Perhaps this is intended to function as such and maybe there is a very good reason for it, but why do missile units that you'd think could fire immediately (and already have their weapon loaded) actually can't do so, but have to stop and reload before they can even fire their initial shot?

Arbalesters are a good example. Surely their weapon would be pre-loaded so that they could simply aim and fire right away! And THEN reload. Not wait until the enemy is in range and THEN load up and THEN fire. And this is especially important because Arbalesters take a while to reload in the first place, so if you have fast cavalry bearing down on you then you won't even be able to get a shot off - not that I should be complaining about this as usually I can simply charge down enemy Arbalesters without ever having to suffer a volley, but surely they would have their weapon ready to fire immediately! But no, when the enemy is in range they go into 'aiming', then 'firing', only to realise that nothing actually flew out when they pulled the trigger so then it's on to 'reloading', then 'aiming', and finally a second 'firing' before they actually fire!

Another example is Handgunners. Why on earth would they not have their gun loaded? Why would they wait until the enemy was just about to smack into them before deciding to load up?? That doesn't make sense to me.

In fact, EVERY missle unit that you would expect to be able to fire immediately without having to load first does in fact not do so, and EVERY unit that you'd think WOULD have to load first doesn't have to!

I personally believe that this could be a possible error in code due to an ambiguous description of a variable in the 'projectilestats' file. There is a 'Y/N' (Yes/No) variable for each unit to indicate whether it can fire straight away or has to load first. Looking at the code all seems well initially, but the description in the file of that particular variable gives conflicting information: it says it's for whether a unit can fire immediately or not . . . so for units you'd think would fire right away you'd put a 'Y' for yes and all looks logical in that respect . . . Arbalests, Crossbows, Handguns, Javelins, etc., all have 'Y', but the second part of the description for that variable says it's for whether a unit has to load first or not . . . and THAT is the actual effect that variable is determining, so if you put a 'Y' it means the unit DOES have to load---and not that it can fire immediately. So what you would initially think that the variable is doing actually does the opposite, but I also think it would be highly unlikely that something like this would go unnoticed during the making and testing of the game, so I have to assume that I'm wrong about this, but nevertheless I simply don't understand why certain units don't have a loaded weapon when they should do . . . and units that would need to load first (like archers) can just fire right away, like they've been holding back the string of the bow since they walked on the field. Javelins also are a good example . . . as if you would have to reload a javelin before being able to throw your first one when it's already in your hand. You'd simply aim and 'fire'.

But anyway, perhaps I'm making a big mistake and this all does in fact make perfect sense. I just can't see it myself, so I thought I would share my wondering and see if anyone else has ever wondered the same!

I could very easily mod the code so that every unit does work the way it should seem to, but I want to experience the game as it was made even if I don't agree with some things . . . so if there's a good explanation then that's all right, but if it is an error of some kind then I'll definitely think about modding it myself at some point.