Try to install directx9 with winetricks. That solved the sound problems with the demo version for me (but is probably overkill, better solutions are welcome :)).

Yeah, seeing a Sidhe army charge out of the woods while arrows are raining down on my line is pretty cool.

I think I'm near the end of chapter 1 (trying to conquer Logres to establish my fortress), and I'm a little overwhelmed by all the quests that keep popping up everywhere, but so far, it's cool. Even if I don't rush into things, I don't have time to become bored ;)

I run King Arthur under a generic virtual hard drive on Linux via PlayOnLinux... It runs great for me (Well, at least the first level did). I only have directX (via DXFullSetup), GDIplus, and Visual C (I had 2005, but I think the game installs 2007 as well) installed. Running a 32-bit virtual hard drive, Run as Windows XP application, Wine version 1.7.50...

I didn't really do anything on Wine's behalf to change the graphics except capturing a full desktop environment @ 1920x1080 resolution. :)

Seems nice, will wishlist it for now :)

Nowhere near as polished as the Total War franchise (then again, Creative Assembly have had 15 years to hone their game), but King Arthur offers some really neat stuff by putting the focus on story and questing. There’s a wheel chart to track morality and religion that offers access to different units depending on choices, magic & monsters, and a round table for the knights. My table will be filled by the most psychopathic bunch of despots the world has ever known, and I shall be their dread king.

You know how in some games the Big Bad will politely wait for you to trigger the quest?

This isn't one of those games. Events occur at specific times so if you're messing around prosecuting wars against five different factions then an event triggering can doom you. As it should. For a real life example in WWII Germany fighting in the UK weakened Germany fighting in Russia weakened Germany fighting in Africa and when D Day happened they got rolled and had no response.

This game is like that. Choose your battles wisely, don't spread yourself too thin, end your wars fast, don't mess around, and you'll be fine. Well, you'll have a better chance at beating the game. The AI in this makes Total War look pathetic so try it on normal to start with or easy if you have no experience with Total War. Maybe even easy if you play Total War, TW would let you fight ten different factions at the same time and have a sloppy playstyle whereas this game will punish you for losing control.
I used to leave the game running in the background just for the music, never could find a soundtrack purchasable from Australia though I know it existed somewhere. On the plus side though Youtube hasn't failed me yet. ^ ^

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9D4D94F428B1946

I love this post for some reason ;) Good luck you tyrant in the making!

From memory no, but the reviewer is probably just a Total War player.

In this game if you pick wars with multiple factions and drag them out then you'll probably lose. If you treat your subjects horribly with taxes too high then rebellions will happen and you'll probably lose. If you don't run a proper combined forces army then you'll probably lose. If you rely on mass numbers to win then you'll probably lose. There's also quests and you have zero idea how it will eventually play out. Like you have zero idea of the ending for a new book you just picked up. That shouldn't matter. You should be running a fast and tight game without spreading yourself too thin, using diplomacy where possible and prosecuting your wars to the fullest extent of your capabilities if you cant, etc, at which point you'll be able to respond to changing circumstances. If you can't do that to start with then yeah, the random events can be crippling, even game ending. But that's why this game is so fun. You'll know if you're playing sloppily, the armies deathballing across your territory are a really obvious giveaway. :P Like I said, you shouldn't be fighting on multiple fronts. End your wars quickly.

If you do get drawn into multiple fronts then fighting holding actions against easier targets with reserve forces and use your main army to crush the bigger threats. That's not too difficult, especially when using the terrain to your advantage which you should be doing anyway.

As for incredibly strong, I play on the hardest difficulty. Everything is incredibly strong. :P If I slowly march my fully upgraded heavy inf across an open field towards low level archers then I'm probably and obviously going to lose. Don't do that.

But again, run a balanced and flexible army, with a tight campaign, improve your tactical skills, and you'll be fine. Archers are too strong? Stay out of range, circle light cav behind them in a flanking action, use a spell to reduce the archers range, teleport heavy inf into the middle of them (my favourite <3), use an AoE spell to decimate them and reduce the incoming damage, change formation to reduce damage, retreat into the forests and ambush them when they get close... If you play well in the battles then you can take on much higher numbers as you can almost completely counter really strong units just by playing well.

You kind of need to fight the battles too, quick battles don't really end well. It's just one of those games.

TL;DR

Be smart, pay attention, send diplomats on diplomatic quests, warriors on martial quests, have flexible armies, learn to be tactically sound, always have a reserve force, unless you know an all in gambit will pay off for you, and you'll be fine. :)

You can always play through on easy if you need the practice, or if you want to know the story and either aren't tactically minded or don't care to be. Due to the morality/religion system and questing system there's a surprising amount of replayability if you play through on easy then normal or normal then hard. Playing as a Christian Tyrant is different to an Old Faith Rightful ruler, with different units and abilities, even different items due to rewards from battles. Most of all, have fun in one of the best Arthurian games I've ever come across. From Hungary of all places.

Yes, Youtube often helps. But of course I would prefer to get the soundtrack as an extra with the game.