Fantasy Units

[Banzai!]

I believe one of the main reasons RTW and M2TW were such runaway successes was the fantasy/crazy units. They really livened up the game and made it so people kept on coming back to play. RTW, M2TW would not be half the games they are without wardogs/flaming pigs/chariot ballistas/whirly berserkers/elephant cannons/rocket launchers/naffatun/firethrowers.

Does anyone know what fantasy/crazy units will be in ETW?

[Sol Invictus]

I hate fantasy units.:furious3: Thankfully, ETW seems to be staying closer to history than previous TW games.

[knoddy]

I believe one of the main reasons RTW and M2TW were such runaway successes was the fantasy/crazy units. They really livened up the game and made it so people kept on coming back to play. RTW, M2TW would not be half the games they are without wardogs/flaming pigs/chariot ballistas/whirly berserkers/elephant cannons/rocket launchers/naffatun/firethrowers.

Does anyone know what fantasy/crazy units will be in ETW?

ill completely disagree with this statement, most people HATED fantasy units, and most of the mods were designed on getting them out of the game. and yes Empire seems to have none of this craziness i htink the most fantasy is the rocket launcher guys which arent really fantasy they are historical afaik

Cheers Knoddy

[ByzanKing]

I was not a big fan of the fantasy units in RTW or M2TW. But it was not a game breaker for me, as long as the gameplay is good I guess I can stand a couple fantasy units. But as the previous post states the Mod's will get them out for the players that have a problem with them.

[Sir Beane]

While no units in Empire or fantasy, there will be a few which are designed to be 'cool' and are there for show. All of these units have a basis in fact however.

~ Rocket Launchers
~ Rocket Ships
~ Elephants
~ The Puckle Gun
~ Grenadiers (if they go overboard on the grenades)
~ Steam ships
~ Whichever unit can lay landmines.
~ Highland clansmen
~ Probably some of the Special Forces units.

Not that I am complaining these are in the game. To be honest fantasy units don't bother me much. Rome was a bit silly with the black cloaked secret service ninja, and flaming pigs. Medieval 2 wasn't too bad however, the silliest unit were the elephants (and battefield assasins).

[Fisherking]

Come off it!

Robin Hood’s Sherwood Foresters was a fantasy unit! Super Elephants were offal! But no one moded them out.

I liked the Screaming Women in RTW.

Steam ships could be called fantasy I would guess. Who knows what else we will get. Maybe Admiral Hornblower or Sharp or what ever…they will have some surprises.

:laugh4:

[Sir Beane]

Come off it!

Robin Hood’s Sherwood Foresters was a fantasy unit! Super Elephants were offal! But no one moded them out.

I liked the Screaming Women in RTW.

Steam ships could be called fantasy I would guess. Who knows what else we will get. Maybe Admiral Hornblower or Sharp or what ever…they will have some surprises.

:laugh4:

I happen to like elephants :tongue:.

Robin Hood and his Sherwood Foresters are only semi-fantasy. He did exist, and so did his band of thieves. No one knows if they were quite like the legend however. And they certainly wouldn't have fought in open warfare (or been available to recruit from Caen :laugh4:)

In fact where I live Robin Hood is quite the local hero. I've visited the tree he supposedly lived in, and have also visited the grave of his friend Little John.

I only call Steam Ships fantasy because they are a bit early in Empire, and CA clearly put them in game in order to wow fans. :laugh4:

[Barkhorn1x]

I believe one of the main reasons RTW and M2TW were such runaway successes was the fantasy/crazy units.



This is wind-up, right?

:juggle2:

[Sir Beane]

This is wind-up, right?

:juggle2:

We all make mistakes. :laugh4: And there are plenty of people out there who genuinely do like the fantasy units available in RTW and MTW2. Those who don't care about historical accuracy for instance.

The Org is a funny place, full of die hard fans and historians who flinch if uniforms are the wrong colour or a town is in the game which wasn't there at the time. Most people wouldn't even notice, or care.

