Dei Agminum mod for Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms

Greetings all!

Welcome to the Dei Agminum 2.0 Launch. Today you can download the latest Dei Agminum build here on our Moddb page under the files section.

Let me start with some housekeeping items again.

Firstly, the mod is still far from complete. With that in mind please temper your expectations. Read further to see what you are getting in this release so there is no confusion. The biggest thing you might find is that there are still some vanilla units roaming the map and the Turks and Byzantines have not been worked on yet. That is ok, this project is still a work in progress so don’t mind this too much. These factions will get their makeovers in the next release, I promise! Secondly, my play testers tested this build all week, they found no glaring issues, but that doesn’t mean you might find something that they missed in your own playthrough. So of course, report all bugs to me right away so I can patch any issues.

With that out of the way let me once again state the main features of Version 2.0:

-Installers to make installation seamless.
-2 completed Muslim factions: the Ayyubids and the Zengids with unique generals Nur ad-Din and Salah ad-Din.
-Tons of new assets for the new factions including battle models, textures and stratmap models.
-A greatly enhanced new campaign map.
-New Music.
-Working armor upgrades in the campaign for elite units.
-Multiple Mercenary types available in Syria, Palestine and Egypt for all factions.
-More defined faction bonuses to better differentiate the current factions and to give them all actual strengths and weaknesses.
-Updated Arabic names for Ayyubid and Zengid units as well as more accurate Arabic names for Ayyubid and Zengid characters.

Next, I thought it might be helpful to give a more detailed breakdown of each of the current factions:

Kingdom of Jerusalem

Heroes: King Baldwin IV, Prince Guy, Balian de Ibelin and Raymond of Tripoli

Unique Unit:

Strengths: Jerusalem can count on a whole host of powerful heavy cavalry and heavy infantry from mounted knights to foot knights and powerful spearmen. They also have a variety of crossbowmen.

Weaknesses: Jerusalem has very limited access to bowmen and horse archers.

Capital Bonus and Other Bonuses: As long as KOJ holds the city of Jerusalem, they get access to units from all of the Holy Orders and can spawn the Templars’ and Hospitallers’ powerful Grandmasters and veterans in Jerusalem. They also can recruit free European Crusader troops arriving at their ports, however these troops do cost upkeep.

How to Play: As KOJ you must take the initiative early, before you are surrounded and overwhelmed by the Ayyubids and potentially the Zengids. In battle their heavy knights can steamroll enemy infantry and eliminate most enemy cavalry without too much trouble; it would be wise to support your knights with whatever light cavalry you can find to help them pin down enemy horse archers.

Principality of Antioch

Heroes: Prince Bohemund and Prince Raynald de Chatillon

Unique Unit:

Strengths: Like Jerusalem, Antioch too can count on superb heavy cavalry, infantry, and spearmen. Their militias are the most powerful in the current game as well.

Weaknesses: Antioch too has very limited access to bowmen and horse archers. Furthermore, they’ve been considerably weakened by Zengid expansion in prior years and they only have two settlements, leaving them in a precarious starting position.

Capital Bonus and Other Bonuses: As long as POA holds the city of Antioch, they get access to units from all of the Holy Orders. Additionally, at Krak de Chevaliers, they get access to a unique Hospitaller general called the Marshal of the Hospitallers along with already established Hospitaller infrastructure. Like KOJ they can also recruit free European Crusaders at ports, but will have to pay upkeep to maintain them.

How to Play: Like KOJ, Antioch must go on the offensive early. They must quickly seize rebel settlements to their south and start picking off Zengid forces and settlements on their border. Luckily for them, their southern flank is secured by Jerusalem, but they can be easily overwhelmed by the Zengids who are looking to eliminate them early. In battle, their heavy knights will also be their trump card, but again these knights need to be properly supported as the Zengids and Ayyubids have powerful horse archers that can wear them down.

Ayyubid Sultanate

Heroes: Sultan Salah ad-Din, Crown Prince al-Aziz

Unique Unit:

Strengths: The Ayyubids have superb cavalry from heavy Mamluks to horse archers, allowing them to put together effective mobile strike forces. Their archers and skirmishers are also very competent. Given Egypt’s boundless resources, they also have the largest starting treasury.

Weaknesses: The Ayybids do not have an abundant selection of heavy infantry like KOJ.

Capital Bonus and Other Bonuses: The Ayyubids’ powerbase is Cairo, which allows them to train all of their most powerful Mamluk units quite early, including the dreaded Khassakiyyah.

How to Play: Ayyubid Egypt has a lot of starting flexibility. They have enough starting military to press KOJ early and they have enough wealth to engage in serious economic expansion allowing them to easily boom. In battle their horse archers can wear and whittle down the enemy and then their mamluks can go in and finish off whatever is left with brute force. In this regard, the Ayyubids’ ability to skirmish first is an invaluable capability and opportunity to weaken the opposing force.

Zengid Atabegate

Heroes: Nur ad-Din

Unique Unit:

Strengths: The Zengids have excellent horse archers, early access to certain siege weapons and a strong starting position.

Weaknesses: Like the Ayyubids they are limited in what they can field in terms of heavy infantry and they are also a bit lacking when it comes to heavy cavalry.

Capital Bonus and Other Bonuses: The Zengids’ capital of Damascus confers some unique advantages to them. Firstly it has enough infrastructure to allow them to train their most elite units like Ghulams and the Tawashi. Secondly, Damascus allows the Zengids to build siege engines like catapults and Trebuchets in lower tier siege workshops giving them access to these powerful weapons sooner.

How to Play: The Zengids have enough starting military to snuff out Antioch and then they can either pursue their remaining enemies or work on their economic development. If Jerusalem and the Ayyubids are locked in mortal combat, the Zengids also have the unique privilege of essentially picking the winner as they can ally themselves and support either power. Either they work their way to dismantling the Crusaders entirely or to an existential battle with their former subjects. In battle, the Zengids too can skirmish well allowing them to weaken an enemy force before engaging them in hand-to-hand combat. The Zengids supposedly had some of the greatest siege engineers at the time so they can deploy siege engines like trebuchets much earlier allowing them to easily assault settlements without having to build siege equipment like towers and rams.

I hope this guide serves as an excellent primer to the current factions. Thank you again for your feedback and support over the years. I will leave you with a quote from the great Balian of Ibelin:



"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless. Never lie, even if it leads to your death; that is your oath."

Show Your Support:

Join the Discord!
Buy me a coffee to support our modding efforts!

Credits:

-The Broken Crescent team for their beautiful UI elements and for inspiring this project in general
-The Ain Jalut and Tsardoms teams for their beautiful map textures
-Dei Agminum development team members and all who helped playtest