what does the 'eras' system effect?

[prakimus88]

apologies if this is a stupid question, got my copy of MTW2 a few weeks ago, and after conquering the grand campaign a half-dozen times over, i'm looking at TLR as my first mod.

The wiki was very detailed and i like most of the changes that i saw, but i don't understand what the eras system is about?

does this mean that you can't recruit certan units until that era has been reached?

if so, at roughly what times will these periods be reached?

the major thing i felt was lacking in the major campaign was that it was too easy to become a superpower and get to 45 settlements (at which point there's no challenge in continuing) early in the game. I found that even on VH/VH, i could conquer the world before or just after the discovery of gunpowder. Turtling would be the obvious solution to slow things down, but i find that i'm almost forced to conquer (or maybe that's just my style) as neighbours continuously backstabbed me, meaning that i'd just continually creep across the map as i waged war with neighbours.

TLR i think is a great mod to counter this as there's a huge map (which should allow for more epic empire v empire clashes late in the game) and a longer game, which should balance the extra size and allow for higher quality armies. The only other thing i was hoping for is that i would have sufficient time to enjoy battles with the elite units.

So does eras mean i'd have to wait for hundreds of turns before being able to recruit the best units (excluding gunpowder of course) or am i misinterpreting?

thanks.

[Banjeeboy]

the descr_events.txt file should give you a rough idea of the dates when these events occur.
Examples of timed (and somewhat random) events: mail armour (1090ish), heavy mail armour(1140ish), plate armour(1220ish), full plate armour, gothic plate, pikes(1280ish), simple gunpowder weapons, somewhat less simple gunpowder weapons, rudders etc.

It is rather easy to avoid wars with your neighbours, and keep long lasting peaces and alliances, even though crusades and jihads tend to mess things up, especially if you are on the "recieving" side.

I really recommend clicking "end turn"a bunch of times, the beauty of TLR is really the long campaign, something you don´t get to see when conquering the world too early.

But yes, it means you have to wait hundreds of turns before being able to recruit the best units.