Native American factions overpowered?

[Sir Beane]

I would expect that bayonets would be a precursor for square formation. Forming square without them would be VERY disappointing to say the least!

They might be actually. Square formation is an early tech but so are ring bayonets...

[ArtillerySmoke]

They might be actually. Square formation is an early tech but so are ring bayonets...

I love how research directly ties into battle mechanics. That's hyper realistic, and a first for the TW series.

GREAT addition.

[Sir Beane]

I love how research directly ties into battle mechanics. That's hyper realistic, and a first for the TW series.

GREAT addition.

It really makes teching up seem worthwhile . I loved it when I first researched fire by rank. I was attacked by a huge army of Cherokee. I only once because of the fire by rank ability my soldiers now had .

[ArtillerySmoke]

It really makes teching up seem worthwhile . I loved it when I first researched fire by rank. I was attacked by a huge army of Cherokee. I only once because of the fire by rank ability my soldiers now had .

Let me ask you, since it's my FIRST concern: Is the AI tech'ing up as well?

If it is, this is indeed Total War.

[Lord Godfrey]

The Cherokee are a little over powered, especially if you are just expecting what would be normal rebels in MTW. I got my arse kicked the first time I went up against them, and I had to laugh when the next time they used my own cannon (previously captured) on me.

More unexpected than poor gaming. Just make sure you are a full stack or two when you go up against them and wipe them out quick, they seem to spawn like rabbits and I couldn't finish them off until around turn 20 - which was much later than I thought it would take.

[knoddy]

Let me ask you, since it's my FIRST concern: Is the AI tech'ing up as well?

If it is, this is indeed Total War.

short answer yes.

long answer - yes :P if u go to trade tech with them u can get a rough idea of what they are teching up etc :) whether theres any sense behind their tech decisions i dont know :)

[Oleander Ardens]

Well as a matter of fact the more successfull native tribes ditched their bows very fast for muskets and later rifles. The supply with guns and ammo was a most decisive factor in the various wars between the various native and European coalitions. Yet people seem to continue to believe that bows are inherently superior.

In an open battle there was hardly a contest between Europeans and Natives. Then again open battles were only a small part of the spectrum of warfare. The tactics employed were often innovative for the theater of war but already in use in quite some parts of Europe. What do guys think what Jaegers, Dragoons and Hussars were for?

And "Moving Home" was indeed a major and sensible strategy for Native tribes as they tried to flee a superior enemy.

I understand CA that they wanted to give the Natives due but hopefully they didn't overshoot.

BTW: Units only armed with melee weapons should be outgunned easily. Even the Scottish fielded only a small percentage of their units with their "typical" melee weapons at Culladon.

[Don Esteban]

Remember, smallpox killed far more Indians than battle. Without that they may have survived far longer....

[andrewt]

BTW: Units only armed with melee weapons should be outgunned easily. Even the Scottish fielded only a small percentage of their units with their "typical" melee weapons at Culladon.

I've started wondering about this ever since I started playing Empire. It seems units only get a few shots off before melee starts if one side decides to charge. I was wondering how pure, melee units got obsolete if that was the case since a guy with sword/shield/armor should have an advantage against the earlier infantry. Perhaps range is lower in Empire compared to what it was historically as a balancing mechanism.