High valour assassins

[Ulair]

Hi folks,

Quite a few of the fine strategists here recommend some excellent moves involving waves of high-valour assassins for knocking off kings/khans/popes/perverted elder sons. My question is - how do I get them?

I tend to try and practice my assassins on visiting holy men from afar, but they always flit around the map on the merchant naval network making it hard to nail the suckers, and then my assassin finishes up in some foreign port and gets taken by the border guards (how did they get those sound effects, btw...?) Should I be assassinating my own peasant generals instead or something? Seems a bit, well, cheesy...

Cheers,
Ulair

[SpencerH]

There's a thread in the main hall where someone (forget who) suggests killing off your own emissaries.

[Tricky Lady]

Quote[/b] (SpencerH @ April 15 2004,17:59)]There's a thread in the main hall where someone (forget who) suggests killing off your own emissaries.
...and luckily I've bookmarked that topic. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-smile.gif

Here's the link: Assassins and valour (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=14959)

You'll find loads of good info and tips here. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-book2.gif

[Doug-Thompson]

Upgrades matter in the VI. Also in VI, Syrian assassins get two stars from the start.

To me, the easiest way to train assassins is survival of the fittest: Have assassins attack each other.

An assassin attacking another assassin of equal valor has a 66 percent chance of success. So, if two of your own assassins attack each other, there's an 88.44 percent chance one of them will succeed.

If you have one assassin attack another who is just standing there, there's a 34 percent chance that the assassination attempt will fail. Your assassin could get killed and the intended victim will probably get no valor points for successfully defending himself.

Syrian assassins go from two to three stars after just one of these rounds. Regular assassins go from no stars to one.

Repeat the process as often as you wish. Essentially, you're paying 200 florins or so for a one-star assassin rather than 200 florins for two zero-star ones, and so forth.

=============

I don't order an assassination until the target and the assassins against him are in the same province.

The AI knows when you've targeted a unit for death, and will start moving it immediately. I've had much more success by stalking the prey, moving assassins into the province first and then attacking with enough assassins to have a decent chance at a kill. The victim doesn't get a chance to move.

Also, note that things like a 10 percent chance of success and so forth don't seem to reflect factors like enemy spies and counter-spying enemy assassins in a province.So, an attack on a king by a dozen assassins can fail.

The best use of 1-2 star assassins, though, is to prowl in your own provinces with harbors to intercept enemy assassins. Very occasionally, they can gain valor from that. As you get upgrades for better assassins, replace those border guards and have them fight each other,

[SpencerH]

I like that idea a lot

[Ulair]

Thanks, Tricky Lady, and thanks Doug. I thought I remembered an assassins thread in the Main Hall, but clearly I didn't bookmark it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I also meant to post this quessie there... Well, it was last thing at work, brain beginning to fail, y'know...

[bighairyman]

In VI, the viking campaign, you can build like houses which will give stars to every assassin you build in that province, too bad they don't work in the Europe map http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-gossip.gif

[katank]

they work in regular MTW too.

the build reqs are a bit high though with fortress level required for +3 valour.

however, with syria, you get 5* killers.

Note: if you like assasins, play the byz who have discounts for strategic units IIRC and also easy access to Syria.

I like Doug's survival of the fittest idea.

I'm gonna try it on my 5*s to see how quickly they go up to 6* or 7*

or maybe I'll just pick off pathetic enemy generals and pieces.