Children of the Fatherland: MP conversion game

[King of Men]

Meh. When has that ever stopped you before?

Never, I admit. Ok, fair enough; Russia was a bigger target, I figured it would be easier to hit.

[King of Men]

Let's have some screenies of the fighting! Early in the war I took Korchev and Cherson, then bogged down because, firstly, vR got his troops into the Crimea and, secondly, Croatia attacked me and forced a rapid redeployment to the Balkans. This session, after knocking Croatia out of it, I returned to the Crimea and had heavy fighting in Theodosia:



I believe neither of these battles is particularly morale-bugged, which raises the question, why is Rome winning against the odds? I think the troop composition is important; I'm increasingly of the opinion that it's not all about raw numbers. Of course, since you can do roughly as much to affect troop composition as to affect raw numbers, namely sweet bugger-all, this means little in terms of skill. The point is merely to be aware that raw manpower numbers and distribution are not all the story. Note that the Roman troops in the first battle are about equal in overall numbers, but superior in heavy infantry. In the second battle the disparity is profound: The Roman are outnumbered 3 to 2 overall, but are 5 to 1 (!) in heavy infantry and 3 to 11 (!) in light cavalry. I think I'm benefitting from the hilly Anatolian terrain, which tends to produce infantry, as opposed to vR's steppe troops, heavy on the light cavalry.

The next two battles are more in the nature of comic relief than serious ruminations about strategy:



Komnenoi on both sides! Putting Komnenoi in positions of authority in other nations improves, obviously, the average leadership ability of both Romans and barbarians. It didn't help vR any, though; the traitor got his knees handed to him.

Crimea (the province, not the region) saw considerable fighting before the Russians were driven out:



Observe in the first battle the preponderance of heavy infantry on the Roman side; in the second, an epic duel of the two sovereign commanders; and in the third, ROMAN VICTOGLORY!

[BootOnFace]

Hooray for VICTOGLORY! Drive them back to whichever city the Czar resides in!

[von_Rundstedt]

I'm suprised how ineffective knights are. I pretty much always outnumber you in knights - I thought those were the most important part of medieval warfare...

Also... the regiments in the Crimea were mostly morale bugged - I could not demob and remob since you were at war with half my vassals. I believe my demesne troops were better opponents.

[BlitzMartinDK]

Just for those of us peanuts who don't have CK (yet) : How do you see nationality of attacker/defender is those screenshots. What are the troop types (from top to bottom) in the screenie? And do number of Nobles (all those little pic's under the commander) have any meaning at all -except for spare commanders?

[FrozenWall]

FATI : 275

PERS : 232
BULG : 176

275-408 basetax after I regained Antioch et. co!? I would say this puts the pre-kumbaya Byzantine shouts about the "Fatimid Threat" into perspective!

I'm suprised how ineffective knights are.

Your line of command is infiltrated by Komnenids, and you find it funny the Greeks always seem to have staked the ground precisely where your cavalry charge goes?

How does the Rus rate its chances in this war? Are you willing to negotiate concessions or are you holding out?

[Ccbasin]

I'm suprised how ineffective knights are. I pretty much always outnumber you in knights - I thought those were the most important part of medieval warfare...

Also... the regiments in the Crimea were mostly morale bugged - I could not demob and remob since you were at war with half my vassals. I believe my demesne troops were better opponents.

If I remember correctly, Knights dont fight in every phase of combat. Its been so long since I thought about it but I can't remember what troops fight in what phase of combat.

Plus, I dont know KoM's tech level but he usually, from the screenshots, outnumbers you in pikemen which isnt good.

[OrangeYoshi]

Just for those of us peanuts who don't have CK (yet) : How do you see nationality of attacker/defender is those screenshots. What are the troop types (from top to bottom) in the screenie? And do number of Nobles (all those little pic's under the commander) have any meaning at all -except for spare commanders?

I could tell you the troop types if I had the game up right now, but as for the rest, we have no idea.

[Foelsgaard]

Just for those of us peanuts who don't have CK (yet) : How do you see nationality of attacker/defender is those screenshots. What are the troop types (from top to bottom) in the screenie? And do number of Nobles (all those little pic's under the commander) have any meaning at all -except for spare commanders?

Troop types from op to bottom:

Heavy Cavalry
Light Cavalry
Horse Archers
Pikemen
Heavy Infantry
Archers
Light Infantry

[Gollevainen]

we should boost up things by changing the mod in the way that it gives Finnish culture province armies tanks and artillery...
who's with me?

[BlitzMartinDK]

we should boost up things by changing the mod in the way that it gives Finnish culture province armies tanks and artillery...
who's with me?

I guess anyone who can take some finnish culture provinces before you get those tanks


...or..hmm do you have any oil resources? good luck moving your tanks anywhere, then...

[Irsh Faq]

or..hmm do you have any oil resources? good luck moving your tanks anywhere, then...

Best of luck carting the artillery around on what passes for "roads" in medieval Finland too...

