Spartan generals

[SuperGosc]

I am playing Kollion Hellenon and was against macedon army and the faction leader. The faction leader was about 104 strong and he ripped through TWO Spartan Generals like they were nothing. The macedon faction leader ripped through a set of low class hoplite. Im sorry but never have you heard of a calvary making spartans look like a bunch of sheep.

Is there anyway to lower the hitpoints of generals or make it so that doesnt happen again.
Btw it was a charge at the front, NOT behind.

[gran_guitarra]

If it was a charge I'm surprised they looked like sheep. The Macedonian General's Bodyguard is Companion Cavalry, which has an obscene charge (on par with the Medieval 2 Total War ones). As if this was not enough they also have a decent attack for cavalry and incredibly high defense. There is also the fact that the general provides a huge bonus to attack and morale, so their charge would be even stronger.

Next time intercept his cavarly with your own, then charge in your Spartans. The best way to deal with cavalry, especially heavy cavalry, is to:
a) use a missile unit to weaken them. It is unlikely you'll score more than a few kills, but the point of this is to take away that second hit point.
b) charge them with your own cavalry. Their chances of scoring outright kills are very good, especially if you used a good missile unit to weaken the enemy cavalry.
c) use a medium to heavy spear-men unit to finish it off. Their bonus fighting cavalry and decent armor rating will ensure that, combined with your own cavalry, they have a very good chance of trapping and killing the enemy general.

Remember, the General's Bodyguard is always the strongest unit available to the faction, and Cavalry factions (factions whose tactics revolve around cavalry) such as the Successors will have superior Cavalry to infantry or ranged factions.

[mcantu]

What difficuty are your battles at?

[PenguinLobster]

Generals are insanely overpowered. I've seen just one seleucid general, no bodyguard, kill my general and his 15 bodyguards. After the standard 5-10 minutes of watching my hoplites form a giant stabbing mob around him he died though.

[LordCurlyton]

I must play a different EB as I have NEVER had this problem. It doesn't matter if the enemy cav general is a gold chevroned mo-fo, if he charges a line of elite spears I WILL mow him down. And hoplites of any stripe have always proven darn effective against cavalry. Only the actual general can be somewhat unrealistic, but I rarely need 5-10 minutes of stabbing to kill him, and if I charge with a bodyguard unit on a lone bigger he goes down and stays that way. But then I only use Medium battles, as recommended. Any harder and you have no right to complain about how tough they are, as they get bonuses to start with.

[NeoSpartan]

I am have that issue BUT I AM PLAYING H/VH with KH. So, I expect to see some insanity.

[bovi]

There is a way to lower the hitpoints of generals, make a trait that affects hitpoints and give it to everyone at faction turn start. You can find sample code to create it from in export_descr_character_traits.

[Foot]

I want to make this very very clear for everyone:

If you play the game on Hard or Very Hard Battle Difficulty then please refrain from complaining about the strength of any unit (particularly enemy ones) as it is the game, not our stat system, that is affecting how they work. We recommend Medium difficulty level for a reason, and if you play otherwise we cannot help you.

Foot

[hoom]

I thought it was just me.

Two Seleukid Somatophylakes did that to what had seemed a very solid KH army :(
As you can see, my guys got lots of kills & I'd have had them if those blasted Somatophylakes had died, instead the cav just took apart my army unit by unit in melee combat.
I hardly hurt them at all & that was with my main force directed at them because I knew they were the danger.

It's funny though, in my other campaigns so far I've been able to combat the Hellenic Heavies without too much fuss with similar units

It was my first EB campaign & on 0.80 so could be they changed stats since? Or there was a bad balance of traits or something that I didn't know to check for. Either way, I keep this image as a reminder of the damage that can be done. (& yes, that was on medium battle difficulty)

[Andronikos]

I do not know if I am right but I have noticed that the phalanx has to prepare to absorb an atack. They have to get their spears in a proper position after moving. If they are charged from the front before they manage to put spears down and make some strange "jump" (I just cannot find a good word) to the side they will be crushed.

[atheotes]

I do not know if I am right but I have noticed that the phalanx has to prepare to absorb an atack. They have to get their spears in a proper position after moving. If they are charged from the front before they manage to put spears down and make some strange "jump" (I just cannot find a good word) to the side they will be crushed.

yes... I believe they have to brace their spears and unit status should be 'ready' for them to make horse kebabs...

[NeoSpartan]

I want to make this very very clear for everyone:

If you play the game on Hard or Very Hard Battle Difficulty then please refrain from complaining about the strength of any unit (particularly enemy ones) as it is the game, not our stat system, that is affecting how they work. We recommend Medium difficulty level for a reason, and if you play otherwise we cannot help you.

Foot

WELL SAID!!!

[SuperGosc]

I understand that calvary generals are super strong BUT, One Macedon General vs SPARTAN GENERALS, No way. I know spartans arent that strong in this part of history but one Calvary general should never be able to kill 126 spartans from the front, not to mention 2 other squads of spearmen WTF!!!!

[Fleeb]

What difficuty are your battles at?

You never did answer this.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

It was Antigonos himself (king of your most hated enemy) as you tell it - and he was the enemy (AI), and he started with 104 hetairoi. It's not surprising he kicked your guys' butts, but don't get upset about it. RTW works that way in general anyway.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Yep, the name says it all. Antigonos the General who's quickly into the top of "who's got the most command stars" competition... Plus Hetairoi, plus faction leader, plus generally speaking lots of Battle strength enhancing traits...

And as it happens - command start do matter when the general charges.

Oh, by the way: I've had a minor enemy general rip through my Mistophoroi Pezhetairoi on the bridge near Antiocheia. And yes, these were attacked at the front.