1.09 Patch Notes

[Grubnessul]

Hey there patch, were you programmers aliens? Because you seem to be from out of this world

Now the only thing you forgot was to make the Sultanate of Rum formable ^^

[grumphie]

so i think mongols STILL make huge 100kish stacks?

meh. great patch(too bad i need to wait like 2 weeks for the DLC), but this is about my biggest annoyance.

[Ols]

I think the solution to the Mongol problem would be to mod their numbers lower and develop mechanics to drive them off so Paradox can see exactly how it could be worked out while still making them balanced.

[grumphie]

its not their numbers thats so much of a problem(heck, 2 20k stacks with godly bonusses would even be ok), however the fact thats it about IMPOSSIBLE to get a counterarmy in a single rovince makes fighting them near impossible.

[richvh]

Event-spawned units will be able to have attrition after patch 1.09, so that ought to help tame the Mongol (and decadence invasion, and other event-spawned) doomstacks.

[grumphie]

really? i believe that only goed for civil war and 1066 english invasions armies.

[Comradebot]

its not their numbers thats so much of a problem(heck, 2 20k stacks with godly bonusses would even be ok), however the fact thats it about IMPOSSIBLE to get a counterarmy in a single rovince makes fighting them near impossible.

The fact that the current solution is "get 120k troops, then find a way to converge at once!" is a problem itself. I don't like that the only way to play the game in Persia or Russia is to blob to the most ridiculous size possible just so you can fight off the Mongols. I'd much rather see a system where a player doesn't feel like his game is lost just because they can't beat the Mongols one on one. For starters, the AI needs to be better than it is now in regards to vassalized conquered holdings against the Mongols. They've improved, but while the Mongols may not be quite as apt to start revoking all the Russians without cause as they once were, there's nothing stopping the Russians from throwing their lives and lands away in silly, uncoordinated, hopeless rebellions (or from just getting squished by their Mongol neighbors inside the Horde).

1. Getting conquered by Mongols shouldn't be a death sentence. Rebuilding your strength from within and breaking free should be a realistic scenario.
2. Like EU, wealthy realms should be able to keep the Mongols at bay with tribute. Not just gifts, but an actual mechanic where Mongols will be very likely to leave you alone so long as that steady flow of gold is trickling into their hands.
3. Additionally, willingly handing them land should buy you a few years, maybe a decade, where they'll leave you alone (assuming they won't accept your tribute).

And while I'm happy with the terrifying numbers of Mongols, and their equally terrifying horse archer swarms, I still absolutely loathe the 120k+ doomstack. Your only hope is for them to split it up (which they'll sometimes break 20k-30kish troops off of it)... otherwise, its a silly "I win" button, resulting in the feeling of necessity blobbing, which the AI is mostly incompetent at anyways resulting in an all too frequent "Russians as an endangered species" scenario. In my current game (as Bulgaria, so I've been helping my Russian brothers out), the only reason the Golden Horde lost their doomstack? Because the Ilkhanate converted to Sunni, invaded, and their doomstack won the battle of doomstacks.

That's all I want: Mongols that don't drop the 120k death bomb on everything, and players in the east not feeling they have to blob by any means necessary as the only approach to the game. Yeah, okay, not that simple... but I have faith in PI to eventually work this out. As it is, the Mongols have come a long, long ways from how they were at release (lol at France having inherited a single Russian county, and that resulting in the Mongols invading France).

