Endurance
I like EB a lot. It is a great improvement over the original RTW and my favorite game ever.
One place where I feel there is some room for improvement regards endurance. The following example illustrates my concern:
In EB, I have seen four triarii units (no chevrons) block a bridge and slaughter a full stack of enemy units without ever getting tired. One of them got "warmed up". The other three were quite fresh through the whole encounter. Granted they had some help from supporting units: Cretan Archers, a Celtic Lesser King, etc. But the triariis did the brunt of the fighting.
I repeated this feat several times during my current campaign, both with triariis and with classical hoplites. In one such instance, one of my triarii units managed to kill 10 times its own number, and just got "warmed up".
Of course, I was quite happy with my triariis' and hoplites' performance. However, I think any unit killing 10 times its own number through non-stop fighting should be pretty tired by the end of it.
People fighting for their life, tend to give the other person a tough time. As a long time practitioner and instructor of Martial Arts, I can assure you, hand to hand combat is very hard on you. Most mortals would be utterly wasted after non-stop fighting in which they killed 10 times their own number.
Furthermore, hoplites fought using an overhead stand in which you keep your spear raised over your head and strike downward. This position is very tiring. A hoplite in an overhead stand would get tired a lot faster than a legionary using a short sword .
The Romans were quick to adopt other weapons and fighting techniques whenever they saw merit on it. They must have seen something good about the short sword when they adopted it.
Maybe one important advantage of using a short sword was the endurance factor. The fighting stand of a Roman Legionary was more relaxed than the overhead spearman stand. As a result, the legionary could endure a longer period of time in the front line before getting exhausted.
...it all makes sense. Front line Hastatiis and Pricipes were expected to fight for a long time; they used short swords so they could endure prolonged fighting. Triariis, would enter in a moment of crisis, to stop a charge, a break in the line, etc.; they used spears; a great weapon against either infantry or cavalry, but one which got you exhausted and therefore was not adequate for prolonged fighting.
I believe there were other benefits to using a short sword like a more effective charge and a better reaction time when being flanked or surrounded. But, I don't want to digress. My point is this:
I propose (1) reducing the endurance statistics for spear bearing units. No unit should be able to slaughter 10 times its own number without even getting tired. And, (2) short-swordsmen should have higher endurance level than spearmen fighting in an overhead stand.
For the reasons sated above, I think this would be quite realistic. Furthermore, it would make for more interesting and challenging defensive battles where you are holding a bridge or the gates of city. Right now, the way to successfully holding a narrow point with a hoplite is to do nothing, since moving your units is very dangerous and they never get tired. But if your units actually got tired, you would need to develop some scheme to replace them before they break.
Don't get me wrong, EB is great. I am awed by the effort and the quality of work you all put into this. I only mean to give a constructive critique on a point where I feel there is a small room for improvement.
...anyway, do other people feel the same way I do about this matter?
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Originally Posted by Epi
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