What are the main things you want to see fixed from EB1 in EB2???

[Phalanx300]

That's correct. But there is one problem. In RTW and in M2TW, as far as I know, units can only have two weapons: primary and secondary. The Cherusci swordsmen in EBI were given two thrown javelins (spears) as primary, and a sword as secondary. Certainly the Cherusci could (did* more likely) have a SPEAR that they carried with them, but in the aforementioned games (RTW/M2TW) the unit cannot have 1) javelins, 2) spear, and 3) sword, but rather only a combination of two of these. That is unfortunately why the Cherusci swordsman does not carry a fighting spear in-game.

I see, well this certainly answers my question. Thanks.


And yes Hegemon mod is nice and clearly EB inspired. Yet they put their own view in it which I don't always like. Like having Germanic pikemen without shields. Whiel its said some Germanics had overly long shields that doesn't equal no shields. Seeing the symbolic importance of shields in Germanic society as well...

[Brennus]

I would like to see two key things fixed:

1. I would like to see a more robust Seleucid Empire. I don't like how Baktria tends to sweep across Asia at the expense of the AS, very innacurate in my opinion. Obviously don't make the Seleucids an unstoppable force but just less prone to collapsing within a ten year gap. I know this can be prevented with the add_money cheat but i would rather see the Seleucids have a fighting chance.

2. Most importantly! I would like to see Rome and Carthage actually fight. As a fan of Celtic factions I am sick of watching Sicily remain in peace whilst the Roman legions march towards the English channel. Yes I know I should use the force diplomacy mod but I would rather , as above, watch history unfold.

A few more factions to slow the Sweboz down would be nice but I will settle for the above happily.

[Apázlinemjó]

I hope in EB2 the chevron flags on the battlefields won't be removed, so you can see which are the seasoned troops of your enemy. That was a quite useful feature in MTW2.

[Arjos]

I remember that in some MTW2 mods the general's bodyguards units were different for those family members who where adopted or married to princess, it will be nice to see this in EB II with special units for family members with a particular ethnic trait...

[Ca Putt]

I'd like to see a fairer distribution of boni amung Temples and the like. In EB1 you've always got those not working morale/layality boni and the pitifull tax bonus limiting your choice of temples. Or (as I think the EB team planned it) rewrite the building tree to some extent. I know that M2TW has other boni but I'd just like a bit more focus on this(the balancing not temples as such) than in EB1.

question: will there be as much "health" buildings in EB2 as in EB1 or more like in M2TW?

apart from that I don'T know much to improve :)

[Brennus]

I hope in EB2 the chevron flags on the battlefields won't be removed, so you can see which are the seasoned troops of your enemy. That was a quite useful feature in MTW2.

Yes that was a useful feature, but did armies in antiquity use different banners for different unit types (I have no idea).

[MisterFred]

I want EBII to continue to be the best Total War game ever made.... EBI still reigns supreme right now, and I have no doubt in the general awesomeness of everyone on the EBII team. Seriously, my respect and admiration for everyone on the team. That said,

Perhaps the number-one thing I'd like to see the EBII team keep or enhance is the occasional presence of aggressive eletheuroi armies. Like the one that goes after Ippone early. I think in one Sweboz game I had one attack my capitol in the first 10-15 turns (and take it, lolz). However these are created, I'd like more of them. Makes the eletheuroi seem less passive. It seems to me this could be scripted. I don't know how that works, but perhaps something like:

1) (every 4th spring-staggered between provinces so the invasions don't all happen at once) the script checks to see if (aggressive province X - places like Dalmatia or Galatia, but not perhaps places like Greseoallra [Massilia]) is controlled by the Eleutheori. If no, end script.

2) If yes, check to see if province x (the province most likely to be invaded from the aggressive province, say Illyria_Helenike for Dalmatia; Phygria or Bithynia for Galatia) is occupied by the player (or if necessary, any playable faction). If no, check next most likely province to be invaded (less-preferred or wealthy neighbors). If all no, end script.

3)If yes, spawn eletheuroi force allied with home province tribe at map point x [just within the borders of the target province] consisting of (list of units customized according to invader. Galatia, say, could send a general with Gallic Mercenary Light + 3 short swordsmen + a heavy spear unit. Dalmatia could send 2 Illyrian Thereuphori and 4 Coastal Levies with no general - whatever would seem best for gameplay/historical size of region's raids or invasions). Most importantly, whatever trait makes an eleutheroi band aggressive (willing to attack a city), this is assigned to the spawned army.

This seems like it could be a great way to simulate the vigor of eletheuroi-represented factions and the problems with barbarian raids on civilized borders Also, scripts could cause one of the Illyrian provinces to counter-invade if a player takes the other one. Maybe even a few years after, when the main army has moved on to Dacia :). Probably not possible - but if it could be scripted, the EB team would have the experts that know how!

The second biggest thing I'd like to see is a truly significant penalty for burnt fields, blackened ground, whatever you want to call the foraging or ravaging of the countryside by an invading army. As it is now, most of the countryside can be blackened and it barely even dents the farming revenue. (Although this sounds like one of those things that might be hard-coded.)

