I come not to bury the demo but to praise it
There are some unit animations that are truly outstanding. I’ll go on to note some but first want to say something positive about the accuracy of the game at least as it applies to the Romans, about whom we know the most.
The Roman deployment in the Trebia demo is exactly what I wanted to see. Anyone who believes that CA has no one who knows his history has got to admit that the three line checkerboard setup with flanking equites and advanced velites is the real deal. I have waited years to be able to employ units like this and now here they are. The entire maniple/Marian issue could have been sidestepped but it was not. So here is a giant kudo from me for delivering a pretty damn good facsimile of a pre Marian legion.
As many people have already said, cavalry impacts are great. Cav will pass right through light troops and turn to come back. A wall of spears will stop them but the infantry still gets jolted. Mounted swordsmen will slash to both sides of the horse.
Spear armed men can switch to swords in a close melee. How cool is that?
Skirmishers hurling javelins also look good. If you watch the target units, in addition to the casualties you will also see some men lift their shields and you hear the clank of the impacts as the deflections occur.
A close formation will automatically double the files to allow another unit to pass through. This is very impressive to watch.
The cheers and waving after a victory is a neat touch. So is the taunting.
When standing still, men will fidget in the ranks. Excellent! Armies act like a living organism.
Order Romans to attack and you get a fine show. Hastati and principes throwing pila and moving to the gladius as they rush upon the enemy is an awesome sight.
Melees are complex and fun to watch. My son (of 18 years) played as the Romans at Trebia and managed to isolate about 50 poenis on a steep, rough little hillock. He attacked them with a full unit of hastati. The broken terrain did in fact make it easier for the Romans to get past the pikes and force the poeni to use swords. They bashed and stabbed for quite some time before Hannibal’s boys were wiped out. We noticed (not surprisingly) that once a soldier attacks an enemy from the rear or side his chances for a quick kill skyrocket. Men can get knocked down, rise and fight on. All in all this little battle for a small bit of ground was very impressive. One can’t always spare the time to admire the close action while managing an army but when possible it is worthwhile to steal a moment to zoom in and see what’s happening down there. Because quite a lot is.
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Re: I come not to bury the demo but to praise it
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