If you have the army for it you should complete these emissions which can reward you with some troops once you complete them. Occasionally the pope will ask you to take settlements. Move your diplomat to the highlighted tiles and make contact for rewards. As you move your diplomat you should get missions to make contact with other factions. It is to your advantage to take the early missions given to you by the Pope. Try to get your diplomats as far as the middle east for some great additional income. Be sure to recruit extra priests and send diplomats to establish trade rights with other countries you need the cash early on to build up your armies. To win you’ll need 45 provinces on the long campaign as well as Jerusalem province. Build up Nottingham and Caen until they can both produce longbows. Your cavalry aren’t as strong as other factions but you have great infantry and the longbow can be decisive is early battles. Your initial troops are weak so you’ll want to work towards Longbows as soon as possible which will give you a distinct advantage over your foes. After York has fallen the English player can work toward eliminating the Scots from the island and then move onto the French mainland.

In England there’s York, which should be the first target.

Nearby are several rebel towns and these should be taken first. English players start with London, Caen in the Normandy region, and Nottingham. England makes a great starting faction for most players. Medieval II Total War is a great addition to the medieval war games genre and a big improvement upon the first installment.

Medieval total war building tree