Miscellaneous Questions

[Ishmael]

Miscellaneous question time! YAY!

Ok folks, I have a few random questions I'd like to put to you on all sorts of random topics. If you can answer any or all that would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I'll probably think of a few immediately after I post (you know how it is) and add those in an edit, so keep your eyes open.

1) How does fire on ships work? Will those tiddly litttle fires always grow into massive infernos that sink the ship if you/the AI does nothing about it? Or can they naturally stay small and/or go out, and so pose no threat to the ship? If they do always grow, how fast is this process? And what affect does fire have on morale?

2) Does the current tax rate of a province affect its 'worth' in diplomacy? I noticed that, as the Ottomans, the AI offered to trade 1 of its provinces for 2 of mine. 1 of my regions had an equal income to the AI's, but my other region had an income of '0,' due to being tax exempt. So was the AI just greedy, or does tax rate actually influence the AI?

3) Are the '8 inch mortars' the Russians get in their lineup for custom battles actually any better than their '4 inch' cousins? Also, are Ottoman and Maratha mortars any better than their European counterparts (they have different names, but I'm not sure if they are actually different)?

4) Does the presence of the Admiral's Flagship (with Admiral intact) give a moral boost to nearby ships?

5) Is it practical to use dragoons as mounted infantry, or do you use them as cavalry? For that matter, what is the difference between light and normal dragoons?

6) Has anybody given Madrid and/or Paris and/or England to the Powhatan yet (I'm looking at you, Megas Methuselah)? :clown:

7) How much money do the AI nations generally have available for diplomacy? If you give them a brilliant offer (for them) but they can't afford it will they still reject it with the generic 'your proposal is utterly rejected!' speech? And if you have a deal where they're paying money over a period of turns and can't pay, do you just lose out?

Ok, thats it for now, I might think of some more later. Thanks guys!

[Turbosatan]

I can't help with all of your questions my friend but I know the answer to a couple:-

1) If my ships catch on fire, unless I stop them dead & drop the anchor, they almost always become engulfed in a raging conflagration. Tarred ropes, wood, gunpowder & acres of sails go up like a Turkish cigarette held to a blowtorch. My advice is sail out of immediate danger, drop anchor & turn off fire at will. Then pray.

2) Not sure; but: the AI is programmed to desperately want some regions. Could it be that the Ottomans wanted that particular province that was "worth zero" for a victory condition or summink?

4) Having an Admiral sail near boosts the morale of your ships' sailors & can recover them from routing (unless they're like way-gone in terror). It's like having a general on a land battle. I don't know the Admiral's radius of effect, though, nor whether it gets bigger as the Admiral increases in rank or whether the morale boost radius is fixed like in MTW1.

5) They're not very good cavalry. In a pinch, their increased unit size makes them ideal to act as a speedbump to an enemy cavalry charge, but it's a bit of a waste unless you're desperate.

I am often desperate.

& yes, it is possible to use them as mounted infantry. Whilst your foot troops are slogging it out, run them full speed around the flanks or behind the enemy & dismount & let them potshot away. Or keep them in reserve & use them to quickly deploy & plug a gap in your line; if the enemy are going to break your line (or you just need to distract them & break up their attack) send them running to the appopriate point & let them buy you some time.

Nota Bene: It is very easy to then forget about the poor muppets. This is why my dragoons almost always die. Horribly. But, you know.

Light dragoons get a different (shorter?) carbine, so they can shoot from the saddle. Dragoony dragoons must dismount before firing but can use the wedge or diamond formation on the mounted charge so are a teeny tiny ickle bit better on their horseys. & their unit card looks less cool.

[Servius]

The only one I feel okay addressing is #5 on dragoons. I use them as light cavalry. I feel the ability to set up a small shooty group behind the enemy is not worth the trade off of mobility. I usually bring 4 cavalry units with me in my standard stack (6 if you count the Generals). Of those, 2 are always Dragoons. All 4 usually are, until I can finally build full-size heavy cavalry units. They have a larger unit size than normal cav, they can still form a wedge, and once you've taken a city, they are 2x as useful for suppressing popular unrest as other units.

The diff between Dragoons and Light Dragoons are...

1) Dragoons can form a wedge; Light Dragoons can't.
2) Dragoons can't fire while mounted; Light Dragoons can.
3) Light Dragoons have slightly better stats than Dragoons I think.

Both Dragoons and Light Dragoons have the same 2x multiplier on their ability to suppress popular unrest in a city.

[Ishmael]

Thanks guys!
Anybody else know any answers? Any at all?

[phunkbot]

Hi Ishmael, excellent points there, all 7 are ones I'd like to learn more about as well.

Some stuff on 5.) dragoons:
- I've successfully used them as mounted infantry when in siege battles to quickly rush up to and scale an unguarded wall; i guess it could also work for quickly garrisoning buildings.
- For running around your enemy and shooting them in the back from up close before charging in light dragoons are excellent, regular ones would take too much involvement for little gain to be useful to me.
- Light Dragoons actually work pretty good against other cavalry for the most part for me.



