse wheel changes the camera height. The camera automatically pitches (tilts) downwards as its height is raised above the battlefield.
• The R and F keys also change the camera height.
• Clicking the Middle Mouse button zooms the camera to look at the unit nearest the mouse pointer while the button is held down. When the button is released, the camera moves back to its previous position.
• The W/A/S/D keys move the camera left, right, forward and backward without changing the viewing angle.
• The numpad also changes the camera view. Check the key settings by pressing the F1 key during battle to view the camera controls.
• Double-click on a unit card to make the camera move to a position directly behind that unit. Pressing the End (↘) key (or Fn + ▶) has the same effect.

Pressing the Delete (⌦) key (or Fn + Backspace) enables the second camera mode, which locks the view onto the selected unit(s). This will be familiar to players of earlier Total War titles. Virtually all camera controls are the same, with one important exception:

• The Left and Right Arrow keys on the keyboard pan the camera (rotate it on its vertical axis) without changing its position.

Factors that reduce morale
Morale will naturally fall over the course of the battle as units take casualties and become tired. There are also specific circumstances that directly reduce morale, including:

• Losing your general.
• Being engaged in a losing melee battle.
• Being outnumbered.
• Coming under fire from artillery, guns and flaming ammo.
• Nearby allies fleeing: if you're unlucky, routing can become a chain reaction.
• Threats from enemies at the rear or flanks.
• Frightening foes such as elephant cavalry and savage natives that practice live sacrifices, etc.
• Being hit by a nauseous gas cloud from a cow carcass.

Factors that increase morale
The best ways to bolster morale are:

• Being engaged in a winning melee battle.
• Outnumbering the enemy.
• Keeping your forces concentrated so that units can support each other.
• Keeping your general near the action.
• Using your general's “Rally” ability.
• Positioning high-morale units at the end of your line, as this is the most exposed position.

Giving Orders - Moving and Attacking

Medieval II: Total War uses the same basic controls for both moving and attacking: click to select, and right-click on the battlefield to set a destination or target.

• To select a unit, click on it on the battlefield or click on its unit card in the review panel.
• To order the selected units to move somewhere, right-click on a point on the ground.
• To order the selected units to attack an enemy unit, right-click on it. Note that the mouse pointer will change based on the unit you have selected, and the way it will attack.
• You can review movement orders for all units by holding down the Space bar. Colored highlights will appear showing all unit destinations for as long as the Space bar is held down.
• If you have a missile unit selected, the mouse pointer will turn green when placed over a target that is in range. The cursor will turn red if the target is out of range.

Groups

When you have selected multiple units, you can add them to a group by clicking on the Group button on the control panel. When you do this, you'll see that the unit cards rearrange themselves on the review panel, with a border around them and a convenient tab that you can use to select the group in future. There are a number of benefits to grouping your units:

• You can create a group with a specific number by selecting the units you wish to group, then holding down Command (⌘) key and pressing the number you want to assign to the group. Alternatively, press the G key to group the currently selected units.
• It's easy to select a group again by clicking on its tab on the review panel. You can also select the group by pressing the number key that corresponds to the number on the group tab.
• To remove a unit from a group, select the unit, then click on the Group button again.
• To split a group in two, select the units you wish to move into a new group, click on the Group button to remove them from the group, then click it again to form them into a new group.
• To add units to a group, you must reform it. Select the existing group, then hold down the Command (⌘) key and select the units or groups that you wish to add. Click on the Group button or hold down the Command (⌘) key and press a number key to form a new group with all these units.
• When grouped units move, they all move at the same speed, and attempt to maintain their formation.
• The group remembers the formation it was in when formed, making it easy to reform again if the units have been dispersed.
• Groups can be given a preset formation, making it easy to organize your units.
• If you order a group to attack an enemy unit, the units in the group will intelligently assign themselves to attack surrounding enemy units too. A common situation that occurs in the game is when two lines face off against each other. If you group the units in your line, then right-click on the unit in the center of the enemy line, all your units will intelligently match off with the enemy unit facing them.
• The group may be placed under “AI assistance”.

Once you've formed units into a group, you can still give orders to individual units within it, if you temporarily need them to do something different. Units always obey the last order that they've been given, so if you issue an order to the group, it will override any orders you've given to individual units.

