Questions (do you use time limits)

[Test112345]

when you cotinue playing after your victory, how long can you keep on going, or doesnt it count turns anymore?

[IRONxMortlock]

I'm getting curious now... does this passive AI happen to people in every single siege battle ?

Yes, I have never once had an AI army actually attack me during a siege they started.

I don't like having time limits in my battles so they are turned off. This means I that I have to run some light cav out of the walls and lure some of the enemy into the range of my towers. I repeat this over and over and I can generally destroy their entire army in this manner.

[ZachPruckowski]

can i play as a faction only if i have DESTROYED them or if i just face them in battle at some point during my campaign?

You can start as one of 5 factions - England, Venice/Milan (one or the other), HRE, and two others (I don't have the game up ATM). Once you beat any campaign, you can play as all the factions except the Papacy, Rebels, and the Mongols. You can play as England in the short campaign, then beat Scotland and France (and grab the last few provinces you need), and then that will unlock all the Muslims Orthodox factions, etc.

[Test112345]

Noob question: how important are stars for generals and experience for units? and is anything else important to generals besides stars? dread makes a diff, right? anything else?

[John Johnston]

I have never once had an AI army actually attack me during a siege they started.

That's just plain bizarre. The programmed opponent attacks me close to 100% of the time when besieging.

It does often wait until it's made big holes in the walls with siege weapons, though, which is perfectly fair. It's what I'd do, I wouldn't throw my troops forwards to get pwned by intact defences if I had a bunch of trebuchets I could use first.

(It also does some strange things - if you sally with cavalry and slaughter troops manning a ram, it can be a very long time before more troops arrive to pick up the ram again. Not always, but often. It will eventually pick the ram up again, though.)

Even so, the opponent is not very good at coordinating assaults. I can confidently expect to defeat besieging armies which are two or three times more powerful than the garrison, and I'm not a skilled player. Plus, even when spies have opened the gates, the opponent doesn't take advantage of this - a critical flaw IMHO - and will attempt to attack the walls with ladders and crap instead of just punching through the gates.

[IRONxMortlock]

That's just plain bizarre. The programmed opponent attacks me close to 100% of the time when besieging.

It does often wait until it's made big holes in the walls with siege weapons, though, which is perfectly fair. It's what I'd do, I wouldn't throw my troops forwards to get pwned by intact defences if I had a bunch of trebuchets I could use first.

(It also does some strange things - if you sally with cavalry and slaughter troops manning a ram, it can be a very long time before more troops arrive to pick up the ram again. Not always, but often. It will eventually pick the ram up again, though.)

Even so, the opponent is not very good at coordinating assaults. I can confidently expect to defeat besieging armies which are two or three times more powerful than the garrison, and I'm not a skilled player. Plus, even when spies have opened the gates, the opponent doesn't take advantage of this - a critical flaw IMHO - and will attempt to attack the walls with ladders and crap instead of just punching through the gates.

I've seen them hammering at the walls and then I wait for the attack...

Never occurs.

They just punch holes in the wall then wait. My "cav lure" trick certainly works but I've NEVER once seen them even move a ladder towards my walls and when they chase my cav they are only pursuing and simply follow them wherever they go; oblivious to the holes created by their own catapults etc.

Perhaps this is the key point - I play by RTW "Smackimus Maximus" rules. I develop a strong economy and then come at enemies with such force that they cannot think of withstanding. I NEVER leave cities/castles lightly defended in places near enemies. Every time the AI has besieged a city I have either relieved the city with reinforcements from elsewhere or have such a force within the walls that it would be suicide to even approach them. I guess I can't blame them for not trying.

[R'as al Ghul]

I'm getting curious now... does this passive AI happen to people in every single siege battle ?

The AI isn't really passive, imo. It brings siege gear and starts the attack properly. Tearing down walls, ladder and tower assaults. When breaches are made it will charge one opening. However, as your defenses get stronger it is reluctant to attack even when the walls are breached. Sometimes it will empty all its ammo and then attempt a charge. Sometimes, when no useful units remain it will just stand there and sit it out, sometimes it even retreats.

For me, two situations prevail: either it attacks a breach or it becomes passive after it runs out of viable options.

[dismal]

Yes, I am inclined to agree. The AI attacks robustly enough when it thinks it can win. When it doesn't it'll just stand around. Unfortunately, this is not consistent with the defender's advantage I work rather hard to earn.

I have experienced the problem not only in sieges but with hills. I get a nice defensive position on a hill and the AI won't come up and play with me.

[Satyr]

I never used to play with the timer on because it was a pain in MTW. I didn't play Rome for long enough to matter cause it sucked but listening to you guys talk about siege behavior I guess I will have to try M2TW with the timer turned back on. So far I haven't been sieged where I didn't break the siege but it would suck to lose a city and an army because the AI won't attack.

[Zenicetus]

I don't like the idea of a timer on principle, but I got in the habit of using it in RTW to break out of silly situations. For example, I once sent a small stack army after a small band of rebels. I had only heavy infantry, they had a couple peasant units and a fast foot skirmisher (peltasts, IIRC). I killed the peasants easily, the peltasts ran out of ammo but still stayed in skirmish mode, dancing away from my slower infantry. My guys couldn't corner them, and the peltasts refused to go into melee, but they didn't retreat off the map either. With the game speed on high, it looked like the end credits for a Benny Hill episode. Without a timer, I couldn't exit without an auto-lose, due to the exit penalty, I guess. So I started using the timer.

I should try turning it off in M2TW, since I haven't seen as much battlefield silliness. Outclassed units are more likely to retreat off the field now. And it looks like the patch is coming later this week (see other threads) which should fix any passive AI bugs.

[dismal]

I'm not sure I've heard anyone suggest a reason why you wouldn't want the timer.

Does anyone actually run out of time in M2TW?

[Zenicetus]

I'm not sure I've heard anyone suggest a reason why you wouldn't want the timer.

Does anyone actually run out of time in M2TW?

I've been in long battles that required regrouping, where the enemy routed and then reformed for another go. With terrain obstacles and re-positioning, I've been down to a half or 3/4 time gone on the timer. I've never had a battle like that ended by the timer, but I don't like feeling pressured.

Also it just feels artificial. Real battles don't have arbitrary, forced endings (except by weather or nightfall). As far as I can tell, the reason we have the timer at all, is to get out of jams where the AI isn't working right.

[IRONxMortlock]

For me, two situations prevail: either it attacks a breach or it becomes passive after it runs out of viable options.

Yes, I am inclined to agree. The AI attacks robustly enough when it thinks it can win. When it doesn't it'll just stand around. Unfortunately, this is not consistent with the defender's advantage I work rather hard to earn.

I have experienced the problem not only in sieges but with hills. I get a nice defensive position on a hill and the AI won't come up and play with me.

Yep, I think this the best explanation.

[gardibolt]

As far as I can tell, the reason we have the timer at all, is to get out of jams where the AI isn't working right.

I wouldn't discount that as a reason, at least until the patch arrives.