As the name suggests, this is an update of two halves, and we’re going to dig into the Hotseat side of things today, with a deep dive into the Halberds part to follow tomorrow.
Just What is a Hotseat Exactly?!
Those of you with fond memories of gathering around unwieldy CRT monitors will be no strangers to the term. To those people, we say: “How’s your back doing?”
For those born too late to have experienced those halcyon days, we say: “Hotseat Mode” is an asynchronous form of multiplayer where each player takes their turn, then passes the device (or, in the olden days, gives up the hot seat) to allow the next player to take theirs.
This mode was included when Total War: MEDIEVAL II — Kingdoms was first released on desktop, and we’re stoked to announce its return for mobile — with a host of modernisations!
Hotseat Modes
The original Hotseat mode was playable exclusively in the Kingdoms expansion, and played pretty much the same as a single-player campaign, only with multiple human-controlled factions. Each player vies to be the first to complete their faction-specific victory conditions.
This mode returns in the Hotseats & Halberds Update, but owners of the Kingdoms DLC can now play the base game’s Grand Campaign in Hotseat mode too!
In addition, two alternative Hotseat modes are available for the first time on mobile:
Jolly Cooperation
In Co-op Mode, the victory conditions for all player factions are combined, the territory of all players pooled, and everyone wins together once these conditions are met. Isn’t that lovely?
While the victory conditions don’t incentivise it, there’s nothing to stop players from duking it out in co-op mode. Never let your guard down, especially where your lands border those of your most devious pals!
Know What They Call a Big Fight in Medieval Europe?
A Battle Royale — and that’s exactly what we call our third Hotseat Mode, too.
Because you don’t always want to beat your buddies to a pulp, we’ve created a ruleset that challenges your statecraft as well as your military prowess. Here, all player-factions start with ten Battle Royale Points, and all non-rebel, AI-controlled factions begin with five.
Every five turns, one point is awarded for topping the table in each of the following metrics:
- Most territory
- Highest population
- Most powerful military
- Richest faction
- Highest production
- Overall ranking
- In the Grand Campaign, one point will also be awarded to the faction which controls Jerusalem
- A further point will be awarded to every faction that shares a religion with the faction that controls Jerusalem
That’s not to say that you can’t use a well-timed spot of violence to tip the scales. After all, this is Total War. And with that in mind, whenever a faction captures a territory from a non-rebel faction, they steal a point from the other’s total. Whenever a faction eliminates another faction entirely, they receive all of that faction’s points!
There are two ways to win a Battle Royale campaign:
- Being the faction with the highest point total by a certain turn (customisable at campaign start)
- Being the last faction (or one of a pre-defined number of factions) standing
But it’s not a true Battle Royale without an ever-increasing threat to amp up the momentum and inject a bit of peril into proceedings. In MEDIEVAL II’s Battle Royale that translates to Auto Elimination:
If a certain number of turns pass (configurable during campaign setup) without a faction being eliminated, the faction with the lowest population will be unceremoniously erased from history, and their meagre holdings returned to Rebel hands.
Whether player-controlled or AI — no one is safe from this Dark Age Sword of Damocles. Well, apart from the Rebel faction and the Pope, naturally.
During playtesting, we found that Battle Royale Mode set the stage for a faster paced game, with alliances rising and falling, and brutal acts of cunning being the order of the day.
Have It Your Way
We’ve also included an alternative balance mode to facilitate Hotseat play and allow for faster campaigns. The full list of tweaks is too long to print in full here (check out the detailed Changelog on release day for that), but expect things like Diplomats with vastly increased movement ranges, cheaper and faster construction, and accelerated calendar events such as the discovery of gunpowder and the Mongol invasion.
Until Next Time
That about covers it for the Hotseat section of this update. Keep an eye out for the Halberd deep dive which will be swinging your way on Wednesday.
