Some questions

[AnoreX]

ahoy maties
I have some questions about XGM:

1. in RTW vanilla, the spears of the phalangists we're much, much longer then those of the Greek hoplites, After playing XGM for some time I think that you extended the hoplite's spears, Am I right?

2. Why did you change the Greek hoplite's names to phalangists? I find it weird that 2 units have identical names but are different...

3. The spartan Royal Guard fight in a very weird fashion, holding their spears up high as if wanting to throw them(like a javelin)... Shouldn't they fight like triarri? with their spears in the middle of their body?

4. Another question about the spartan Royal Guard, could be a bug too:
When ever I order my Spartan Royal Guard to charge, They start to move away from each other until they are very far from each other, like in a "loose" formation... Also they seem to move quite slow for a charging unit...

5. We're any changes made to the European-barbaric factions? and to the Seleucids and Ptolemaics?

6. It seems to me that you made naval battles very... hard.
for example, I had a fleet of 3 ships(birieme) against a fleet of 1 Macedonian ship(birieme too), I won the battle and after the battle it told that I have deployed 3 ships and that non of them sank, whoopty doo! but my crew count in 2 ships went from about 12 to 0, which meant, that I only had 1 ship now...
What is going on?

7. I couldn't quite understand the role of the thunderopi...
They have better defence than millita hoplites but they can't move in a phalanx so they have much more casualties when they are charged in..
They move quite fast, but have ridiculous attack rating, so They're not a very good flanking unit... then.. what purpose do they fill?

8. It seems to me that you've improved the killing rates of archers, it that is true, it is much appreciated

9. when I order my hyapsits to attack an enemy with their javelins, they only throw one javelin and then charge in, whilst they still have one more...

10. What does "Shock Trooper" really mean? oO I was thinking whether to recruit hypasits or armoured hoplites and I found out they have the exact same stats(if I'm not mistaken), and they cost the same, yet the hyapstis are "shock troopers" and the armoured hoplites are phalanx troopers..

11. this is question I've wanted to ask in RTW vanilla, but didn't get the chance, So I'll ask it about XGM too.
The phalanx units have 2 attack methods - spear and a sword.
In the unit card there's only one attack rating, I guess it refers to the spear attack when in Phalanx formation.
If so, what is the attack rating for the sword? how can I know that?


Answers would be much appreciated, Thanks

[DimeBagHo]

1. in RTW vanilla, the spears of the phalangists we're much, much longer then those of the Greek hoplites, After playing XGM for some time I think that you extended the hoplite's spears, Am I right?

2. Why did you change the Greek hoplite's names to phalangists? I find it weird that 2 units have identical names but are different...

Vanilla RTW had the Greek cities using hoplites (shorter, one handed spears), while the other Greeks used phalangites (longer, two handed pikes). This is historically inaccurate as by 270 BC pretty much all of the Greek state armies had switched to phalangites. The Spartans were a little slower, switching in 220 BC. So in XGM all of the Greek factions use phalangites with the same length pike, but I used the shorter pike for gameplay reasons (the longer pikes are unrealistically unbreakable from the front).

3. The spartan Royal Guard fight in a very weird fashion, holding their spears up high as if wanting to throw them(like a javelin)... Shouldn't they fight like triarri? with their spears in the middle of their body?

The original fighting style of hoplites was over-hand. They held their shields so that they over-lapped, presenting an unbroken wall, and stabbed over the top of their shields with their spears.

4. Another question about the spartan Royal Guard, could be a bug too:
When ever I order my Spartan Royal Guard to charge, They start to move away from each other until they are very far from each other, like in a "loose" formation... Also they seem to move quite slow for a charging unit...

I haven't had this problem, but it might have something to do with whether they are inshield wall formation or not.

5. We're any changes made to the European-barbaric factions? and to the Seleucids and Ptolemaics?

Yes - lots of changes.

6. It seems to me that you made naval battles very... hard.
for example, I had a fleet of 3 ships(birieme) against a fleet of 1 Macedonian ship(birieme too), I won the battle and after the battle it told that I have deployed 3 ships and that non of them sank, whoopty doo! but my crew count in 2 ships went from about 12 to 0, which meant, that I only had 1 ship now...
What is going on?

Probably just bad luck in that case. I haven't made many changes to naval units, apart from some new units for the Greek factions, and price changes. The mechanics and difficulty of naval combat should be pretty much the same as vanilla.

7. I couldn't quite understand the role of the thunderopi...
They have better defence than millita hoplites but they can't move in a phalanx so they have much more casualties when they are charged in..
They move quite fast, but have ridiculous attack rating, so They're not a very good flanking unit... then.. what purpose do they fill?

