General's Hit Points

**Brooky03** · December 08, 2014, 01:03 AM

I may just be bad at searching, but could somebody please let me know if the hitpoints for Generals have been increased in Stainless Steel? I just got back into playing the game and downloaded SS for the first time. I'm asking because I was in a siege battle with the Byzantines and their General was basically invincible.

The battle was pretty bloody, but I had a unit of 26 crossbowmen, 40 or so cheap archers, 6 mounted seargents, and 2 units of spearmen, with roughly 10-15 in each unit, left over near the end of the battle. The AI had a unit of about 20 skirmishers left, along with the single General cavalry unit and 8 spearmen. The rest of the AI army was routing.

How on earth did this General not die between the crossbow arrows to the face, the arrows from the towers, and the attack by 6 cavalry soldiers? I understand that the crappy archers weren't going to do anything against his armor, but I would think 20 crossbowmen would be able to take down an often stationary General after a few shots. The cavalry, albeit light cavalry, should have been able to handle business, too. Instead, he killed the 5 or 6 spearmen that survived long enough to attack him, all 6 cavalry, the archers, and the crossbow unit that wasn't able to take him down with 2 volleys (on top of the dozen volleys from the walls) before he made contact and killed them all.

So, long story short, I'm wondering if I just happened to run into God on Earth or if there is something in the mod that makes AI Generals really hard to kill. And, if so, how I can change it.

Sorry for the long-ish post and sorry if I missed an obvious post somewhere in my search that answers this question. I'm playing on medium difficulty, btw.

**MortalCoil** · December 08, 2014, 02:21 AM

Well If i recall correctly Byzantine generals have the highest armor in the game and if that general has really good traits, like scarred and other hitpoint boosting ones it can be a total

to take him down.

**riuk881** · December 08, 2014, 02:33 AM

yeah Byzantine generals are beasts in the early parts of the game.
Edit: Welcome to the forums!

**Deteriorate** · December 08, 2014, 10:01 PM

Javelin units work best, and try to use missile units against his back if possible. Melee charges against his back are effective too

**Grabbin_Megroin** · December 08, 2014, 10:44 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if enemy generals were buffed to make the game harder. I have had situations where there is just a single general in the middle of 60+ knights and he just hacks and hacks and hacks away, nearly killing half a battalion before he finally falls.

**LuciferM** · December 14, 2014, 04:49 PM

It's mainly dependent on traits and armor. Roman armor is generally really good, and I have lost many generals due to them being sick as a result of attrition.

**Kataphractos** · December 30, 2014, 07:30 PM

Aren't Byzantine general units equivalent to chivalric knights or something as far as stats go from game start, even in 1100?

**lampros69** · January 12, 2015, 11:00 PM

You can't get 20-plus HPs like you can in vanilla with Retinue and Traits, correct?

**Point Blank** · January 13, 2015, 06:08 AM

As defined in the units file, General's Bodyguards have 1 HP.

**lampros69** · January 13, 2015, 06:35 AM

Originally Posted by Point Blank

As defined in the units file, General's Bodyguards have 1 HP.

I noticed that; and there are no Retinue Ancillaries/items nor Traits that increase it any longer?

**lampros69** · January 13, 2015, 01:42 PM

Also, how can we identify the general in his bodyguard so we can back the unit out ASAP if he is about to get mobbed?

This question is relevant to vanilla as well, but obviously more urgent with generals who are no longer demi-gods potentially.