Doug-Thompson
09-07-2007, 17:15
This is a work in progress.
The most important thing found out about missile cavalry in Kingdoms is in this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=91755). Skirmish is missing from both Egyptian Desert Cavalry in the Crusades Campaign and Spanish Jinettes in the Americas campaign.
This appears to be a grevious error instead of a deliberate design change. If this change was deliberate for reasons that are wholly unimaginable, it ruins these units. Well-armored Boyar Sons and Polish Nobles can skirmish and light Jinettes and Desert Cavalry can't? Inexplicable.
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"Kingdom's" big change of reducing the size of all cavalry units by 25 percent looks straightforward to the point of being blunt, but significant subtleties show up during gameplay.
Missile accuracy's been improved. Shields for all units have been improved at the expense of armor. Pike units are marginally faster and work better, especially against cavalry. Some infantry polearm (Halberds and such) units now have a a charge bonus better than good cavalry.
Here's some of the big effects on missile cavalry I've noticed so far:
AMMO: The ammo supply is much more constricted. Assuming that a regular horse archer still carries 25 arrows (can somebody confirm this?), the total ammo supply for a unit has apparently gone from 1,000 to 750.
Ammo is not something you really had to concern yourself with before. Now you have a more restricted supply and the improved accuracy doesn't help much if you're pinging away at his improved shield. This makes a little finesse worth bigger dividends. I've found myself, for instance, turning off fire-at-will while a unit is running, especially if they're firing over the tails of their horses at a chasing unit. I put a little more effort into getting around an opponent's shield before letting my units fire.
Obviously, all this also makes experienced units more valuable since experienced missile cavalry fires more accurately.
COMBINED ARMS There's a greater mutual dependence between melee and missile cavalry than before. A missile cavalry unit can't completely wipe out an infantry unit any more, or at least not as easily. A nice charge to finish off a weakened unit is very helpful. Likewise, melee cavalry is still quite powerful but a solid frontal charge against decent infantry will leave the cavalry victorious but decimated. It's much better to charge against a target softened-up by missiles. In a similar vein, "double duty" missile cavalry that can also make a decent melee unit is something to be prized.
GENERALS RULE Bodyguard units rule the roost. They were not reduced. Therefore, the numerical advantage of an already-overmatched regular melee cavalry unit has been reduced from about 2 to 1 all the way down to 3 to 2, at best. A faction leader can actually outnumber the average cavalry unit now. A low-loyalty nutcase is not a much greater asset than a liability.
JAVELINS RULE Javelin units, if anything, are enhanced by all these changes. The armor-piercing ability of their missiles makes them more important when facing shields and absolutely devestaging when they can get around them. They are the major threat to uber-bodyguards and they are usually good double-duty units.
All for now.
The most important thing found out about missile cavalry in Kingdoms is in this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=91755). Skirmish is missing from both Egyptian Desert Cavalry in the Crusades Campaign and Spanish Jinettes in the Americas campaign.
This appears to be a grevious error instead of a deliberate design change. If this change was deliberate for reasons that are wholly unimaginable, it ruins these units. Well-armored Boyar Sons and Polish Nobles can skirmish and light Jinettes and Desert Cavalry can't? Inexplicable.
===========
"Kingdom's" big change of reducing the size of all cavalry units by 25 percent looks straightforward to the point of being blunt, but significant subtleties show up during gameplay.
Missile accuracy's been improved. Shields for all units have been improved at the expense of armor. Pike units are marginally faster and work better, especially against cavalry. Some infantry polearm (Halberds and such) units now have a a charge bonus better than good cavalry.
Here's some of the big effects on missile cavalry I've noticed so far:
AMMO: The ammo supply is much more constricted. Assuming that a regular horse archer still carries 25 arrows (can somebody confirm this?), the total ammo supply for a unit has apparently gone from 1,000 to 750.
Ammo is not something you really had to concern yourself with before. Now you have a more restricted supply and the improved accuracy doesn't help much if you're pinging away at his improved shield. This makes a little finesse worth bigger dividends. I've found myself, for instance, turning off fire-at-will while a unit is running, especially if they're firing over the tails of their horses at a chasing unit. I put a little more effort into getting around an opponent's shield before letting my units fire.
Obviously, all this also makes experienced units more valuable since experienced missile cavalry fires more accurately.
COMBINED ARMS There's a greater mutual dependence between melee and missile cavalry than before. A missile cavalry unit can't completely wipe out an infantry unit any more, or at least not as easily. A nice charge to finish off a weakened unit is very helpful. Likewise, melee cavalry is still quite powerful but a solid frontal charge against decent infantry will leave the cavalry victorious but decimated. It's much better to charge against a target softened-up by missiles. In a similar vein, "double duty" missile cavalry that can also make a decent melee unit is something to be prized.
GENERALS RULE Bodyguard units rule the roost. They were not reduced. Therefore, the numerical advantage of an already-overmatched regular melee cavalry unit has been reduced from about 2 to 1 all the way down to 3 to 2, at best. A faction leader can actually outnumber the average cavalry unit now. A low-loyalty nutcase is not a much greater asset than a liability.
JAVELINS RULE Javelin units, if anything, are enhanced by all these changes. The armor-piercing ability of their missiles makes them more important when facing shields and absolutely devestaging when they can get around them. They are the major threat to uber-bodyguards and they are usually good double-duty units.
All for now.