Dismounted Boyar sons and dismounted polish nobles converted into missile units.

[KARTLOS]

I have modded these units and converted them into javelin throwing infantry.

in thier cavalry form both throw javelins so i thought it would be logical and fun to make this the case when they are dismounted as well. plus boyar sons in vanilla identical to dismounted druzinha which is a bit boring. nobles are a boring unit as well as they are not proper spearmen -only have light spears.

I have used some of the information from almughavars but both units retain some of their original characteristics. eg the boyar sons attack with axes as their secondry weapon.

using the almughavar animation the nobles throw properly but throw their spears backwards! the boyar sons look like they are throwing their axes! I think for both units.

i nerfed the nobles stats a bit and watered down their their skill at throwing. i have also reduced the number of javelins each unit has down from the standard 8 to 5. i was trying to balance them so that they would get beaten by almughavars (as they are more expensive). i havent spent as much time balancing the boyar sons but i did increase their price.

my intention is not to convert them into plain skirmish troops, but keep them fairly similar to vanilla + added ranged attack - so that they can throw their javelins and then charge in - a bit like legionairies.

to test them just replace their description in the export_desc_unit file with the folowing.

i would welcome some feedback and suggestions on balancing. i think the nobles are about right but the boyar sons prob need more work. the variables i suggest changing for balance are -cost, missile ability, melee ability, armour, jav range and no of javs.

note that i am not trying to turn them into almughavars (light skirmishers) but that they should be reasonably heavy troops with some missile ability.

boyar sons

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

type Dismounted Boyar Sons
dictionary Dismounted_Boyar_Sons ; Dismounted Boyar Sons
category infantry
class missile
voice_type Light
banner faction main_missile
banner holy crusade
soldier Almughavars, 48, 0, 1
mount_effect elephant +6
attributes sea_faring, hide_forest, very_hardy, can_withdraw
formation 1.2, 1.2, 2.4, 2.4, 4, square
stat_health 1, 0
stat_pri 13, 3, javelin, 50, 5, thrown, missile_mechanical, piercing, spear, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex 0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr ap, thrown
stat_sec 11, 3, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_blade, slashing, axe, 25, 1.2
;stat_sec_ex 0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr ap
stat_pri_armour 5, 4, 6, metal
;stat_armour_ex 5, 7, 0, 0, 4, 6, 6, metal
stat_sec_armour 0, 0, flesh
stat_heat 4
stat_ground 1, -2, 3, 2
stat_mental 11, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 790, 150, 90, 70, 790, 4, 170
armour_ug_levels 2, 3
armour_ug_models Dismounted_Boyar_Sons, Dismounted_Boyar_Sons_ug1
ownership russia
era 0 russia
era 1 russia
era 2 russia
;unit_info 11, 13, 15

dosmounted nobles

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

type Dismounted Polish Nobles
dictionary Dismounted_Polish_Nobles ; Dismounted Polish Nobles
category infantry
class missile
voice_type Light
banner faction main_missile
banner holy crusade
soldier Almughavars, 48, 0, 1
mount_effect elephant +6
attributes sea_faring, hide_forest, very_hardy, can_withdraw
formation 1.2, 1.2, 2.4, 2.4, 4, square
stat_health 1, 0
stat_pri 8, 3, javelin, 50, 5, thrown, missile_mechanical, piercing, spear, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex 0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr ap, thrown
stat_sec 8, 3, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_blade, piercing, spear, 25, 0.6
;stat_sec_ex 0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr light_spear, spear_bonus_4
stat_pri_armour 5, 3, 3, metal
;stat_armour_ex 5, 7, 0, 0, 3, 6, 6, metal
stat_sec_armour 0, 0, flesh
stat_heat 4
stat_ground 1, -2, 3, 2
stat_mental 5, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 500, 150, 75, 55, 500, 4, 100
armour_ug_levels 2, 3
armour_ug_models Dismounted_Polish_Nobles, Dismounted_Polish_Nobles_ug1
ownership poland
era 0 poland
era 1 poland
;unit_info 8, 8, 11

[KARTLOS]

as I recall the dismounted boyar sons are are more easy to recruit than dismounted druzinha, and thus in vanilla would be the russians main heavy inf. that being the case I dont think I want to make them too much more expensive. I think 790 up from 690 might be too high.
I think I shall bring their missile ability a bit down to 8, thir armour down from 15 to 14 and their second weapon (axe) skill down to 12, and reduce their number of javelin to 4 then I will give them a cost of 700.

[Musashi]

Alternatively you could simply switch the positions of Dismounted Boyar Sons and Dismounted Druzhina in the tech tree (Pretty simple change).

[KARTLOS]

Alternatively you could simply switch the positions of Dismounted Boyar Sons and Dismounted Druzhina in the tech tree (Pretty simple change).

good idea i was thinking of doing that actually, but i still dont want to make the dismounted boyar sons too expensive

here are some screenshots of the polish nobles chukking their spears!







I think they look pretty cool, their units match the animation fairly well. the boyar sons on the other hand look like they are hurling their axes which then magically turn into spears after they are thrown!

neither unit has a visible weapon when fighting with their secondry weapon but this doesnt actually effect their melee ability.

ive played about 30 turns of a campaign with the poles now and the polish nobles seem to be well balanced.