Secrets of the Byzantine Empire ?!?

[Ludens]

I don't think I phrased that bit particularly well

Neither did I . I mentioned the glutton vice as an example of a vice that should not affect the entire army. I thought you had said your entire army gained +3V because of the pride vice.

I forgot to put in in last mail, but there is something wrong with the pride vices: the effects of pride and secret pride are reversed. Not just on valour, but also on acumen. Thus if a general goes from secret pride to pride he actually loses valour but gains acumen. However, since the pride vice tends to crop up amongst my governors I don't think it that bad.

You do know that valour derived from the general's stars does not give a morale bonus? Units close to the general do get +1 morale for every star he has, but those far off won't benefit from this. If your general leaves the BI too far behind they will go back to their ordinary, flimsy morale level, which nothing something you want if the battle is not going your way. But then, V5 BI will probably carry most opponents before them, so as long as they are supported they should do fine.

[antisocialmunky]

Skilled attacker + Skilled Defender really, really kills the AI's ability against the player. The AI almost never gets them because they autocalc and suck.

[EatYerGreens]

I forgot to put in in last mail, but there is something wrong with the pride vices: the effects of pride and secret pride are reversed. Not just on valour, but also on acumen. Thus if a general goes from secret pride to pride he actually loses valour but gains acumen. However, since the pride vice tends to crop up amongst my governors I don't think it that bad.

I double-checked and that archer unit did have Secret Pride: +3 valour. Every unit was getting +4 valour from the general, so it seems to be +1 for every 2 stars which the general has. For instance, I see that 1* generals don't seem to give a valour boost at all.

You do know that valour derived from the general's stars does not give a morale bonus?

I didn't but I do now!

Morale I'm not overly worried about when the valour levels are so high. I have this feeling that the phenomenon whereby the AI army retreats off the battle map entirely, as soon as your troops approach close to them is that there is some kind of visibility range for the valou flags on the units. They will stand firm as you approach but when you are close enough for them to see what they are up against, particularly when they are not of high valour themselves, the AI general will decide to withdraw rather than indulge in a fight which he will lose badly.

Units close to the general do get +1 morale for every star he has, but those far off won't benefit from this. If your general leaves the BI too far behind they will go back to their ordinary, flimsy morale level, which nothing something you want if the battle is not going your way. But then, V5 BI will probably carry most opponents before them, so as long as they are supported they should do fine.

After the waiting and the HA teasing, the general's Katanks were down to 3 energy bars. I think he spent most of the battle watching, rather than taking part! The AI should have been able to put 2-3 Nubian Spears onto each of the BI's I'd brought with me but they held their own very well.

Skilled attacker + Skilled Defender really, really kills the AI's ability against the player. The AI almost never gets them because they autocalc and suck.

Possibly unfair in my case, since the general got his initial stars from starting life as a prince; he got skilled defender from defeating a force which only outnumbered his thanks to involvement of large numbers of peasants; skilled and Expert Attacker from inflicting defeats on larger forces which were equally stuffed with pez. Some kind of {numbers x quality} formula ought to be used before these attributes get awarded although, for the time being, I'd be happy to take the credit for player skill...

[Mujalumbo]

EatYerGreens is right. Naples is the province I was thinking of.

It's a bit of a pain in the @$$ to hold onto at first, but if you can stave off the Sicillians long enough to tech up to a Swordsmith, you can spam out Byzntine Infantrymen and boot them off Scily.

I wonder if an Inn is the best way to replicate the late Byzantine's reliance on mercenaries. I'm thinking maybe it'd be better to create, say, units equivilent to the Cathlic's Chivalric or Feudal lines, but jack the recruitment and upkeep costs through the roof.

[antisocialmunky]

You really could if you wanted to, there's some really good Mercs in the East. I saw an all-merc walkthrough of Aragon, I think it's in the guides forum, you should look through it if you're interesting in a merc-only game.