Grognard_mod v.2.a beta (last update 28/04/09) -> Campaign compatible / Lordz map pack compatible

[JC_von_Preussen]

Grognard_mod v.2.a beta

Hello.

V 1.F is definitely not compatible with the Lordz Map Pack.

Therefore, we have decided to make an early release of our next version. This is beta opened.
Version is 2.A

Download link :

http://rs639.rapidshare.com/files/2...beta_ferm__.rar

Changes :

- Map Pack compatible
- Campaign compatible
- New units from 1.F removed ( they cause the crash )

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Grognard_mod v.1.F is now availible.

http://rapidshare.com/files/223313236/GrogmodV1f.rar

What's new

- Artillery is now much less fragile when it comes to artillery duels. It can still be destroyed though.

- Howitzers are now much more balanced, they only shoot shrapnel, like in old NTW2 !

- Heavy cavalry can now hide in woodland

- Generals can use pistols and can dismount

- Windbüsche are no longer able to hide in the open

- New loading screens by Spanky

- New regimental flags by Aykis16

- New units (with new skinns) : Garde suisse, Infanterie de Marine, Régiment de Provence, Hungarian infantry, hungarian grenadiers

- Unit unlocked : French hussars

- New skinns by Bruix, Bibouba and Christof :

--> Grenzers, austrian officers, autrian jaegers, prussian artillery, french guard artillery, french carabiniers, french hussars, austrian line infantry

- Maratha and Ottomans removed (No balance has been found yet)

- Some little changes (About units costs, stats, removal of mortars and fixed rockets (as long as it is not modded) etc)

Some images of what you can see in-game:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Version 1.e :

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

French Music mod by [Grognard]_Bibouba (For those who like Versailles)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GRND6XN3

(Unzip it in data, it wills replace your sounds_music.pack, so make a back_up first )

What's new :

Major improvement :



- Now being attacked from rear or flank not only has an impact on morale, it also has an influence on the units defense skill. Hence making units vulnerable to flank attacks.

- Charge bonus timeout decreased. ( from 80 to 20) to prevent never ending blob melee. This does not help the charging player.

- Artillery has now + 100 range, after demands from the community. SHould help as long as canons are not fixed by CA.

- Lights have longer accuracy (back to 80), to make them worthy.

- Russians can now play with grenadiers

- Russian grenade launchers completely removed.

- Deleted platoon firing (which was losing against rank firing in 1v1), replaced with rank firing.

Special thanks to [Grognard]_Mooncabbage for his precious help (even very late at night )

- Also some little things that had ben forgotten (ammo, etc)



- New skinns

• French cuirassiers, dragoons (still named chasseur à cheval, but it should be fixed later), line infantry.

• Prussian line, officers, cuirassiers

• Austrian line, cuirassiers

• Swedish line, guard

Special thanks to Magnus 72, [Grognard]_Bibouba, [Grognard]_Admiral

Version 1.d

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- 25th of march patch incorporated.

Major changes :

After many feedback and tests, we decided the following changes:

- Lights: reduced range from 80 to 70 (muskets all have the same range now, just like line infantry). Rifles range decreased from 125 to 120. rifles now take slightly more time to reload ( Game had turned into mass jaegers battles). Lights morale reduced by 1, so that it really start to fear cavalry.

- Cavalry: v1.c made cavalry a bit to weak ! Their strength has been balanced. Now 1 cuirassier vs 1 inf line turns to the favor of the cavalry (but cav takes casualties). Square is still very deadly, but not invincible like in 1.c.

