Printable View
Understood.:bow: As a barbarian, they are equivalent to your basic infantry unit, though overpriced as mercs. Standard Warband are much cheaper, which is why I don't hire them quite as much, as Barbarians money is at a premium. Then again, it doesn't affect population growth to hire them, so there is a tradeoff.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
As far as Scythia goes...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J01tGT2qkus
To quote Darth Vader..."Impressive...Most impressive."
Reverse the roles---Cats on the attack, rather than flat-footed:creep:Quote:
To quote Darth Vader..."Impressive...Most impressive."
I'm guessing the outcome to be rather different~;)
That being said, I use HHM's quite a bit in my Scythian campaigns. Now if they just had given them the Xena war-cry:horn:
You were right.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjxAkuyf8Jg
I don't know what would have happened had I not decided to use maces, with HHM wearing some armour I figured it was not a bad idea.
You know, if somebody wants to take these videos and put them in a place for promotion purposes on the forum, that would be fine.
As is always the case, AI doesn't know how to use it's troops to full effect. Comes in handy sometimes. :yes:
Just curious, how do you all defeat a HA army if you do not have any yourselves? I know the common strategy is elite foot archers, but I'm wondering if there are any other strategies out there. If I have heavy inf, sometimes I just wait for them to exhaust their (basically inexhaustible :rtwno:) supply of arrows. Although I have never played on VH, so I don't know how effective HA are against heavy inf. in that difficulty.
In the first video the HHM's win easily because a) their formation is broader and they wrap around the sides of the cats (and the reason they killed the enemy captain so quickly); b) the cats never switched from lance to their close-combat maces.Quote:
I don't know what would have happened had I not decided to use maces, with HHM wearing some armour I figured it was not a bad idea.
If you don't have any cavalry...you're in for a loooong tedious battle:Zzzz:Quote:
Just curious, how do you all defeat a HA army if you do not have any yourselves?
I play the campaign map on VH but the battlefield maps on H, so can't help you there. I've tried VH but losing battles where I did everything right, ie. outmaneuvering the AI and for all practical purposes, outfighting it, and still losing because of the insane buffs given the AI...so I backed down to H where I could enjoy it more. Even when I lose. And if you thought playing pinball naval battles was ridiculous on H, you don't win one on VH unless you outnumber the enemy fleet at least 3 to 1...and even then you might lose:freak:Quote:
Although I have never played on VH, so I don't know how effective HA are against heavy inf. in that difficulty.
In Shogun I, the AI was fully capable of kicking your a$$ with minimal buffs...you could get outmaneuvered/outfought if you didn't pay attention. In RTW, the AI had gotten so bad that huge buffs were needed (+4 to attack on H; +7 to attack plus morale bonuses on VH). Battles that are already too fast become even shorter because it becomes a death-match where the troops with the higher morale win because they fight to the last man.
End of rant:soapbox:
I always disliked those artificial bumps whenever you played VH / VH. It was so tedious sometimes... all you had to do was to fend off huge stacks, and then try to creatively find ways to destroy endless stacks of enemies who would simply not budge even if you hit them with cavalry in the rear.
Shogun / MTW was the best.
And even then you had some horribly tough battles... Hattin on MTW anyone?
It was Shoggie for me. Just never could get excited about warfare in the time period of MTW:shrug:Quote:
Shogun / MTW was the best.
My #1 complaint about RTW was the very short length of the battles. Don't ever recall having one longer than 20 min or so, maybe 30 min to defend a bridge against multiple stacks:smash:Quote:
And even then you had some horribly tough battles
But Shogun...campaigns filled with epic marathon battles of over an hour or even more.:jawdrop: Battles where you had to pause the game to take a break because you were just as tired as your digital army:tired:
I play with a battle time limit anyway. It helps in those circumstances where you can't win, but can run around where they can't catch you, or a siege battle where they just sit outside the walls, and they would have the upper hand if I moved outside my walls. Usually only happens when Rome has Scorpions or Repeating Ballista in a besieging army.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
The very first time I lost a Shogun battle from the time limit after a hard-fought battle against long odds, I turned off the timer and never used it again. I still remember running around the battlefield trying to find the last AI unit hiding in the woods somewhere. It turned out to be a broken Yari Cavalry unit with 6 men left.:shame:Quote:
I play with a battle time limit anyway.
I have never played STW, but if the battles last that long, they must be intense. The only time I ran out of time fighting a battle in RTW was in BI against a horde army. I kept defending my city against the sea of humanity and horses, and the time ran out before the enemy could throw their last units against me. I love racking up the kills against the hordes. I believe the most I killed was 4000+ while losing around 200 of my own. Heavy infantry mows down just about any horde army.
