Some Questions

[jonbrave]

I have some questions that would make playing this excellent game even more enjoyable:

1. What's the difference between morale & valour?

2. How do you get high valour troops built initially? Is it churches etc.? And does tax level in a province have good/bad effects on valour of troops raised there? I thought I read low taxes gave you higher valour, but I don't see it happening.

3. In a battle, is there a way of rotating/wheeling your whole army to face a new direction, while keeping your lines continuous. I find if I select the lot and Alt+LeftClick I don't get what I want; I then end up having to do each one individually, and even then they do it on the spot and you end with a horribly staggerred line. I suspect you can't, which is a shame, as it's *so* common to need to wheel your lines as the enemy moves to one side.

4. I don't *seem* to notice my inquisitors succeeding in burning generals? I get to know when an accused goes free; am I supposed to know when/if I've burned him?

5. It's all very well building up a valuable province with a big castle, but basically this means my troops can retreat into it when attacked and hold out while I bring up a relief force --- that's the point of it. Which is fine, but when attacked and I retreat into castle, lots of my buildings get destroyed at that point. Which kind of means what's the point of building a province up much? You seem to end up losing the buildings each time you're attacked?

6. I don't really get the Hold Position (not Hold Formation) button in battles; I don't really understand/see how it's working?

7. Do people build troops in non-armourer provinces and then pay to upgrade in an armourer province? Or do you build armourers everywhere?

8. Did I really read that auto-resolve does not take castle into account? Not even: if castle then defender = defender * strength_increment?

That'll do for now. You people are usually so good --- a prompt reply will help me get even more enjoyment out of it today

[LestaT]

to questions no 4 .. only generals with lowest numbers of crosses usually get burned and only for catholic generals
( i think ). usually i use this option i'm going to attack into an enemy teritory which have a high star rating general.

[LestaT]

to questions no 5 . i usually built many type of building in provinces in the heart of my 'empire'. something like a capital province. for far away province i usually built until castle level with few military type buildings for easier retraining. provinces in between usually i crammed them all with economic types. the more i expend then i slowly upgraded these economic provinces for some military types. anyway for me the best defence is to attack. so if see any rival faction building up armies in neighbouring province then better prepared with counter units. sometimes when they see a strong force nearby then the wont attack.

[Shahed]

Hello & Welcome http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif


Quote[/b] ]What's the difference between morale & valour?


Morale is the group spirit and feeling of your troops.
This determines how long they can hold out before freaking and runnin from the ememy.

Valor is the fighting ability of your troops. Each man is tracked individually and the average valor of your unit is displayed. The higher the valor the more combat effective your troops (broadly speaking)


Quote[/b] ]2. How do you get high valour troops built initially? Is it churches etc.? And does tax level in a province have good/bad effects on valour of troops raised there? I thought I read low taxes gave you higher valour, but I don't see it happening.


You have to build higher level troop production buildings, to give your troops a higher starting valor. If you want higher starting valor build right up to the top of the tech tree for that unit. Also some provinces have give a valor binus to troops produced there. e.g Mercia for Billmen. Taxes have no effect on valor, they just give you more oncome. The higher the taxes the less loyal your population, ceteris paribus.

The Valor also affects the combat values of each unit. The higher the valor the higher the combat values, the higher the combat values the better combat a unit can survive.

umm actually I think I can help you most by pointing you to these threads and sites:

This is a GREATEST starting point.
Beginner's Guide to MTW (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=9203)

I just wrote this, you may find it useful.
General Advice and Eastern Cavalry Tactics (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=NW;f=7;t=10420)

Look for the unit compare tool, it will show you the strengths and weaknesses of each unit.
Clan Beserk Unit Compare Tool (http://shogun.cafe24.com/medieval/)

Cheers http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Shahed]

Please check those threads, but here's some more for you:


Quote[/b] ]3. In a battle, is there a way of rotating/wheeling your whole army to face a new direction, while keeping your lines continuous. I find if I select the lot and Alt+LeftClick I don't get what I want; I then end up having to do each one individually, and even then they do it on the spot and you end with a horribly staggerred line. I suspect you can't, which is a shame, as it's *so* common to need to wheel your lines as the enemy moves to one side.


Select all and press ALT+right click


Quote[/b] ]4. I don't *seem* to notice my inquisitors succeeding in burning generals? I get to know when an accused goes free; am I supposed to know when/if I've burned him?

Train your inquisitors on low piety generals, pedophiles, perverts, heretics etc... you will receive a message when you exorcist has succeded.


Quote[/b] ]5. It's all very well building up a valuable province with a big castle, but basically this means my troops can retreat into it when attacked and hold out while I bring up a relief force --- that's the point of it. Which is fine, but when attacked and I retreat into castle, lots of my buildings get destroyed at that point. Which kind of means what's the point of building a province up much? You seem to end up losing the buildings each time you're attacked?

