"Civilized" factions conquering the steppe

[MiniMe]

so these are not fractional but extra hitpoints and there never was a possibility for autocalc to operate with fractionals. Very disapointing. ruins the whole idea for me then, cause I'm against 2 hp horse archers
(not to mention 8 hp rhino catas )

[Lgk]

Very disapointing. ruins the whole idea for me then, cause I'm against 2 hp horse archers

What is "very disappointing" anyway? Extra hps do NOT change performance in tactical battles for plain simple one-man cavalry!! (elephants and chariots are another story). Do you think that, say, armenian "half-stack of lowly eastern infantry and occasional cataphract" beating scythian "half-stack of HAs and a few Noble HAs" is NORMAL? I'm tired of such things since old bad vanilla times - and won't mind if HArchers are given even thousands of extra hps as long as they win in autocalc most of engagements they should easily win in tactical battles.

Exact number of extra hps is to be found by experiment, eg steppe factions expansion pace and achievments in test Casse-campaigns. Though methinks 1,2 - 1,3 depending on unit quality would be enough.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Actually it is disappointing since the guys become a real nuisance in melee as well. (Which is not supposed to happen with such light cavalry.) In any case it'll make life much more difficult for the settled factions since they've got no proper units to counter nomadic nobles -- the favourite flavour of horse archer employed by the nomads.

And finally: AFAIK it would be pretty normal for an army of crappy light infantry & archer/spearmen to see off the occasional half-stack nomadic raids. It's how the Iranians held the nomads at bay.

[Lgk]

Actually it is disappointing since the guys become a real nuisance in melee as well.

NO, THEY DON'T!!!
Does anybody ever READ my posts here?

For elephants, changing 1,2 to 1,12 makes a lot of difference in tactical battle... For cavalry, changing 1,0 to 1,12 (to 1,"anything" in fact) makes absolutely NO difference - it counts in autocalc only! Anybody can test it by himself!!

And finally: AFAIK it would be pretty normal for an army of crappy light infantry & archer/spearmen to see off the occasional half-stack nomadic raids. It's how the Iranians held the nomads at bay.

Small raiding bands, maybe. But definitely NOT armies! And especially not on OFFENCE in hostile steppes!!

Even human player will have hard time and will most probably lose such engagement, unless in VERY favourable terrain.

[Ymarsakar]

The EDU guide in the scriptorium states that extra hp for secondary animals does not count for horse riders. Seems to only apply to chariots and elephants.

<B>AFAIK it would be pretty normal for an army of crappy light infantry & archer/spearmen to see off the occasional half-stack nomadic raids. It's how the Iranians held the nomads at bay.</b>

That becomes a question of balance. Numbers, morale, and armor still counts given the differences I see in EB naval warfare as opposed to normal. The higher morale and armor really changes things, not to mention the numbers. I've had one onearia beat off two light pirate vessels when it got attacked. No command bonuses for either side. This compared to my pentekontes who kept getting beat by a single pirate. Still, command bonuses really do tell most of the story.

[Lgk]

The EDU guide in the scriptorium states that extra hp for secondary animals does not count for horse riders. Seems to only apply to chariots and elephants.

So scriptorium is only partially right (i'd rather say "unclear") then.

That becomes a question of balance.

Exactly. So it's worth playing with hitpoints (other factors are either dynamic or short-lived) until Armenia & CO stops blitzing the steppes every time.