Just got BI - A coupl eof questions...

[Critical Bill]

Hi all,

Just got Barbarian Invasion. I've had a search but can't find answers, so apologies if this has been asked previously.

Started of as the Sassanids, and find that my Clibiniarii don't seem to like being treated as archers - if I ask them to shoot, they'll fire off a couple of arrows and then charge in. This makes micromanagement all the more necessary. Has anyone else found this and is there a way round it?

Also, I've never been asked if I want to attack at night even if the General has the 'Night Fighter' trait. Does he also need a certain amount of command stars in addition to the trait?

Thanks

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi Critical Bill,
Sorry to inform you, but the missile bug/feature is all part of a feature intoduced in the R:TW engine which forces certain units, such as legions, to charge post missile throw. Sorry.

When your, brilliant, general gains the night-fighter trait, in the right-hand bottom corner of the battle-deployment scroll, you will see a little button which asks you if you want to fight at nights. Simply tick it and start the battle to experience on of the best parts of BI!

On the pre-battle screen you may see enemy re-inforcements greyed out after you click the button, but it's nothing to worry about, all it means is that the usurper and evil enemy leader for that army won't be turning up in the fight as he doesn't have the night-fighter ability - armies lead by captains will always have this problem! However, beware, the AI may do the same to you!

Hope this helps, cheers!

[Severous]

Hi.

Hmmm. Cant say I remember my Clibiniarii having that problem. Was concerned about them using the correct weapons when charging into mellee. Damm silly bashing someone with a bow.

Night fighting is an interesting change. Looked good a few times and can improve odds/rating. But not always. Cant say I use it all the time as I tend to missile heavy and such troops like the day to see their targets.

My campaign was posted here:
http://rtw.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/f...f=10,2521,,all

[Critical Bill]

Thank you both for your responses.

Regarding the Clibs, I knew about the legions 'throw then charge' behaviour, but didn't think it would apply to heavy cav. My Clib immortals don't seem to exhibit the same behaviour...

Must have missed the night fighting icon - now my general's died too

I do seem to suffer from selective blindness, I only noticrd last night that the CLibs do have a skirmish mode option. Maybe that'll stop the unwanted charges.

Thanks again.

[Third spearman from the left]

Also started of as the Sassanids but near the end of my campaign now. The trick with the non-general units is to switch the 'fire at will' button on.

Select your target but then get the unit to halt (otherwise they will head towards them firing and then attack.) They will now fire at the enemy as long as they are in range.

Generals are different as they do have skirmish mode, but they are heavy cav and not horse archers. So let rip the dogs of war!!

[Critical Bill]

I'll give it a whirl.

Thanks

[Stuperman]

I personally Love night fighting, night fighter gives +1 command star, and you can get "likes the dark" (+1 more Command star, 2 total) and "born at midnight" (+2 more Command star, 3 total) after only a few battles. In RTR one of my generals got 4 command stars for fighting at night!

[Afkazar]

Hi all,



Started of as the Sassanids, and find that my Clibiniarii don't seem to like being treated as archers - if I ask them to shoot, they'll fire off a couple of arrows and then charge in. This makes micromanagement all the more necessary. Has anyone else found this and is there a way round it?

Have you tried Alternate attacking?
I think you have to hold alt then hit the attack on the mouse.
This gets units to attack with their secondary weapon. This is very useful for Having archers charge guys with swords and having legionnaires not throw the pilum and just charge in.

I tried playing as sassanids. Its very hard in campaign. On the open Battlefield my clibanarri hordes would wat the western romans.
But alas my economy and lack of competent generals always plagued me.
That and religion....

Assualting cities is somewhat hard with the nids because their heaviest infantry doesnt match with the romans.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi Afkazar,

Assualting cities is somewhat hard with the nids because their heaviest infantry doesnt match with the romans.

I find that their highest level of heavy infantry is usually better than the Romans on the field. They are both Armour Peicing (good for breaking down Roman mail) and have a pretty good attack with strong heavy armour.

If seiges, however, it is an automatic advantage to the Defenders. Unless you can find an empty peice of wall to get some units on, then often it will be defeat - I have seen Peasants (defending) beat a Legion (attacking with ladders) when on a small stone wall. If the Sassanid's Heavies are defending then it will always be a victory if they are equalled by Romans, but if they are attacking in a siege then it is not always going to work out that way.

Also the Sassanid's top unit can only be trained in their starting lands, so if you are along way from them, then your best infantry is the, acceptable, but not very strong, Levy Spearmen.

[Afkazar]

Also the Sassanid's top unit can only be trained in their starting lands, so if you are along way from them, then your best infantry is the, acceptable, but not very strong, Levy Spearmen.

Well while your Elites may be slightly better than romans...The romans usually have entire legions. Levy spearmen is pretty much the mainstay of my army

but if they are attacking in a siege then it is not always going to work out that way.

.
Thats what i said by assualting citys. If i defend my clibanarii can do combat in the city walls ill probably win. My archers are pretty good too.

Heres what my armys are usually composed of

1.The fodder
Levy spearmen are really here for only one thing.To keep the romans occupied long enough for my clibanarri to rear/side charge. If they do that their worth their costs.
2.The hammer
THis is the clibanarri and cataphracts. Basically these are the guys to win battles. A good combined charge will wipe out most romans.
3.The skirmishers
These are my ranged units. I usually always have the advantage in cav so these soldiers are free to falnk and hit the romans where their weak

Elephants are too rare/expensive to use.

