Difficulty/Unit size.

[Haccapelite]

I checked the unit sizes from the numerology thread in the yuku-page, and noticed that on every other unit size exept small and medium, the bodyguard unit is half of the normal cavalry unit size, a third of a infantry unit and one fifth of a spear unit.

[caravel]

Royal Knights and Ghulam Bodyguards are simply not scalable, their unit size is always 20 which is half the regular base size for cavalry. This does make them more vulnerable when playing on huge unit size. It is better to edit the unit prod file and make them scalable.

[Sensei Warrior]

I play on normal to expert. It really depends on my mood. If I'm looking for a quick light romp through the woods then Normal. If I'm up for a nail biting mind-grinder, then Expert. Most of my games are generally played on hard.

I leave it on the Default size for units. I never really cared to change it in the beginning, and kind of gotten used to the sizes so left them. Now, I play my own homebrew mod, which has upped the unit size of the Pikemen units considerably, so looking to play the larger unit sizes are kind of out of the question.

Never tried a different unit size so haven't paid attention, sorry.

Not too sure bout the XL patch either.

[Martok]

I used to play on Normal all the time, but I was beginning to play on Hard more often at the time my PC died. It also partially depends on the faction I'm playing. The Eggies, for example, are easy enough that playing them on Hard is a more appropriate challange for them. On the other hand, I don't think I would *ever* play the early Armenians on anything worse than Normal -- I'm just not that masochistic.

I've pretty much always used the default unit size. They seem to be better balanced than the other sizes.

[macsen rufus]

I usually play on Hard these days - I did spend quite a time palying in Expert, but the AI morale bonus started to feel unrealistic (the lone AI peasant standing up to the charging knights etc ) Losing armies should break rather than fighting on to the last man, so making "morale-crushing" victories nigh on impossible, as in Expert, just didn't feel right.

I don't think I would *ever* play the early Armenians on anything worse than Normal.

You should just gird your loins, eat your spinach, and go for it That was one I did in my "expert" days, and probably about the last one, too, after having to grind down each muslim peasant individually with my Armenian infantry

Unit size, well when I had a smaller, slower machine I had to use small units with all the eye-candy (such as it is in MTW ) turned right down. Now I can max out on everything. Generally I play on large, as spear units look more realistic (166 men) - you can have a wall of some depth, whereas on smaller (50 or 60 men) settings the wall is a bit too narrow, or a bit too thin. Unit size affects tactics due to area of ground required for manoeuvres etc. I find this aspect can annoy me a bit on huge, as archers especially become a real menace, milling around all over the field

Once I could turn the unit size up a bit I had to relearn the use of BG units - on small, 20 knights vs 30 swords, say, makes them a steamroller, but when you have to face 100 swords per unit, the balance is different. IMHO, this made 'small' unrealistic too, as the BGs did all the work, and the difference in factions' royal birthrates made all the difference strategically. A campaign could hinge on whether your prince comes of age the year before or the year after the neighbour's prince.

Briefly and incompletely: XL adds extra factions (eg Crusader States, Teutonic Order, Lithuania etc etc etc), new units, extra provinces, re-jigged economy so farming becomes more important, trade less so. PEASANTS REMOVED as a trainable unit It's what I usually play for the Mediaeval period, and generally find it an improvement over vanilla Well worth a download...

[Martok]

The XL 2.1 patch mostly adds various tweaks and rebalances. Some units stats were adjusted, and trade income was increased slightly so that it's more worthwhile to have trade fleets.

You should just gird your loins, eat your spinach, and go for it That was one I did in my "expert" days, and probably about the last one, too, after having to grind down each muslim peasant individually with my Armenian infantry

Better you than me, mate. I still think I'll leave the Armenians to you.

[Geezer57]

+1 for Expert difficulty and default unit size. If I do my job correctly, the A.I. still breaks and runs before dying to the last man - they just hold a little longer, which makes the battle outcome more uncertain.