Until then, let us know what you think of the return of multiplayer to Total War: MEDIEVAL II for iOS & Android over on social:
As the name suggests, this is an update of two halves. Yesterday we took an in-depth look at the new Hotseat Multiplayer mode, so if you missed that, be sure to check it out before continuing. Don’t worry, we’ll wait…
All caught up? Good, because today we’re grabbing the Halberd with both hands.
Finely Balanced
‘Halberds’ is a catch-all term for a comprehensive balance pass on many late-era units that underperform in battle. The intent is to address some historical player frustrations while allowing for more varied army compositions, and to make the game’s clashes more dynamic and memorable.
We’ll cover the greatest hits in detail shortly, but first, here’s a big ol’ table showing what units have been buffed by the Halberds update. We all love a big table, right?
| Faction |
Major Beneficiaries |
Minor Beneficiaries |
| The Aztecs |
|
Eagle Warriors |
| The Byzantine Empire |
|
Alamanoi (Kingdoms only), Varangian Guard |
| Denmark |
Arquebusiers, Obudshaer, Ribault, Sword Staff Militia |
Hand Gunners, Norse Axemen |
| Egypt |
ME Halberd Militia, Sudanese Gunners |
Tabardariyya |
| England |
Arquebusiers, D. English Knights, Ribault |
Billmen, Bill Militia, Heavy Billmen, Heavy Bill Militia |
| France |
Arquebusiers, D. Noble Knights, Gendarmes, Lancers, Pikemen, Pike Militia, Voulge Militia, Voulgier |
|
| The Holy Roman Empire |
Arquebusiers, D. Gothic Knights, D. Imperial Knights, Forlorn Hope, Gothic Knights, Halberd Militia, Pike Militia, Zweihanders |
Hand Gunners |
| Hungary |
Arquebusiers, Halberd Militia, Transylvanian Peasants |
Croat Axemen |
| Milan |
Arquebusiers, Monster Ribault, Musketeers, Pike Militia, Ribault |
Hand Gunners |
| Mongols |
|
| The Moors |
Sudanese Gunners |
ME Hand Gunners |
| The Papal States |
Arquebusiers, Halberd Militia, Pike Militia, Ribault, Swiss Guard |
Hand Gunners |
| Poland |
Arquebusiers, Halberd Militia |
Hand Gunners, Woodsmen |
| Portugal |
Aventuros, D. Portuguese Knights, Musketeers, Pike Militia, Portuguese Arquebusiers, Ribault |
Hand Gunners |
| Russia |
Arquebusiers, Cossack Musketeers |
Berdiche Axemen, Woodsmen |
| Scotland |
Heavy Pike Militia, Highland Nobles, Highland Pikemen, Noble Pikemen, Ribault, Scots Pike Militia |
|
| Sicily |
Arquebusiers, Halberd Militia, Pike Militia, Ribault |
Hand Gunners |
| Spain |
Arquebusiers, Gendarmes, Musketeers, Pike Militia, Ribault, Tercio Pikemen |
Hand Gunners |
| The Timurids |
ME Halberd Militia |
ME Hand Gunners |
| The Turks |
Janissary Heavy Infantry, Janissary Musketeers, ME Halberd Militia |
ME Hand Gunners |
| Venice |
Arquebusiers, Monster Ribault, Musketeers, Pike Militia, Ribault |
Hand Gunners |
| Mercenaries & Rebels |
Flemish Pikemen, Landsknecht Pikemen, M. Arquebusiers, M. Ribault, M. Monster Ribault, Swiss Pikemen |
Free Company Men-at-Arms, Galloglaich, Mutatawwi’a, Religious Fanatics |
| Kingdoms-only Factions |
| Antioch |
|
Edessan Guard, Canons of the Holy Sepulchre |
| Ireland |
|
Galloglaich, Ulster Swordsmen |
| Jerusalem |
|
Pisan & Genoese Sailors |
| Lithuania |
|
Giltine’s Chosen, Samogitian Axemen |
| Norway |
|
Gotland Footmen, Sami Axemen |
| Saxons |
|
English Huscarls, King Harold, Saxon Bodyguard |
| Teutonic Order |
Burgher Pikemen |
Clergymen |
| Wales |
|
Rhyfelwyr |
We’re not just talking about straight stat tweaking either (though there’s a fair bit of that going on too). One of the more significant and oft-requested changes in the Halberds update adds a new condition to a certain unit class…
Hold the Line (woah woah woah)
One of the most iconic features of the medieval battlefield was a bristling wall of pikes, presented as a near-impenetrable barrier to oncoming forces. However, MEDIEVAL II’s pike lads had a nasty habit of dropping their spears at first contact with the enemy, only to pull out their short swords and get chopped up by their better-armed opponents in fairly short order.
