Attila TW Previews

[easytarget]

Even though I've stated repeatedly I will not pre-order this, I would in fact pre-order it if there was a bullet point anywhere in all the above information that said they addressed agent spam. There isn't as far as I know, since that would require CA admitting there's a problem, something they've failed to do for the last year as the topic rears its head every single week in the forum. But I am serious, if I knew for a fact that was fixed (seriously how freakin hard is it to set an agent limit on the AI anyway?!) I'd pre-order it right now.

[Bramborough]

Some great videos. I noticed that WarriorOfSparta and DiplexHeated fought basically the same battle (which makes sense; an early obvious attack for the Saxons). Same settlement, and very similar army compositions on both sides. Interestingly, Diplex' battle looked as if it was not going nearly as well while in progress, but he wound up losing fewer troops. Pretty cool to watch two different players' styles given a nearly identical situation.

[edyzmedieval]

Some great videos. I noticed that WarriorOfSparta and DiplexHeated fought basically the same battle (which makes sense; an early obvious attack for the Saxons). Same settlement, and very similar army compositions on both sides. Interestingly, Diplex' battle looked as if it was not going nearly as well while in progress, but he wound up losing fewer troops. Pretty cool to watch two different players' styles given a nearly identical situation.

Isn't there actually an agent limit on the AI just as you have? Because in my latest Macedon campaign, Parthia expanded to a fully fledged Empire, but they never had more than 2-3 spies aimed against me. (they fought me and my allies on the same front)

[easytarget]

Technically there's a limit based on imperium (supposedly), I know at least that limit is shown in the player screen, whether it applies to the AI I don't know. I've yet to see it prevent a wave of agents coming at me. I've seen it in the GC, seen it in all the DLCs, in fact I'm dealing with it currently in the WOS campaign.

And as always I flip them and end up with way more agents than my imperium should allow.

I really honestly don't understand why this was so easy for them to do properly in S2 and not only impossible to do in R2 but impossible for them to even wrap their brains around the idea it's broken based on repeated player descriptions in the forum (featuring screenshots showing a bunch of player and AI agents standing around a settlement).

Sigh, I'll wait and watch.

[Bramborough]

I have mixed feelings about agents. My own experience is similar to easytarget's: they're a royal pain for a while, but doesn't take too long before I convert most of them and have a huge agent force of my own. Then I just agent-spam the AI right back. And frankly it's kinda fun, in a "mini-game" sort of way. So as far as that goes, the agent play doesn't bother me that much.

The problem, which I know frustrates many, is that the agent game is out-of-whack proportionally...it's not really a "mini-game" at all. The agents are simply too powerful (at least, the spies and champs are). Instead of agents offering occasional support to one's armies, it often feels like the armies are supporting the agents (who win the real victories). The most blatant example is a high-level spy with 2 or 3 points in the poison skill...a couple of hits from one of these transforms a robust 20-unit "doom stack" into a phantom force of skeletons to be mopped up.

Even more pervasive is the fact that one often needs an agent to force battles to happen at all. Nothing more aggravating than some mangy pack of 10%-strength levy-level cannon fodder...who happen to have gotten loose behind the lines and are now raiding in home provinces. Of course they run any time you manage to catch them...and of course they always manage to skip just out of attack range. So you need the agent to immobilize or slow them for a turn so you can steal a march on them. I guess there's a certain amount of realism to that, and maybe not a bad representation of guerrilla warfare. Annoying nevertheless.

Last paragraph brings to mind something else that has been irritating me recently. Has there been some sort of zone-of-control change in R2 recently, perhaps with EE or some other late patch? Quite a few times recently, I finally herd a enemy force into a mountain pass or some other terrain cul-de-sac using multiple armies, and they have no apparent way out. Then I attack with one army, and the enemy completely ignores zone-of-control and retreats right past my blocking army, getting out free and clear again. I don't remember this happening last year (maybe it did, I just don't remember).

[Hooahguy]

Heres a mixed review of Attila, from the ever reputable DarrenTotalWar:



Even with the foreseen problems Im still glad I pre-ordered it, but I will probably not start a campaign for a couple months after release because a)patching b)mods and c)I still need to finish my Marcomanni campaign/AAR which I have been rather lazy to play as of late as other games are grabbing my attention for now.

[Crandar]

Darren is a nice reviewer, a worthy replacement of Daily, very neutral, even his tone of speech is neutral, and although I sometimes find him a bit boring, he's much better than Joe and his tantrums.

However, Attila is old news, really, Total War: Warhammer is announced, here and there.
Warhammer has quite a strict universe, so don't think that the Creative Assembly will not be forced to make it "accurate".

[Hooahguy]

Even though I've stated repeatedly I will not pre-order this, I would in fact pre-order it if there was a bullet point anywhere in all the above information that said they addressed agent spam. There isn't as far as I know, since that would require CA admitting there's a problem, something they've failed to do for the last year as the topic rears its head every single week in the forum. But I am serious, if I knew for a fact that was fixed (seriously how freakin hard is it to set an agent limit on the AI anyway?!) I'd pre-order it right now.

I recall them saying in a dev blog that agents wont start out with all their abilities unlocked so that might help. Maybe. Only time will tell.