I want EBII to keep the excellent mercenary recruitment system (allowing for tweaks in AoR, spawn rates, etc). While in EBI I sometimes felt that there were too many mercenaries available at any one time, what mercenaries were available where was generally excellent.

I would like to see phalanxes be considerably less invulnerable to missile fire from the front. Taking 2-3 shield defense (depending on elite level of the unit) and adding it to armor or defensive skill (again, depending on the unit, but mostly armor) would vastly improve the realism of arrow fire doing moderate damage to phalanxes - rather than next to nothing. I realize that the shields are probably as strong as they are to enhance the general invulnerability of the phalanx frontally and the vulnerability of the back for MELEE combat, but I think the unreality of the effectiveness of missile fire is a real problem. I currently have no specific battles to reinforce that description, but I think one of the primary purposes of peltasts and psiloi in diadochi combat was to protect the phalanx from being disrupted by enemy missiles - not for the phalanx to be sent forth to absorb the foolish AI's javelins.

I would like to see elephants be more powerful and fewer in number. Currently on huge settings, the "historic" size of an infantry unit is 10-20 times larger than the in-game unit size... except for elephant units, which are more like 2-1. I also think their base melee attack, armor, maybe hit points (maybe just more armor again) should be upped considerably, so that they are dangerous even if slowed. I don't think that fewer, more badass elephants would be unrealistic (especially Indian elephants). I think Bush elephants should probably be removed from the game, unless historians more expert than I have a solid source for their actual use in combat. It would also be nice to see them better at adopting a chariot-like tendency to continously charge and move through the enemy lies - making them more useful for a frontal attack.

I would like to see the Mauryan empire represented as a faction, rather than the independent cites along the Indus + independent Kophen, Alexandropolis, and Pura. I don't think the map needs to be extended to do so. I think the three Indus provinces + the 3 greek or eastern-culture cities west of the Indus region would do a fine job representing the resources the empire could bring to bear on that front. And perhaps a capital in the southern most Indus province+culture and religion problems (and maybe diplomatic preferences in favor of Baktria/AS?) should keep the AI from expanding too much. I realize, however, there are limited faction slots available and the lack of a Mauryan push west post-305BC is an issue, as is the collapse late in the EB time frame.

Similar preferences for a Nubian faction based out of Meroe.

I would like to see the M2TW trade revenue system make more sense - best of luck with that :).

Once again, my thanks to the team.

[Mediolanicus]

Some comments:

- Rebel incursions would have to be random, not every 4 years or so.
- All in all, this would add an enourmous amount of scripting to the game.
- Burned fields looks hard coded, although I too am in favour of more economic repercussions of an invading army.
- Mercenaries were abundant in the classical world, so I imagine the system will only be improved and perhaps even expanded.
- The problem with phalanxes in EB was their hard-coded bonus. I don't know whether M2TW has such a bonus. In any case, hitting them up front with missiles was a waste of missiles anyway. And attacking them from the sides or rear with missiles is very deadly, so you do need peltastai and psiloi to make sure fast, light skirmishers don't get around the flanks or rear of the phalanx and practise hit and run tactics to disrupt your formation (game and reality are rather similar here IMO)
- The continuous charge of chariots and elephants is something you have to micro-manage. If you don't do that they'll get caught in melee and become rather vunarable.
- Faction slots is not so much the problem. Culture slots and the fact that their most important provinces are off the map, are. You could argue that those 3 cities are enough for a Western Mauryan front, but you cannot escape the fact that that would be a very arcady representation (and thus something that absolutely doesn't belong in EB). Strong (defensive) rebels and provinces with a unique character (like in EB I) are the best solution here. The same goes for Meroe.
- Trading system, as long as it isn't hard coded.

[MisterFred]

It would be an enormous amount of scripting, but most of it (I assume) would be copy-paste with a change in years. I should reiterate that I don't have modding skills, so if what I suggest seems ridiculously unreasonable - its because they're just concepts bouncing around my head without serious effort or thought behind them.

As for the constant motion of chariots and elephants - it isn't something you have to manage, in some situations. For instance, charge in chariots against a unit of Akontistai and watch them do their wacky dance forever. They may actually be "pursuing" rather than charging, but the formation disruption if not the mass death is continuous. I'm assuming they only manage against light troops because of a mass-ratio that's necessary for that kind of thing. But if it that kind of thing could be encouraged without getting outlandish effects otherwise, it seems beneficial.

I agree that having 1/4 the Mauryan empire and not the rest is a bit arcady, but so is being able to conquer bits of the Mauryan Empire piecemeal without a collective response. If Eleutheroi counter-invasion scripts are possible, this could be an excellent solution to the Mauryan problem.

Nubian Meroe's problem as a faction doesn't seem to be much of a parts of the empire off the map problem to me. I'm not an expert, but I doubt their control over settled territory extended south of the Sudd for any lengthy period of time. The bigger problems with Meroe seem to be they didn't (successfully) expand all that much in area during EB's time frame, and that I'm guessing seems little basis for an expansion of their unit roster to the level most other factions enjoy (the most I could picture off the top of my head is ~4 missile types ~3 infantry types ~2 cavalry types, 1 elephant type). None of which keep me from thinking they'd be fun.