Aquiring Chevrons/Experience

[Wambat]

I thought I understood how units gain chevrons, as a ration between the number of kills the unit achieves to the number solders in the unit. I figured that was why my catapults gained chevrons very quickly while my Snagas gain them very slowly.

My Snagas do, however, eventually gain chevrons. I am perplexed by my Troll units. I have just realized, well into my war with Rohan, that none of them have gained any chevrons despite having hundreds of kills each, and having the smallest number of solders in their unit. Are they prohibited from acquiring chevrons? Why even give them their first one if this is the case? Are there any other units which do not gain experience?

Just curious.

[Aradan]

Perhaps it's the side-effect of having invisible riders in them (Trolls are 'elephants' actually), and those riders are unable to attack anyone (they can't reach enemies, the mount - aka the troll - reaches them first) so they don't get any kills.

[Wambat]

If it is the case that Troll units cannot gain experience from their kills, can we get some consideration of that in their starting stats in future incarnations of the mod? And perhaps give another building in one or more of the Troll producing provinces which will allow you to upgrade Trolls to higher levels of experience?

[Wambat]

Good news: After conquering Rohan, and about half of Dunland, one of my three Troll units has gained one chevron.

So, these thick-thickies can learn something, it just takes an obnoxious amount of kills for that to happen.

I would love to know how the experience of a unit is calculated.

[acci_dent]

Why are trolls 'elephants'?

[Aradan]

Because that is the only way we can make them attack gates/walls.

[Wambat]

could you remind me why it is they need to assault gates/walls? Is this something they did in lore? That is, without the help of war engines as they do now in WoM?

I would happy with Trolls that did not assault gates, especially since the only faction that has them already has access to siege engines, making this feature somewhat redundant.

Now, if the Dunlandings ad access to Trolls, that would make this feature a lot more sensible.

[Aradan]

Are siege engines available to Adunabar if cultic recruitment is active?

[Wambat]

I haven't messed with any settings. I can tell you that when I conquered MT as Adunabar I was able to recruit siege engines, and when I conquered MT as Dunland I was not.

[Aradan]

Dunland does not have the ability to recruit siege-engines anyway.

You were able to train siege engines in MT while also being able to train cultic units (and not your regular ones) in the same settlement?


Anyway, we feel it's reasonable to have 7-foot tall monsters with giant war-hammers being able to attack gates and light fortifications. It wasn't done simply to provide a siege engine alternative to Adunabar (though it can also function as such). Dunland does not get access to Trolls because they wouldn't be able to control them, they are not Sauron, who could bend such creatures to his will; and the same goes for Wargs btw.

[Wambat]

I seem only to be able to recruit cultic units in citys where I can also recruit orcish troops. I seldom ever build the Orc Outpost, so in MT I am not able to build cultic troops, in those cities where I have both orc pits and libraries, I am unable to recruit siege engines.

[Aradan]

Ah yes, forgot for a second that cultic recruitment is tied to Orcs in WoM - a much much better system is now in place, which I believe is unique among all mods and vanilla.

[Juli]

Can you tell us more about that sistem? It sounds kickass, and I'm really looking forward to FATW's new release

[Aradan]

What I can say atm is that cultic recruitment no longer works on a per-settlement basis, but it's a global on/off thing that applies to all the settlements of a faction, depending on the prominence of the Cult in it. You can think of it as a global reform, which can be switched on and off at will, though switching comes at a cost, both because it costs money and because your entire army can suddenly become unrecruitable/unretrainable the moment you switch from one type of recruitment to the other.

All that without having to be in possession of a specific settlement and without scripts of any kind.


More details might follow in a preview. DoM has so many new and unique features we could be previewing 'til next year.

[Nehcrum]

What I can say atm is that cultic recruitment no longer works on a per-settlement basis, but it's a global on/off thing that applies to all the settlements of a faction, depending on the prominence of the Cult in it. You can think of it as a global reform, which can be switched on and off at will, though switching comes at a cost, both because it costs money and because your entire army can suddenly become unrecruitable/unretrainable the moment you switch from one type of recruitment to the other.

All that without having to be in possession of a specific settlement and without scripts of any kind.


More details might follow in a preview. DoM has so many new and unique features we could be previewing 'til next year.

So a full switch from mannish units to cultic ones?
That's gonna be a big step, at least if you don't create a full list of cultic units instead of the current "complement" to existing mannish units.
RK has the best unit roster in the game, Adunabars mannish units are almost as good, just missing a few top ones (MaA and knights), but get more spread on them once they get their cultic units.
Going over from the 2nd best unit roster in the game to one that is just there to complement it, is a really big step.

So are you actually thinking of making Adunabar into a de facto orc faction? Once you hit a certain point, you can choose to convert your entire mannish faction into effectively an orcish one?

[Aradan]

Holy cr*p. I have the feeling this mod doesn't get the community attention it deserves.


Even without pics, I'm in shock (positive )!

FATW was considered #1 back when TNS/WoM were released and used to get lots of community attention and had a load of awards. Interest has declined, both because a lot of time has passed since our last release and because we're not big on fancy PR previews with tons of screens and the such. But we aim for perfection with DoM and I'm confident people will appreciate its quality in every department when it is released.

Not that we will complain if interest increases even before we release.

I iz in suspense!!!!

Good, that's the whole point here!

So a full switch from mannish units to cultic ones?
That's gonna be a big step, at least if you don't create a full list of cultic units instead of the current "complement" to existing mannish units.
RK has the best unit roster in the game, Adunabars mannish units are almost as good, just missing a few top ones (MaA and knights), but get more spread on them once they get their cultic units.
Going over from the 2nd best unit roster in the game to one that is just there to complement it, is a really big step.

So are you actually thinking of making Adunabar into a de facto orc faction? Once you hit a certain point, you can choose to convert your entire mannish faction into effectively an orcish one?

Having a cultic roster of just a couple of units and some crappy Orcs wouldn't be very good for gameplay given the switch is now global, would it?

[Figaro]

What I can say atm is that cultic recruitment no longer works on a per-settlement basis, but it's a global on/off thing that applies to all the settlements of a faction, depending on the prominence of the Cult in it. You can think of it as a global reform, which can be switched on and off at will, though switching comes at a cost, both because it costs money and because your entire army can suddenly become unrecruitable/unretrainable the moment you switch from one type of recruitment to the other.

All that without having to be in possession of a specific settlement and without scripts of any kind.


More details might follow in a preview. DoM has so many new and unique features we could be previewing 'til next year.

Am I right in interpreting that this suggests cultic units might be available to other factions than just Adunabar?

[Bull3pr00f de Bodemloze]

Holy cr*p. I have the feeling this mod doesn't get the community attention it deserves.


Even without pics, I'm in shock (positive )!

[StealthEvo]

I iz in suspense!!!!

[StealthEvo]

I really think you should at least have a community vote regarding the name. Return of the Elves: the Reslaughtering is still sounding like an insane name for a mod.