Medieval II: Total War has been out for
a few months now, and I thought it’d be interesting to pick the brains of the
talented folks behind the game at The Creative Assembly and SEGA.  You’ve played the game, discovered your
favourite faction and have your own battle strategy.  Now lets find out theirs (and indeed mine)…

Before we get started, how about a
little introduction?  Could you please
tell us your job titles, and how long you have worked at The Creative Assembly
/ SEGA?

The Creative Assembly UK:

Mark O’Connell: I am the Online Marketing Manager
at The Creative Assembly, and started working here in September 2006.

Peter Brophy: 
I’m Peter Brophy, Marketing Artist at The Creative-Assembly.  I’ve been at CA for a whopping three years.

Graham Axford: 
QA Manager. 6 years approx. My first project was the Shogun Expansion
pack.

James Buckle: James Buckle, Senior Tester. I’ve
been here since Mongol Invasion, a little over six years.

SEGA UK:

Alex Friend: My name is Alex Friend and I am the
Online Community Manager for SEGA’s core titles, including Total War. I have
been at SEGA for two and half years now.

The Creative Assembly Australia

Mathew
Ray:  Matthew Ray, I work as
a QA tester at the Creative Assembly in Brisbane.  I have worked at the office for around 6
months.

John Carline: John Carline, Senior Artist I’ve
worked at Creative Assembly for over 4 1/2 years, originally at the UK studio
and came to Australian studio to work on Medieval 2.

Dan Toose: Designer. Been at CAOZ for almost two
years.

 

What is your favourite faction and why?

Mark O’Connell: My favourite faction is
England.  Patriotism aside, the English
are in a relatively safe starting position, with the only initial threats
coming from Scotland and France.  By the
time I have conquered France, my army is usually powerful enough to hold their
own against any invading forces from Northern Europe, as I continue to expand
my empire to the south and east.

Peter Brophy: I think it has to be the Spanish -
right from the start you’re in conflict with the Moors, so it gets really
interesting, really fast.  There’s plenty
of room to expand into north Africa without angering the pope by attacking
fellow Christian factions.  Also, the
Spanish cavalry looks really cool. 
Looking cool on the battlefield counts for a lot, in my opinion.

Graham Axford: Spain, simply because I like the
starting position. I like to seal Spain off, build large cities and then spread
out.

James
Buckle: I like the Byzantines. They’re sat between the Catholics
and the Muslims, giving you plenty of people to wage war with and you don’t
have the pesky Pope looking to rein you in when your rampaging half way across
Europe. They also have some brutal cavalry - the Kataphractoi are tanks with
legs and the Vardaroitai can do damage from range or mix it up hand-to-hand and
come out on top. But they also have some tough infantry to give you
well-balanced armies, the Varangian guard are absolute nails.

Alex Friend: This may be a little predictable, but
I will have to say England. I am a big fan of the cavalry charge and seeing a
large amount of skilled archers letting loose a barrage of flaming arrows into
the night sky is quite a sight.

Mathew Ray: 
My favourite faction is Sicily, they have it all, some of the best heavy
infantry/cavalry in the Norman knights, their position at the toe of Italy is
pretty secure with the Pope to the north, especially if you take out bologna
and gift it to the pope early.  Plus easy
expansion to Muslim areas and easy to get your Cardinal elected Pope as the
more time they spend converting your newly conquered lands the better they
become.

John Carline: Favorite faction is France. They have
a reasonably strong starting position on the campaign and great cavalry units
available on the battlefield. Unfortunately being English, I occasionally feel
like a dirty traitor and have to switch to the English now and again.

Dan Toose: I thought it would be the French,
because I enjoy going up against the English, but it’s turned out to be the
HRE. I like having infantry with two-handed swords and maces, and the German
faction offers that.
  

When developing your settlements, do you prefer castles or
cities?

Mark O’Connell: Castles are essential when
expanding your boarders, as they will be the first line of attack for any
invading forces.  Once they are safer
within the confines of other castles, I convert them into cities to maximise
growth and maintain a healthy economy.

Peter Brophy: 
Castles!  My campaign strategy is
to pump out as many units as possible as fast as possible and overwhelm the
opposition.   My empire always seems to
collapse after a while though.  Perhaps I
should try a more balanced approach…?

Graham Axford: I like to manage with just cities
and have a few castles on the frontline, then convert them to cities when they
remain under my control.

James Buckle: You need a balance of both. I have
cities in the centre of my empire where they are safe, generating lots of trade
and churning out bucket loads of coin. Then along the frontline I have castles,
they can train new units and send them straight into the fight without having
to march across five provinces.

Alex Friend: Difficult one this. I can’t choose
between the two as they are equally important. I would have to say I like to
have castles at the edge of my Empire. Invariably this is where I mount
campaigns for my expansion plans and where I am most likely to be attacked by
my enemies. For these reasons, having the best units and best defence on the
edge of my empire makes sense. Cities I like to keep safely in the interior to
improve wealth. As my empire expands I try as much as possible to convert
castles back to cities and build new one’s on my expanded borders.

Mathew Ray: 
I prefer cities, that’s how I make my money and my militia units with a
few armour upgrades and stiffened by a bit of professional soldiery, are quite
hard to beat.  Also, the cities in the
latter part of the game produce the gunpowder units that you will need to
survive, especially against the Mongols.

John Carline: I tend to go with cities, hoping to
get rich quick and smash my opponents before they have chance to build up a
large force……this doesn’t always work.

Dan Toose: Castles, but I seem to always have more
cities in my empire. All great empires need cash!

Stay tuned for the second part of our
exclusive Medieval II Q and A, where we will discuss favourite battlefield
strategies, unit types, and revealing our personal tips for success!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell

(aka SenseiTW)