Frequently Asked Questions - Basic introduction to Empire Realism gameplay

[Mjarr]

Empire Realism is quite elegant yet completely counterintuitive at the same time for blind hands-on approach - something I can attest from personal experience. This brief FAQ hopefully should solve some confusion which may or may not arise, especially for first timers. Most of the examples or comparisons are mildly polarized to drive the point across, and always account Murphy's law. The following are chiefly focused on land warfare and mechanics.

Q: Why are my units breaking at the drop of a hat?

A: Since morale plays important role in Empire Realism, isolated and disorganized (read = fatigued) units are very easy prey - especially for cavalry. While this is arguably stating the obvious, consider having reserves and\or keeping flanks sufficiently protected, and avoid sending units on their own. That being said even a full line of nothing but elite troops can be broken with pikemen presuming they are disorganized enough and shock tactics are applied. Pay attention to unit fatigue and doubly so with cavalry. Mindless assaults against enemy line are also more than likely to break off well before they get in contact. Besides that in the grand scheme actual melee contact in your average battle was exception than the rule back in the day in (most) Western armies. Unfortunately since the game does not exactly allow many possible methods to simulate units breaking off by the threat of melee, melee in the field is usually very brief and often quite bloody in Empire Realism.

For that aforementioned reason cohesion (and morale) is everything. Even your most badass xp8 Maison du Roi may flee like trained pet spider before Guitar Hero controller in face of light infantry melee charge if they are completely disorganized, or say have light dragoons completely trample disorganized lancers. Remember that as key guideline for ER combat. Also worth noting: routing units also have high impact on other units' morale, and if your flanks are breaking formation don't expect the centre to stand there for long unsupported, and even 1\4th to 1\3rd casualties have very detrimental effect to unit morale. Any unit reaching 40%+ losses (or gone past that) that is still standing in the same battle can be considered (usually) combat ineffective.

Q: Why is firing woefully inaccurate?

A: ER uses 1:3 scale for distances and units, so in-game range of 10 equals simulated range of 30 meters. You can notice steady increase in accuracy at range of under 40 and anything under 25 (of in-game range) can be extremely fatal and accurate depending on the unit cohesion and manpower, while long range fire may not be as inaccurate always as one might expect. This also allows better maneuvering around the battlefield and adds greater emphasis on planning ahead\having a backup plan. Good terrain, good order, and well timed fire at will at infantry closing 15 distance or less can literally inflict anything between 30 to 80+ casualties in a single volley. Abrupt massive losses of course are not common, but neither entirely unheard of. Cavalry charges can also be driven away by well timed volley from a line before they even reach the unit.

Q: Why my units tire faster than a hungry man at a marathon and rival ZSU-23 in rate of fire?

A: ER use 1:2 scale for time. Since slowing the game down to certain point will have nasty side-effects regarding animations, rate of fire is sped up so units are able to fire as many volleys as - generally speaking - most soldiers would be able to between the time they are in lethal range, before they could throw their tricorne back at them, and in order to make the animation itself slightly more realistic. That being said, constant shooting will create chaos among the ranks very easily and fire discipline is required in order to avoid nasty surprises. Pause button is your friend.

For the same reason avoid running troops unnecessarily around madly. Cohesion - once again - is everything. Keep in mind units do rest faster at the same time, so you rarely have to wait more than 2 to 3 minutes of real life time from unit recover from disorganized (=exhausted) to in good order (=fresh).

All unit movement speeds and rates of fire from artillery to cavalry to infantry etc are also adjusted to the same scale as noted earlier.

Q: Where have all the fire drills gone?

A: They are replaced with generic double rank fire. Not only this means the AI can shoot back more effectively at times, but it means less hassling with selecting fire drills or getting frustrated at their own issues - and of course, infantry vs cavalry shooting match works as intended. Researching most of the fire drill techs have some other benefits instead. However depending on the terrain, sometimes you may experience 3 to 4+ rank fire.

Q: How does unit experience scale in the mod?

A: Using stripes 0 to 4 as an example, 0 = no training whatsoever and probably points the barrel in the wrong direction, 1 = basic training, 2 = good training\seen enough combat to have some veterans among their ranks, 3 = very good training\seen enough combat to have plenty of veterans in their ranks, 4 = excellent training and\or seen enough combat to make them dismotivated grognards. Functionally anything from xp4 or above can be considered elite in relative sense. Experience is pretty much only the second just behind cohesion (and morale) for most units, and even your garrison units can give say, grenadiers bloody nose as long as it chiefly involves shooting. Same cannot be said of their melee in any fair fight. Then again nobody ever said they have to fight fair.

Q: I'm confused about different units and their respective use.

A: Please refer to the ER unit guide. http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...pire-Realism-4

Speaking on purely subjective behalf however, completely asymmetrical situations aside which is kind of suicide in the first place such as light dragoons facing off with lancers in open field, challenging some grenadiers with light infantry in melee openly in common scenario when they're not disorganized, or putting riflemen to melee etc, it should be kept in mind what really matters is to hit in the right spot. Disorganized infantry is as likely to get routed by light dragoons once the charge hits and the effect is not much different if regiment of horse did the same. Good units have better survivability but that does not guarantee victory by default once things go down the drain. As a rule of thumb for naval battles, the ship with biggest number of guns is usually the winner in any fair fight, and the fleet with “use more gun” approach can be safely considered the winner, odd exceptions, divine intervention, or very unorthodox tactics notwithstanding.

Q: Does ER work with other mods?

A: No Fort mod works as far as I know, but any possible side-effects are unknown. Visual and audio mods are fine while unit packs are discouraged due greatly differing stats and very high odds of not working properly. Mod manager is recommended when adding audio-visual\UI\no fort mod(s) to the mix.

Q: Is ER multiplayer and\or multiplayer campaign compatible?

A: Yes, but long-term stability etc are untested. Custom MP battles should work just fine. Just make sure both players are running the same ER version and have the same extra mods if any are present.

Q: I found a bug\issue or want to suggest possible idea, improvement etc...

A: By all means feel free to post in Empire Realism feedback thread. It's stickied just on top of the ER forum page.