Night battle and missile accuracy, once and for all.

[Sentinel]

Wait, so Sentinel's data is now contradicting bellorum's test results?

Not necessarily.
There are differences in the test method. I think DVX BELLORVM controlled the missile unit and let the AI control the peasants. Since the Pavise Crossbow cannot fire flaming arrows / bolts he will have used the normal bolts for both the night and day battle. Since he is using the same missile it is not surprising that the results for the two battles would give similar result. Thus indicating that the time of day, (night / daylight) has no significant effect on accuracy.

The test I did involved the AI controlling the missile unit and myself controlling the Pikemen. One of the disadvantages of my method is that I could not set up a test with the missile unit using normal arrows in a night battle to compare with the same unit using normal arrows in a day battle.
The reason I did not use the same method as DVX BELLORVM was that I wanted to keep the infantry target still, in the same formation, and run the test for longer in this state without the AI charging the archers.

One of the things I was also going to test for was the effect the direction of the arrows had on the Pikemen.
I was going to get a set of results with the Pikemen facing away from the archers, so their arrows hit the backs of the Pikemen. This proved to be impossible. Every time I test up this battle, the archers did not even bother firing an arrow. They just charged and engaged the back of the Pikemen in melee, and slaughtered them twice as fast as they could have done with their bows

[DVX BELLORVM]

Every time I test up this battle, the archers did not even bother firing an arrow. They just charged and engaged the back of the Pikemen in melee, and slaughtered them twice as fast as they could have done with their bows

That's exactly why I decided to control the archers in my test. When they were controlled by AI, they sometimes charged, sometimes they moved to a different firing position, changing the distance. And it seems that distance does have an effect on accuracy.

Those test should really be performed in a MP battle to assure maximal control over the conditions. The other option would be to mod the speed to 0, if possible

[WhiskeyGhost]

That's exactly why I decided to control the archers in my test. When they were controlled by AI, they sometimes charged, sometimes they moved to a different firing position, changing the distance. And it seems that distance does have an effect on accuracy.

Those test should really be performed in a MP battle to assure maximal control over the conditions. The other option would be to mod the speed to 0, if possible

hmm, with that being said, maybe the "Penalty" for ranged units at night, might be a scaled difference based upon how FAR your shooting. With a normal unit such as peasant archers vs a long range unit, both shooting at their maximum range, that the long range unit (aside from of course the statistical difference due to AP dmg, and the difference in the base accuracy/dmg between the different units), that maybe fighting at night reduces accuracy more for longer ranged units?

Ok, summary: i think if theres a range penalty at night, it might be based on distance to target instead of a base penalty figure.

It would be quite hard to test this though, maybe if i tried it with xbows......*begins scheming*

[FactionHeir]

All weapon accucary is based on range. They have a certain chance of going off target with each distance unit, specified in the projectile file.

[Old Geezer]

Range can make a huge difference in accuracy as I recently noticed with catapults. I attempted an assault and my catapult at extreme range ran out of ammo before breaking down a low level town gate! On relpay I moved the catapult in very close and it looked like ever launch hit the gate. I have also noticed that when the gate is greatly recessed sometimes the artillery has the devil of a time hitting the gate.

I have not noticed any drop in accuracy at night.

[Discoman]

The only usage of nightbattles is,
1. Have a reason for Generals to get more Command
2. Attack at night to catch the enemy by surprise and deny them reinforcements.

Honestly it is dissapointing due to the fact that weather has little to no effect on the battle.

[pike master]

in a modification i made i removed flaming arrows and other flaming projectiles and when attacking castles my men are getting shot down a lot more. on the battlefield when im up against the ai and he has bombards the solid shot kills more of my men than the flaming shot.

flaming projectiles arent very good in my opinion especially when it comes to the ai judgement concerning when to use them and when not to.