You cannot build higher level buidlings without the higher level castles to support them, you cannot have higher starting valor without higher level buildings (unless the province gives a valor bonus to that troop type). The point is also glory, might fortresses across the land are testament to your economic and military wealth. Also small numbers of troops in large structures can hold out forever. The best is never to let the enemy into a province which you value, hence you never lose any buildings. It can help if you have 10 men inside a fortress, and the enemy attacks, They will pay dearly to assualt, in lives, and also while they are waiting to assualt the population may revolt against their new masters.


Quote[/b] ]6. I don't really get the Hold Position (not Hold Formation) button in battles; I don't really understand/see how it's working?

When your unist are in hold postion they will fight for the ground they stand on, if the enemy is defeated and runs they will not chase (provided they have disciplined status e.g Janissary Infanty) and return to their position. Perhaps if it is an enemy elite unit they will chase anyway.


Quote[/b] ]7. Do people build troops in non-armourer provinces and then pay to upgrade in an armourer province? Or do you build armourers everywhere?

Armor is good for temp, lush, arid climates. Indesert better off without armor. I personally build armorers in only those provinces where I want non-desert troops produced. Armorers are required for some troop types e.g Lancer

[Shahed]

Hope that helped, also you can visit:

The Library (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=SF;f=20)

for more info.

Cheers http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Qilue]

Quote[/b] (SeljukSinan @ Sep. 07 2003,06:15)]
Quote[/b] ]3. In a battle, is there a way of rotating/wheeling your whole army to face a new direction, while keeping your lines continuous. I find if I select the lot and Alt+LeftClick I don't get what I want; I then end up having to do each one individually, and even then they do it on the spot and you end with a horribly staggerred line. I suspect you can't, which is a shame, as it's *so* common to need to wheel your lines as the enemy moves to one side.


Select all and press ALT+right click
Small addition.

All the units you want to rotate must be linked. Select all, and click the button that looks like multiple flags, it's the 4th one from the left. Be carefull not to click the one 3rd from the left which is the rout button.

[Gregoshi]

Welcome to the Org jonbrave. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif I hope 4 replies within an hour has enhanced your enjoyment of the game. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[ToranagaSama]

Quote[/b] ]6. I don't really get the Hold Position (not Hold Formation) button in battles; I don't really understand/see how it's working?


This means that your unit will not retreat a single step until they are ready to flee.

I use this in two ways and situations:

First you must have notice that Archers will stand and shoot arrows, but when an enemy unit gets close they then turn and run until they have some distance and/or the enemy unit stops chasing them or becomes engaged with another unit.

In which case the Archers will stop and resume firing. Also, you may have noticed that when archers are firing and have zeroed in upon a distant enemy unit, that the enemy until seek to move out of range. The Archer unti will then move forward or toward the enemy unit to maintain range and resume firing.

This behaviour will change if you put the Archers on Hold Position. If attacked the Archers will not retreat and an the enemy unit, described above, will be able to close and engage.

In the second example above, Hold Position will mean that the Archers will not Advance to maintain Range, but rather will Hold their Position and stop firing.

The above applies to all units in a similar fashion. Take Spears, normally, if engaged with anothere unit you may notice that each battling unit while fighting will move both forward and backward depending on the ebb and sway of battle.

Just like in a Boxing Match a fighter will move forward on the Attack and Backward on the Defense. It is the same for in MTW. A Unit, if it is losing end of a fight, will continually move backward until it decides to flee. Conversely, a winning unit will continually move forward until victory Usually, two engaged units will ebb and flow untill dominance is decided.

Hold Position will prevent a Unit from moving Backward on the Defense or Forward on the Offense. A unit will Stand Its Ground until it decides to flee or achieves victory.

Additionally, if the enemy unit decides to withdraw or flee, your unit on Hold Position will NOT give chase.


Quote[/b] ]5. It's all very well building up a valuable province with a big castle, but basically this means my troops can retreat into it when attacked and hold out while I bring up a relief force --- that's the point of it. Which is fine, but when attacked and I retreat into castle, lots of my buildings get destroyed at that point. Which kind of means what's the point of building a province up much? You seem to end up losing the buildings each time you're attacked?

Are you playing the patched version of MTW or unpatched or Vikings? If patched or Vikings, guess what? Unpatched is even worse Hehe. In Shogun ALL your buildings were destroyed.

The thing to realize is that you are supposed to Defend your provinces. Running to the Castle is a defeat, just not a Total defeat. Consequently, some penalty MUST be paid. Lesson: Defend your borders and defeat any interlopers