- Artillery: people were playing them less and less... 24 lbers unchanged. 6lbers now reloas 1/3 quicker than 24 lbers. Howitzers and mortars have slighty increased reload times ( they remained too dangerous, especially because of explosive shells )

Minor changes :
- lights can't hide in the open anymore.
- Artillery canisters shot was too wide and too high initial speed, resulting in poor efficiency and lagg in MP. Firing cone and pellet initial speed reduced.
- Grenadiers : platoon firing no longer bugged. Should work fine now. Ammo raised from 10 to 60 ( It had been forgotten in v1.0 )

Graphics :
- Blood_mod v1.1 incorporated.
- New skinns from the twcenter community: Prussian line and grenadiers, spanish line, Unted Provinces line, french line.
- Maison du roi, completely reworked by [Grognard]_Bibouba
Judge by yourself :

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Version 1.c :

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Cavalry is no longer overpowered (Everybody was starting to play 6 Cuirassiers per army in multiplayer). It wont be possible to rush and sweep the enemy infantry by chaotic charges. Square are much more useful against cav. However, light infantry is now really weak against cavalry charge.

Real canister effects: Wider spread radius makes canister very dangerous at point blank. Higly inacurate at longer range.

Version 1.b :

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Hello every body,
We are very happy to release this new update of the mod. Contruary to the change from v1.0 to v1.a (which only conssited in slowing units), this new update brings much more realistic elements to life.

Here are the new features:

- Units now slowly get tired as they walk (which is not the case in vanilla, they can walk the whole map without having to stretch their legs !).

- Charge from rear has now little more chance to affect the morale of the attacked units ( 2 hussars vs 1 light infantry, should now turn to the hussar advantage )


- Musket accuracy : here's a big change ==> Now, shooting at long distance is pretty inacurate. You only get precise shots if you come closer. This should allow for longer musket duels, and the setting of real fronts during games.


- Missfire : CA has set a small chance of missfire for canons... but not for muskets... We did it ! Now flintlock muskets have 8% of missfire, matchlock 20%. We hope you'll like realistic change


- Tighter ranks : well, units now look even more like NTW2. One consequence is that your army will seem a bit smaller, but it could be very usefull in 3v3 or 4v4.


- Wooden stakes and grenades removed. Grenades were quite rare, and meant for siege actions. Wooden stakes are a good joke


- Artillery, which had not been touched previously, completely reworked :

-- Big canons have now longer range than small canons. Small canons have better reloading skill than big canons.

-- Roundshots now follow a bit more straight line of fire. They also hit more often ( even though they are still not as deadly as in NTW2, wich, I find good, for we still are in the XVIIIth ).

-- Schrapnel is now somekind of longer ranged canister, but is less dangerous than in ETW vanilla.

--Normal canister has now very short range, but devastating shots.

-- Canon prices have been changed accordingly to their new strenght ( foe instance, french guard 24 lbers are 800 florins )

Grognard_mod v1.a

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

----> Movement speed decreased by 20%, special thanks to Matte 979.

Presentation, v1.0

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Hello everybody,


First thing, I must tell a big BIG thank you to LtChambers for his huge PackFileManager. He is the one who allowed us to create this mod.



Second thing is : this Mod is for LATE era Battles and large scale units (vs computer or multiplayer). It has yet not been tested with ETW campaign, and it would probably do strange things, even if we are 100% it works fine ! (Basicly, because indian, native and east units have not be customized yet )



So what is this mod about ?

A lot of people are really unhappy about what CA made of the game battle gameplay. The Grognards shared that opinion. We have been playing the mod for Rome Total War : Napoleonic Total War 2 for more than two years. Our experience in this mod, as well as our passion for history ( XVIIIth century, Napoleonic Wars ), decided us to create a moddification for ETW.



What did we decide to change ?

Basicly, we wanted the game to look like our old beloved mod (NTW2), even if game mechanics have changed in ETW. Hence, each european unit availible in Multiplayer (late) has seen its stats changed.
We basicly changed : Numbers, Melee skill, charge bonus, defence skill, armor, morale.
We also changed prices. Some "spam" units such as puckle guns, rockets, or grenade launches have seen their prices set to 10000 so that you don't pick them. Other prices have been set so that the game remains balanced.



Are you sure it's worth playing it ?

Well, if you already like ETW gameplay, just stick to it. NTW2 system is much more realistic, hence more difficult to handle. We did not create the stats randomly, but took them from existing lists !