Im pretty sure the only thing ive fought consistently is romans. I may have had one or two skirmishes vs other factions but rebels and Romans are usually the only thing ive seen....

[Celt Centurion]

Thank you both for your responses.

Regarding the Clibs, I knew about the legions 'throw then charge' behaviour, but didn't think it would apply to heavy cav. My Clib immortals don't seem to exhibit the same behaviour...

Must have missed the night fighting icon - now my general's died too

I do seem to suffer from selective blindness, I only noticrd last night that the CLibs do have a skirmish mode option. Maybe that'll stop the unwanted charges.

Thanks again.

Critical Bill,

You may want to go to a saved game from before your General died to go for a night battle. In my experience, night fighters don't come along very often in BI.

In the XGM mod, they come up quite often and I use them in that trait a lot.

The night fighting option is simply a small square on the lower right of the screen. Check it to have a night battle. If the option is not available to you, the box will be blacked out.

A few maniples of skirmishers and slingers can hold a city against a full stack of enemy heavy infantry. Just be careful not to get "caught by the infantry", but sometimes they just get too close, even in skirmish mode. A small line of infantry will give your skirmishers a screen to run behind if cavalry attacks them. The hard part there is just keeping the skirmishers from getting too far out there. If night is "your" choice, they seem to work better than if you are attacked at night without a night fighter. I've also noticed that if an enemy attacks you at night and you have no night fighter general, "then the night is actually darker." Funny how that works.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Critical Bill]

Wow, more replies. Thanks chaps.

Afkazar - I think (am at work at moment) that the Clib's secondary attack is melee while they still have arrows. My problem is that they have a habit of charging an entire enemy line if I take my eyes off them for a second, despite being ordered to shoot them. Just had a thought - do they have 'impetuous' trait?

Celtic Centurion - unfortunately I am very lazy and tend only to use the Quick Save function. I'll probably play another Sassanid campaign at some point though.... Could do some modding, but on past history I might as well save myself the bother and uninstall the game now!

Finished the campaign, and going to give some barbarian factions a go. I can't get the hang of this Hording thing yet!

[Critical Bill]

Apologies, Celt Centurion.

(Can't edit yet)

[Critical Bill]

No, just started a new Sassanid campaign to have a look at a night battle, and I can't see where iit gives me the choice - I can't see anything on the pre-battle screen. Am I missing somehting in the Options?

[Stuperman]

Your general has to have the night fighter trait, captians can't attack at night, but can defend (i.e. if attacked by someone at night).

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi Critical Bill,
All you have to do is simply check the box highlighted here....

...and away you go, you have a dark and mysterious night battle.

Hope this helps, cheers!

BTW, you need to be attacking for this to work.

[Kuni]

I would recommend for you to skip the Cataphracts this playthrough. Clibinarii outclass them by a mile.

An all Clibinarii/Immortal army can handle anything anyone can throw at them. They are pretty much the best unit in the game, imho. The only thing they can't do is seige. :)

Also, as you probably now know, the biggest hindrance you will encounter against the Eastern Roman Empire will be religious unrest. You can easily convert cities by having more generals and (surprise, surprise) agents(!!!) in the city. This will speed up conquest considerably, giving the damn Romans less time to react.

[Critical Bill]

As ever, thanks for the responses.

Omanes, I don't recall seeing that icon - however I will check when I get home tonight. If it is there, I may need to steal your nickname and vanish from the org for a while...

If it isn't - any suggestions? A reinstall?

Kuni - thanks for the tips.

[Critical Bill]

No, it's definitely not there.

Oh well.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

No, it's definitely not there.

Sorry to inform you Critical Bill, yet my terrible mind is completely baffled by the situation, sorry. However, may I suggest that you try patching up to 1.5/1.6. It may, hopefully, fix your problem and enable the night-battles feature - perhaps there was a bug in older patches which caused some nasty night-battles problems. I hope this works, sorry I can't help you very well, good luck, cheers!

[Third spearman from the left]

Can I just add that there is no choice when it comes to night battles. Even if your general has the night fighting ability, it does not mean he has the choice to fight battles either at day or night. You have to wait the the tick box to be available.

I have fought only one night battle, early on as the Sassanids and I'm nearing the end of my campaign now, they are very rare events.

[Critical Bill]

Ah, that could be it - I've been expecting it to happen every time.

Suddenly life seems better again, as I'm already running BI 1.6.

[Third spearman from the left]

Cool, if you need any advice in your Sassanids campaign post again and I'll offer some tips. Good luck

[Critical Bill]

Cheers.

Done the Sassanids - bit too easy really (admittedly playing on M/M).

Having a go with the Vandals, and am meesing about with the Hordes down in the Middle East. Is there a bug or feature that will only allow you to sack a ceratin amount of towns? I sieged Antioch, and was offered the choice to sack or occupy. I chose to sack but obviousy my horde decided that the real estate opportunity was too good to pass up, and just moved in (messing up the other sieges I had in progress).

Is Antioch just a too desirable ocean-front area?

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi again Critical Bill,
I'm sorry to say that, unless you have recently chosen to occupy a town, then it will be a nasty bug. I would think that it is hard-coded, so, sadly, it is not resolvable through text modification. My sincere apologies.