That’s where the new Cohesion mechanic comes in. To model the ability of pike-wielding units to stick together, watch each other’s backs and fight as a group, they each have a base Cohesion stat and a threshold at which their Cohesion breaks down. Different tiers and experience levels of pike units have different Cohesion thresholds to reflect their level of discipline.
Simply put, as long as their Cohesion is above a certain threshold, pikemen will much more reliably use their long polearms to keep the enemy at bay, presenting as the staunch and deadly front line they were born to be.
Taking casualties, being flanked and being attacked from behind will reduce the Cohesion of the unit considerably, and, should it drop below the threshold, the discipline of the unit will fail. Expect to see swords being drawn once more, the pike wall faltering, failing, and a rout ensuing.
That about covers the basics of Cohesion, but there are a few other factors at play which modify these values. For example, being in Guard Mode will significantly raise the threshold, while fighting in the forest will lower it.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Pike, Zweihander
“But what am I to do in the face of this unbreakable defensive force?” we hear you cry. One answer is to call in the units who historically specialised in smashing through pike walls with oversized weaponry of their own — units we’ve given the new “Cohesion Disruption” ability.
Two related unit types come under this heading: those armed with Daneaxes (or similar two-handed swinging weapons such as clubs) and those armed with Zweihanders (two-handed swords).
Units with the Cohesion Disruption attribute reduce the cohesion of every Pikemen unit they’re in melee with, on top of any other penalties they might impose (e.g. from flanking).
To model the sundering swings of elite two-handed swordsmen, many Zweihander units have also been given the Armour Piercing ability and had their own defence and armour stats buffed to boot.
Okay, But What About Halberds?!
At this point in the blog, that’s a fair question. This is another subset of units which haven’t quite found their place in the cut and thrust of MEDIEVAL II’s battlefield — getting flattened by all manner of swordsmen, and even struggling to hold their own against basic spearmen in some circumstances.
We envisage their niche as being a late-era alternative to spearmen — as effective against melee cavalry, but more able to go toe-to-toe with armoured infantry when required. To this end, several statistical improvements have been made across the halberd and halberd-like units (billhook fans rejoice).
They have also gained a more powerful version of the spearman’s ‘bracing’ ability which makes them resist cavalry charges very effectively while stationary, and a couple of cheeky bugs have been squashed which should make them more nimble on the battlefield.
Keep Your Powder Dry
There’s also good news for those of you who think bringing a gun to a knife fight is just good tactics.
Arquebusiers and Musketeers have had their Fire By Rank behaviour tweaked and streamlined, meaning they’ll no longer reposition the whole unit to face targets in their line of sight before firing. Additionally, when deployed in thin, two-rank formations, they’ll no longer counter-march (walk to the back of the unit while reloading). Instead, the front line will simply duck down while reloading, as the back line fires above them.
Combined, these improvements have significantly improved their overall rate of fire, making these early Gunpowder units a much more compelling proposition against high-tier longbows and crossbows.
Hungry For More?
These are the Hotseats & Halberds Update’s biggest hitters, but the patch introduces so many improvements, tweaks and buffs across the board that it would push this already lengthy post well into treatise territory.
For those keen to learn every last detail, we’ll be publishing a complete change list document tomorrow, alongside the update’s release! Until then, you can let us know your thoughts on the Hotseats & Halberds Update over on our social channels:
