Quote Originally Posted by dopp
@Carl: You can just use the Foz's modded file and make your own changes to it. The pikemen and polearm fixes are minor when set against tweaking the shield stats of every unit.

To 'fix' the pikes, just run a search for long_pike and replace all the secondary weapon entries with the following line:

stat_sec 0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1

That's it. There are only 8-12 pike units in the game (and half of them are Scotland's), so it's an easy job.

Might I suggest that since shields normally only apply to attacks from the left, adding them directly to armor will make shielded units a lot stronger than they 'should be' in combat. Why not halve the bonus or subtract 2 or something to even things out a bit?
Or you can of course simply run the exe on an already-modified EDU if you've been doing other changes. It copies everything except the stat_pri_armour line verbatim. This was of course the whole point of posting the tool in the first place, that it adds the fix to a file that already implements other ones.

Concerning your proposal, Dopp, the way I understood shields to function was that they applied to the front as well as the left. I think this must be the case, or the only way you'd notice the shield bug would be to cause a unit to become flanked from the left. The vast majority of fighting in 1v1 tests is occurring between 2 men facing each other, so the fact that we can clearly notice the shield bug in those tests strongly points to the shield being applied to the front as well as the left. Given that the frontal defense is the one I am trying to get to the intended value, I feel the full amount should be applied, as that front defense total will certainly be the one most used in combat, and therefore I will always choose to deal with the others being slightly off instead of the front. Some side effects (in this case the right and rear will have higher than intended defense values) are unfortunately the best we can expect from any fix we can implement at the moment...

On a different note, the fixed file gives the game some interesting dynamics that I have not previously seen. I am noticing that Armoured Swordsmen and 13/21 knights for instance are now considerably more resistant to archer fire and cavalry charges than the various 21/13 units like DEK, and can beat mailed knights (cav) in 1v1... but the DEK-type units will beat the swordsmen in melee combat, retaining about 1/3 unit strength in doing so. Those same DEK types, however, rollover and die to cavalry charges (due to low armour to absorb the charge), and are considerably more beat up by archer fire than sword-and-shield units. Similarly, cavalry are no longer the total wrecking ball that they had previously been, but have units they shred, units that can match them, and units that will typically best them (the fixed spearmen). In short what I'm saying is, I'm really feeling the rock-paper-scissors dynamics that I've seen Lusted describe about his mod, and it's shocking: something this game hasn't delivered before this. It's an odd thing to be saying, but with units performing at levels that appear to be what the stats actually say, I'm really beginning to feel like each unit has a clear tactical role to play in the game, and it's a breath of fresh air. I'm genuinely excited!