We aren't really representative of the general market. :laugh4:

[Sheogorath]

The quantum elephant may or may not be a fantasy unit :winkg:

[Sir Beane]

The quantum elephant may or may not be a fantasy unit :winkg:

By opening the DVD case you collapse the Quantum waveform, and the quantum elephant becomes a unit of cheap militia. Or a boat. Or a trade resource. Or an artillery unit. Or a... You get the picture. :laugh4:

[Sheogorath]

By opening the DVD case you collapse the Quantum waveform, and the quantum elephant becomes a unit of cheap militia. Or a boat. Or a trade resource. Or an artillery unit. Or a... You get the picture. :laugh4:

Or undergoes a sudden Total Existence Failure, simultaneously annihilating reality as we know it and replacing it with something far stranger.
This has probably already happened, though.[/Hitchhikers Guide]

[cannon_fodder]

While no units in Empire or fantasy, there will be a few which are designed to be 'cool' and are there for show.
Not necessarily. They might also be designed as tactically interesting and useful.

[Sir Beane]

Not necessarily. They might also be designed as tactically interesting and useful.

That's certainly something to hope for. :2thumbsup: But even if the yare useful, they also help draw the sort of crowd who like flash and bang. :laugh4:

[KozaK13]

Fantasy units arn't really that bad, just annoying in some circumstances, they probably provided much fun for the many customers who do not post on these forums or play multiplayer.

[Marten]

Fantasy units arn't really that bad, just annoying in some circumstances, they probably provided much fun for the many customers who do not post on these forums or play multiplayer.

You are right, sir. But i am satisfied to play a TW game in the age of enlightenment without any amazons hidden in siberian forests (except the proper african ladies from my amazon order of course). :yes:

[Colovion]

as long as there are no Screaming Native American Women...

CA has to tread a fine line between including important members of factions (ie: Gaulish Druids) and portraying them correctly, or not at all. Though I cringed when I saw regiments of Druids with sage sickles at their sides, I'm betting if there had been no Druids at all it would've been even more odd; then again they could've just used them as Diplomats.

In any case, I say boo-urns to fantasy units, but can recognise the reason for their existence.

[cannon_fodder]

That's certainly something to hope for. :2thumbsup: But even if the yare useful, they also help draw the sort of crowd who like flash and bang. :laugh4:
You're right, awesome destruction is part of the purpose quasi-fantasy units regardless of how well integrated in the game they are. In design terms that only really puts balancing at risk, but I think CA probably got it (close enough to) right. The fact that rocket units have limited ammo while conventional artillery doesn't suggests they're conciously trying to make the more... "spectacular" units well-balanced.

[Banzai!]

Hopefully they will add gatling guns although they are a little out of the time frame.

[pyradyn]

Only 60 years after the end date ^_^. Personally I do not like gats they birthed the gun that took the troops into the trenches and unless we can dig in with our troops Gats would be way over powered if you could get them close enough to the enemy but I do not know to much on this timeframe I am a major of Ancient European History so :P I am sure I will be corrected by either Fisher Sir Beane or another Historian of the fourms:juggle2:

[Sheogorath]

as long as there are no Screaming Native American Women...

*Insert some vague innuendo, along the lines of 'I'd make the scream, if you know what I mean.'*
:tongueg:

[gollum]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=91093

!it burnsus!

[Sheogorath]

That'd be gravedig, though :P

Also, I didn't notice that bit about the Tsar Cannon.

That'd be not only fantasy, but completely out of period as well. As I recall, the Tsar Cannon was forged in the 1500's.

Not only that, it was never intended to leave Moscow, but rather to fire grapeshot down the streets in the event of an invasion. It would certainly have been practical in that role, although one could argue that it would have been easier to build many smaller cannons with the same metal.
And it probably would have destroyed everything on the street next to the enemy soldiers as well :P

I dont think it was ever actually fired anyway, so nobody knows what would happen if it was actually loaded with a decent charge :P

[lenin96]

https://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1360/gophersupportxj0.th.jpg (https://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gophersupportxj0.jpg)

An elite mercenary unit for factions battling in America (or wherever Gophers come from).