In a city, that is. :evilgrin:
I actually won a battle that way. Two ELC and a Roman cav got attacked by a full Greek army. I hid my cohort in the woods, and ran the Roman Cav around. One unit of Greek Cavalry got ahold of them and wiped them out.~:mecry: Don't know how that happened, it should have been fairly even. But they never found the infantry, so I won the battle.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
Have also done it, say I am moving some cav, and they get attacked by a large army of infantry. I just run around till time runs out. Usually I am able to take out one or two of their units that get too far ahead of everybody else. Even better if it is cav archers I am moving.
Not all battles are an hour or two. Most are in the 15-45 min range depending on the number of reinforcements and the terrain (several provinces have extremely high mountains and it might take 15-20 min just to maneuver). But in every campaign there are at least several epic battles that take 1-2 hours to resolve~:eek: Immensely gratifying when you win...heartbreaking when you lose.Quote:
I have never played STW, but if the battles last that long, they must be intense.
If you haven't played Shogun 1, I highly recommend it. The AI is smart, both on the campaign map, and on the battlefield. The music is AWESOME: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1_1Re0fTR8; weather effects are THE best...when there's a thunderstorm, it's a damn downpour complete with lightning flashes and thunder (I got forever hooked when I fought the historical Battle of Okehazama with the thunder of your cavalry hooves as they charged down the hill matching that of the raging storm, and your NoDachi slinking through the heavy woods to snap the jaws of Oda's trap shut). Fighting a battle in the fog is simply a blast; if it's heavy enough, you can't see a damn thing and setting ambushes is just way cool (not so much if you stumble into one:shame:)
And of course, everyone's favorite, the ninja assassination cut-scenes:www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzUs1MYjeXA
Not for me:hide:Quote:
I actually won a battle that way
Must be physically connected to their horses - can't seem to understand that they are useless in a city battle. :)
Oh, by no means is it my preferred way to win, but I don't like to lose. Especially if I am sending a freshly retrained unit, and don't want to have to retrain them again, or lose the unit if I autoresolve.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
The battle time limit is so I don't have the issue of a battle going long when I have other things to do, so I have to either quit or leave it paused. I like to be able to gauge about how long I have, so that doesn't happen. I don't like leaving my computer with a program running, especially a game or web browser. If I am not using it, I like to have it closed.
Shogun was a very special game - it broke barriers, it established a new genre and it paved the way for Total War to become what it is.
Medieval however brought it into the spotlight, and Rome established the franchise. M2TW was a gem, but MTW however remains my thing. :smitten:
Just curious; I've only played three TW games, three of the four you mentioned. I'm not much interested in samurai warfare so never considered Shogun. Have you played any of the other TW games? I just ordered the MTW-II expansion (Kingdoms) from Amazon but hadn't had much interest in the other titles. Just wondering what your take is on them (if you have played them).
Played and own every TW game, except for Warhammer. ~:)Quote:
Originally Posted by LordK9
Each and every one of them has a different flavour. It depends here very much on how willing you are to delve into the period of the title in question - I never had any interest in 18th century warfare before Empire, but I approached it with an open mind and I was pleasantly surprised. Napoleon TW is one of my most played TW games. (about 250 hours)
All of them have their advantages and disadvantages. MTW is my favourite by far, second place followed by a tie between M2TW and Shogun 1. Third is Attila TW (yes, Attila!).
Approach each game with an open heart and you will be surprised. Don't hold any preconceived thoughts, especially with regards to the criticism of some games - I'm looking here at Empire TW and Rome 2 TW.
:bow:
Shogun 1 is all about tactics. The rock-paper-scissors adage applies here in spades. If you fight cavalry-heavy, the AI will adapt with lots of spears. If you fight being heavy on the spears, the AI will adapt with swords (Warrior Monks, NoDachi). Yes the campaign map is 2-D, but it is simplistic and handled very well by the AI (unlike all the 3-D maps from Rome 1 onwards, where the AI is simply lost). The battle maps are 3-D, quite variable, and along with the top-notch weather effects, rendered beautifully.
There are 4 seasons and you only receive income at fall harvest. While city management is not as complex as Rome 1, for instance, you have to be much more careful with planning infrastructure and purchasing/retraining troops. If you run out of koku in the spring, you can't get any more until fall.
If you don't care for the time period, I certainly understand. Personally, I don't care for the Napoleonic period, and will never play ETW/NTW. But if you want a game where the AI is clever and challenging (even at medium settings), and you live or die by your skill at tactics, then STW (and MTW 1) should present you with a lot of enjoyable game-time.
I totally forgot about the Autumn / fall harvest only income... oh man, that was so hard to manage sometimes. :freak: