anybody play hard battles?

**ldb88** · 01-20-2009, 06:35

VH/VH It really is very challenging, but that's part of the fun!

Still, you do get incredibly good at beating the AI. I usually get between 5:1 and 10:1 kill:death ratio on evenly matched, medium-sized battles, usually closer to 10:1 when I outnumber the enemy. (I tend to do poorly on large battles because it's more difficult to micro. I even set unit size to medium to make controlling my units easier).

I don't know how well I would do on medium battle difficulty. A balanced battle? The player has brains, so the computer must have bonuses. Or brains. But bonuses are easier to code

**DaCrAzYmOfO** · 01-22-2009, 06:19

VH/VH = Kill the general, charge the rear, wipe and repeat. Gets old quickly....

Ive found that trying to emulate tactical maneuvers and actually fighting one on one and getting casualties on medium is much more rewarding...especially when you lose...oh yes...trixy trixy AI...damn them and their hiding in woods lol

And btw, fighting hordes of extraordinarii on VH is NO FUN AT ALL. even with a full army of slingers or 3 units of gesatae.. :(

**Connacht** · 01-22-2009, 13:10

I really dislike the idea that harder difficulties are so only because they give bonuses to enemy units (and not because they improve AI).
However, on medium difficulty I find the game too easy, I just have to sit and make some movements, the enemy will ALWAYS die.
With H or VH instead there is the possibility that my opponents might crush my soldiers if they have strong enough armies (anyway, sadly the majority of battles still have the usual result with all the enemy soldiers routing or laying on the ground).

**rootje** · 01-22-2009, 13:35

I have a question concerning this topic, I started a campaign on vh/m with Rome 3 weeks ago and eventho I roleplay and try to keep my legions relatively small[1 legion army per region,for example] I still tend to defeat stack after stack of ai controlled armys with relative ease. Is there anyway to change a campaign running to hard battle difficulty :(?

I'd hate to capture all those rebel settlements all over again and do so much work again, just because the ai has let me down in difficulty...

(simple example? I've started expanding in gaul; gave a FM a full stack made up of the troops a roman consul would have had back in the days, even afterhe got locked in the mountains by troops and had bad morale traits due to rationing still I defeated full stack after full stack, even taking on stacks with ''naked fanatics'' with releative ease, the troops of Rome seem just too good to provide a challenge without giving the AI +4 on all stats...)

I've still havn't seen a single defeat yet..while in medieval total war 2[on vh/vh,btw, but it uses different ai] I used to get my ass kicked once in a while due to stupid mistakes or an ai actually using the advantages he got[or the ones i gave him] in a nice way...

**Starforge** · 01-22-2009, 13:55

Rootje - no way I know of to change difficulty once started.

Personally I run VH/H playing most of the factions. I found VH/VH requires (from me anyhow) a larger level of exploiting the AI (Kill leader / take greater advantage of the AI's inability to maneuver / Horse Archers / or baiting AI units with high value tagets that they'll blindly follow on the map regardless of where it leaves them tactically.)

I don't rely on historic formations, army composition or tactics, however, making Hard a good fit for my houserules. I don't use retraining - only merged replacements as one of my houserules because typically, 3 chevrons and you've cancelled the hard advantage making the fights all too easy again.

I don't lose a lot of fights but it does happen.

**Cambyses** · 01-22-2009, 23:53

I have tried all the settings and now always play at H difficulty with huge unit size. Yes, casualties are painfully high at times, but personally I find this is needed to combat the AI's incompetence. On M all you need to do is make sure your troops form a proper line of battle and guard your flanks appropriately = victory. In H you need to actually take a more positive tactical approach. I wish I had the patience for VH but I find myself getting too frustrated when my troops start disolving during a fight they *should* statistically win. Then I start shouting at the computer, telling my guys they deserve to die for being so useless etc and it just doesnt enhance the experience for me any more...

Also, as some others have mentioned, on H you dont need to try "gamey" solutions to win - just good tactics. ie hiding troops in forests at start, focus on 3-1 local advantage when attacking etc. On VH I find you are just running units around in a panic all the time.

I know what the team mean when they talk about the balance at M, but its just too easy to win if you have been playing the game for a while.

**rootje** · 01-23-2009, 01:18

Just went I wanted to restart my roman campaign switching from medium to hard battle difficulty, my two best generals got assasinated, i got attacked by the gauls,swebosz,carthaginians and lusotanians[and still have a front open with getai] and suddenly noticed carthage had gotten a reform and started massing troops that were way better than my triari and principes, they have pretty awesome looks too,blue and green armor!

Anyhow, this will keep things entertaining still, got my ass kicked hard on a city invasion when his superior troops waltzed tru my lines and I had to fight for my life just to get a win on a time victory

..too bad the next turn they again laid siege to the city again,ha, my poor general just became a roman hero...