Let's Play Empire Realism! (Russian Campaign)

[Half-Decent Gaming]

Hi everybody!

Long time fan of Empire Realism (and all the "realism" mods) here. I thought that the Realism mods haven't really gotten that much exposure on YouTube, and I don't think I've seen any big let's play of Empire Realism at all... I decided to change that! I hadn't played ETW in awhile so I'm a bit rusty, and I certainly haven't played the latest version of Empire Realism so I'll probably make tons of mistakes. That will hopefully showcase all the improvements to the AI in the mod! I've posted the first introductory episode, which doesn't have any battle yet, but I can confirm that there is a decent battle in episode 2 and a battle in episode 3 that really showcases the battle tactics differences in Empire Realism compared to vanilla (the enemy cavalry FLANKED ME I was terribly surprised...).

So thanks so much to Jam for the fantastic mod (and I think it is actually a greater achievement than the other realism mods since Empire is so broken in many ways) and perhaps I'll show off Napoleon Realism once this campaign is over. Of course, if I say anything in the videos that's inaccurate about the mod feel free to correct me!

Here's episode 1 and I'll post the next couple of episodes in a few hours or tomorrow.

[Half-Decent Gaming]

For some reason the youtube link didn't work in the first post and I can't seem to be able to edit my post (probably since I'm new!) so here's a link. If someone could edit the first post for me and use this link I would greatly appreciate it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNuTdoOiZzM

[Mjarr]

Some comments:

1. You can play ER on H\H and do quite fine overall, but hard campaign difficulty does make AI more likely to do insane decisions while VH battle difficulty simply doesn't scale that well with the mod's mechanics. I personally play H/H most of the time for some early game challenge with some factions.
2. Fort battles in ER are overall doable and tolerable. AI will always be AI but the mod uses wooden forts, which have few pathfinding issues nor cause game freezing with artillery as regular forts can. Only real exception are some eastern forts still use vanilla eastern style, which can be somewhat finicky.
3. While nitpicky, St. Petersburg did not exist in 1700 and it was something Peter the Great founded on top of Nyen after the fort was taken in 1703.
4. Provincial line infantry are more akin to garrison battalions and best used as garrison troops in forts to improve public order or to have some presence in case of sudden war.

Curious to see how it turns out.

[Half-Decent Gaming]

Some comments:

1. You can play ER on H\H and do quite fine overall, but hard campaign difficulty does make AI more likely to do insane decisions while VH battle difficulty simply doesn't scale that well with the mod's mechanics. I personally play H/H most of the time for some early game challenge with some factions.
2. Fort battles in ER are overall doable and tolerable. AI will always be AI but the mod uses wooden forts, which have few pathfinding issues nor cause game freezing with artillery as regular forts can. Only real exception are some eastern forts still use vanilla eastern style, which can be somewhat finicky.
3. While nitpicky, St. Petersburg did not exist in 1700 and it was something Peter the Great founded on top of Nyen after the fort was taken in 1703.
4. Provincial line infantry are more akin to garrison battalions and best used as garrison troops in forts to improve public order or to have some presence in case of sudden war.

Curious to see how it turns out.

Thanks for the comments!

1. Yes I was mostly concerned about the AI acting more insane than it already is, and I haven't played both Empire and the mod in quite awhile so the let's play will hopefully just be a nice showcase of all the changes. You'll see the battle AI improvements in action in the third episode!

2. Ah I see - well we'll just have to see what happens. The AI is very keen on constructing fortifications so I'm sure it will come up.

3. Yes of course... good catch! Should've brushed up on my imperial Russian history first...

4. Good tip, I'll keep that in mind once I have more cash.

Episode 2 is up!