modding battle casualties

[Javolenus]

Hi There,

I'm not a modder but I'm getting interested in customising my MTW2 game experience. And so I'd like to ask the following question:

Is it possible to change battles so that there are fewer casualties? What I want is for one side to rout before being totally annihilated, which I think is more realistic and historical.

Can someone advise me on this? I'd be grateful for any help or advice. I don't even know if this is possible, but I'd like a closer simul of Medieval warfare.

Although it can be therapeutic to totally slaughter the AI (if you've had a bad day, for example) I'd prefer it if armies routed before being totally destroyed - except, perhaps, for elite units, which will fight to the death.

Any help appreciated!

[FactionHeir]

You can lower the morale of units or just use autoresolve.

[Javolenus]

Hi FactionHeir,

Thanks for this. How do I lower morale for units? I mean, which file do I need to edit? I've already unpacked MTW2 and I'm happily playing VanillaMod, so if I know which file to tweak, I can easily access it. Thanks for your help! Basically my idea was to have 'ordinary' troops of all factions break sooner, but have elite troops of all factions stick with the fighting.

Meanwhile, something that's really bugging me:

I spent ages designing loading screens for my own use with VanillaMod. I managed to install the first 'versions' OK but decided to improve them and re-inserted them. But now I get 'Medieval Total War' across the top of all my new loading screens! (wasn't there before!) Do you know how I can get rid of this and just have my custom loading screens (i.e. without the 'Total War' logo etc.)?

Sorry to ask, but I've spent hours trying to solve this!

Thanks again - and thanks for VanillaMod!

[FactionHeir]

No idea regarding loading screens. Maybe Alletun's tutorial could help though.

Regarding casualties, mod the unit file.

[Javolenus]

That's great - many thanks!

[Haiku]

Hey Javolenus, I read this file, and then went back and toyed around alot to see what could be done as far as more realistic battles were concerned. I got a tip off from another thread on the 'mod chat' section, but I do not remember what it was titled. The meat of the discussion was the editing of the armor and defensive skill values to make battles more realistic. After several attempts to see how I could make it most realistic and balanced, I found that editing the following values would help considerably:

--editing the defensive skill value using a formula: a medium sized number + number based on their training level, multiplied by a percentage

Using that formula keeps it balanced. After a few tries of just multiplying the defensive values of all units by three, it left me with swordsmen almost invincible, and and everything else absolutely screwed.

--editing armor progressively higher, leaving flesh low (or even reducing it!)
example: +10% (padded), +25% (L.chain), +35% (H.chain),
+50% (partial plate), etc, in this manner, so that armor makes a
greater difference, and late period battles can last awhile.

--editing shield values: a simple multiplication (a small one) should work here;
I haven't tested it yet, however. (x2 or 3 should be fine)

--To keep this whole thing from making missile units obsolete, it would be a
good idea to multiply the attack value of all missile units primary weapon
by x2 for bows/crossbows/spears, and x3 for gunpowder. This will also help
with the fact that flesh-level armor wont be much help against a storm of
pointy death from above.