BROKEN CRESCENT: Recruitment and EDU Testing - VOLUNTEERS WANTED

[gamegeek2]

This is part of an effort by the BC team to collaborate with the fanbase, in order to create a balanced stat system.

I'm looking for veteran players of BC 2.02 who are willing to test out specific factions (and strategies) that I haven't been able to test on my own time. The ones I'm specifically concerned with testing are the following:

-Great Seljuks
-Turkish Sultanate
-Ghaznavids
-Makuria
-Khwarezm (I intend to do a campaign with them soon)
-Sindh
-Solanki Rajputs

Here's a list of questions about each faction that I want to know answers to (some factions, I have figured most everything out about)

Ayyubids/Abbasids - How reliant are they on their top-tier troops for success?
Armenia/Georgia - Are their infantry strong enough, for their relative expense (compared to the size of these states)?
Ghaznavids - Are their armies cost-effective? They should be expensive, but are they worth it?
Seljuks - Are their infantry too strong? It shouldn't be, Seljuks should be cavalry-reliant.
Turks/Makuria - How effective are their light, aggressive infantry - do they get the job done?
Oman - Can they effectively compete at higher levels, without over-reliance on lancers?
Solankis - How effective are elephants?
Sindh - Is their army effective enough, as a whole, or is it overly reliant on specific troop types?

Please be sure to post detailed reports about testing results; by this I mean, describe in each report

1. Answers to relevant questions relating to that faction
2. What's been effective for you
3. What hasn't worked out for you (if anything)

[Tadzreuli]

I'm ready to test .... but for Georgia

[nurhak]

Turks here

[gamegeek2]

Excellent, go ahead both of you!

I'm just starting Georgia myself right now.

[Ardashir 7]

i can go with my ancestors (The Great Seljuks)

[gamegeek2]

Excellent.

[tibu17]

1.Seljuks are have very god light and heavy infantry with gamegeek2 edu
2.This is god for win Khwarezm units
3. Seljuk nobles infantry wood maces are not to be god weapon.

[nurhak]

you mean good?

[gamegeek2]

They aren't that great of weapons...only 5 attack, low defense as well, for a heavy infantry unit.

[Ardashir 7]

The seljuks infantry are really strong (Tough Armoured Spearmen),according to the great seljuks wars against the byzantines (the byzantines royal infantry have crashed in manzikert 1071 when they have faced Sultan Alp Arslan unstoppable horsemen), thier amry was made of heavily armoured horsemen,so i suggest making a tough horsemen units for the great seljuks.

[gamegeek2]

The Great Seljuks have Agulanis and Royal Ghulams. They have some of the earliest super-heavy horsemen (agulanis) in the game, though these are professionals so they aren't as powerful as catas.

[nnnm]

The seljuks infantry are really strong (Tough Armoured Spearmen),according to the great seljuks wars against the byzantines (the byzantines royal infantry have crashed in manzikert 1071 when they have faced Sultan Alp Arslan unstoppable horsemen), thier amry was made of heavily armoured horsemen,so i suggest making a tough horsemen units for the great seljuks.

Besides, those heavy spearmen are Azeri spearmen, not Seljuks.

I don't think it's the right thread but anyway
in manazkert, Sultan Alp Arslan had few hundreds of light infantry archers from ghuzz tribes stationed in the traps positions to slow Romanos army. the Sultan army sent back most of his troops after the siege of Aleppo because they protested after the sultan lower their salaries to half and punish any one loots from locals. the news of the byzantine armies came to the sultan while the main part of his troops near Ray, and he was near Mosul at that time. the sultan summon what he could from the ghuzz tribes and got 10000 Fursan [Auqaili Fursan where still armed and armored in Hamdanid heavy cavalry style] from the Auqilis of Mosul and ride as fast as he could to Anatolia. the tukish troops which joined manazkert where lightly armored and the sultan him self didn't wear any armor. he worn whit cloths to be his Enshroud is case he dies.

the great seljuks had the elite of the elites heavy cavalry in their time, the Sultan Khurassani Ghulams and the Nizami mamluks [the masked Fursan]. however, considering the Azari spearmen and cavalry where actually part of the Sultan army but Sultan Arslan had only the name while Atabeg Ildkz [sultan Arslan step father] was the real one who control the kingdom. however, his sone sultan Tughrl was not like his father and uncle and regain control of all of his kingdom except Ray.

[Zaale]

Ah yeah.

Just downloaded, I'll start a campaign tomorrow trying to use all the units on the pool

[Ardashir 7]

yes nnnm you are right, Ray became the capital of the great seljuks after Ertugrul Bek (Alp Arslan's Uncle) defeated the buyid family (Al Bassasery Revolution) and restored some of the Abbasid Caliphate glory in the time of Caliph El Qa'em 1063, then in the Battle Of Manzikert Sultan Alp Arslan gathered 150000 warrior to face romanos diogenes army (200000-600000) warrior !!! with that, Sultan Alp Arslan Faith have defeated romanos hordes, also the skills of the Arab Auqilis and the fierce warriors of the guzz tribe.

[wudang_clown]

Besides, those heavy spearmen are Azeri spearmen, not Seljuks.

[Zaale]

Makuria

I just come back from Christmas holidays, had no time to look through the threads. I assume the EDU is the last one on the Broken Crescent 3.0 Battle System for 2.02 - Tips, Tricks, and Reports, Am i correct?

[gamegeek2]

No, the EDU is the most recent one in the EDU preview thread.

[gamegeek2]

That's exactly the point - that's how battles were back then. They were struggles that took many hours, and it would be very difficult to control your troops once they had engaged in melee. Battles are disgusting, nasty, brutal affairs, especially when it's fierce, hand to hand fighting in relatively close formations, from Ashurbanipal to the American Civil War. Withdrawals are rare in TW (unrealistic, I know) which makes it even worse. Every large battle ends up a Cannae or Arausio, or some other disgusting slaughter - and those are the better case scenarios - unless one side has an insurmountable advantage. Large scale battles where you are severely outnumbered are even worse.

I mean, do you expect to simply walk away from such a battle, with two quality armies up against you, and not get battered almost to death?

There's a good reason that the #1 objective of commanders is preservation of force, and I think it's good to plan your battles and strategies based on this principle. Because unlike in war, in computer games plans don't almost always break down at the outset of the battle (though it's good to see that they sometimes do).

Try using formations, that minimize carnage and things like that by offering you a degree of flexibility. Don't just lay out your tribal warriors in a line - keep those two-handers in reserve! They are your best flanking troops imaginable, and will brutalize anything if they can come in from a different angle.

[Zaale]

Yep, as I said I like the dymanics of your new EDU. Battles last longer and as a consequence the AI engage virtually all the units on the battleline, got some nasty, very nasty moments, and it's fine. Also, AI armies seem to be more cohesive.

My problem is that the soldier's animations are too close between them. 1) there is no possibility for 2 units of 150 men each to share a space no far bigger than my bedroom and 2) it becomes impossible to see what in the hell is happening.

One of the features that attracts you to a game is the challenge, I share entirely your point. But the other is US, as gamers to make clever -or eventually stupid- decisions on the battle, to CONTROL in some degree your troops. We are not Hannibal or ibn al-Walid on struggle for an empire, we are simple gamers looking for challenge but also for some fun. Hannibal didn't go to war looking for fun.

When your troops are engaged and lost on a hell of a confusion and carnage and your decisions have little influence until the massacre is done, that kills the tactics and also the fun. You cannot individualize the critical point, or how your units are performing or where to lead your reserve. But it's my personal opinion. We'll see what the other testers say.

[sevenfaces]

I'll give it an effort.