Hi everyone,
I'm having a good time with R:TW, currently playing a pretty smooth game with Julii (played both Shogun and Medieval before). Would like to know of any particular game features which are generally considered cheats/exploits/overpowered by the community here and probably likely to be addressed in a future patch.
-AI
It appears to me that the AI spends tons of cash on ships without ever marshalling them to attack another faction's navy. If naval battles are deemphasized, so too should the AI pay less attention to them. If all that cash was poured into making armies for aggresive conquest, things would be considerably tougher.
-Combat AI in towns
I've found that after you batter down the gates/wall of a particular town, the AI likes to station a unit to guard the gap without making any aggressive move. This tactic makes them unusually susceptible to javelin throwing units like Velites and Hastati as you can park a unit right outside the walls and throw away. To be fair the unit that guards the gap does retreat when taking damage but it also comes back to same position after a while. I can understand that venturing outside the walls to be surrounded by a superior force would not be wise but it would be better to have them retreat and regroup somewhere else where they can charge the enemy en masse when they enter the town while still staying out of range of the javelin troops.
-Retraining
I think being able to retrain multiple units and getting experienced troops back to full strength which are so far away from your heartland in 1 turn is overpowered and not realistic. I do realise that you'll need the proper buildings to do so but the campaign features quite a number of minor cities (ie, in the east regions) so getting the facilities aren't a problem after a major city siege. Would prefer removing it altogether or limiting it to just retraining 1 unit per turn with a proportionately higher cost to retrain higher experienced units (should cost like recruiting mercs). I believe this feature wasn't available in the earlier games and should be reexamined from a game balance viewpoint.
-Bandits
As with previous Total War games, bandits/rebels appear on the map sporadically (IIRC in previous games this was tied to the loyalty of the particular province). However while in previous games, rebel bands seemed too overpowered and aggressive, the bandits in R:TW don't seem to do much harm to a province even when left alone. I haven't seen anything really bad happen (like having the province recaptured by said bandits) and issues like devastation and possibly decreased trade are counterbalanced by the fact that a nearby young general can get quite a few easy victories thereby smoothly increasing his command rating and troop experience.
-Mercenaries
In previous games in the series, mercs were quite a drain on your economy (which was reflected by both their costs and upkeep) and were usually hired only when you were just about to get into a large battle. The hiring cost does seem increased in R:TW but the upkeep appears to be just like other regular units. That coupled with the fact that they seem more plentiful and readily available as compared to previous games.
-Bribery
Haven't used this so far though I've read about it being overpowered on the official boards.
-Particular units
I've read about chariot units being too uber and if they should be toned down. Has there been any official announcement for unit tweaks so far?
Units like Wardogs appear to recover all lost dogs after a fight (so long as their handlers are safe). That makes them a great unit to tie up enemy troops as their casualties won't matter... perhaps too good, IMHO.
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