Seriously, Marwell.

[SimpleFarmer]

Last night I updated Marwell and started a new savegame with no real idea what I would be doing. I got in and noticed I had forgot to check the seasons mod so I figured I would have to start a new savegame anyway, may as well just do whatever for a minute rather than wait for it to load again.
I started by cheating in like 3 million and building a new farm where the usual one would be. I added palm trees - not even sure how they grew in the UK, its certainly a phenomenon. Here's what I realized: Marwell can be a lot of fun. First, the starting farm is "badly" laid out. I get it. It's based on real life farm, etc, but really, maybe the real life people weren't aware of the mf shed pack, and other recent additions The map feels really cramped from the get go (like a lot of Oxy maps imo) and you might be inclined to stick to Small/Med equipment. But when you start on farm mananger without all the buildings, you would be amazed how large the farm area actually is!
That being said, design your own farm with a lot of space. The Oxy maps have such cool textures to work with. Then go for a large farm settup and try it out - it is very rewarding. You would initially think the map is too small for large equipment, and if it was any other Oxy map besides Lone Oak, you would be right. But this map is so cool with the super large harvesters and seeders. You will most likely have to do all (99%) of the fieldwork yourself, but it doesn't take too long with the large equipement and isn't monotonous at all. Lastly, and here's a real good one considering the recent update, play without seasons. I have been playing with seasons since it came out, but I had forgot how relaxing it is to play without it. No clock speeding up, no aimless walking around in the forest, no waiting for the wet crops icon - just simple farming.
So there you have it, this map is 0% frustrating, 100% satisfying with large farming equipment. Now before all the comments about cheating, this was an experiement, but it really paid off. I think I could operate with the large equipement for hours on end. And then there is the animals I can also get into (might not be all that fun without seasons). So even though you start super rich (there's no grind whatsoever) there is still a point. Yeah it might get old in a bit, but if you wanted a break from the grind, this is a really good map to do it.
Also, for those who think large equipment doesn't belong in the UK (not even sure if anyone thinks this) I saw a youtube video of a Claas Lexion in the UK so I'm not making this stuff up. Thanks for reading.

[Old McGlenno]

But how I would miss the custom animal pens. I LOVE those on this map.

I'm so torn with Marwell because I really enjoy the layout of the farm and the look of the buildings, but it's hard for me to role-play my way into being invested in a farm that I didn't build from scratch.

[SimpleFarmer]

But how I would miss the custom animal pens. I LOVE those on this map.

I'm so torn with Marwell because I really enjoy the layout of the farm and the look of the buildings, but it's hard for me to role-play my way into being invested in a farm that I didn't build from scratch.

I feel you there. I had played about 60 hours on Marwell with the existing farm. I really liked the buildings at first, but over time I thought I started feeling cramped there. For example, everything sheep is such a pain, from unloading animals, to loading the wool. But the map is so nice. There's nothing like cruising down the narrow lanes with the grass track in the middle. Also, I love that you have to use the roads, you can't just go straight across the map like in Welker or something.
One thing that was cool was that the other farms like the chicken pen one were still the existing buildings, and the shop at the existing farm was still there, which is one of the coolest buildings, so I was happy to see that. As far as the other buildings go, you can find pretty similar ones in the modhub, but it's always so hard to decide what to do with the Oxy maps because the starting farm is so well detailed, you hate to build your own. With his painting textures you can build quite the farm yourself though.

[chedly_farms]

I’ve used all size equipment on this map. I’ve “demo’d” harvesters with the biggest headers with no problems. I’ve done cotton with the JD cotton picker and never had an issue. Sure the yard is hard to back machinery up to load slurry and do other things, but that’s how you learn to get good at it. I couldn’t imagine playing this map without using the existing farm. It feels so organic with it. And as far as seasons go, I have 520+ hours on this map without seasons, and it gets more fun and entertaining all the time.

[CowsGoMoo]

The problem is if you get rid of the animals they are gone. I tried this before and even the small cow pen barely fit where cows and sheep are (before they were moved).

As for big equipment, thats meh. You start with owning the biggest field, but the rest of the fields could be handled timely with a medium sized combine (the Massey only takes about an hour to harvest 15). Not saying it can't be done, but is it real fun to have a field harvested in 15 minutes?

[this_is_gav]

Also, for those who think large equipment doesn't belong in the UK (not even sure if anyone thinks this) I saw a youtube video of a Claas Lexion in the UK so I'm not making this stuff up. Thanks for reading.

While the UK has a reputation for small and quaint picture postcard farms, there are lots of big farming estates too. There are plenty of Quadtracs and the likes going about. Big combines are even more common than those large tractors too.

You wouldn't very get far with Big Buds though.

