Variations of General's Bodyguards

[Thema'zandaar]

I was wondering, in battle, some generals preferred their troops to be armed and trained in a certain way. Given this fact, is it possible to create variations of the general's bodyguard unit? For instance, within one faction, one general could have a bodyguard unit be the traditional spear/sword melee fighter while another could have his bodyguards be infantry archer units (the general would also be an infantry).

If its possible to push in this system, it would add a strategic element in deciding exactly which general you want to send into battle. The type of bodyguard a general has would undoubtedly affect how the battle is played out.

[Ahiga]

Short answer no, long answer yes.

In Vanilla MTWII, and I believe Kingdoms too, all family bodyguards all use the same bodyguard unit. You can have family members at the start of the campaign use a different bodyguard, but all bodyguards that appear later will use the first bodyguard that is listed under their faction tag.

What we can do however is feature recruitable generals, who wouldn't have 2 hp but would provide command bonuses and such, and then those guys can have any unit listed with a bodyguard trait that appears after the "family" bodyguard entry. We'd avoid giving them 2 hp, else players would just end up slowly putting together a force of 2hp bodyguards which defeat their foes with ease

However the truth is the vast majority of generals and their entourage rode horses during this period, with only the Rajputs (And only some of them - It seems like the Chauhan were well into the age of cavalry focus) being one whom would not be fighting mounted. So even if we had recruitable bodyguards it's certain all but maybe Daylami Chieftains would be mounted.

We are up for investing more detail into recruited bodyguards in later releases.

[Aurion]

Short answer no, long answer yes.

Ph34r the doublespeak!

Honestly, this has been raised >9000 times in practically every mod ever for the TW series, seemingly.

I think this would be a great idea. You can never go wrong with more variety in general's BG units as it adds depth to the game experience.

Also, recruitable generals are awesome, as fewer family members = win. I don't want to have to worry about the King's-brother's-son's-nephew's-cousin who likes 5-year old boys and drinks like it will be outlawed tomorrow.
^^ Copy/paste is fun!

[Thema'zandaar]

In Vanilla MTWII, and I believe Kingdoms too, all family bodyguards all use the same bodyguard unit. You can have family members at the start of the campaign use a different bodyguard, but all bodyguards that appear later will use the first bodyguard that is listed under their faction tag.

I was hoping that you would be able to duplicate the existing "General" template and edit the kind of bodyguard they use - thus, create several "General" templates.

What we can do however is feature recruitable generals, who wouldn't have 2 hp but would provide command bonuses and such, and then those guys can have any unit listed with a bodyguard trait that appears after the "family" bodyguard entry. We'd avoid giving them 2 hp, else players would just end up slowly putting together a force of 2hp bodyguards which defeat their foes with ease

Umm...not sure I understand all of that but if it can be done, that's great! What I can suggest is you write a script that limits the recruitment of these 'bodyguards' to the number of generals you currently have. In that case, you could give them 2hp.

However the truth is the vast majority of generals and their entourage rode horses during this period, with only the Rajputs (And only some of them - It seems like the Chauhan were well into the age of cavalry focus) being one whom would not be fighting mounted. So even if we had recruitable bodyguards it's certain all but maybe Daylami Chieftains would be mounted.

We are up for investing more detail into recruited bodyguards in later releases.

Yes, I know. I was only giving an example. However, even in terms of cavalry, there were many options as there already exist between factions. Also, as you have pointed out, some generals did in fact fight on foot. A most famous example is William Wallace. Further, Rajput maharajas, rajas and senapati were just as likely to fight on elephants as they were on horses. I am prepared to do further research on this subject and pass on the info to you.

[TheFirstONeill]

it is possible to have family members use one tpe of bodyguard, then have a different one available for recruitment

DOH !! sorry point was already made ::hangs head in shame:::

[kepper]

I now EB use many types of general bodyguard, the team can use the same principal, different culture, different unit of bodyguard.

[Bull]

BC already has some variety in general's BG.
If you are able to recruite elite ghulams then you get recruitable generals.

What I'd like to see is 1HP general's BG(and perhaps increase their numbers). At the moment even the weakest BG units are superhuman, not to mention the ERE immortals.

[Thema'zandaar]

I've just had a brainwave.

How about when a boy comes of age, i.e: becomes a general, you use scripting to remove the existing unit and then spawn a new general unit with the same name, photo and traits and give them a random bodyguard unit. Will that work?

Update: Any comments??