Using Special Abilities

Some units have special abilities that you can call on in battle, ranging from attacks, to unique formations, to special actions such as rallying your allies.

• Rally troops – This ability is unique to generals and gives a temporary morale boost to all nearby friendly units. This may stop wavering units from breaking, or encourage routing units to rally.
• Sharpened stakes – This ability allows missile units to place a row of heavy wooden stakes in front of their current position. It can only be used during deployment. This forms a defensive wall that is ideal for deterring cavalry charges.
• Spear wall formation – This ability allows a spear-wielding unit to form a deadly wall of spears that makes it extremely difficult to attack from the front. While in this formation, the unit moves slowly and cannot run.
• Fire flaming ammo – This ability allows units with missile weapons to set fire to their ammo. This decreases the unit's accuracy, but adds extra fire damage to shots that connect.
• Fire exploding ammo – This ability lets the unit use exploding shot. These advanced munitions detonate on impact, creating a deadly hail of shrapnel that will kill most troops caught in the blast.
• Barrage fire – This ability allows gunpowder artillery to fire many individual shots in a single attack.
• Rotting cow carcass – This ability loads a decaying bovine carcass into a trebuchet, which will create a cloud of nauseous gas on impact. Units affected by the gas suffer a morale penalty.
• Circle and shoot – Causes missile cavalry units to ride in a circle as they attack the enemy, making their shots slightly less accurate, but making the cavalry much more difficult to hit.
• Wedge formation – This ability allows a cavalry unit to form into a narrow wedge that is ideally suited to moving through enemy lines, rather than stopping to engage.
• Schiltrom formation – This ability allows a spear- or pike-wielding unit to assume a circular formation, with all troops facing outwards. This is a useful defensive formation when outnumbered or surrounded.

Sieges and Siege Battles

Sieges occur when an army assaults a settlement or fort. They are similar to field battles, but have one important difference: one side is behind a set of defenses. All the normal rules of the battlefield apply to sieges and orders for attacks and movement are issued in the normal fashion.

There are, however, extra conditions that apply during sieges, and new weapons and tactics for both the attacker and defender to consider.

Launching a Siege

When you attack a settlement with an army, you are launching a siege. You will see a special siege details scroll, that includes options not present in field battles:

1. Any defenses including walls or improved towers will be displayed here.
2. The number of turns for which the settlement can hold out before the threat of starvation forces them to surrender is shown below the defenses.
3. Click on this button to order your army to withdraw, calling off the siege.
4. Click on this button to launch your attack with the forces and equipment you currently have.
5. Click on this button to order your army to maintain the siege. This allows you to build more siege equipment, wait for reinforcements, or even attempt to starve out the defenders so that they will surrender.
6. Click on these buttons to begin building the siege equipment shown on them: ladders, battering rams and siege towers. Items you select will appear in the construction queue below, and points will be deducted from the army's total build points.

Using Siege Equipment and Artillery

There are two basic types of machines employed in siege battles: artillery units capable of attacking walls and structures, and actual siege equipment.

Artillery can target walls, defenses and buildings like any other unit in battle. However, siege equipment works differently and varies depending on the equipment being used:

• A unit equipped with a ram can attack gateways or wooden walls. The cursor will change when held over a suitable target for the ram. The ram provides a limited amount of protection from missile fire to the men using it.
• A unit equipped with ladders can be sent to scale a suitable stretch of wall (not a tower). The mouse pointer will change when held over a length of wall that can be assaulted. The unit will march towards the walls, raise their ladders and then climb onto the top of the walls. After climbing up, they will have to fight any defenders on the walls.
• A unit equipped with a siege tower can be sent to assault a suitable wall (not a tower). The mouse pointer will change when held over a wall that can be assaulted. The unit will push the siege tower towards the wall, bring it to a halt next to the wall, and then clamber up it before launching an assault directly over the battlements. After climbing up, they will have to fight any defenders on the walls.

Click on this button in the control panel to enable or disable flaming missiles. Flaming missiles can set buildings on fire, which usually destroys them completely.

Historical Battles

Historical battles in Medieval II: Total War are recreations of real battles from history. These battles are special scenarios in which you play as one of the sides of a famous battle and must master the situation at hand. History has shown us a winning tactic in these scenarios: apply the same tactics yourself and you should prove victorious!

