Listen up peeps :) - H/VH question :S

[Allu X]

Hey all, question here for ya;

I remember in the old versions of SS the recomended play mode was H/VH for campaigns, which I always still do now;

however has this changed in SS 5.1? Is VH/VH still not recommended because of the AI's aggressiveness?

[MORBIDYAM]

well im playing VH/VH as Norway and it actually seems easier then H/H, but then again maybe my ai file is just messed up or something.

[y2day]

I would say it depends on your style of play and which AI you are using.
If yo uare using Lusted's final AI (Echads FixPack) then i would play on VH/VH, just because the AI sticks to alliances almost too well. Atleast on VH there is a chance that the AI will backstab you.

[Allu X]

Fair enough, I'm using Echads and Turbo's packs aswell as some mods of my own - guess I'll remove my 130 turn H/VH portuguee campaign

Start afresh, for the bigger challenge!

Thanks guys

[xeryx]

There is very little difference between the levels, trust me

[Turbo]

The AI gets a morale bonus + more $. but Xeryx is right, the differences aren't significant.

[Echad]

Battle difficulty makes some difference - on medium AI will rout from the start after the first charge just because you time and direct it better, on Hard AI will fight, but you will still easily beat even the bigger force... On VH and 50:50 strenght there is almost no difference, but you do have more chances to lose to superior force, as your units would rout much faster... This also leads to unnatural after-battle statistics, with you losing a battle when having significantly less losses, and AI units to fight until the death often - leading to prolonged fights.

[strife1013]

So whats a good setting? VH/H?? I'm doing H/H

[Lord_Calidor]

I think VH battle diff. also gives combat bonuses to AI. I've tested this in campaign, not only in custom battles.
I've tried employing same tactics as AI, with same units, and results are often in AI's favor.
For example, charging Feudal Knights or Bodyguards frontally into Armored Sergeants - when I charge, my horsemen take large casualties and tend to get slaughtered pretty fast in ensuing melee. When AI charges, he almost decimate my AS's, losing in the end, but still with heavy losses on my side.
Another example is charging into Pavise Xbows. When my knights charge, they dont inflict as much casualties in initial charge, and take considerable losses in ensuing melee, beating xbows in the end but with more casualties than what you would expect. On the opposite side, AI's knights can tear right through my x-bows.

Following the action more closely, with zooming right in, I've noticed that AI's guys fight in "normal" mode with my knights, eg. they turn to face them, swing their weapons, and in other means, make meaningful defence.
On the other hand, AI's horses seem to scare my footmen, so they tend to turn away from horses, walk around without actually fighting, like trying to find shelter, or just look their foes without trying to fight. And when AI's knights move through my formation, they kill my footmen like when chasing a routing unit - they fall only from being close to chasers.