I finally got MI installed yesterday and have started the Mongol Invasion of Japan.
I was a bit worried about the need to install DirectX 8.0a as I had heard on the grapevine that this can cause problems for some older games but so far I have discovered no issues.
As for the game itself, I have mixed feelings.
Some of the improvements in the original shogun format are excellent.
I like the way you can now see the ranking of your generals displayed as banners on the campaign map and on the unit icons. It saves all that phaffing about trying to find the rank 2 general who got hidden in army stack after your last battle.
The improvements in the campaign map graphics are good too, I like the little warehouses that indicate the existence of a port.
The new Mongol music is also brilliant. I always liked the Japanese music. My son and I always freakout to the Japanese victory tune. The Mongol music is equally brilliant but completely different in atmosphere being dark and moody with lots of sinister overtones.
Personally I think whoever composed it or put it together ought to publish it on CD.
The new movie clips and cut scenes are good too. The opening sequence features cut scenes from the movie RAN, whilst
the cut scenes of the great Khan making threatening speeches are really
intimidating.
The bad points are few and far between but exist nonetheless:
I am not impressed with the graphics of the Mongol troops. It looks to me as though they have been draw by different artist to the Japanese units and whereas the Japanese troops appear fully 3D and rounded the Mongol troops seem somewhat 2D and flat rather like cartoon characters. This makes the Japanese troops appear taller and larger than the Mongols in battle which is a bit weird.
The Mongols also seem much more difficult to control although this might be the results of the improved AI which has supposedly been built into this expansion. Whatever, it is I find they need constant monitoring as they frequently stop doing what they were ordered to do for no apparent reason.
Most annoying are the light cavalry (which not surprisingly are also the most numerous unit type in the Mongol horde) who have a habit of stopping just before closing with an enemy they have been ordered to charge. If not spotted this can leave them exposed to unnecessary missile fire from the very troops they should be cutting to ribbons.
I have also found occasional units going into a dull phunk when ordered to move position and either marching off somewhere else or just not moving at all, even during the initial pre-battle deployment phase. This is a particular problem for me as I tend to use the Group-Drag-Drop method of deploying troops and frequently find I have an unexpected gap in my lines because one of the units has failed to move where it was told to go.
So far I have found the Mongols to be rather simplistic to command in battle, lacking the scissors, rock, paper appeal of the Japanese.
Given the level of micro-management involved, I find the best tactic is to set up the foot troops in a similar way to the Japanese e.g: find a high hill and camp on it.
I find the Korean Spearmen can largely be left to their own devices if properly deployed on high ground. I then let the Japanese move to attack these infantry whilst concentrating my full attention on the
controlling the Mongol cavalry.
These are largely made up of dreaded Light Cavalry Archers (I have always hated cavalry archers) and IMO the most useless.
So not surprisingly I ignore their bows as much as possible and starting from a hidden position, normally somewhere behind my infantry I circle the cavalry around the flank of the enemy and into their rear.
From this position I then concentrate on isolated enemy cavalry and missile units forcing my Light cavalry to charge them and take them out with shock action whilst avoiding any counter-attacks by enemy spearmen. Forget using bows it takes too long and the enemy spearmen will be on top of you before you can destroy your victim.
I continue with these hit & run attacks until the enemy either run or no further targets are available. Normally this leaves the enemy scattered all over the map, either chasing my cavalry with spear units or running away from them so only a fraction are actually attacking my main position.
Isolated spear units can now be dealt with using massed mounted archery, but you have to watch this closely as the Mongol cavalry tend to leave it too late to fall back and will get caught if not carefully monitored.
The remaining units can be taken out one at a time but by now Japanese casualties should be mounting to crisis point and the battle normally ends with a massed rout.
At this point drop your bows again and get those light cavalry stuck into the running spearmen. The simple objective being to prevent a single man escaping from the battlefield.
All this is great if you like micro-managing cavalry but it gets repetitive after a while.
The best part is watching hundreds of Mongols
horsemen emerging from a wood and galloping across the enemies rear to the stirring strains of Mongol Wardrums.
Buy it, if you haven't already.
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