So I occasionally give in to my addiction and try again. But at Armies Eat, Advanced Farming, 100 Gold, no army/castle/weapons, weak county and impossible setting, so the hardest combo of each parameter, I just can't get to a win. Do the opponents get a better starting position or something?

Has anyone been able to win at these settings?

I get the impression from the tips thread that mutley has managed it.

http://www.gog.com/forum/lords_of_the_realm_lords_of_magic_series/any_tips_for_a_beginner_lotr2

Interesting read, thanks for that.

But AFAICS, that only relate to the impossible setting. Impossible with good county stats and gold to start with is easy to win.

I did get a win in China but boy, was lucky. They were killing each other while I was building a single county economy and then the Bishop lost control of two neighbouring counties where he had already built royal castles which I could conquer easily. The rest was history.

I've won it a few times on impossible with all of the hardest settings (armies eat, adv. farming, weak county, minimal money, no weapons or castle), but it takes some luck. To make it more playable I set it at 1000 gold--this lets me buy some grain and iron for pikes. With this if I can manage diplomacy I can reach a critical mass of population and build a small army.

The AI has some substantial advantages on impossible from what I can tell. While the human player has ~165 population and maybe 4 reclaimed fields, all of the AI factions start with higher populations and apparently more fields. (I can't tell on the latter without turning off "exploration.") Growing population with average health and normal rations is slow even at zero tax rate (to increase happiness.)

The biggest headache is losing a field or being visited by the Black Death. Either of these in the first or second year is almost invariably fatal. The lack of population and money makes it difficult to do anything to compensate. It takes 200 serfs four seasons to reclaim a field and very few serfs will be available in the first few years. Weather and wolves can quickly shift your population into starvation mode...and in periphery counties traders are not likely to be around when you desperately need them. Some counties get ghastly weather, some are stable and productive.

I've been experimenting with starting with two fields fallow, one growing grain, and the other with cattle. That seems really wasteful, but I have to leave two fields empty to raise the fertility (at least 1/3 have to be fallow when growing grain to maintain or increase fertility so with only 4 fields it means only half are used.) Rising fertility can match production to population growth--barring some repeated bad weather.

However, there appears to be an exploitable flaw in the advanced farming model. In cattle-only mode only a single field needs to be empty from what I can tell, not 1/3. I have noticed that if not growing grain, leaving a single field fallow with three for grazing cattle seems to increase fertility over time--I've noticed that the AI always seems to leave a single field fallow if in cattle only mode. So it is possible to have more cattle the first year, raise fertility, then in the next year cram all of the cows on one field, raise grain on one field, and leave two fallow. If you instead start with all fields having cattle (none fallow) then fertility will remain "average" and grain production will initially be low if you switch to it in later years.

I've been exploring the AI advantages given on "impossible" with the hardest settings. I've been playing it with "exploration" off so that I can see their counties. Initial observations are:
1. While the human starts with 100 crowns, the AI starts with 600 or so. This was determined by comparing the "greatest nobles" chart for crowns on the first turn for counties that lacked a merchant cart.
2. The AI begins with a larger population, roughly 230 vs. the 165 that the player begins with, 40% more which is one of the common multipliers in the game. (This has been estimated from the graphs.)
3. The AI population grows faster, even with the same happiness turn after turn and likely with no extra rations (dairy/cattle fed, no merchant cart visits.) Even the weaker factions have roughly twice the population as the player after only 5 turns.
4. The AI can hold the same level of happiness as the player with zero taxes while gaining measurable revenue. Perhaps the AI counties start healthier?
5. The AI counties have the same number of fields at the start as the player. They also begin with the same herd size--except when a storm is applied at the start (turn zero) which reduces the number by 2. This can be seen in herd crowding, where 4 fields with 43 cows show up as "low crowding." While 4 with 45 show up as "average crowding."
6. The AI factions have the amount of grain at the start as can be seen when the Countess plants two fields without a merchant cart available on the first turn. If she has a cart the field will be fully planted come spring. If not spring will reveal only half planted fields. (The same is true if there are frost/storms during the first turn and the field was fully planted, but a few tests reveal that it applies during good weather.)
7. The AI starts with the same happiness level as the player.
8. The AI likely does not have any weapons at the start, else some factions would immediately raid the next county.
9. The AI does not appear to suffer as great of a happiness hit for "events" when it captures a county. The human player loses 70 happiness points in the territory when he/she captures a county through combat. The AI takes a fraction of that (as yet undetermined) and recovers more rapidly as a result.
10. When the player is attacking a neutral county, 60% of the neutral's population is drafted with nearly half of these being equipped with pikes and bows. (This was determined by looking at the population info after capture and doing some back calculating.) The AI appears to face somewhat smaller forces when attacking neutral counties, but still loses autocalc on some ill advised attacks.

I know from analyzing the code, that the AI cheats. That explains as well why you cant starve a last province out by denying all the fields.

Huh?
Ok, probably AI cheat a bit, I can believe that. But I'm absolutely certain I have starved the last province to the point he is kicked out of the castle. But I recall that to take something like 4.5k+ troops standing there for over five years though. And you will start losing your men to starvation before the county rebels. No much point of doing that, of course, just silly fun. But definitely possible.

