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I am using a 4 turns per year mod which really allows me to develop and role play generals, agents and armies something I have never really done with a TW game before. I am still experimenting with the army traditions and I am curious to see which ones other people have found most useful?
So far I am focused on defense for the deployables and the missle range, but after that I haven't figured out which ones I prefer. What do you guys like?
I had a melee-centric army so I concentrated on zeal mostly to increase melee damage.
When available (not all factions seem to have it), I rather like Unrelenting Force for the extra movement range, which is always useful.
Of the combat-related traditions, I tend to avoid situational traits which need particular battle types in order to be activated (ambush buffs, etc). I prefer buffs which will always be in effect. I also tend towards melee/spear infantry buffs over missile/cav traits, but of course that's playstyle-dependent.
Movement range and night fighter to stop AI reinforcing battles with 60 stacks of 1 general.
Always go for unrelenting force, like i said in my starting guide back in autumn. The most value you can get out of one army is if it is fast enough to get where you want it. Preferably it can hop from one settlement to the other in one turn.
I'd consider ambushes if i am ever on the back foot, i.e. I'm a gaul or german and the Roman war machine is methodically pushing inside my home provinces. I was expecting this to happen, but it hasn't so far. Sometimes I actually miss the cheating Roman AI from R1.
Woody Allen said that 70% of success is showing up. Unrelenting Force helps you do just that.
Always go for spear/ sword buffs and ive recently been going for dread I think its called. -10% enemy moral ;)
That dread seems to have no particular effect on VH/legendary. Probably, because AI's morale is boosted. Even in ambushes (-25% morale), I have a hard time routing the AI on legendary; just end up killing it. On normal, yes: dread + ambush = almost an insta-rout.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamakazi
You finally got around to playing Legendary despite the lack of a tactical map and saving?
I play it, but I get really pissed when I get the slow-down in rain or in siege battles when the fire missiles come out. Tactical overview was a workaround for those situations.Quote:
Originally Posted by Myth
I do not find much difference between VH and legendary (if any besides the missing radar map) though. I know there is a slight handicap to happiness, but that is not making any dent in my play. I know my agents get handicaps, but I am still succeeding with them left and right. Diplomacy? No worries either: I can make half the map my staunch buddies if I choose to do so (like in the screen I sent you). This is definitely not the legendary difficulty of Shogun 2.
I had to take a break from my legendary campaign.... i got annoyed lol
I will have to reconsider unrelenting force as a tradition. I had focused on movement from my embedded agents but since I lose this bonus when they die or move on to other activities it is probably better to apply it to the army level. I use fully upgraded workshops so I don't see much need for further melee bonuses.
I wouldn't view UF as a "replacement" for agent movement bonus, but rather an augment. When the two are combined, it can get pretty impressive how far an army can march in one turn.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seyavash
I tend to have one army focused on the ambush tradition, melee damage and mercenary upkeep. So, if an unfortunate AI army ventures into my supposedly undefended territory in forced march stance this very army pops up (it's legacy gets reinstated), hires local mercs and does the dirty job... Even better if my faction is Seleucids and the general gets to be an armored Indian elephants unit ;)
Do the mercenary related traits & traditions count for upkeep too? The text stated recruitment price which I assumed was the initial price (which is quite low to begin with) so I never bothered with them.
Since the mercs (and the army) get disbanded the same turn the recruitment price is the only one I see (usually). And yeah, that perk is an unnecessary luxury.Quote:
Originally Posted by Myth
It's a high risk strategy, I admit. At times, the merc pool is depleted. Then you have only the general's elephants to attack with. Still, works in the early game. Whistling arrows, full ambush charge: have routed full stacks of early AI militia armies. Just have to make sure to rout missiles first.
If there were a way to lower the obscene upkeep prices for mercs I'd consider keeping them as core units within some army compositions. Things like Veteran Mercenary Hoplites, Mercenary African Elephants, Cretan Archers and Balearic/Rhodian Slingers for example.
My workaround for this in legendary is to alt-ctrl-del and quit Rome as soon as I see the lag. If you reload and continue campaign, you start with the same battle, but different random weather (hopefully). It's a pain, but better than the alternative.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slaists
The military tech lowers it a bit (more so for Charthage) and there is a cunning based general's skill (with 3 levels) that lowers it further. If I remember, there is one skill that specifically targets mercs and another that targets cost for the whole army. If I am not dreaming, there is also an army tradition that deals with upkeep costs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Myth
Oh, yes, for merc general, you want this:
"Mercenary contacts"
(+1/+2/+3) cunning
(-4%/-8%/-12%) mercenary unit hiring costs
(0/-6%/-12%) upkeep costs for mercenary units
(0/+15%/+30%) to the chance of replenishing the mercenary pool
@Fridge, ALT + F4 works too since, at the time of the rain FPS drop, the game technically is still responsive. Can get some nasty leftovers in RAM with alt-ctrl-delQuote:
Originally Posted by Fridge