Tired units and stats

[EatYerGreens]

What really bothers me is this tacit assumption that 'better' armour meant thicker plate and hence greater weight - and it's the weight - as much as the 'oven' factor - that leads to the exhaustion.

There's a link in Cambyses II's Pocket Mod thread to a video demonstrating the level of agility achievable in full armour. (I have to confess I've not chased this link myself but that's because I don't need to see it, having seen what was probably the same bloke, doing much the same antics on a particular Time Team episode, although his did look to be quite an advanced set).

In modding terms, I would adopt one of two approaches.

i) Assume that Early armour is of makeshift design and gives protection mostly based on its thickness. Late armour has compound curvature and gives the *same* level of protection (if not better) but with thinner, lighter plate (by using steel, instead of iron). Therefore, level out the armour bonuses but make the primitive armour cause high fatigue rates (heavier) and advanced armour cause *lower* fatigue rates (lighter).

ii) Preserve the way in which more advanced armour confers better protection against missiles and adds to the defence stat but, this time, make the fatigue rates similar across the board, on the assumption that the wieght of armour never changed much, through the ages but the protection factor increased, for the reasons stated above.

In both cases:- Retain the armourer training requirements for knights.(*)

It would be tempting to tinker with the base-level armour ratings as well, to offset the fatigue problems, but this would upset the intended differences between un-upgraded units, for example, peasant-types, which cannot afford (or, by tradition, don't bother with) armour and (F)MAA or FS, who have maille or basic armour, that they own.


It certainly is bizarre that, for a game whose working title was "Crusader Total War", the very knightly troops you'd expect to be using for the task turn out to be next to useless, anywhere outside of the temperate climate zone.



(*) Footnote:
I'm increasingly of the opinion that the construction times do not represent the time it takes to erect a building (except for things like Citadel, Cathedral) but are a combination of the time it takes for a maker to develop their arts to the next highest level and, principally, to reflect the time taken for cultural acceptance of your faction, after you've conquered a territory. Thus, you cannot expect to raise knights, loyal to your cause, straight after invasion and may have to wait a generation (20-25 yrs) or more before they accept that the lands you grant them for service are yours to give in the first place.