Thureophoroi can serve as cheap garrison troops, and cheap filler for armies when good troops are in short supply. Tactically they move reasonably fast, and can defend for a while, so you can use them for blocking flank attacks, or filling holes in your line. But if you want to do some serious damage to the enemy - that's what your pike line and cavalry are for.

8. It seems to me that you've improved the killing rates of archers, it that is true, it is much appreciated

In general ranged units should be less effective, especially given their cost.

9. when I order my hyapsits to attack an enemy with their javelins, they only throw one javelin and then charge in, whilst they still have one more...

Put them on fire at will and don't tell them to attack until they are out of javelins.

10. What does "Shock Trooper" really mean? oO I was thinking whether to recruit hypasits or armoured hoplites and I found out they have the exact same stats(if I'm not mistaken), and they cost the same, yet the hyapstis are "shock troopers" and the armoured hoplites are phalanx troopers..

Armoured phalangites? Their stats are similar, because they have similar eqipment. the difference is that the Hypaspists have javelins and swords which makes them better suited to flanking attacks on enemy pike formations, assaulting walls, and other situations where you can't use a phalanx effectively. Your armies should be mostly phalanx units, with some elite units like Hypaspists to maneuver, or exploit breaks in the ebemy line.

11. this is question I've wanted to ask in RTW vanilla, but didn't get the chance, So I'll ask it about XGM too. The phalanx units have 2 attack methods - spear and a sword. In the unit card there's only one attack rating, I guess it refers to the spear attack when in Phalanx formation. If so, what is the attack rating for the sword? how can I know that?

You can take a look at [rome]/xgm/data/export_descr_units.txt with notepad. In general phalanx units are much more effective when fighting with spears than with swords. Spartan phalangites are about the only exception (they are very effective either way).

Hope that helps.

[AnoreX]

thank you very much
I looked at export_descr_unit.txt and I think I found the stats for the secondary attack of the Phalangites but it's not very comfortble looking at it this way...
Is there some way to show the secondary attack stats at the unit card in game? and if not, can it be added? I think it's quite an important stat...

and, what's a shield wall formation? oO

EDIT: another thing I noticed... Have you disabled the fatigue/stamina factor? because my units run all over the map and they remain "fresh"... I wasn't able to find how to change it back..

[Kara Kolyo]

shield wall is option in BI when the soldiers in a unit get closer to eachother, this improves their defence but slows them.
the fatigue is indeed disabled, if you want to restore it go to XGM preferences and instead of Fatigue: FALSE type TRUE. with capital letters. this however affects only new campaigns.

[DimeBagHo]

Yes, it would be possible to include the sword attack strengths in the description of the units. Might not be a bad idea, but it would take some time to do.

I think Kara Kolyo covered the other two questions.

[AnoreX]

again thank you for ansawring
But if I may ask, why have you disabled the fatigue? I mean you obviously went a long way into history books to change and add many units, yet you made all the untis into super mens by making them fresh no matter what...
Also, there are units(like the armourd phalangists i think) that have a "good/excellent stamina" discrption in their unit card... If there's no fatigue then what does thie "stamina" helps? =/
And about restoring fatigue, Is there no way I can restore it in the campign I'm now playing?

[xian]

The AI can't handle fatigue, so this strengthens the AI troops in battle.

[ML101]

Yeah its to prevent the AI from tiring out their units. Because the AI loves to run out their units I like because it makes the battles harder

[Cúchulainn]

[QUOTE=AnoreX]
4. Another question about the spartan Royal Guard, could be a bug too:
When ever I order my Spartan Royal Guard to charge, They start to move away from each other until they are very far from each other, like in a "loose" formation... Also they seem to move quite slow for a charging unit...
QUOTE]

I have the same problem. the first line will charge, but the second will slow down dramatically then charge, then the third will slow down then charge and so on
I dont see it as a BIG problem they still kill the enemy, it is just an annoyance.

[Locky]

[QUOTE=Cúchulainn]

4. Another question about the spartan Royal Guard, could be a bug too:
When ever I order my Spartan Royal Guard to charge, They start to move away from each other until they are very far from each other, like in a "loose" formation... Also they seem to move quite slow for a charging unit...
QUOTE]

I have the same problem. the first line will charge, but the second will slow down dramatically then charge, then the third will slow down then charge and so on
I dont see it as a BIG problem they still kill the enemy, it is just an annoyance.

I think it's the result of such a high charge value, as the Hoplite mercs, don't seem to suffer from the same affect, i tested them in shield wall with guard mode on, and they stay in resonaible formation.