Tips and Tricks - For new EBII players

[Genava]

"Gauls but with ugly faction symbol" hahahaha they're my favorite faction but, yeah sure, it could be better. i figured it was just a nod to Sukellos

I like them a lot too. The Arverni were one of the most powerful tribe during the second century. I found them more interesting than the Aedui. I hope the team will change their symbol in the next release, there are plenty of interesting material for the Arverni. The painted pottery of Clermont-Ferrand, the second century BC bronze coins of Louernos (potin/billon) with a fox and a wheel, the first century BC gold staters of Vercingetorix with a horse, an amphora and a moon crescent. The actual nod to Sucellos is based on gallo-roman statues and is a reminiscent of the problem of the first EB mod. But in the Gallo-Roman statues the receptacle is not a cereal bowl like in the actual faction symbol, it is a Roman "olla" jar. If it could have been the Gallo-Roman solar symbol of Sucellos like the metal band Eluveitie chose for their album origins, I wouldn't complain that much.

[OJ33DA]

Regarding cavalry charges my recommendations are:
- The unit width of the cavalry should match that of the infantry, for example your front with their rear/flank that you want to make contact with. It shouldn't be wider (wasted power), so it's better it to be equal or slightly less.
- To order a charge, right click on the enemy unit (single click order), it will make the cavalry unit start walking slowly toward their target. More importantly, it will reorganize it's formation so it becomes tidy and ready to charge, instead of being a mess. I'm not totally sure, but i believe this is what allows a unit to make use of the power_charge attribute.
- Once the cavalry unit is near, like 60m or so, select the unit and hit the "R" button, in order to make the cavalry start running instead of walk. This will give them the necessary speed for the charge, once they reach 29m (for most units) they will start charging. Units that are very fast like light lancers gain more from having a speed up period before the charge than slow units, but all cavalry benefit - it's much better to run/charge than to walk/charge.
- Terrain and obstacles (rocks, trees, other units) are very important, also slopes will ruin most charges and make them less effective, depending on how steep they are. The best charges are those on flat terrain or downslope, because in M2TW more speed equals extra damage.
- After the charge you will see the unit tooltip switch to "fighting" instead of "attacking/charging", as soon as this shows it's when you should withdraw the unit from melee. Ideally you should pay attention to the melee and you'll see how in the first 5 seconds or so the enemy units suffer many casualties, then it will suddenly stop, and progress at a slower pace. That is the point between the charge/fighting switch. It's hard to see unless you micromanage every charge, so noticing the tooltip change (even if it's sometimes delayed by a few seconds) is the easiest and most painless way to check when you should withdraw.

Should cav be in guard mode or no? Should I withdraw cav from fighting with double click or with the withdraw command?

[QuintusSertorius]

Guard mode is for "anvil" infantry holding the line. Cavalry should never be left in melee, so they never have need for Guard mode.

Withdraw with a double click.

[gangster19]

Thank you so much for the answers about cavalry! I'll work on mastering my cavalry skills

[Genghis Skahn]

I hope the team will change their symbol in the next release, there are plenty of interesting material for the Arverni. The painted pottery of Clermont-Ferrand, the second century BC bronze coins of Louernos (potin/billon) with a fox and a wheel, the first century BC gold staters of Vercingetorix with a horse, an amphora and a moon crescent. The actual nod to Sucellos is based on gallo-roman statues and is a reminiscent of the problem of the first EB mod. But in the Gallo-Roman statues the receptacle is not a cereal bowl like in the actual faction symbol, it is a Roman "olla" jar. If it could have been the Gallo-Roman solar symbol of Sucellos like the metal band Eluveitie chose for their album origins, I wouldn't complain that much.

In regards to this, we've agreed on a new symbol, but 2D art is one of our bottleneck areas. Unfortunately, it has not been completed yet(due to RL issues), but the discussion is there.

[Genava]

In regards to this, we've agreed on a new symbol, but 2D art is one of our bottleneck areas. Unfortunately, it has not been completed yet(due to RL issues), but the discussion is there.

Cool! I'm happy to hear that. Anyway I must say I am amazed by the huge work of the team for the Celtic factions. There is a huge variety of units and a huge complexity in the mechanics which are very deep and interesting. Sorry for my complaints I should recognized the efforts of the team more often.

[hlidskjalf]

i for one hope the agreed upon new symbol is that deer-like animal motif from the pottery. majestic stuff

[mlc82]

Animation Speed tip for no more soldiers moving and fighting like they're under water:

Setting the time rate in game (on the battle screen) up to about 1.3 or 1.4 makes the unit animation look much more realistic, as opposed to moving under water. Hold shift and click the time compression arrow on the battle minimap and it will go up in increments of 0.1 instead of jumping from 1.0 to 2.0 then 6.0

It will revert back to 1.0 when scrolling on the map, but as soon as you stop it'll jump back to whatever you set it to. This works with M2TW vanilla and other mods as well, it drastically improves the fun of watching battles IMO.