Recommended Unit size_

[gnosis89]

Just wondering what the recommended unit size is? I am currently playing on large (the second to biggest) as to have the game run a bit smoother, but is it recommended that I set it to huge?

[gnosis89]

(sorry I see no edit option)

Also what difficulty is recommended, currently playing on H\H.

[Dago Red]

I'm not sure of the official recommendation, but apparently not. 2 reasons:

1. Only small units sizes can effectively navigate and be played with to the fullest in the settlements. There are many spots you cannot even fit a large unit during deployment. Normal works too, but small works even better.

2. Small unit sizes have a somewhat realistic number of trolls, Ents, Mumakill, Nazgul, etc. Otherwise you have an ungainly horde. There should never be more than 9 Nazgul should there! Furthermore there is only 1 Balrog in Moria and 1 Sauron. You do the math.
Even on small though, there appear to be 2 balrogs and 2 Saurons -- apparently Baron Samedi's submod fixes this.


edit: The edit button is right next to the quote and reply button....
Recommended settings are in the first screen you read, but I wholeheartedly disagree with them. Without submods to address certain issues and adjust them slightly, there is far too much stack spam on VH.

[Maximillian Returns]

edit: The edit button is right next to the quote and reply button....

For some reason you can't edit posts until you've made at least 25. Go figure

Edit; Ninja'd

[lolIsuck]

For some reason you can't edit posts until you've made at least 25. Go figure

Edit; Ninja'd

This is because spambots abused the edit button to get past the filter

And yes, play on huge, stupid sideeffects are the balrog and Sauron get clones but if you're lucky you only have to fight them once (or not even once)

[gnosis89]

Wow....small, really? I just enjoy somewhat large-larger battles, so large I figured would be a good unit size. But yeah I went up against 2 units of trolls and the massacred my 4 units of elven archers. I just figured that on any unit size there would only be 1 balrog etc...?

[Emperor of Hell]

Na, just use huge like everybody does. Also there is no edit button for you yet, you need 25 posts

[gnosis89]

Na, just use huge like everybody does. Also there is no edit button for you yet, you need 25 posts

Right, but why huge? Will my perfomance take quite the hit with the added units? So far I´ve only played up to turn 25 or so and haven´t had any really large battles. So I´m not sure if the AI does a decent job and organizing its armies or not. Also I ask because many times the unit size greatly affects the economics of the game and can unbalance-ruin the ¨way¨it was intended to run persay.

[Karelian Warrior]

How can you change the unit size?

[gnosis89]

On the main menu go to the ¨Game Settings¨ option and there´s a little tab that says Unit Size.

[Benox]

you need to change it every time you start the game, unless you already started a campaign with small unit size

[Emperor of Hell]

Or you change it in Third_Age.cfg

[johntarmac]

If your computer can handle it go huge.

Why have piddly when you can have epic

[Raelag1]

If you have some time, you can edit the export_descr_unit.txt in the data folder, you can find every unit stats, and there is a line for example the first unit is the axemen of lossarnach,

soldier Varangian_Guard, 60, 0, 1

60 mean the size of the unit, when in the option the size is small.
make a backup!
double or triple this number with every unit, save the txt. and you are ready.
Or change it to 600, have fun. But with big number there will be very-very long battles, can take hours.

[Dago Red]

If I recall correctly, Saruman's grand army at the absolute height of his power, the army designed to annihilate the world of men... was no more than 10,000 strong. That's a lot of Uruk-Hai.

But at huge units size (250 per unit) that's only...... 2 full stacks..... total.

So, if you want to play a realistic Middle Age game, the smaller unit size is more realistic. Like I said, you can't even move large units around the custom settlements and if playing with multiple balrogs and Saurons is your thing then you want to play a vastly different game than I do.

[gnosis89]

If I recall correctly, Saruman's grand army at the absolute height of his power, the army designed to annihilate the world of men... was no more than 10,000 strong. That's a lot of Uruk-Hai.

But at huge units size (250 per unit) that's only...... 2 full stacks..... total.

So, if you want to play a realistic Middle Age game, the smaller unit size is more realistic. Like I said, you can't even move large units around the custom settlements and if playing with multiple balrogs and Saurons is your thing then you want to play a vastly different game than I do.

Yeah...I just attacked Moria and there´s 7 balrogs???? Is there absolutely no way to change that, aswell as Sauron? (I assume there is not or they would have already done it)

[Dago Red]

Yeah...I just attacked Moria and there´s 7 balrogs???? Is there absolutely no way to change that, aswell as Sauron? (I assume there is not or they would have already done it)

I thought there was, but it seems not implemented. Someone just reported that Baron Samedi's submod compilation has a feature which addresses it, but people say a lot of things on the forums.

Let's ask there!

[Warlord Skorr]

If I recall correctly, Saruman's grand army at the absolute height of his power, the army designed to annihilate the world of men... was no more than 10,000 strong. That's a lot of Uruk-Hai.

But at huge units size (250 per unit) that's only...... 2 full stacks..... total.

So, if you want to play a realistic Middle Age game, the smaller unit size is more realistic. Like I said, you can't even move large units around the custom settlements and if playing with multiple balrogs and Saurons is your thing then you want to play a vastly different game than I do.

Have you played as Isengard?

Even on Huge unit size, you can't afford anything close to two full stacks for quite a while into a campaign. It takes even longer if you want something other than the cheapest and most numerous units available.
Usually right when I've got Rohan on the ropes, so it works out great for me.

On your wider point, I would agree with you that ostensibly historical games would be more fitting on a lower unit scale. But anything based in Tolkien's works? Mordor had an army of greater than sixty thousand after the crushing defeat at Minas Tirith and Gondor is described as having vanguards of armies containing seven thousand in its hayday(meaning armies of at least twenty-one thousand and possibly more). Tolkien was not a man who cared much for realistic military scale in his mythology.

[IHV]

Does unit size have anything to do with population number? Meaning if i chose small unit size, will the population will also be smaller in numbers and effects like growth etc? So it doesnt look out of place having small armies with huge population.

[Dago Red]

Have you played as Isengard?

Even on Huge unit size, you can't afford anything close to two full stacks for quite a while into a campaign. It takes even longer if you want something other than the cheapest and most numerous units available.

I have yes and you're right. Impossible to field an army that feels right, you certainly cannot field one that resembles the one seen in the films (for good or ill, face it, most fans would enjoy that) since you cannot even train the armored Uruk Hai, pike/infantry/crossbow until well into the game and then only at one place in all likelihood.

I used large I think for playing Isenguard, I admit.

But my main reason stands no matter what Tolkien wrote or what looks good -- only small unit sizes can function properly on the settlements, especially the custom ones. The second reason stands too, I don't want to see 8 Balrogs or anything like that.