Eras Total Conquest: Mod Review

Here is a little gem of a mod I stumbled upon some time back for Medieval 2 that for what it provides, gains very little recognition... The mod lets you play M2 in varying eras from 1080 to 1500,  with different factions being present, more of the world map uncovered, etc. Here is a few examples of some of the campaign eras you can choose from and how that affects the playable area on the world map and the factions you can choose:

1080 Age















Crusades Age

But the amazing thing about this mod, that part that boggles my mind that people aren't going crazy with praise, is some genius actually managed to implement a whole world map. Even Empires couldn't do it and had to break up their maps into theaters, but this mod includes the whole world map in one theater with no long loading times or lag whatsoever. (at least not more than vanilla)

1500: Empires Age


This is the whole world campaign. The limitations for the modders were 30 factions total, but thats really not a bad thing and doesn't mean tracks of empty land, because the mod adds tons of rebel cities into the world. So for example, you can't play as many of the South African tribes or the smaller South East Asian tribes, but the mod adds in their cities (unbelievably with unique units for 'rebel nation' btw) but they are all part of the rebel faction. But who cares I say, because there are still 30 awesome nations to play as.

The mod even adds in completely new factions that were not included in MTW2 such as Ming China, Japan and much more, each with unique units (there are actual Samurai and Yari!! So cool!!!) along with custom strat models (the pieces you see on the map) and artwork.

As if all this wasn't enough, the mod has added tons of tweaks to the game. Merchants trade is now much much more lucrative and more worthwhile having them. Assassins are way better at success now too. Also, they added a feature for civil wars. If your king dies, your new leader must go to the Royal Court (capital) for coronation, lest some nobility (generals, etc) may refuse to acknowledge him as king and rebel. Other stuff like generals who have never met the king (been in the same city for a couple of turns) begin to drift away and lose loyalty and alos things like distance from the capital impacts loyalty too. You really gotta keep an eye on your generals now but I love it cause it gives them a personality. If a generals loyalty is slipping, you can send him back to the capital to see the king for a trial and hearing and a loyalty 'top up'.

Ok, so now the cons: On the forums, many people complain about CTDs for various reasons. I have suffered from only two types of CTD. The first is if you get in a battle with more than 2 armies. (ie there are reinforcements from a third nation) I believe this CTD is cause because there are too many unique troops on the battlefield. The other CTD has been fighting on the battlefield in certain regions (mostly Mongolia) causes a CTD. basically if I encounter either of these, I just autoresolve battle. A small price to pay for such an amazing modding effort. I've never CTD'd on a city siege.

My sincerest kudos to the developers of this mod for their hard work. You can check out their forum here: Total War Center I hope everyone gets to try this one out, so dig out M2TW and get playing! Let me know what you all think.