Enough talks :

Here is the list of what has been edited : I m talking in LARGE scale unit )

- Number of soldiers per squad : 120 for most 'line" infantry, 100 for lights, 80 for jaegers, 60 for cavalry

- Melee attack skill slightly increased

- Charge bonus , largely increased ( to match those of NTW2, so now infantry really hurts when charging, but this is also true for cavalry, especially lancers)

- Defence skill decreased ( It was too high, so it's one of the reason why the melees were so slow)

- Every unit now gets a "shield score" just like in NTW2 while they had not in ETW vanila (apart from some barbarians actually fighting with a real shield), this really helps avoiding mass casualties in melee.

- Morale has been changed too. It would be too long to explain it into details. We could just tell that, morale is made of two parameters. And that these had to be largely decreased to match those of NTW2.

- Munitions. Now infantry unit have much more ammo. Cavalry units, except dragoons, can only shoot once.

- Accuracy: We did not change it yet, apart from mortar accuracy, which was lame in ETW vanilla. Now, you can pick mass mortars at your own risks!

What is there still to do ?

Basicly, it seems battle rythm is a bit too fast. So we'd like to change movement speed asap. We are also trying to balance the costs of units, so feedback from people would be really welcome !
We'll certainly try to change accuracy and reloading skill, but this will really need mass tests...

Next step :




You'll find instalation instructions inside (it's really easy, don't worry)




Now, open your eyes wide, and prepare for screenshots, FOR, for the first time in ETW you'll eventually see units rout "en masse" ! ( This is not arcade though, it does only happen when you play very well, and your opponent very bad, or contruary )


If you're also interested in history of war in the XVIIIth century and the Napoleonic wars, you should also pay us a visit at our very forum there :
http://www.grognards.org


Known issues

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- If you play in smaller scale than Huge, you'll be shown 80.25 soldiers per squad, and 100.333 soldiers per squad ... This should be fixed soon, it does not make the game crash, there are only 80 and 100 soldiers created on the battlefield.

[Spiff]

Sounds interesting, but im a bit confused as to why, on one hand, you increased charge bonus/melee attack skill and decreased defense skill to speed up melee fights - but then on the other hand increased shield values on all units to stop melee fights ending so quickly?

I probably just misunderstood, but it seemed a little odd.

[Björneborgs regemente]

Very interesting, do you have some tables and charts of yours sources and tests? Have you had any progress in the unit movement speeds? It really would be a big improvement.

[Liberalis Bellatricus]

I had the privilege to test this little piece of paradise and it really feels very realistic when it comes to 18th century battle dynamics.
I did play a bit NTW2 and always thought that the "Lordz modding collective" brilliantly portrayed the costs and stats.
No fixed artillery spam, no silly hour long hand to hand combats and so on.

A well prepared infantry charge can now rout without long melees an enemy infantry formations, realistically.
In one of the games I played tonight, I had infantry units routing BEFORE impact because the enemy was outnumbering them by 4:1 . (love it)

Generals are at 12men/unit now, without any previous, "extreme fighting skills". Makes the player actually value his most important unit.

Mortars have extremely poor accuracy now, so no more gigantic noob spam games.

Good job man !

[JC_von_Preussen]

I'm not answering for the whole team that made the mod.

However, from what I know of mechanics, that's the way it worked in NTW2.

Basicly increasing melee attack skill, increases chances to do a "hit" on the enemy.
Decreasing defense skill, also increases chances to be get a "hit".

===> There are more hits in the mod than in ETW vanilla

However, although every "hit" would make a "kill" in ETW vanilla, it's not always the case in the mod, due to "shield score". So : soldiers get hit, but, depending on the shield score , they don't die all the time.

What's the point ?

1) It would seem that, the more the unit gets "hit" the more the morale suffers. So you eventually get units fleeing without having to sustain mass casualties.
2) NTW2 modders played on the "shield scores" to improve gameplay. For instance infantry line has 8 defense skill, 10 shield. Cuirassier has 12 defence skill, 5 shield. It represents the fact that tight formation of infantry can easily counter cavalry, once the cavalry charge is broken.
So when the infantry get charged, it takes much casualties... But in the long run, it will make the cavalry flee! ( It's not always the case though, it really depends on the situation you know).