[Foelsgaard]

Producing the necessary ammunition and spare parts out of a medieval economy might also be an issue.

[Gollevainen]

you guys are such a killsjoys
I want to play with my tanks!! Mommy....!!

[Edzako]

Great update KoM ! Especially like the first part which sets up conversation in throne room, even if transition is somewhat abrupt, I even re-read that bit. Not a big fan of end of second part though (Emperors speech).

[King of Men]

Just for those of us peanuts who don't have CK (yet) : How do you see nationality of attacker/defender in those screenshots. What are the troop types (from top to bottom) in the screenie? And do number of Nobles (all those little pics under the commander) have any meaning at all - except for spare commanders?

You have to guess the nationalities from the commander names, basically; Greek-type names are Romans, Russian-type names are Russians. With the exception of the Russian Czar, Nikolaos, who has Greek culture for reasons obscure to me; and the traitor/double agent Duke, Alexandros. Also, the heart icon means the character is of the dynasty of the one taking the screenshot, which is me; a Komnenos in command generally means a Roman army, again with Alexandros excepted.

I have no idea whether the number of nobles means anything. I am reasonably confident that the Martial skill of the overall commander matters for morale damage, but otherwise I have never seen any effect from the commanders. Except for the events that only trigger for nobles currently in a battle; off the top of my head:

• "Shows great skill on the battlefield", gives +1 Martial and a tiny dollop of prestige. Has fired three times for my Emperor Konstantinos, accounting for his 19 Martial skill.
• "Demonstrated Cowardice", -1 Martial and prestige loss.
• "Has been captured by the enemy", either lose a lot of money and have a 25% chance of dying or lose no money and have a 75% chance of dying. I usually ransom them, on the grounds that the gold doesn't come out of my coffers and after a while it starts to get hard to find regimental commanders, due to the next event.
• "Has been wounded while leading his host in glorious battle". Gains Severely Wounded trait, can't lead armies anymore.

I'm surprised how ineffective knights are. I pretty much always outnumber you in knights - I thought those were the most important part of medieval warfare...

Also... the regiments in the Crimea were mostly morale bugged - I could not demob and remob since you were at war with half my vassals. I believe my demesne troops were better opponents.

I'm not sure of this, but I think terrain affects the effectiveness of troop types. I seem to recall the Crimea doesn't have much Plains? As for morale bugs, I'm having a similar problem with my vassals; but every time I demob and sail across the Black Sea again, you get that much time to recover. Note that in the next-to-last screenshot I'm fighting your Kiev regiment, personally commanded by the Czar, and it's my regiments that have the morale problems (at least some of them).

Plus, I dont know KoM's tech level but he usually, from the screenshots, outnumbers you in pikemen which isnt good.

My tech levels are the highest in the game, for what it's worth. And, again, the hilly Anatolian and Balkan terrain tends to produce a lot of good infantry, including pikemen.

Not a big fan of end of second part though (Emperor's speech).

Nu, I've had more practice playing the evil side. By 1955 my inspiring speeches for the good guys will be as good as my Hannibal Lectures with the Ynglings.

Hooray for VICTOGLORY! Drive them back to whichever city the Czar resides in!

Novgorod, in peacetime. In this time of war, however, the Czar resides in the field, commanding his vast armies from horseback and sharing their hardships. Novgorod itself is threatened by the armies of the wild Finns and by the dragon-ships of Denmark, but the Czar's court and family remains there, defiantly refusing to be moved. The walls are strong and the boyars remain loyal; let the Finns break their teeth on the fortifications, the finest in the North! They'll switch sides again soon enough when they see the hosts the Czar can call on.

I'm not sure why I'm suddenly writing vR's propaganda for him. Perhaps because it's always easier to write the losing side.

[von_Rundstedt]

i'm not sure why i'm suddenly writing vr's propaganda for him. Perhaps because it's always easier to write the losing side.

O RLY

Meh...

[Irsh Faq]

My knights have sucked, whats up with that?

I'm not sure of this, but I think terrain affects the effectiveness of troop types. I seem to recall the Crimea doesn't have much Plains?

It seems plausible. I don't know what the situation is in the province maps, but if it parallels RL much, then there are the Crimean and Caucasian mountains to worry about, and mountains are logically highly advantageous terrain for heavy infantry while being terrible terrain for cavalry charges.

[Emperor Ike]

The Tilius Were Created by Russians. They Rebelled. They Evolved. They Look and Feel Russian. Some are programmed to think they are Russian. There are many copies. And they have a Plan. 39,192 survivors in search of a home called Federation of Free Tilius.


FREE TILIUS STATE!

[BlitzMartinDK]

It seems plausible. I don't know what the situation is in the province maps, but if it parallels RL much, then there are the Crimean and Caucasian mountains to worry about, and mountains are logically highly advantageous terrain for heavy infantry while being terrible terrain for cavalry charges.

Oh come on..You can make excellent charges down a mountain!