[Darkath]

Any info on Save compatibility ? I kinda forgot about this and started a new game, i'd hate to have to wait until monday to play and start over (and no i don't want to keep playing with 1.08 past monday ^^)

[grumphie]

yeah, that would be a huge inprovement. i hope the next dlc will be a tengri oriented one(so 2 pagan dlc, eastern and baltic one) that fleshes out the mongols a bit more. tribute and respecting them should buy time and even protection(HRE wants to destroy you? LOL nope), smaller realms(and vassles) should get the option to peacefully be subjegated and live under the mognol rule and strong, unified realms should actually scare them off(im the roman emperor from arabia to rus to frisia to andualusia. STAY AWAY), combined with some sort of better war mechanics(sure, you destroyed that army and have 100% warscore. but im not giving up jsut yet, as i still got over a million troops in reserve). but the splitting of the 120K "you lose" stack should be a prime priority. even if only because the mongols would conquer quicker that way

[John Forseti]

Any info on Save compatibility ? I kinda forgot about this and started a new game, i'd hate to have to wait until monday to play and start over

It was said given the wealth of new features and the fact the patch alters the map and removes atleast one title, save game compatibility is not guarenteed.

[Jeltz]

Any info on Save compatibility ? I kinda forgot about this and started a new game, i'd hate to have to wait until monday to play and start over (and no i don't want to keep playing with 1.08 past monday ^^)

Official word is: "It should be semi-compatible, but since this is a fairly significant update some issues might crop up. Safest bet is always to start a new game."

[richvh]

Any info on Save compatibility ? I kinda forgot about this and started a new game, i'd hate to have to wait until monday to play and start over (and no i don't want to keep playing with 1.08 past monday ^^)

"Semi-compatible, but it's always best to start a fresh game" (paraphrase of a Doomdark post.)

[SuicideBomber]

Sad. Mongols are still broken as no mention of army splitting.

[Darkath]

It was said given the wealth of new features and the fact the patch alters the map and removes atleast one title, save game compatibility is not guarenteed.

Official word is: "It should be semi-compatible, but since this is a fairly significant update some issues might crop up. Safest bet is always to start a new game."

Hmm, makes sense, i shall wait then

I'll wait for the updated ck2+ as well I guess.

[Novacat]

really? i believe that only goed for civil war and 1066 english invasions armies.

They use the same mechanics, though.

[Blind_Guardian]

Vassals of vassals can no longer start claimant factions for claimants in another realm

Oh yes, no more wars for English King in my Byzantium...

- Event spawned civil war armies now suffer normal attrition

This one I was waiting for !!

Reduced the effect of Stewardship on max demesne size (now 15%, down from 25%.)

Painfull...

Added a max demesne size bonus (+1) for dukes with more than one duchy

This one I don't understand. Does it mean that becoming king won't be better than staying Duke (but with 2 Duchies) ? What about king with 2 Duchy titles, he is still king but he is also a Duke...

[istoptime]

Is Tanistry the election amongst the potential heirs?

[Sian]

Blind Guardian ... you have to see the whole picture

- Reduced max demesne size from ruler tier, especially for Dukes
- Reduced the effect of Stewardship on max demesne size (now 15%, down from 25%.)
- Added a max demesne size bonus (+1) for dukes with more than one duchy

Everyone get lower max demesne size from legality, specially dukes, but multiduchies get some the bonus back from the third part so they probably get somewhere halfway between single-duchy duke and kings ...

[Malibu Stacey]

its not their numbers thats so much of a problem(heck, 2 20k stacks with godly bonusses would even be ok), however the fact thats it about IMPOSSIBLE to get a counterarmy in a single rovince makes fighting them near impossible.

Simple solution would be to let them spawn their doomstack but make them suffer attrition as per any other unit. Then they'll have to split it into smaller, more manageable stacks or lose a large chunk of troops, exactly how a player would have to deal with this situation.

Cheating AI is always bullshit no matter how it's dressed up. Back in the day when computers weren't very powerful there wasn't much choice, you either had cheating AI which was challenging or you had a game that was far too easy. However in the current age where we have an entirely separate processor just for the visuals of the game and most people have at least a dual-core CPU, there really is no excuse.

If a comparatively tiny indie developer like Arcen Games can build an entire game around solid, challenging & most importantly non-cheating AI then a large publisher like Paradox should be more than able to especially in a game like Crusader Kings where the visuals are relatively unimportant to the actual gameplay.

[clykke]

Looks good. Very good.