Britannia

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 10-03-2006, 03:14

Britain, in Vanilla, does have chariot archers. They are standard ranged, need a larg edeployment aream and only have 36 shooters (unless you superload) but their hitting power is in the Cretan clas, so they hit hard -- especially against the lighter armored opponents of the early game. Because they fire from up on chariots, they actually cause less fratricides than a foot archer unit when positioned behind the battle line.

Chariot archers can also be used very much like horse archers. Again, fewer shooters (36 v 54) but they hit at 10 v 7 so the power index is pretty close.

**Calgacus** · 11-08-2006, 15:10

Guys - this may seem like rather a novice question (and is almost certainly the wrong place to ask it), but can someone please explain to me the concept of hit points? I note that British Chariots get 3, Spartans get 2 and Elephants get ridiculous amounts, but how do they actually function? I understand that it makes the unit, in some way, more difficult to kill, but given that my chariots get turned into a nasty paté of sawdust and Shergar if made to fight in a static defensive position, how do hit points function as distinct from attack and defence points? They don't seem to be toughening my brave blue charioteers up at all...

Any advice on this point would be gratefully received.

**dacdac** · 11-09-2006, 01:48

i think it has to do with the defense of the unit. For example, if a unit has 20 defense and 2 life points, it is the equivalent of 2. I am not sure of this, but it is what i heard on another board. You would probably want a second opinion or someone to verify.

**jhhowell** · 11-09-2006, 02:46

Originally Posted by Calgacus

Guys - this may seem like rather a novice question (and is almost certainly the wrong place to ask it), but can someone please explain to me the concept of hit points? I note that British Chariots get 3, Spartans get 2 and Elephants get ridiculous amounts, but how do they actually function? I understand that it makes the unit, in some way, more difficult to kill, but given that my chariots get turned into a nasty paté of sawdust and Shergar if made to fight in a static defensive position, how do hit points function as distinct from attack and defence points? They don't seem to be toughening my brave blue charioteers up at all...

Any advice on this point would be gratefully received.

Advice the first: literally the worst possible thing you can do with chariots is fight while static. As you've seen, they die quickly and horribly. Keep them moving at all times while they're fighting (it can be helpful to pull them out and rest a bit in long battles).

I don't know the precise details of the combat mechanics, but conceptually it seems pretty clear. Defense is a measure of how likely a unit is to avoid a hit, and this depends on facing and type of attack (is the shield in arc; I believe defense skill is ignored and shield is doubled vs. missile attacks; possibly other details like that). Hit points (HP) are how many hits a unit can take before dying. If your generic infantryman gets hit, he drops; Spartans die on the second hit; elephants take a lot of punishment before going down. Chariots are interesting in that they have 3 HP but almost no defense. The gameplay logic of the 3 HP seems to be surviving a volley or two of arrows or javelins on their initial charge. After that, movement plus the "special attack" of knocking people down a lot serves to protect them somewhat. If chariots get bogged down in a mass of enemy troops, they die. Don't let that happen if they're your chariots.

Note also that the reason generals are typically the most powerful units (often by a wide margin) on the battlefield is that they have 2 HP, and the attack and defense are decent at worst, often outstanding.

**Calgacus** · 11-09-2006, 12:17

Thanks for the explanations guys; it's always useful to understand a bit more about the game's mechanisms. I think on the whole I'll just charge through units with chariots, rather than risk getting them bogged down, with my charioteers standing in what are essentially large wooden buckets, being prodded to death by spearmen. I generally only use light chariots anyway, so (unless the battle is going shockingly pear-shaped) they won't be in a melee until they run down routing units at the end.

**Andyana** · 11-26-2006, 21:52

I really, really like the British light chariots. Though I say it myself, I'm getting quite nifty at using them. Heavy chariots suck - they're only good at running down fleeing men, when the battle's already won anyway. I love it when a gang of feeble peasants rebels against my tyrannical rule and I can send light chariots against them. They're fast, so there's no catching them with anything except cavalry, they fire arrows - on the move, too! - and once the rabble has panicked, you can cut them down from chariot-back with disgusting ease.
Just my penny's worth on the coolest barbarian unit.

**TheBritonBasher** · 12-23-2006, 22:39

In addition to the light chariots, the head hurlers are good because once they run out of heads, thier melee attack is actually quite powerful.

**Caius** · 12-24-2006, 16:34

I need help.
The Briton Faction leader dies, and the capital income turns in very red.What can I do?

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 01-01-2007, 16:26

First off, don't worry to much about the income numbers on the campaign map. The only ones that really matter are the overall numbers on your end of turn report. If they're positive, you're well enough off.

That said, your FL probably had a goodly number of influence wreaths, which influence public "morale" and productivity. Trying to get governors with several management scrolls AND influence wreathes as governors of your key economic cities will be of help.

It's always tough to get an FL-level wreathe total replaced.