I hope I answered your question and that I am not mistaken

[[SVK]Jakob]

So you've turned ETW into a charge fest without any way of effectively halting mass charge? (Such as mortars, and melée defence)

[johncage]

why not decrease defense only slightly and forget about the "shield" thing?

[Chevalier IX]

Superb Work!!I find it rather irritating when my perfectly placed charge of steel is sent crashing into the ranks of the foe only to have it degenerate into some manner of overextended melee.While it might be said that this was the case at a few choice engagements of the day,this was by all means far from the norm(although were I CA and had I developed such thoroughly engrossing melee animations,I suppose I would elongate the ability to admire them as well)and more times than not the rival forces would not even come to grips,one having broken long before the first blade met its mark.Thank you for this excellent foray into realism and here is to the hopes that a Grand Campaign version is in the works

[JC_von_Preussen]

So you've turned ETW into a charge fest without any way of effectively halting mass charge? (Such as mortars, and melée defence)

Jakob, are you kidding ? I did not know you were member of NBC...
If it's what you want to know, charge do not work as well (yet) as they did in NTW2.

As I wrote in the first topic, if you prefer vanilla, and its lame fights, just stick to it.

Just try it man, do not juge it if you haven't !

Remember what you once wrote on the Lordz forum: That ETW was Imperial Glory. We just are trying to fix it.

[scivian]

Sounds great, I hope you make compatible with Campaign, that's the only thing I play.

[JC_von_Preussen]

Superb Work!!Thank you for this excellent foray into realism and here is to the hopes that a Grand Campaign version is in the works

Thanx a lot for your enthousiasm. (After Jakob's post, I thought i was going to start a depression)

You said it : "REALISM"

I find it rather irritating when my perfectly placed charge of steel is sent crashing into the ranks of the foe only to have it degenerate into some manner of overextended melee.

Yes, 100% agreed. I had stopped to play multiplayer because of this. The fact is that in ETW, each charge is doomed to death ! Whatever the skill and numbers of the fighting units...

While it might be said that this was the case at a few choice engagements of the day,this was by all means far from the norm(although were I CA and had I developed such thoroughly engrossing melee animations,I suppose I would elongate the ability to admire them as well)and more times than not the rival forces would not even come to grips,one having broken long before the first blade met its mark.

Charges did occur in the XVIIIth century. Do not doubt it.

However, this mod is not ROME or MEDIEVAL. You'll easily be routed if you charge stubbornly full speed ahead.

Shooting hasnt been changed, so fire power is still very powerful.




Oh, and, about adressing campaign, this may take some time still. But we're looking forward for it

[JC_von_Preussen]

Have you had any progress in the unit movement speeds? It really would be a big improvement.

I also am following the topic about DBFileEditor which has turned into the questionning : How to edit movement speed?

I have no clue so far ... ( Keep faith in LtChambers )

[Björneborgs regemente]

I also am following the topic about DBFileEditor which has turned into the questionning : How to edit movement speed?

I have no clue so far ... ( Keep faith in LtChambers )

Ask Matte979, he has opened them.

[JC_von_Preussen]

Oh ! Very good !

[hokomoko]

nice
can't test it as I don't have ETW but this mod is rather flattering

[Mikhail Tomasovic]

i really don't care for the 'shield'... i like the fact that a .68 caliber piece of lead will actually kill someone....

[JC_von_Preussen]

nice
can't test it as I don't have ETW but this mod is rather flattering

(Here's one of the Lordz )

[Mikhail Tomasovic]

beside that though, your mod really rocks... lol i couldnt get past the shield...

[JC_von_Preussen]

i really don't care for the 'shield'... i like the fact that a .68 caliber piece of lead will actually kill someone....

Bullets and canon balls are mad things, they don't care about the shield

[Mikhail Tomasovic]

Bullets and canon balls are mad things, they don't care about the shield

they are like chuck norris then? lol

• It takes 14 puppeteers to make Chuck Norris smile, but only 2 to make him destroy an orphanage.