Gameplay Discussion: Campaign Map

[cdaulepp]

I have a couple of questions about territories. The biggest difference, and I mean the biggest, that I can find between Barbarian Invasion and Rome Total War is money $$$$$$$$. In Rome Total War, money was tight, but I could earn enough through keeping trade routes open and through taxes.

I really don't like Barbarian Invasion because I always run out of money. I am not sure if the decrease in the number of provinces is the cause or if when the expansion came out, they reduced the number of tradeable items or the income gained from trading. Maybe they did both. Also, I don't remember having ancillaries that gave me so many penalties to collecting taxes in Rome Total War as I get in Barbarian Invasion. It seems that every one of my generals, no matter which faction I play, ends up with -30 to -50 % tax penalties from ancillaries.

The nations in the Wheel of Time, even the smaller ones, seem to be fielding armies near 100,000 men. While the stronger nations seem to be able to support well over 100,000 men with no problem.

I hope this won't be an issue in The Wheel of Time: Total War. What have you done to test that each faction has an appropriate amount of money, and more importantly, money earning potential?

Changing the subject slightly...When the Aiel left the 3 fold land in The Fires of Heaven, each clan brought about 40,000+ spears to the "wetlands" implying they have even more than this because they would have left some men at home. With 12 clans, they had well over 500,000 men that were capable of going on campaign. I've heard that you plan for the Aiel to only have 4 territories. Are they going to be super rich? They should be in my opinion. Each one of those 4 territories represents the same production power as Andor, for example, from a militaristic point of view. If you'll remember, Andor can only field about 130,000+ men, and many of those will be new recruits and poorly trained. All of the Aiel are highly trained and experienced. What are your plans for the Aiel territories?

Is there any particular reason you chose only 4 territories for the Aiel instead of sub-dividing their lands?

cdaulepp

P.S. New_Name at wotmania.com updated his/her map today.