Empire: Total War - Press Releases, Articles and Reviews

[Barkhorn1x]

JR: We no longer have the AI controlling any of the player's units--your own reinforcements come onto the battlefield one by one (with up to 20 at any one time), and you control all of them. Allied AI nations who reinforce the player always remain under AI control.

Sweet! No longer will the AI spend your troops in a useless fashion while pretending to be "aiding" you in battle.

Ummm...not so sweet really as they have "improved" the AI - and yet don't trust it to handle a stack of your troops?

This is not good at all as it means that you cannot box an enemy in and catch them between a hammer and an anvil due to the 20 slot limit.

I am disappointed to say the least.

[Frost, colonel]

Ummm...not so sweet really as they have "improved" the AI - and yet don't trust it to handle a stack of your troops?

This is not good at all as it means that you cannot box an enemy in and catch them between a hammer and an anvil due to the 20 slot limit.

I am disappointed to say the least.

Did CA make this choice of limiting numbers because PC's can't handle the numbers? If this is correct, weren't there options to restict this in other releases, like 'unlimited men on battlefield' in preferences for those with decent PC's?

[Sailor]

JR: We no longer have the AI controlling any of the player's units--your own reinforcements come onto the battlefield one by one (with up to 20 at any one time), and you control all of them. Allied AI nations who reinforce the player always remain under AI control.

Um, doesn't anyone else notice that this is exactly how reinforcements were handled in the original Medieval: Total War? Remember, once one of your units was destroyed, routed or retreated completely from the battlefield, your next unit in queue would come on, for a total of 20 at all times.

Personally, I did not really like that system, because sometimes I would end up trying to make my last 3 spearmen in a unit die, just so I could bring up my next reinforcement unit, and then they'd have to march a long way to get to the battle. All in all, not much fun or very realistic, in my opinion.

Unless I'm not understanding this correctly, and it means you get to control up to twenty reinforcements at any time in addition to your normal twenty, and they enter the battlefield one by one, and replenish from the queue when units are destroyed or leave the battlefield.

[Barkhorn1x]

Unless I'm not understanding this correctly, and it means you get to control up to twenty reinforcements at any time in addition to your normal twenty, and they enter the battlefield one by one, and replenish from the queue when units are destroyed or leave the battlefield.

This REALLY needs clarification as it is rather ambigous. Does the dev. mean:

- You get up 20 units to control at any one time IN ADDITION to your "personal" stack -and they march on 1 by 1? (This would be fine for me )

- OR -

- You control 20 units max and any reinforecments will have to await the routing/withdrawl of units in your personal stack if you are at the unit max?

That would be like the MTW system and it would be a major downer.

That means - as I stated before - that hammer and anvil tactics go out the window and the number of troops that you control could not go much past the 2,000 mark (if the unit card numbers we've seen are any indication). And it kind of contradicts statements about the wonderful thinking and capable AI now doesn't it?

Please, CA, clarify this issue.

[Godless Pickle]

Good find mate. I hope you can hire pirates/ rebels if they didnt state that in the Q & A.

[Redcoat69]

good info!!!no more AI controlled reinforcments

[Hattori]

New image too!



Who are they? I'm a total noob on anything 18th century.

[Redcoat69]

some of their hats show their russian. i think

[Hattori]

some of their hats show their russian. i think

Russian skirmishers perhaps? They look like cheap light infantry...

[Master Nikolaos]

Barkhorn1x...it means that you cannot box an enemy in and catch them between a hammer and an anvil due to the 20 slot limit.

That is what I thought it meant originally, but there is the remark,

JR:: (with up to 20 at one time)

, which I hope means that you can still exercice numerical advantage right from the start of the battle on 20-20 stacks. I mean, it WOULD be a move backwards to not allow the reinforcements to come in in the fashion in which they did in Medieval II, although it would be much better to be able to control everything with one's fingers, which I REALLY hope is the case...

[Barkhorn1x]

That is what I thought it meant originally, but there is the remark, , which I hope means that you can still exercice numerical advantage right from the start of the battle on 20-20 stacks. I mean, it WOULD be a move backwards to not allow the reinforcements to come in in the fashion in which they did in Medieval II, although it would be much better to be able to control everything with one's fingers, which I REALLY hope is the case...

You know I re-read it and you may indeed be correct. If so then I am happy as a 20/20 scenario would work just fine for me.

But then again, what's with this?

your own reinforcements come onto the battlefield one by one

[squigian]

But then again, what's with this?

Maybe he means in a kind of marching column, which is more realistic than coming in all at once in battle line. What I'm worried about is how they won't even let the AI control reinforcements beyond 20 units (at least, that's the way it sounds from the interview) which I feel rather hamstrings the player whilst the AI is not hurt by this.

[Sargsaft]

nice q and a there......where is the game? on my shelf? nope not yet

[Master Nikolaos]

That is the part that scares me. Let us pray the tides of destiny do not lessen the wits of the great makers...

[Hattori]

Is it too hard to just let me controll all the reinforcements at once plus my main army by switching tabs maybe? It doesnt seem like anything too hard to implement. 20 unit limit for your main army + reinforcements doesnt sound great, and how are we expected to even reach near the 10.000 men on field mark like this?

[DeerHunter]

Austria officially announced as one of the playable factions http://www.totalwar.com/empire/gamei...ions.php?id=24

[Rt. Hon. Gentleman]

I swear, if they give us some land/naval unit or tech or building tomorrow and not a demo, I will hit the roof.

[Rhaegar1]

I swear, if they give us some land/naval unit or tech or building tomorrow and not a demo, I will hit the roof.

you'd better buy a helmet then

tomorrow is not the day, thursday is my bet.

That is when the boys at CA marketing thought for a change and didn't give us the chance to subscribe for the demo 3 weeks before it comes. If we have to wait another few weeks on the demo, there will be blood.

[Davincee]

You ALL will bow before the Dutch.

[Sargsaft]

You ALL will bow before the Dutch.

hmm the dutch not sure what i am goign to do with them probably get them to learn how to swimmm.....flood the darn netherlands...