Red Harvest
12-12-2004, 08:51
I did some quick tests with the grassland map using Greek Hoplites (not armoured hops, not militia hops, not spartans) and a unit of Forester Warband, testing weather impact on archers with medium settings. Note that my hoplite unit is larger than default (121 on large) and my Forester warband range is limited to 150 range vs. 170 range in the vanilla game. Armour, shield and missile attack are unchanged. I allowed the hoplites to advance, shut off skirmish for the archers and allowed fire at will. I counted volleys and recorded the men left standing after each volley. Each time the hoplites switched to phalanx after the 5th volley.
Observations:
1. Heavy rain considerably reduces kill rate at range--to approximately 33% of the calm weather value. As the range declines (or as the hoplite unit switches to phalanx...I'm not certain yet) the difference is less pronounced, perhaps reducing it to 67% of normal
2. Light rain did not appear to effect archery. Perhaps more runs would show some statistical difference, but it was not apparent as I recorded values.
3. Dense fog didn't seem to effect archery much. One of the two tests I ran had higher kill rate than calm, while the other was considerably lower. Again, it would take some statistics to notice a difference...and that is a sign that the effect is understated.
4. I couldn't reverse the tests and let the AI shoot at me, because the brain dead AI charges its archers at the hoplites instead of shooting...DUH!
If someone wants to get more statistical with this and test other units there might be some fertile ground here. With respect to rain and fog, only heavy rain seems to be relevant for battle purposes. (Unless you want flaming arrows, which I did not test.)
Next up...snow.
Observations:
1. Heavy rain considerably reduces kill rate at range--to approximately 33% of the calm weather value. As the range declines (or as the hoplite unit switches to phalanx...I'm not certain yet) the difference is less pronounced, perhaps reducing it to 67% of normal
2. Light rain did not appear to effect archery. Perhaps more runs would show some statistical difference, but it was not apparent as I recorded values.
3. Dense fog didn't seem to effect archery much. One of the two tests I ran had higher kill rate than calm, while the other was considerably lower. Again, it would take some statistics to notice a difference...and that is a sign that the effect is understated.
4. I couldn't reverse the tests and let the AI shoot at me, because the brain dead AI charges its archers at the hoplites instead of shooting...DUH!
If someone wants to get more statistical with this and test other units there might be some fertile ground here. With respect to rain and fog, only heavy rain seems to be relevant for battle purposes. (Unless you want flaming arrows, which I did not test.)
Next up...snow.