Awesome Generals

[Cowhead418]

I know that certain factions are more prone to having high-star generals (Byzantines obviously) but is there some kind of random generator for some factions? I am currently in the middle of an Egyptian campaign on Hard in the Early Period. The Spanish, my allies, recently attacked me and I lost two battles right off the bat. They have huge armies roaming around the Iberian peninsula but no navy so I had access to all their lands. I invaded with some huge stacks and set to manufacturing new armies.

All of a sudden a full loyalty, 4 piety, 5 dread, 6-star, 4 acumen 5-valour stud Saracen Infantry unit with an Expert Attacker trait pops up in Tripoli. In my past campaigns the highest star general I had ever trained in the queue was a 3-star chap. So while I'm like Before I had to extensively train my generals in several battles before I would see any 6-star plus generals show up but this guy came along without me having to do anything! So what I want to know is what was your best general that came fresh from the training queue? Who was that legendary commander who led your armies to victory after victory? I know I'm going to have lots of fun with this guy. May he lead my armies to many victories over that filthy traitorous scum they call the Spanish!

[octavian]

it would depend on the faction every faction has a number of heroes who "spawn" with decent stats and traits. all heroes are predetermined and arrive at the same date in every game. somewhere around here there should be a complete listing of every hero in the game, their stats, and what year they arrive in.

0ct

[katank]

You got Saladin - Ibn al-Din or something. Yep, he's a hero and sweet one at that.

You should memorize what year heroes appear by browsing text files and build only a royal knight/ghuam BG unit that turn. This way, the hero is guaranteed to be that unit. The advantage is that the hero will be upgraded when you transition periods and can always be retrained.

In MTW, kings die but generals are immortal. It's pretty bad to have a Saracen inf as your star general since that unit is only useful as pinning unit and you don't want your general to be in extended melee. Heavy cav generals are the best for being able to gain experience by smashing flanks and also run away if necessary.

[matteus the inbred]

i have gained a five star straight out of the stack with the HRE, but i'm jiggered if i can remember his name, may have to browse my saved-games. got him killed on crusade anyway.
HRE also gets 4-star with 4-5 in most other characteristics called Henry the Lion (notoriously badly behaved but very talented noble under Frederick Barbarossa, made a guest appearance in AoE: Kings) whom i don't think is an heir (but i might wrong!)
i have to say that the HRE gets some top acumen guys later on (6-8), but total rubbish to start (something which Doug-Thompson points out in the Guides i think)

and yes, crusades are rubbish compared to bashing the French, i've now had two failures, and agree that Spanish generals can be outstanding when their crusade gets to Antioch first. good luck Cowhead418!!

[matteus the inbred]

just got given this guy in an English campaign last night around 1133 (that's the year...and now i think about it, probably the time as well) ...Sir Strongbow Fitzgilbert, Loyalty 9; Piety 4; Dread 6; Command 6; Acumen 5, a definite choice for the governor of Sweden i think!

is it just me, or do units of feudal spears produce level 1-4 generals nearly every time?

[Brutus]

just got given this guy in an English campaign last night around 1133 (that's the year...and now i think about it, probably the time as well) ...Sir Strongbow Fitzgilbert, Loyalty 9; Piety 4; Dread 6; Command 6; Acumen 5, a definite choice for the governor of Sweden i think!

is it just me, or do units of feudal spears produce level 1-4 generals nearly every time?

Not that I have MTW, but is Strongbow Fitzgilbert a hero as well? The leader of the Anglo-Norman invasion in Ireland was called that.

Cool

[matteus the inbred]

it is indeed he! although according to Wikipedia his real name was Richard de Clare...he ended up being King of Leinster and dying of a foot infection. athlete's foot must have been dreadful combined with chainmail socks...

i do love the attention to detail when real historical people pop up, even down to emissaries. although my 3-star bishop, Thomas a Becket, remains at large despite having just been murdered in a historical event...a medieval Elvis?

[petertmorgan]

is it just me, or do units of feudal spears produce level 1-4 generals nearly every time?

I'm wondering about this too. It seems to me that different factions have different units that seem to more consistently produce better generals from the start (like hobilars for the English, camels for the egyptians - I'm talking about early here)

Does anybody have any real data on this?

[matteus the inbred]

yeah, noticed the hobilars too! not really checked with other factions, though most of my Italian non-royal generals are urban militia, come to think of it.
would be useful to know...i would assume given no other evidence that higher quality units should produce better generals? (in all-round stats, not just command)

[Microwavegerbil]

In my experiences, the quality of the unit has pretty much no effect on the competence of the general. I frequently get 4 acument, 4 dread peasants, while getting knights with few or no ranks in acumen/command/dread.

To avoid having to use non-royal generals (besides the heroes you sometimes get) I try to use my King as much as possible, since higher command Kings seem to produce better offspring (or at least ones with high command).

[Martok]

There do seem to be certain units that are more likely to produce better generals, but only to a point. I know that when I play as the Spanish, nearly half of my Jinnette units are led by 1-2 star generals (along with an occasional 3-star); the same thing seems to occur with Bedouins when I'm playing as the Egyptians. If a general's rating is 4 stars or higher, however, he's almost always a "hero-general" who's pre-determined to spawn in a certain year, regardless of what units you're currently training that turn.

So take Octavian and Katank's advice: Look in the text files to see what years your faction's hereoes spawn, and then make sure you're training your best cavalry unit during those times. It's the one of the best ways of ensuring your faction's survival and success, especially in the early years of the game!

[Kaiser of Arabia]

I know that certain factions are more prone to having high-star generals (Byzantines obviously) but is there some kind of random generator for some factions? I am currently in the middle of an Egyptian campaign on Hard in the Early Period. The Spanish, my allies, recently attacked me and I lost two battles right off the bat. They have huge armies roaming around the Iberian peninsula but no navy so I had access to all their lands. I invaded with some huge stacks and set to manufacturing new armies.

All of a sudden a full loyalty, 4 piety, 5 dread, 6-star, 4 acumen 5-valour stud Saracen Infantry unit with an Expert Attacker trait pops up in Tripoli. In my past campaigns the highest star general I had ever trained in the queue was a 3-star chap. So while I'm like Before I had to extensively train my generals in several battles before I would see any 6-star plus generals show up but this guy came along without me having to do anything! So what I want to know is what was your best general that came fresh from the training queue? Who was that legendary commander who led your armies to victory after victory? I know I'm going to have lots of fun with this guy. May he lead my armies to many victories over that filthy traitorous scum they call the Spanish!

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