Golden Horde!

**drone** · 10-04-2010, 16:13

Well done! Playing the Russians in High is always difficult, you just don't have enough time to build up a sufficient anti-Horde force.

Welcome to the .Org, Ameretat!

**Ameretat** · 10-04-2010, 17:55

Thanks, drone.

I've been reading the forums for some time now, especially for frogbeastegg's excellent guides, but this is that was the first time of actually posting. I was curious if anyone has ever been crazy enough to take on 10.000 mongols with less than a thousand men. Needless to say, that was the hardest battle I've ever thought - I don't remember ever pausing the game so many times during a battle before... :) Anyway, I'm wondering what exactly influences how many mongols parachute into Khazar in 1230. This time they came, numerous as the blades of grass on the russian steppes - but I've seen them invade with just a couple of stacks in every province - no matter what difficulty level. Does anyone have any idea what determines the size of the mongol force? It sure ain't garrison size of the invaded provinces, as I had just one rider in Khazar at the time of the onslaught. Is it just random or wtf?

I am absolutely thrilled by steppe heavy cavalry. This unit kinda turns *you* into the Mongols, which is the next best thing to actually playing the GH-Faction. The only reason I've started playing the Russians anyway, is for this unit - 'cause I wanted to play the mongols :) And I'm wondering how one could stop an army SHC, except bridge battles or heavily forested areas, of course... They absolutely rock, if you have the patience to pause the game a lot. Which makes me wonder, why is the skirmish AI so much better when used by a non-player army, and so excruciatingly crappy for a human army? Units on skirmish will only run away from their targeted unit, if my observations are correct - but horse archers controlled by the computer don't seem to have that problem. It's been a pain chasing those mongol horse archers around, as they are faster than SHC. I finally gave up and duelled it out with bows and arrows, if my forces where not large enough to surround the whole enemy army early on...

Ok, I'm off editing the game, so I can play the Russians on Early... :)

**drone** · 10-04-2010, 19:03

The skirmish unit setting will have the unit move away from the target, but the AI will perform insta-control to keep them out of trouble. It's possible to accomplish as the human player, but you need to practice, keep an eye on them, and become a master of the UI. I never could get it right.

Originally Posted by Ameretat

Ok, I'm off editing the game, so I can play the Russians on Early... :)

In case you need help, in Early the Russians are the People of Novgorod. They have the same unit rosters, color, etc. To get an exact match and make them playable, you need to change the EARLY.TXT file line of

Code:

SetActiveFaction:: FN_NOVGOROD		FT_MINOR

to

Code:

SetActiveFaction:: FN_NOVGOROD		FT_MAJOR

and copy the offices for the Russians from LATE.TXT into EARLY.TXT

Code:

AddOffice:: FN_NOVGOROD    royal_palace         "Chamberlain of the Great Palace"     +2    +2    0    0    0    0    0
AddOffice:: FN_NOVGOROD    constables_palace    "Grand Warder of the Kremlin"         +2    0     0    2    0    0    0
AddOffice:: FN_NOVGOROD    marshals_palace      "Grand Marshal"                       +2    0     0    2    0    0    0
AddOffice:: FN_NOVGOROD    chancellery          "Chancellor Of All The Russias"       +3    1     0    1    0    0    0
AddOffice:: FN_NOVGOROD    admiralty            "Grand Admiral of the Fleet"          +1    0     0    2    0    0    0
AddOffice:: FN_NOVGOROD    cathedral            "Metropolitan of Moscow"              0     2     0    0    3    0    0

If you think it's necessary, you can also change the CRUSADERS_UNIT_PROD11.TXT file to allow Novgorod to get Princesses.

Edit-> and save your original files...

**Ameretat** · 10-04-2010, 19:12

Thanks alot, drone. One more question, if I may: What does UI stand for? As in:

Originally Posted by drone

become a master of the UI.

**drone** · 10-04-2010, 19:32

User Interface. Being able to switch to units quickly, memorizing the hotkeys, grouping units, assessing the situation just from the minimap and unit card hints, that sort of thing. Once things start getting hectic, I lose track and end up with units in serious trouble. I use the pause button way too much, I really need to break myself of that habit (unless I need a fresh brew). If I forced myself to learn the controls better, I would probably get a lot better with skirmishers just as a side effect. You need to be able to both do quick situation awareness and quick multi-tasking control to get it right. I don't know how I managed to win an Irish VI game, the margin for error is so small with javelins, and you can't even use them with skirmish on.