AI artillery spamming

[Parzival2211]

In my current campaign as the TO in the Baltic scenario, Novgorod and Poland are spamming armies with 10 to 12 artillery units and nothing else or some x-bowmen.

After lots of great battles against well-mixed Lithuanian armies, this is taking a bit of the fun out of the game.
1. Is this a common issue?

2. Why does it happen to Poland and Novg., but not to Lithuania?

3. Are there mods that fix the issue?

[Vissewalde rex de Gerzika]

1. Yes, but not to such a high amount (usually its up to 5)

2. I think Lithuania cant build them

3. Don't know

[Parzival2211]

1. Yes, but not to such a high amount (usually its up to 5)

2. I think Lithuania cant build them

3. Don't know

Sure about 2? I think I have seen Lithuanian catapults and ballistas, at least.

About 3: I don't necessarily mean mini-mods I can use with the Kingdom Campaigns, but how about SS and BC?

[Aeratus]

1. Yes, especially on VH when the AI has a lot of money. The reason the AI spams artillery is because Artillery is the most advanced unit that can be built from cities. So when the AI has more money than it can spend, it will simply buy artillery since there is nothing else that is available other than spear militia.

2. Because Lithuania can recruit lots of units from cities, and not just artillery. Therefore, the AI is less likely to choose artillery or build buildings that produce artillery.

3. No direct mods. Most modders prefer to make entirely new campaigns like SS and the Baltic submod for SS.

[Vissewalde rex de Gerzika]

Baltic submod for SS.

You should definitely try it out, its like Teutonic campaign, but much better.

[Parzival2211]

Thanks Aeratus and Baltic warrior (+rep)

Your explanations make a lot of sense.

And I didn't know there was a Baltic submod for SS. Will try it out for sure.

[Kataphractos]

You should definitely try it out, its like Teutonic campaign, but much better.

Is Lithuania stronger in this mod? First time I played the vanilla Teutonic campaign as TO I wiped out Lithuania in 11 turns. Well, to be fair, I kinda did blitz them...

[Vissewalde rex de Gerzika]

Is Lithuania stronger in this mod? First time I played the vanilla Teutonic campaign as TO I wiped out Lithuania in 11 turns. Well, to be fair, I kinda did blitz them...

Well, there are a few new units to them, but nothing much skin-wise until the 1300's IIRC when you get the "regular" troops, which are supposed to represent the adoption of western techiques while maintaining the pagan ways. The stats are more balanced. You will be stuck with quite outdated armies by the 1400's, but I doubt you will play that long. You will also get a Sweden faction, but it is quite unfinished IMO. You can also choose between a smaller map which is like the teutonic campaign map slightly expanded or play on the full map with the fixes made by BftB.

I would suggest you listen to Prestiges advice and start off with a more polished mod like DM or something similar, SS is quite tricky with all its submods, fixes and so on. Its a great mod, but quite a mess unfortuneatly when it comes to installing, so unless you want to get your hands dirty with a load of fixes and submods for your tastes, go for a simpler mod first.

[PrestigeX]

This brought me a bit of nostalgia. I was always having that same observation and complaint -- AI spamming artillery and/or recruiting rubbish armies.

In Darth Mod, that almost never happens - the A.I. seldom recruits Arty - its just now and then you'll see a sprinkling of Artillery. More importantly, the A.I. tends to build very effective armies --- almost the same as the Player would. So you will see tough armies out there, and in strength of numbers too (ie. they produce more men and better armies etc etc) It's great!

Anyway, the kind of A.I. changes found in something like Darth Mod 1.4 D - circa 2008 - 2009 ? idk when.. will certainly be found in any of the big Kingdoms mods (not to mention the big mods have all kinds of sub-mods and mini-mods etc.)

The reason I recommend something like Darth Mod, or possibly Lands to Conquer, is that it is not at all like a T.C. or "change every little detail, skin, and interface" - it's more of a "Making a wicked, harder, better, more fun, and challenging version of the Vanilla experience " - Tons and tons of those things a player wished would of been different, IS different in D.M. and other mods of that caliber.
MOre importantly however, such mod(s) run soooo smoothly, and are as stable as can be. A lot of the mods are error-prone and even the graphics don't look quite as smooth, or it takes forever to load between turns etc...So these LTC and D.M. are great for that...

Also, Battle-Axe mod is well-worth a look . That is a mod which is deliciously simple and elegant with a tiny and idiot-proof installation - couple new factions - Sweden , Bohemia, a "Tunisian" faction (that is between Moors and Egypt)