To play a single-player historical battle, select Historical Battle from the Single Player menu to see a list of the battles you can play.

Winning a Historical Battle

The rules of historical battles are only slightly different from those of any other field battle or siege:

• The deployment is always pre-determined. Part of the challenge of these battles is winning despite a poor starting position.
• Reinforcements may arrive in an unfamiliar manner, so keep an eye out for them. They may be close, but well hidden.

Custom Battles

Custom battles allow you to set up a battle to your own specification.

To play a custom battle, select Single Player from the Main Menu, then select Custom Battle. There are three things that you must set before you can begin your custom battle: the conditions, the teams and the armies.

Customize Battle Screen

This is the screen where you set up the teams for the battle. You can include up to eight factions and four teams in one battle using the controls on screen:

• Team details are shown on the left-hand side. Apart from seeing which player is in which team, you can also adjust the amount of florins each team can spend on units, and decide whether a team is playing as the attacker or the defender.
• Player details are shown in the center of the screen. You can select a player by clicking on their faction shield or player name. You can then select a faction for that player by clicking on a faction shield in the Factions area on the right-hand side of the screen.

• You can upgrade some units in an army. This costs money for every improvement that you make. Not all units can be upgraded.
• Click on a unit in the army to select it – not a right-click, this removes the unit from the army!
• To change a unit's experience rating, click on the arrowheads next to the chevrons. The more chevrons, the greater the unit's experience. A gray chevron indicates no experience.
• To upgrade a unit's weapons, click on the arrowheads next to the sword. Not all units can have their weapons upgraded.
• To upgrade a unit's armor, click on the arrowheads next to the shield. A gray shield indicates standard armor, while bronze, silver and gold indicate successive levels of increased quality. Not all units can have their armor upgraded.
• In siege battles, you can give siege equipment to the attacking army: click on the arrowheads below each of the siege equipment icons to add items to the attacking army's equipment.
• Siege equipment has no cost at all: they are useless without units.

Click on this button to clear the units in an army and start again.

Click on this button to let the computer select an army for you. It will do its best to spend your budget as efficiently as possible and create a flexible fighting force. You can then make adjustments to the computer's suggested force.

Multiplayer Battles

Multiplayer games allow you to battle against other people, either online or across a Local Area Network (LAN). You can create multiplayer custom battles, or fight one of the pre-defined balanced multiplayer battles or historical battles included in Medieval II: Total War.

For full details on how to host or join multiplayer battles, see How do I play a multiplayer custom battle on Steam? in the FAQs.

Technical Support

Every effort has been made to make Medieval II: Total War as compatible with current hardware as possible. However, if you are experiencing problems when running Medieval II: Total War, please read on.

The latest version of the FAQs can be found by selecting the FAQs button in the Support tab of the Medieval II: Total War pre-game Options window (this is the window that opens when you launch the game), or by going straight to the Feral website: http://support.feralinteractive.com

Contacting Feral

If the FAQs and/or updates do not solve your problem, then please feel free to contact us. The following information must be obtained before contacting Feral Technical Support:

• The error message displayed when the problem occurred (if any).
• A Medieval II Total War Report.txt file. This contains:
  • An Apple System Report of your Mac
  • Any crash logs that exist for Medieval II: Total War
  • A list of the game's contents

All the information required can be obtained by opening Medieval II: Total War and clicking on the Support tab in the Medieval II: Total War pre-game Options window. In the Support tab, click on the Generate Report button. Once the report is generated it will appear as a file in your ~/Downloads folder (the “~” symbol refers to your home directory). Now click on the Create Email button. Remember to attach the Medieval II Total War Report.txt file to your email.

In your email, please include a brief description of the problem you have experienced with Medieval II: Total War.

email: support@feralinteractive.com

Warranty

Please check the warranty information provided by Steam.

Adverts

Other Total War Games you might enjoy…

Total War: SHOGUN 2

The supreme art of war.

Find out more…

Napoleon: Total War - Gold Edition

Take command. Surpass the legend.

Find out more…

Empire: Total War - Gold Edition

Command the seas. Conquer the land. Build an empire.

Find out more…

Rome: Total War - Gold Edition

Welcome to Rome - welcome to war.

Find out more…