The "feel" of the game(s) / A brief foray into RTW:BI

[caravel]

...you've got a whole bunch of attributes for characters

Confusing and overly complex retinues and traits. They are a great idea but trying to decipher their effects requires a pen and paper. There should have been a better breakdown with the information displayed in a tabular form with the end results i.e. +2 command, -2 morale, +1 influence etc in plain black and white.

...but once you hit the battlefield WHOA. Chaos. Heavy cavalry can steamroll pretty much anything, even spears.

I think it's hard to get used to if you're coming from MTW. Spear units come in two types: Those with Phalanx ability and those without. Those without are not the same as your MTW spear units, even when in guard mode (Hold Formation/Hold Position). For cavalry destruction and generally very strong defence, you need phalanx units. There is not much chance of even heavy cavalry surviving for long when charging a unit of Armoured Hoplites head on. Also remember that your generals' cavalry units are 2 hit point units which basically means that every man in the unit takes two critical hits to kill. This is what makes them seem overpowered.

When you charge into a formation, there is no cohesion on either side. Just a mess of mixed troops. Kinda hard to play the "genius puppet-master" in that situation

Well this is pretty much how battles would have been, not fighting in solid blocks but becoming fragmented and intermingled. It's confusing at first but IMHO this is one small improvement.

A 3 star general is pretty much guaranteed to slaughter any army with no command stars, regardless of size

Not in my experience. In MTW/VI an army composed of crap units could take on anything if they had a 9 star general leading them. This is definitely not the case in RTW where your units individual merits count for more.

Archers are freaking deadly!!! You can deplete a unit by half with just a couple of rounds of missile fire!!

Yes archers are grossly overpowered, and the physics are all wrong for missile flight in general.

None of my battles have lasted more than 5 or so real-time minutes, and I've never lost more than 30 troops in any battle.

Yes the battles are far too fast because the movement rates are unrealistically fast and there is poor balance as regards morale, fatigue and general kill rate. Morale also appears imbalanced but that is also down to kill rates.

As for the campaign map, it's not perfect and it took me a long time to get into it, but I can now see it's merits and find it quite playable.

Have any of you thought of trying any of the mods such as EB or RTR?

[drone]

As for the campaign map, it's not perfect and it took me a long time to get into it, but I can now see it's merits and find it quite playable.

To me, the campaign map was manageable with a small number of cities, but once your empire got medium-sized it became very cumbersome, especially dealing with agents and rebels. The TW series in general have lacked the "cities summary" screen that many TBS games have that allows a quick glance and control over multiple cities' status and build queues. For me, the in-turn battles compounded the campaign map management issues, they tended to break up my train of thought. I eventually just forced myself to do break a turn into sub-turns, with a city phase, then an agent phase, then a troop and ship phase, then combat, then cleanup. Still took forever though. So, what's your secret?

[caravel]

To me, the campaign map was manageable with a small number of cities, but once your empire got medium-sized it became very cumbersome, especially dealing with agents and rebels. The TW series in general have lacked the "cities summary" screen that many TBS games have that allows a quick glance and control over multiple cities' status and build queues. For me, the in-turn battles compounded the campaign map management issues, they tended to break up my train of thought. I eventually just forced myself to do break a turn into sub-turns, with a city phase, then an agent phase, then a troop and ship phase, then combat, then cleanup. Still took forever though. So, what's your secret?

Pretty much the same as you and I find the large empires tedious - though the same goes for MTW. Once an empire has become large enough to be quite secure I tend to give up anyway.

[Mooks]

Pretty much the same as you and I find the large empires tedious - though the same goes for MTW. Once an empire has become large enough to be quite secure I tend to give up anyway.

Glad im not the only person that does this. When your not shifting a army or two around constantly to repel invasions from all sides, or waiting for that to happen, then its just not that fun.

I liked RTW though. The risk board isnt my thing, and I liked having to choose my battleground (even if occasionally I get the downside of the mountain and the enemy attacks from the above ground). It defintely could use some tweaking, the unrest thing was a game killer. Its almost impossible to roleplay in that game.

[Drunk-Monk]

Despite its fault's I enjoy RTW, however only when it is modded. Otherwise the Battles make me want to quit, because they require little strategy and are generally over in around 3 1/2 minutes.

I don't find the campaing management a problem, to be honest MTW always seemed harder seeing as every province seemed to have 30 buildings + and the titles, armour and morale bonus's always seemed so time consuming, trivial and pointless. (Sorry to all the micro-managers out there)

[Roark]

Well, I just spent 8 or 9 campaign seasons chasing microscopic remnants of a Hun Horde around the map to get them out of my territory.

*uninstalls*

[caravel]

I don't play BI myself so I don't know about that. If you're looking for a better game than MTW or STW you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for something to move on to after you've exhausted all other possibilities and mods with MTW, then RTW is ok, if you give it a chance and don't expect too much. Did you try any of the mods?