[gollum]

Looks like a mercenary unit to used in South America and isnt that a machine gun? But anyway machine guns will be included in empire...

!it burnsus!

[Furunculus]

fantasy units = epic fail

[gollum]

fantasy units = epic sales, actually

!it burnsus!

[Argent Usher]

Reinforcement arrives in Philly :laugh4:


http://1.2.3.12/bmi/img91.imageshack.us/img91/9771/phillybc2.png


Regards A.U.

[Sir Beane]

fantasy units = epic sales, actually

!it burnsus!

Excellent wordplay :2thumbsup:.

I'm not sure if Gatling guns will be in the game. They have not been mentioned in any interview or preview as far as I am aware. And are a bit outside the time period.

The Puckle Gun however is a fully confirmed unit. It isn't a machine gun in the modern sense however. It's rate of fire, according to wikipedia, was 63 rounds in 7 minutes. A modern pistol would wipe the floor with it, let alone modern machine guns.

It will be interesting to see how it is used in game. I imagine it will do best when defending fortifications or garrisoned buildings. And given the relatively low rate of fire it shouldn't be too unbalanced either.

[Fisherking]

:dizzy2:So, we need an air force… Illini Thunderbird riders….will that do?

:beam:

[gollum]

Originally posted by Sir Beane
I'm not sure if Gatling guns will be in the game. They have not been mentioned in any interview or preview as far as I am aware. And are a bit outside the time period.

The Puckle Gun however is a fully confirmed unit. It isn't a machine gun in the modern sense however. It's rate of fire, according to wikipedia, was 63 rounds in 7 minutes. A modern pistol would wipe the floor with it, let alone modern machine guns.

It will be interesting to see how it is used in game. I imagine it will to best when defending fortifications or garrisoned buildings. And given the relatively low rate of fire it shouldn't be too unbalanced either.

Yes this is the one i read about in one of the previews. I hope it is as you say - and not like muskets and artillery in M2TW - in other words i hope this is not a practice for their WW1 future release.

Anything can be balanced if they want it (and allocate the time for it) - its just that i am not convinced that they think balance is actually worth it.

!it burnsus!

[Sir Beane]

:dizzy2:So, we need an air force… Illini Thunderbird riders….will that do?

:beam:

Zeppelins! Huge steam powered airships armed with cannons and bombs! We need a third theatre of combat, the air battle. Seeing two huge armored zeppelins firing boradsides at each other as others burned and plummeted in the backgrounf would be an incredible sight. :2thumbsup:

In South America why not let us recruit Argentavis? It was an unbelievably huge vulture-like bird that roamed the skies of Argentina 6 million years ago.

With a wingspan of somewhere between 5.8 - 8 metres (estimates vary) it is the biggest flying bird ever discovered, and more than capable of picking up a human. Seeing a few of those swooping over a battlefield dropping things on the enemy would be a fun sight. :laugh4:

In New Zealand we have Haast's Eagle, a giant eagle capable of picking up and carrying off a child. Indeed this actually happened, as the eagle inhabited the islands at the same time as the native aboriginal tribes. Sadly however they considered it good eatin' and wiped it out. (Along with virtually every other large animal on the island).

[Polemists]

Fantasy units never seemed that over powered to me, inhistoric? sure over powered? not so much.

I mean the grand bombard and cannon elephants of mtw2 I never found that impressive.


I don't mind fantasy units that much, I mean they always are in the game, so it's kind of expected at this point.


I don't think the rockets are any worse then that rocket contrapation MTW2 had, and at least this one is closer to the timeframe :laugh4:

[gollum]

i guess they have to put laser guns, plasma beams and flying saucers for you to be impressed polemists.

!it burnsus!

[Polemists]

For me to be impressed the fantasy unit would have to be included in some kind of demonstration, and that demonstration would have to take place soon, maybe in a downloadable form. :laugh4:

[gollum]

Dont be very much impatient polemists - its on its way.

!it burnsus!

[Polemists]

:laugh4:It Does nOt seeM to be getting here sOon enough.