Archery

[Dead Guy]

Yeah me too. Slo-mo is where it's at.

Too bad it makes it a little bit harder to tell where units are going sometimes, or if a cav unit has impacted all of it's charge yet and is ready to be pulled out.

Archery was it? I have discovered something quite intolerable about archer behaviour, and I strongly suspect it's a consequence of the cursed cones where archers can fire. Way too often when I order a unit to fire at a specific unit, they start to run sideways or something else that's about as useful. This is more prevalent in sieges, obviously, but still happens way too often in the field. Just wheel a few degrees and start shooting? Or better yet, just change your target already, it's clearly within the damned cone.

[Rothe]

Yeah me too. Slo-mo is where it's at.

Too bad it makes it a little bit harder to tell where units are going sometimes, or if a cav unit has impacted all of it's charge yet and is ready to be pulled out.

Archery was it? I have discovered something quite intolerable about archer behaviour, and I strongly suspect it's a consequence of the cursed cones where archers can fire. Way too often when I order a unit to fire at a specific unit, they start to run sideways or something else that's about as useful. This is more prevalent in sieges, obviously, but still happens way too often in the field. Just wheel a few degrees and start shooting? Or better yet, just change your target already, it's clearly within the damned cone.

I'd really love it if the guard mode for archers would lock the unit's location in place but would allow turning in place. That way, when you'd give an order to fire with guard mode on, they'd keep shooting at that target without moving, but would be able to refocus the cone whereever the target moves.

[HopAlongBunny]

I'd really love it if the guard mode for archers would lock the unit's location in place but would allow turning in place.

This would be nice. Having to stop your archers from pursuit is annoying. "Death wish"? "Following up on Success"? I don't care, just stand here! right here!

[Dead Guy]

If units firing at will wouldn't change the direction of the cone to follow the regiment they're firing at will at (oh dear), that'd be a start.

Just shoot at people in front of you for pete's sake.

It's when they've turned their arc like that and then you order them to shoot at a new unit in their original arc that they start running sideways like bleedin' crabs.

[Forward Observer]

Has anybody noticed that standard archers (Samurai and Ashigaru) holding the high ground do not seem to have a greater missile range than than similar opposing missile units like they used to in previous TW games?

Maybe it's the accelerated speed of approaching units that is preventing this, or maybe just my imagination, but I seem to remember in previous TW games---if my archers had the high ground they could always get off at least one killing volley of arrows before the approaching unit could even get into position. I just don't see this tactical height advantage for missile units happening in Shogun 2.

I also don't see Samurai archers having any greater range than Ashi's either. The only units that seem to possess a greater range are warrior monk archers. Of course in my first campaign, I completed it much to quickly to get all the Bushido archery upgrades, so I don't know all the effects of those.

Maybe it's because I'm so used to always playing as England in Med2 since I so favored the range of longbowmen over most vanilla missile units, but I do seem to remember in the first Shogun game that if my archers held the high ground they were simply going to get more missile kills than than any opposing missile unit. Of course there were only Samurai archers in the original Shogun.

[Zarky]

Has anybody noticed that standard archers (Samurai and Ashigaru) holding the high gound do not seem to have a greater missle range than than similar opposing missle units like they used to in previous TW games?

Maybe it's the accelerated speed of approaching units that is preventing this, or maybe just my imagination, but I seem to remember in previous TW games---if my archers had the high ground they could always get off at least one killing volley of arrows before the approaching unit could even get into position. I just don't see this tactical height advantage for missile units happening in Shogun 2.

I also don't see Samurai archers having any greater range than Ashi's either. The only units that seem to possess a greater range are warrior monk archers. Of course in my first campaign, I completed it much to quickly to get all the Bushido archer upgrades, so I don't know all the effects of those.

Maybe it's because I'm so used to always playing as England in Med2 because I so favored the range of longbowmen over most vanilla missile units, but I do seem to remember in the first Shogun game that if my archers held the high ground they were simply going to get more missile kills than than any opposing missile unit. Of course there were only Samurai archers in the original Shogun.

Haven't noticed any range bonus from high ground either, though not having to fire in a high angle is a huge bonus. I think the bushido tree archer upgrades are rather questionable. +10% accuracy and firing speed. The problem here is the %. That isn't a big accuracy boost to bow ashigaru, and is outdone by couple levels of experience. In that sense spear upgrades are much better because they affect ashigaru more in a sense, and building large enough castle already gives experience bonus to recruited ashigaru.

[Rothe]

Haven't noticed any range bonus from high ground either, though not having to fire in a high angle is a huge bonus. I think the bushido tree archer upgrades are rather questionable. +10% accuracy and firing speed. The problem here is the %. That isn't a big accuracy boost to bow ashigaru, and is outdone by couple levels of experience. In that sense spear upgrades are much better because they affect ashigaru more in a sense, and building large enough castle already gives experience bonus to recruited ashigaru.

I also think those are applied to only new units, not your fielded units.

Still, I can now recruit 85 accuracy samurai archers with 58 reload in my Chokosabe game. They are crazy good... Soon I will get my Bow hero and he will be awesome for destroying enemy archers with the 200 range.

[Dead Guy]

Archers don't get a range bonus on high ground, no. It's probably because of the firing arc mechanics? The engine was made for firearms, which aren't as affected by high ground as bows, I guess. It's a damn shame.

[Daveybaby]

Assuming that the firing arcs displayed when a unit is selected are accurate, it seems pretty obvious that there is no bonus. You certainly dont see any distortion of the arc if, say, the edge of the arc lies partly on a hill and partly on flat ground.

[hamysho]

Do you know the penalties for attacking troops in woods or if Archers get a penalty to hit when fire from woodlands? Do archers actually hit trees with their own arrows when they're firing from a forest?

[Dead Guy]

It seems like archers in forests take a lot less casualties when fired upon, imho. But I'm not sure. I haven't tested it.

Mangonels however, I am absolutely sure hit trees. Their projectiles are completely harmless if they hit a tree.