Samurai Wars xbows

[Puzz3D]

If anyone is playing STWmod campaign using the Samurai Wars stat, do xbows seem ok or too strong for an entry level unit?

[GoreBag]

I installed it yesterday and played it for a few hours. I used a few units of the peasant crossbowmen, but they never seemed to get a chance to fire. I'll set up a custom battle if my curiosity takes the better of me.

I wasn't aware, though, that crossbows were in use at the time.

[Puzz3D]

They weren't in use at the time, but barocca has them in there. So, I balanced them in Samurai Wars the same way I balanced all the other units to be effective, although, I didn't put the xbow in multiplayer because it's unnecessary. It's only in the campaign. You can train it up until you get teppo.

I don't think the Portuguese teppo is better than the xbow, but the Japanese teppo is better. I'll retest them tonight. I used quite a lot of xbows in my Takeda campaign and the AI did as well. You have to protect xbows because they are vulnerable to cavalry. The AI doesn't always protect it's xbows.

[GoreBag]

I just used them and was quite pleased with the results - they pack quite a bit of power at close range. The AI also took 14 out of my 60 Yari Cavalry with two volleys (two units of crossbowmen). They were then promptly cut to pieces.

They serve basically the same purpose as the Teppo, it would seem. I can't train the Teppo, though; is there a bug surrounding them or am I just not doing something right?

Although I understand that some kind of peasant-filler needed to be used in order for the current tech tree to make sense in relation to itself, the presence of the crossbowmen is...well, ahistorical, as you, Puzz3d, have just confirmed. Should other options be explored?

[Puzz3D]

The xbow becomes unavailable around 1550. You then have to construct a Hojutsu Dojo and a Famous Trading Post to make Portuguese teppo. I don't think you can get them before this time.

There are other units in the game besides xbows that are not historical. So, as long as they are serving a purpose, they're ok. The Portuguese teppo can kill 10 yari cav with a short range volley. So, 14 kills with two short range volleys of xbows would say they are a bit weaker than the teppo. Maybe they are ok the way they are.

[Puzz3D]

I've reduced the kills per volley of xbows to 68% of what it was. If you want to try this before the next release, edit projectiles.txt and change the crossbow lethality from 1 to 0.68.