General's slow XP gain

**shifty157** · 02-21-2005, 03:13

It would seem so but that doesnt sound right. Also notice that the odds of the battle have to be 2:1 in your favor or less.

Are you talking about experience or command stars? Because the two are entirely seperate. Experience is gained by having your general in the thick of the fighting. Command stars are gained when you win a battle. The two are seperate.

Its seemed to me that the more the odds are stacked against you them the better chance of getting stars. For example within the first 4 turns of my greek campaign i managed to get three of my generals at 10+ stars (including traits) simply by winning battles that were so incredibly in the enemy's favor. Regardless the general doesnt get the majority of his stars from the basic good commander traits. Most of the stars come from other traits like good attacker, good defender, wall breaker, etc. They can also come from the retinue such as the mercenary captain (you get him just by hiring a unit of mercenaries and he comes with +1 command).

So you might want to look into those as well.

**Slider6977** · 02-21-2005, 05:10

The slow xp issue does not have to do with Command stars and traits, it has to do with xp=experience. You know, the small reddish, silver, and gold chevrons that are listed on a general's unit card. In fact, most tend to think that traits, particularly command star traits, are gained to easily and too fast as it is. As shifty posted, he had three 10star generals in 4 turns. That really shouldn't happen so quickly.

**Myrddraal** · 02-21-2005, 14:02

One prob is that you get a star if the enemy runs away from you. What tactical knowledge do you gain from that?

**Bob the Insane** · 02-21-2005, 14:26

Stars do not just represent tactical skill, they also represent reputation...

I mean, why would your tactical skill mean that your men would fight harder and be less likely to run away? ( I mean you would fight with more confidence for a General which had the reputation for great tactical skill whether or not he was actually any better at warfare than any other general)...

I would rather fight for a general who's enemies always ran away from him either straight away or after a short fight, wouldn't you???

**Myrddraal** · 02-21-2005, 14:43

Hm, i didn't think about it that way, but what reputation does it gain you to see off 20 bandits?

Also, how long do you think ur reputation would last if you weren't a good tactician.

**Bob the Insane** · 02-21-2005, 16:57

I think (and we are getting a bit conceptual here) that the Stars rating is more linked to reputation and anything else but, reputation is linked to results and results is linked to both skill and luck. So there is a connection there...

I mean when the general makes his battle speech saying he has never lost a battle, no one stops to ask him if he overwhelming outnumbered the enemy in all the previous occasions. But the abstraction still applies because you can not achieve a large Star rating (especially in 1.2) just by driving off bandits, a large rating can only be achieved by winning difficult battles with few casulaties (on your side)...

f course the fact that I am trying to rationalize an abstraction could mean that I am completely stark raving mad...

**shifty157** · 02-21-2005, 18:20

Id say the stars mostly represent the general's skill as a tactitian. Any bonuses that a higher ranking gives to the troops (better morale and such) is purely gameplay. They have to make some kind of an incentive for a player to use a better general over a worse one. They cant make the general's AI better (which would be the most realistic) because the player is the actual general. So theoretically because the player controls everything then a no star general is just as intelligent as a 20 star general because the player controls them. So they have to make some kind of difference so they give morale bonuses. It works in a round about way.

If we're talking about experience though its completely different. Experience is your general's skill in battle and thats gained by having him on the front lines leading the charge. In my greek campaign that i mentioned before the battles i fought (and won) were so against me that i was forced to use my general in often reckless ways just to keep the enemy off balance. This often led to his entire body guard being killed off by the end of the battle but by the end of the first 4 turns all three generals had 3 silver chevrons worth of experience.