[Barrcott]

I would say Marwell is your typical medium size dairy farm, If you look at the Google image of the farm you'll see where all the old hedgerows were before they were ripped out to make the larger fields you see now. In the late 60's into the 70's & early 80's farming was at its peak & many hundreds of miles of hedgerows were removed for the new era of "big' tractors & implements , now however the environmental impact is taking its toll & countryside stewardship schemes are helping to fund farmers to reinstate either old hedgerows or plant new ones

[this_is_gav]

Indeed. Farmers have been encouraged through various schemes over a few decades, such as leaving fields fallow (Set-aside) and encouraging farmers to plant headlands with wild flowers or even crops which aren't harvested (you'll often find them near hedgerows in strips of about 6 metres). All to add to or return habitats of more diverse wildlife and particularly (near me at least) helping bee population growth.

It would be nice to see more attention to hedgerow management in FS. Planting hedges, cutting hedgerows (would add an extra job in barren times in Seasons), removing hedges and so on. That would go for all forms of field barriers, including adding fences, walls, gates and so on in-game. Field boundaries are one of the key areas for FS to look at in the next couple of editions - I'm hopeful of further work in this area given the attention foliage was given in FS19

[Jonhinkerton]

Maybe the PC version is different but I abandoned a custom farmyard on marwell because it was so hard to get placables to attach in a satisfying layout for me. The pen areas won’t let you build and you wind up with a constrained yard with a bunch of space behind it and you lose functionality in animal areas like the big sheep meadow. I also had a lot of trouble with bunkers not filling properly. I love the map and I am playing with the stock yard even though I barely ever raise animals (trying out some sheep just because I feel like i have to). The uneven fields are nice after putting 200 hours into welker’s boxes. It’s also just visually among the best looking maps I have played. I just wish that either the selling of buildings was more granular or the yardless option was less busted.

[Illinois Farmer]

On console, there was a cement lot next to the hay, in which, you could put placables down.

[Crazof]

PS4

I haven't had any problems with placeables on for this map, I put a hayloft in the cow pasture, then switched it to a MF silo only problem there was the cows kept moving so had to let them get out of the way. at the BGA I have placed two bunkers, the U shaped one with lights and the single medium one.

[SimpleFarmer]

As far as no room for LStock enclosures, the timbered farm set are all pretty small and I'm sure there are other small pens that would fit there too. If you wanted a 200 cow capacity though, I'm not really sure. The yard is huge though when you clear it out.
I agree about it seeming bad to get rid of the existing buildings because of how natural they feel there. But with advanced terraforming skills and painting technique, you can make a pretty natural looking farm yourself. I personally went with the timbered farm look, it is kind of supposed to be the Tudor style but probably looks more like something from the swiss alps. But then again, I also have palm trees so who knows what's going on. I wasn't planning on even saving the game but then I got hooked by the peaceful landscape and got carried away. Now I have a bit of an eccentric farm on my hands, but I don't want to leave it.
I wasn't saying this map doesn't fit medium equipment - @cowsgomoo the medium harvesters will do just fine. But I was surprised at how the large equipment does just fine as well, I would have thought the roads would all be too narrow. The seeders can't be taken to the fields in one piece, I usually pull each piece seperately. As kind of a break from the grind, farming these fields is pretty enjoyable with large equipment, and yeah it only does take 15-20 minutes for the larger fields. Sometimes I only have time to play for an hour or so, and this seems to be a fun way to spend it.
If I were going to start over and not do the grind from starting equipment (probably would take all of the 580 hours to do) I would make a starting farm with the smaller large equipment and upgrade everything about once. This map can be enjoyable from a bunch of different angles so there's a million ways to start here. All I will say is that if you are planning on getting the new large equipment DLC, don't overlook Marwell for maps like Lone Oak and Welker. Marwell can be a lot of fun with the large equipment too.

[SJ_Sathanas]

Personally I prefer Oakfield. Marwell is quite flat, while Oakfield seems to be a valley with the main North/South road running down the centre. I like a bit of elevation on my maps.

[Max4hdmatt77]

Personally I prefer Oakfield. Marwell is quite flat, while Oakfield seems to be a valley with the main North/South road running down the centre. I like a bit of elevation on my maps.

Im patiently waiting on the oakfield seasons update for console. Havent even loaded the map cause I dont want to ruin it. I prefer seasons on the detailed maps.

[BreadedVirus]

I’ve used all size equipment on this map. I’ve “demo’d” harvesters with the biggest headers with no problems. I’ve done cotton with the JD cotton picker and never had an issue. Sure the yard is hard to back machinery up to load slurry and do other things, but that’s how you learn to get good at it. I couldn’t imagine playing this map without using the existing farm. It feels so organic with it. And as far as seasons go, I have 520+ hours on this map without seasons, and it gets more fun and entertaining all the time.

I have been running Marwell since it came out early last year. I really hope Oxy does an extended version of this map.