Creative Assembly shipped Medieval II in November 2006 and folded the Kingdoms expansion plus every later patch into the free Definitive Edition on 20 November 2018. The Grand Campaign covers 1080 to 1530 across 112 regions and roughly 225 turns, with 21 factions of which only England, France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and Venice are playable on turn one. Kingdoms bolts on four more campaigns: Britannia, Teutonic, Crusades and Americas.
Starting Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition is a strategy game built around Castle and city settlement split and Papal favour and excommunication. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| England | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| France | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Holy Roman Empire | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Spain | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Venice | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with France. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Venice as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn Castle and city settlement split
Castles train knights, spearmen and archers, while cities generate trade income and cheap militia. Converting one type into the other wipes the existing building line, so lock the ratio in during the first 30 turns and aim for roughly two cities per castle.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Castle and city settlement split works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to British Isles
England, Scotland and the Welsh and Irish rebels share a small island chain. Once Scotland falls there is no land border to defend, which is why England is the standard first campaign recommendation.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Feudal Knights: it's the most accessible early upgrade. Mid tier heavy cavalry available to most Catholic factions once a castle has stables. Devastating on the charge, mediocre once the charge bonus expires and the melee grinds.
Step 4: Understand Papal favour and excommunication
The Pope keeps a favour rating on every Catholic faction and attacking a fellow Catholic drains it fast. Ignore two Papal warnings and you are excommunicated, which lets every Catholic neighbour declare war without reputation damage and can point a Crusade at your own capital.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to France and the Low Countries
Dense, wealthy and crowded. Paris anchors the region while Bruges and Antwerp carry the wool and cloth trade that funds a knight army.
Essential Mechanics Explained
Castle and city settlement split
Castles train knights, spearmen and archers, while cities generate trade income and cheap militia. Converting one type into the other wipes the existing building line, so lock the ratio in during the first 30 turns and aim for roughly two cities per castle.
Papal favour and excommunication
The Pope keeps a favour rating on every Catholic faction and attacking a fellow Catholic drains it fast. Ignore two Papal warnings and you are excommunicated, which lets every Catholic neighbour declare war without reputation damage and can point a Crusade at your own capital.
Chivalry and dread general traits
Generals drift toward Chivalry or Dread based on whether you accept surrenders, exterminate captured populations or execute prisoners. Chivalrous governors raise population growth and public order through loyalty, dread governors hold a city through fear and make enemy units break sooner in battle.
Crusades and Jihads
The Pope names a target such as Jerusalem or Antioch and any Catholic faction may join. A crusading army recruits cheap Crusader units and pays no upkeep while it marches toward the target, but troops desert if you stall or drift off route. Muslim factions run Jihads on the same rule with an imam calling it.
Gunpowder arriving mid campaign
Gunpowder shows up after the Mongols and Timurids invade, around the halfway mark of the Grand Campaign. Serpentines and Basilisks flatten stone walls that trebuchets only chip, and Janissary Musketeers punish the deep infantry blocks that win fights in the first hundred turns.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Converting a castle to a city because the income looks better, then discovering you have no way to train knights anywhere near the front
2. Ignoring the Pope while grinding Milan or Venice, getting excommunicated, and losing three provinces to a Crusade in the following ten turns
3. Marching a Crusade army in circles or parking it for a few turns, which triggers mass desertion and turns 20 units into 6
4. Recruiting stacks of peasants because they are cheap
They rout early, drag the whole line with them, and still cost upkeep every turn.
5. Leaving conquered cities with tiny garrisons and no priest, then losing them to a revolt while the field army is 15 turns away
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Castle and city settlement split and Papal favour and excommunication
- Choose France as starting build
- Clear British Isles main content
- Acquire Feudal Knights or equivalent upgrade
- Reach France and the Low Countries
- Decide your castle to city ratio before turn 30. Castles are the only settlements that train real professional units, cities pay for them. Two cities per castle keeps a 20 unit stack funded without going into deficit around turn 60.
- Send four to six merchants to the resource clusters at the far ends of the map. Silk in the east and gold in West Africa produce far more income per merchant than anything inside Europe, and a merchant with high finance skill can take over a rival merchant and steal his trade post.
Tips for New Players
- Decide your castle to city ratio before turn 30. Castles are the only settlements that train real professional units, cities pay for them. Two cities per castle keeps a 20 unit stack funded without going into deficit around turn 60.
- Send four to six merchants to the resource clusters at the far ends of the map. Silk in the east and gold in West Africa produce far more income per merchant than anything inside Europe, and a merchant with high finance skill can take over a rival merchant and steal his trade post.
- Longbow stakes only work if the unit is stationary and facing the charge. Deploy them, do not move them again, and let the enemy come to you. Moving a stake unit forward removes the stakes permanently for that battle.
- Read the Pope's favour meter every turn you are at war with a Catholic. Two ignored warnings equals excommunication, and the cure is a large donation to the Papacy plus a ceasefire, both of which cost more than simply picking a Muslim or Orthodox target instead.
- Assign your worst general to sit in a rebellious city and let him grow Dread. Public order from fear scales with the garrison and does not need a cathedral, which frees the building queue for economy.
- Trebuchets cannot fire while an enemy unit is within their minimum range, so keep a spear unit in front of them and pull the trebuchets back once the sally begins. A siege lost to your own artillery being overrun is a full stack wasted.
- Build a Merchants Guild in a high trade city as early as you can. Guild buildings raise merchant skill on recruitment, and a starting skill of two or three is the difference between taking a rival trade post and losing your merchant to him.
- Time the gunpowder switch. Once Serpentines are available, stop building trebuchets entirely. Cannons reduce a stone wall in two or three volleys, which turns a four turn siege into a one turn assault with far fewer casualties.
- Retrain damaged elite units in a settlement with the right barracks tier rather than recruiting fresh ones. Retraining keeps veteran experience chevrons and armour upgrades, which compound across a long campaign.
- Move a priest into every province you plan to invade two or three turns ahead. Religious unrest is the single largest public order penalty after conquest, and a province already at 60 percent your religion revolts far less often.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Kingdoms expansion included in the Definitive Edition?
Yes. The 20 November 2018 Definitive Edition update bundled Kingdoms and every earlier update into the base product at no extra cost, so the Britannia, Teutonic, Crusades and Americas campaigns are all in the launcher.
Which faction should a first-time player pick?
England. Its starting position in the British Isles has only Scotland and a few rebel settlements to clear, after which no enemy can reach you by land, and Longbowmen carry battles while you learn the campaign layer.
How long is the Grand Campaign?
About 225 turns covering 1080 to 1530 over 112 regions. The short victory condition asks for a handful of faction-specific targets, the long one wants at least 45 territories plus named cities such as Jerusalem or Constantinople.
How many factions can you actually play?
Five are unlocked at the start: England, France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and Venice. Defeating another faction in a campaign unlocks it, which brings the total to 17 playable out of 21 in the Grand Campaign.
Does the Definitive Edition run on modern Windows?
It does, though the 2006 engine is single-threaded and can stutter with very large unit counts. Dropping the unit size setting one step and capping the frame rate resolves most of the campaign map slowdown players report.
More Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Guides
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Overview
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Best Builds
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Tier List
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Walkthrough
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Tips & Tricks
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Weapons Guide
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Combat Guide
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Boss Guide
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Maps & Locations
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Crafting Guide
- Total War: MEDIEVAL II Definitive Edition Classes & Characters
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