...

& their unit card looks less cool. +1 :)

[0rly?]

light dragoons can skirmish :idea2:

[Servius]

Well, I can give you some guesses for the others...

#1 - My guess is that, if the ship continues to fight, the fire will grow. I remember a dev saying that once a ship catches fire, the AI will pull the crew away from the guns and other activities to put out the fire. So, I think that AI ships may rarely burn down, but YOUR ships may be at greater risk if you don't remember to turn off Fire At Will and some other things to free up your ship's crew to put out the fire.

#2 - My guess is that the tax rate doesn't directly affect a region's worth in diplomacy, but it does affect it indirectly. My guess it that the AI looks at the revenue generated by a region, and makes decisions based on that. To the extent that tax rates affect revenue, then yes, tax rates may affect diplomacy, but the real variable the AI is looking at is revenue.

#3a - Unfortunately, le FUSIL doesn't show an 8" Mortar, and I haven't cracked into the raw data files yet, so I can't say anything about that. My guess is that the 8" would be better than the 4", but I'm not certain how. It seems clear the round is 2x as big, which would probably affect damage to things like walls, and may also spread more shrapnel if it explodes over the heads of infantry. Just can't say for sure, sorry.

#3b - Rather than type in all the stats of each Mortar unit, just check out le FUSIL here...
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=241293

#4 - I haven't done this myself, and won't play ETW again until the cursed unit bug gets fixed, but I know the morale-boosting affect of the General's Bodyguard unit is displayed when you right-click on it and view the right side tab. If ships have that same level of detail, you may be able to find your answer there.

#5 - Addressed above.

#6 - The who!? The Powhatan? Did you make that up? Who are they, and why would you want to give them major western Euro regions?

#7 - No idea. I think CA has done a GREAT job providing the additional info that explains why nations like or dislike you, which helps you know what you did to cause the current status of the relationship and how you might change it. I wish that kind of info was also provided when the AI rejects your diplo offers. Their negative responses are often too vague for me to know what caused the rejection. For example, my trade agreement offers will sometimes be rejected, even if both nations have available trade routes and if our relations are excellent. Sometimes the response is something like "...you must first have something to trade." That makes no sense, since another nation in a similar position WILL take your trade offer...

[Darth Venom]

...
#2 - My guess is that the tax rate doesn't directly affect a region's worth in diplomacy, but it does affect it indirectly. My guess it that the AI looks at the revenue generated by a region, and makes decisions based on that. To the extent that tax rates affect revenue, then yes, tax rates may affect diplomacy, but the real variable the AI is looking at is revenue.
...

I'm at work so I can't be sure, but doesn't the mouseover tooltip in the diplomacy/provinces screen show the worth of the province rather the the income you recieve from it? Since the worth of the province is not changed by your tax rate, the latter shouldn't matter in negotiations.

[Servius]

I think Darth Venom is right. The total Region Wealth is probably the best variable for the game to use when trying to determine the worth of a region. If that's the case though, it doesn't explain why the AI would so heavily devalue one of the OP's regions that was currently tax exempt. Who knows. Like I said, ETW does a much better job of explaining what's going on under the hood through in-game tool tips, but there are still aspects that are not clearly explained, and how the AI values regions when figuring out trade proposals is one of them.

[ncbeach]

in mp... lite dragoons are the cav of choice.. i wont bore you with all the reasons.. but good players bring them .... really good players bring more..

regular dragoons are worthless.. a waste of graphics at current cost...

[Darth Venom]

Like I said, ETW does a much better job of explaining what's going on under the hood through in-game tool tips, but there are still aspects that are not clearly explained, and how the AI values regions when figuring out trade proposals is one of them.

Although I too am one of those who'd rather know every single variable that governs the game, in terms of fun AND realism it's probably a good thing that the king/president of nation X (i.e. the player) doesn't exactly know what and why the ruler of nation Y does/ where his preferences lie.

[phunkbot]

Although I too am one of those who'd rather know every single variable that governs the game, in terms of fun AND realism it's probably a good thing that the king/president of nation X (i.e. the player) doesn't exactly know what and why the ruler of nation Y does/ where his preferences lie.

... which is completely valid but still we could get non-numeric values to further elaborate the preferences of nation Y.

I've always disliked how stuff was obviously taken into account but not shown in any way on the UI, I definitely see more of it shown now and that's great, looking forward to more to come :yes:

[Ishmael]

#6 - The who!? The Powhatan? Did you make that up? Who are they, and why would you want to give them major western Euro regions?


Whoops, thinking of something else :beam:. The Iroquious then, or the Huron-Mysore at a pinch. Any random faction. As for the latter half of your question, thats the whole point-nobody in their right minds would give them those regions, so i'd like to see what they'd do with them:clown:.

Anyway, thanks for the answers everybody!
Oh yes, sorry I haven't answered earlier, im on holiday in thailand and internet is sporadic