Downloaded. A lot of work there PP, a lot!
Love command ability among troops, especially infantry. I usually mod that myself in every mod, so no more instant rout.
I do have some questions (not complains). Any particular reason why some HC units from same era have different stats? Aiming on stuff like this: English knight have 13 charge, Chivalric knight have 17 charge. I assume they have same training, arms, horses. Only difference is their melee weapon.
Chivalric Knight is Lancer, English Knight is Charger, see following table in the guide:
MOUNT CATEGORIES
Category Anim Applied for Melee Charge Weapons Defense move_speed_mod mass heat morale mount
shuffle_backward Attack Charge x-radius
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All ponies shuffle_backward 0 0 0 0 0 0
HA/Javelin shuffle_backward 0 n/a 0 +0.1 -0.5 -2 -0.05
Lancer shuffle_backward -1 +4 0 +0.05 +0.25 -1
Charger idle 0 0 +1 0 0 0 +1
Brawler shuffle_forward +1 -2 +2 -0.1 -0.25 +2 +2
type English Knights
dictionary English_Knights ; English Knights, f
category cavalry ; elite mounted melee, lance/axe
class heavy
voice_type Heavy
banner faction main_cavalry
banner holy crusade_cavalry
soldier English_Knights, 20, 0, 1
officer English_Knights
officer northern_captain_early_flag
mount barded horse brawler charger
type Chivalric Knights
dictionary Chivalric_Knights ; Chivalric Knights, f
category cavalry ; elite mounted melee, lance/longsword
class heavy
voice_type Heavy
banner faction main_cavalry
banner holy crusade_cavalry
soldier Chivalric_Knights, 20, 0, 1
officer Chivalric_Knights
officer northern_captain_early_flag
mount barded horse brawler lancer
Next question is in that direction, wouldnt all late HC take AP weapons for melee fight since everyone are in heavy armor? Same goes for infantry too. System like it is greatly benefits AP units. Sure, sword have def.bonus(small), but it is nothing when you compare unit with 16 armor+sword and 16armor+axe.
In this specific case, obviously an opponent with 16 armor is much better handled by an AP weapon, such as an estoc, but it breaks down as:
Axeman:
Armor 16, Defense 2 (ignoring other factors), Attack 3AP, Attack Delay 60, x-radius 0.45, +1 heat
Swordsman:
Arrmor 16 (effectively 8 because of Axe AP), Defense 5, Attack 5, Attack Delay 45, x-radius 0.4, 0 heat, generally faster animation set
So:
Axeman attack 3 vs armor 8 + defense 5 = 8 vs 13
Swordsman attack 5 vs armor 16 + defense 2 = 5 vs 18, though faster animation, smaller x-radius (ie can fight in closer proximity - this is actually quite a significant factor) and lower heat penalty.
However, yes in this case the 1H sword is the inferior weapon, and so it should be - with 16 armor we are really talking about someone wearing something like Gothic Plate. Most contemporary artwork would depict combatants at this level using polearms or estoc/tuck-type swords rather than 1H swords/axes.
There has been some discussion of altering animation speeds of various weapons (though the longsword does already have an advantage) but the task overall would be massive. Attack delay increases for axes etc are not sufficient because that stat is really not a large factor anyway.
Note that mounted AP weapons have -1 attack compared to their foot counterparts.
It would be possible to further reduce 1H AP weapon defense values by 1, I have been considering it.
In outcome first have only 8 armor, so even lancers with 28 armor are downgraded on a lvl of a knight 200 years before. OR different animations do something about this? Did you try perhaps system with no AP ability for 1-Hand weapons, rising damage output instead giving AP for mace/axe? (no reason why axe do less damage to unarmored unit, such blow would break bone more easily).
Shouldnt multilayer armored guys suffer some defense penalty? iirc they suffer fatigue/heat penalty only. Or it is enough from your testing?
Kata/Multi-Layer armor -1 attack, -1 defense per extra layer, +15 attack delay, +2 additional heat for first extra layer, +1 additional heat for second extra layer.
Really the main issue is that any fighting man of that era would carry a brace of weapons for different circumstances and we cannot really depict that in the M2TW engine, I am open to suggestions.
I am also continuing to consider the balance between AP/non-AP weapons, I am not yet entirely satisfied by it, and the somewhat simplistic AP 'halving armor' mechanism is one reason why RC is pushing its limits in the 16th century.
Overall, everything a saw looks really great! Looking forward