Terrain modifiers and heat fatigue -- a few thoughts:
Terrain modifiers and heat fatigue generally seem to follow a certain pattern. There are four groups of terrain modifiers:
*"Desert" units never start out wearing armour (although they can upgrade to wearing padded armor, usually). As such, the interaction between heat fatigue and armour cannot be determined.Code:Scrub Sand Forest Snow Heat Fatigue Desert Cavalry 0 +2 -6 -2 0* Infantry +1 +2 -2 -2 0* Mediterranean Cavalry 0 0 -4 0 0 Infantry +1 0 +2 0 0 Muslim Cavalry 0 +1 -6 -1 -1* Infantry +1 +1 0 -1 -1* Northern Cavalry 0 -2 -4 0 2 Infantry +1 -2 +3 +2 2
"Muslim" units never have a heat fatigue level that goes below 0, but they can wear padded/leather armour while maintaining 0 heat fatigue (e.g., Arab cavalry), and can wear heavier armour while having heat fatigue that is 1 lower than what the armour itself adds (e.g., Qapukulu).
Starting armour level adds to heat fatigue. From armour levels 1-4 (leather/light mail/heavy mail/partial plate), each level adds 1 to heat fatigue, from leather adding 1 to partial plate adding 4. Armour levels beyond partial plate do not add to heat fatigue: light mail-wearing mailed knights suffer more from heat fatigue than leather-wearing mounted sergeants, heavy mail-wearing feudal knights suffer more from heat fatigue than mailed knights, and partial plate-wearing chivalric knights suffer more from heat fatigue than feudal knights, but advanced plate-wearing gothic knights suffer no more from heat fatigue than chivalric knights in spite of their greater armour level. Also, units with 6 starting armour generally require a level 4 smith (i.e., a heavy armourer) for upgrades, if any, but they only gain +2 to heat fatigue, not +3. (Examples of such units include Genoese crossbow militia/Genoese crossbowmen, mamluks, Polish retainers, and a few others.)
It is uncertain whether armour upgrades have an effect on heat fatigue -- whether, for example, fully upgraded pike militia suffers any more heat fatigue than unupgraded pike militia.
One observation: as a whole, the non-heat fatigue terrain modifiers of Northern infantry add up to the highest in the game, totalling +4. They have a sand penalty, but they are equal or superior everywhere else -- especially snow. Compare this to Mediterranean infantry terrain modifiers, summing to +3, Muslim infantry terrain modifiers summing to +1, and desert terrain modifiers summing to -1. Not, of course, that summing is necessarily the best approach ("My DFKs are great in forests!" doesn't help much when you're trying to take Cairo.)
Cavalry as a whole seems to be penalized, most severely in forests but even on scrub to some extent. The best cavalry is probably Mediterranean, which has fairly good heat fatigue, and is only penalized in forests. Mediterranean cavalry terrain modifiers strictly dominate northern cavalry terrain modifiers.
Some factions get similar units that are from different climate adaptations: Italian Spear Militia is Mediterranean, while Armoured Sergeants are Northern. Byzantine spear militia is Northern, while Byzantine spearmen are Mediterranean. (Oddly enough, Norman Knights are Mediterranean, while Dismounted Norman Knights are Northern. Christian Guards are Mediterranean, while Dismounted Christian Guards are Muslim (climactically if not religiously).) I'm not sure, though, whether it would actually be worth it to make an effort to deploy units into their optimal zones (getting Italian spear militias into sandy areas and moving Armoured Sergeants north if you're an Italian faction and the like).
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