Shieldwall? Not in this game?

[Fetchez la Vache]

But does shieldwall simply add a bonus to the shield value of a unit? If so then perhaps it's bugged as well for melee combat?

I dunno myself, don't know enough about the game-mechs for that...

[LordSaradain]

Anyone tried modding testudo?

I'd love some screenshots?

[MrMerisi]

Only because some fools in the shieldwall were sucked in by the Normans' turn and run ruse - something the Vikings did as well - or was it actually the Normans' desperation? Up until that point the Saxons, even with a tired and understrength army, were holding their own against the bastard Normans.

There is no consensus among historians about what happened at Hastings, but the prevailing opinion is that word spread through the Normans that Duke William had been slain, so the Normans horsemen pulled back down the hill. The undisciplined and impetuous Saxon Fyrdmen broke ranks and gave chase to the Normans (indicating that Harold wasn't in complete control of his men), at which point Duke William took off his helmet to show his own men he was very much alive. Their courage restored, the Normans wheeled on the Fyrdmen and slaughtered their broken formations at the bottom of the rise.

Throughout the day the Normans used a combination of archers and cavarly charges against the Housecarls and their shield wall, some 6 hours of combat. When an arrow struck King Harold in the eye, the shield wall wavered and the Normans attacked, their heavy horse barreling over the confused defenders. The Bayeux Tapestry is quite explicit in its depiction of this moment in the battle, and very graphically shows the severed heads and cloven torsoes of the Saxon defenders under the swords and lances of the Norman knights.

I recall that Professor Simon Schama did an excellent piece on this for the BBC series, A History of Britain.

I can't remember if the M2TW tutorial actually had the Saxon Housecarls in a shield wall. Can anyone?

[Germanicus75]

When an arrow struck King Harold in the eye

I thought most historians were now agreed that it is probably not Harold depicted with an arrow in the eye in the tapestry after all, and he probably didn't die that way?

[MrMerisi]

I thought most historians were now agreed that it is probably not Harold depicted with an arrow in the eye in the tapestry after all, and he probably didn't die that way?

Nope, AFAIK. On the Bayeux Tapestry the words "HAROLD REX" are clearly written immediately above the figure with an arrow in his eye. Right next to that there's a charging Norman horse and Harold lying underneath it, so some (most?) historians now conclude that he was ridden down after being incapacitated by the arrow.

[Germanicus75]

Looks like I've been pwned :-) Thanks for the info!

The Normans are still bastards though...

[MrMerisi]

Looks like I've been pwned :-) Thanks for the info!

The Normans are still bastards though...

No way dude, this doesn't constitute a pwnage of any sort! You said "I thought..." not "you're wrong." Subtle differences in language make all the difference!

Of course we'll probably never know the real story of what happened that day, as we must remember that the Bayeux Tapestry was made well after the battle and it is considered to be a masterpiece of Norman propaganda, and the construction was overseen by one of Duke William's most loyal subjects. So we can only interpret what's written, and take some of it with a pinch of salt (to rub in wounds perhaps??) :hmmm:

As for the Normans being bastards, I imagine you're referring to Duke William's nickname, "William the Bastard."

William the Conqueror was his post facto self-assigned nom de guerre.

[Wobble44]

someone help me

i've just unpacked my data folder to get shield wall on certain units...but 1 sec after i enter the battle it shuts all saying that an unspecific error occurd sombedy help me please!

[-=Unholy=-]

Sheild wall is a must for M2TW

[Ziggy the Monk]

As far as I have seen, and I am no genius on the subject, the general phalanx-like formation of units do ready thier shieds for a charge and thier spears too...

[Lusted]

i've just unpacked my data folder to get shield wall on certain units...but 1 sec after i enter the battle it shuts all saying that an unspecific error occurd sombedy help me please!

Have you tried reading the unpacker readme perhaps?

- NOTE: Due to a timestamp check, the following unpacked files will
cause the game to crash and must be deleted before the game is
launched:

data\descr_geography_new.txt
data\descr_geography_new.db

Readmes are called readmes for a reason.

[groll]

Is it really a good idea to use a shieldwall while the "shieldbug" remains?

The shieldwall would actually lessen the defence for anyone running "vanilla" due to the increased "protection" from shields causing lower defence values. This might be balanced in some way by increased cohesion.

For those performing tests there should really be no gain from shieldwalls besides increased protection from missiles. It's surprising that the shieldwall didn't increase the losses when charged by cavalry, perhaps the people who tried it use the shieldbug "fix".

[Germanicus75]

How much did you folks use shieldwall in BI? Even playing the Saxons alot, I must confess I didn't use it a great deal (partly because it takes so long to get it set up and in the heat of battle you normally have other priorities).

Nonetheless, I do think it's appropriate for M2 - especially factions like Scotland and Denmark - and I'd love to see it in.

[Germanicus75]

No one else want to see the shieldwall in M2?

[Lusted]

It was just not balanced in BI at all, hence why most mods don't add it in i believe.

[Germanicus75]

I wonder if some talented modders could balance it better? XGM for RTW for example includes it for non-phalanx-spearmen like Greek Mercs and it seems to work quite well then :-)

[Icedie El Guaraní]

i can´t believe no ones has mention the mount_effect yet or i didn´t see it , adding mount_effect horse +8 increase two thinks/ cavalry flank more often shield_wall resist better HC attacks, also increaseing the mass in
soldier theigns, 48, 0, "6" , mass makes it more stiff but i only add this to the better trained units "theigns is just an exemple i don´t wanna make an over power unit.

[paolo1976]

Yup i sure would have had more fun if it was in M2TW. And in general other units are also lacking of special abilities, like the sword and buckler men, they shoud have used the sneak into (go under) enemy pike formation option. And the artillery units should have been armed with at least swords because they are so vulnerable.

[ReyMandez]

Yup i sure would have had more fun if it was in M2TW. And in general other units are also lacking of special abilities, like the sword and buckler men, they shoud have used the sneak into (go under) enemy pike formation option. And the artillery units should have been armed with at least swords because they are so vulnerable.

i never played any others besides M2TW, but all these special abilities do sound cool, and the only remotely useful one in M2tw is the Longbowmen's Pikes.

[thatguy]

How much did you folks use shieldwall in BI? Even playing the Saxons alot, I must confess I didn't use it a great deal (partly because it takes so long to get it set up and in the heat of battle you normally have other priorities).
.

It saved my ass in a seige.
I took london as the saxons, and the rest of england. All of a sudden the roman-british apeared just outside london, and i only had a few units of saxon keel, protected by a palisade wall.
Long story short, thousands of english died against the sheild wall, like a wave against rocks. was WAY cool