"And you will start losing your men to starvation before the county rebels"
Ah, I meant if you turn off foraging armies. The amount of resources the AI can achieve by cheating is limited thou.

...And I call to the grave and raise this thread UP!!!

So the settings you talk about are all great to play with. Bottom line, its all about time. The AI simply cant beat you in your own castle and they arent smart enough to really starve you out. He will plow down some fields for sure, but usually on the way to something else. You will learn to beat it in time simply based on superior economic management. Assuming you have the patience to weather the setbacks, the end will never really be in doubt.

The REAL challenge in my mind, is to play those settings (Advanced Farming OFF, more later) and flip the switch for only fighting human opponents, auto resolve everything. Oh my! Hoo Rah! Now we are talking!

Your fun level will of course depend on why you get enjoyment from the game. Dont get me wrong, i usually have a blast playing the RTS element. But bottom line, the AI is predictable enough that it essentially becomes a huge exploit. You weren't really intended to beat a 1k army with 200 hundred guys... The auto resolve removes all that and bumps the strategy level way up.

And Advanced Farming? Well, if you have read anything in this or other LOTR2 forums you will now AF Grain farming is essentially another exploit. Fairly certain developers did not intend for 3k+ harvests and permanent triple rations. If you want to increase the challenge even more, leave this off.

While I (and by now you have to I imagine) have beaten it many times with these settings, I have never beaten the game on Impossible with all advanced settings on save for farming and auto-resolving everything. One of two things invariably happens... You get unlucky and someone simply focuses on you early enough that you simply cant defend. Oooor, I get furious at something or other I perceive as a slight and refuse to autocalc a castle siege :).

I posted a similar question many moons ago... I realized after writing this that i had forgotten it. Has some other thoughts.

https://www.gog.com/forum/lords_of_the_realm_lords_of_magic_series/new_settings

I am new to this site, but have been playing LOTR Royal Edition for years, just for relaxation. I truly don't want to be an arrogant doofus about it, but am mystified that this forum has so much discussion of players finding the 'Impossible' setting difficult. Except for the first few games in the learning curve, I have always played only at this level, sometimes with all other settings at their most difficult (and won 3 out of 4). I often play without Autocalc-ing any battles or sieges. I've never played against a hooman, though. :(

I believe the original ask was regarding impossible with all the advanced settings on. Its certainly not a common setup for most folks. Impossible as simply a setting is as I mentioned, never really in doubt. The point was in fact that all the advanced settings on makes it "easier". Skipping autocalcs as you mentioned makes the game on any level a breeze as its exploitable. So the toughest setup in my mind...

Advanced farming - Off
Fog of War - On (inconsequential really, it doesnt do much.)
Army Forage - On
Only combat Human opponents - On - Essentially in a one player game this forces an autocalc on any field battle. You are on your honor to autocalc sieges.

So I essentially just reworded what was already said by myself and others. If you are still "mystified" as to what the discussion was actually stating, you'll have to get some specific questions. Dont think anyone claimed impossible was "impossible"!

I agree that Advanced farming off AND Army foraging AND autocalc battles is the hardest possible setting; since I play for fun, I count Advanced farming as requirement if Army foraging is considered to be turned on.

Autocalc battles... uff, I so hate that, it's stupid linear and... I so much enjoy the (yes, often ridiculous) tactical advance... (btw, the "retreat" option is, I would say, broken; what it does, it neglect anything that happened in rts mode and autocalc the battle instead).

I go the other way, I have, basically No Loses policy, if I ever lose more than 16 archers in any battle, that can be grounds for reloading a save. As is losing more than 15% of swordsmen supporting them (my typical "small" army consists of archers and swords in proportion from 1:1 to 3:1), mace and pikemen mercenaries are the only trow away forces I allow, and buy at every opportunity. I never lose a single crossbow; while my typical full 1500 men army includes Norman Crossbowmen as a required regiment.

I take my time, and enjoy counties with all fields, great economy, and I play with taxes to move population from maxed out towns to where I need people, and produce knight armor for sale in backwater corners. Yes, that's at a point far beyond any debatable win conditions.

The final opponent is often starved out of his castle by invading his last county with 3 columns consisting each of peasant scout regiment(s), independent maces regiment, full 1500 men army of standard structure, mixed reinforcements unit that never see battle itself, and optimal rear guard unit. Thus, something over 5k men. At once. With army foraging on. Then, the very final battle I autocalculate. (Well, I sometimes do autocalc for the 1500 men army against a band of peasants or something alike, but if Norman Crosbow company loses more than 8 men the whole regimen has to be replaced, there no way to reinforce that. )

Sometimes I take pride for never burning a single field in the whole campaign.

Sometimes I even allow myself to scout and harass enemies with one peasant armies (easy to figure out exploit, using garrison and zero game speed, and yes, that's a cheap cheat, as is save scumming, of course).

So, yes, I don't really talk about challenge here, but I have a good time anyway.