Brittania Campaign[]
Introduction[]
Norwegian faction emblem as depicted in Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms
Norway has used its considerable naval power to control the Isle of Man and Orkney Islands for many decades now and has only recently shown interest in establishing a greater presence on the Scottish mainland. While King Haakon remains in Norway, dealing with issues at home, he has placed his son, Magnus Haakonsson, in charge of the war effort in Brittania.
As the Norwegian people look to establish a foothold on the British mainland, they may choose to adopt their traditional naval raiding approach of surprising and sacking poorly defended settlements, before returning to the ocean as quickly as they appeared.
Scotland is Norway's first obvious target for expansion, however it may be in their best interest to assault the east coast of England or Northern Ireland, as the factions in these regions will surely be distracted with their own war efforts.
Strengths[]
Excellent shock infantry who wield powerful two handed weapons.
Weaknesses[]
Lacks good heavy cavalry.
Territory[]
- Castle Town - Castle
The map highlighting Norwegian territory from Brittania's faction selection screen.
- Arran - Village
- Kirkwall - Large Town
- Mull - Motte & Bailey
- Stornoway - Town
- Wick - Castle
Gameplay[]
Norway is one of the five playable factions of the "Britannia" campaign of Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms. Norway begins with control of a number of the islands along the Northwestern coasts of the British mainland and its northernmost region. The faction's default capital is Castle Town, which is a castle situated on the island just west of the English settlement of Carlisle, and north of the Welsh capital, Caernarvon. As a result, Norway doesn't share a border with anyone other than Scotland. That said, they're easily within the reach of the other factions' navies. However, this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that Norway is the best naval power of the six factions in the campaign, so Norway starts out in a fairly easily defensible position overall.
When playing as Norway, the most obvious preliminary move would be to go to war with their neighbor, Scotland. Ireland and Wales will be busy with their own conflicts with England as it attempts to subjugate them. As a result, all three factions will be somewhat distracted, and likely to ignore their neighbors to the North for a time, though it would be wise to maintain defensive garrisons in case one of the kingdoms does attempt a naval invasion of your lands. Scotland's strength lies primarily in its spearman class units, which, while certainly capable, are easily countered by Norway's heavy infantry. That said, Scotland should by no means be underestimated, especially considering they will receive a great army led by William Wallace upon losing two settlements. All that said, with competence and some degree of patience, the Norwegians are more than capable of besting the Scots. From there, Norway may want to designate one of the recently captured Scottish settlements as capital, before continuing its expansion.
Norway may also benefit from preying on its opponents while they are distracted by their own war efforts. For example, it may be worthwhile to take the advice offered in the introduction and attack Ireland while it is still contending with England for control of the Emerald Isle; granted engaging in a war on multiple fronts is not encouraged. Wales will also likely be in a near perpetual state of war with England. Since Norway must gain control of each of the five playable factions' default capitals, (With the exception of that of Ireland, from whom you must take Dublin, instead.) regardless of whether one chooses to attempt a long or short campaign, it might be within one's best interests to launch an invasion of the faction's coastal capital of Caernarvon. As for England, it will eventually have to deal with an organized rebellion in the form of the "Baron's Alliance," which is nearly identical to England as a faction. Again, considering Norway's primary campaign targets, it may be within one's best interest to form an alliance with the Barons against England; provided, of course, they don't take London.
When playing against Norway, it's important to remember the faction's naval strength. You'll want to avoid engaging in naval warfare with them until you have a fairly developed navy of your own. As for grounded combat, Norway's strength lies primarily in its offensive infantry units, such as the Gotland Footmen. Counter this by fielding armies composed of defensive infantry units and archers, or other missile and artillery units to pepper them with fire while they advance. They also don't have a very wide selection of spearmen; limited only to simple spear militia. Take advantage of this weakness by fielding multiple cavalry units to flank and charge their own.
Teutonic Campaign[]
Norway also makes an appearance in the "Teutonic" campaign. However, they are not playable in this campaign. They begin in the two Northwesternmost territories on the campaign's map. Most factions likely won't have to deal with them for a while, with the exception of Denmark. The same guidelines presented above should prove useful in repelling, or even subjugating their faction.