However it’s done, CA needs to make certain that so many units don’t get on the field that frame rates drop through the floor. This issue is more than just “How do we players get our reinforcements?” It also concerns the AI’s reinforcements. As I said earlier, in Medieval 2 you could get inundated with so many enemy AI armies that the game became unplayable. Not a good thing. CA’s solution in NTW is 20 units on 20 max, period. Not an optimal solution perhaps but a solution nonetheless.

I think we all want as many troops available as our machines can handle and some of us expect reinforcements when and where we choose. In STW2 CA has to grapple with how that might be accomplished for both the player and the AI while keeping the frame rate high because some times the strategy map can deliver more armies to a battle than even a great pc can handle properly. That’s a tough job I think.