Love Playing As the Huns

[AnonMilwaukean]

Since they tweaked the Huns last patch (horse archers are more viable, now, and factions no longer seem quite so willing to chase for a 1,000 miles), I love playing as the Huns.

The Huns are not at all passive. I found that on H/H, I actually had good reason to calculate everything in a very intentional way. To avoid rivalry penalties without having to be dangerously spread out, I often tried to arrange the hordes and encampments just a mile apart across province and settlement lines. And I had specialized hordes (some with few troops but a number of money-making structures) which necessitated the hordes being able to reinforce each other. And I carefully picked out when to move the whole mass of multiple hordes versus when to just strike out with my main army horde and break off to raze a settlement or two. But the icing on the cake is that horse archers should never auto-calculate... play out every battle yourself, at least every mildly competitive battle, and withdraw when you run out of ammo while kiting the enemy units every chance you get.

I'm quite surprised by this development. I thought I'd hate the Huns, but I actually like them a great deal. I mean, I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, as I liked Parthia in R2 because of their cavalry, but I guess I'd assumed that playing a side like the Huns would be just a gimmick and not a fleshed-out experience. My only gripe with the Huns is that, from playing against them I thought my Attila would have a second life (or more), only to lose Attila 15 turns into his reign due to agent spam. The agent spam itself was annoying but not new to me (again, see R2), but the fact that Attila got assassinated and was just gone is stupid. While I wouldn't want an invincible Attila when played by the player (like Napoleon in N:TW), I at least had hoped that agent spam wouldn't eliminate him on the first successful attempt. Very anti-climatic, and a bit of a let-down since it means there's not much special about Attila living or dying. He died like any other general, with just a basic announcement of the fact.

But the Huns are actually pretty good. Way, way better than the 'nomads' of R2 who owned cities for no reason but that R2's mechanics were never built to have actual nomadic sides. And, overall, one of my favorite sides in the last several games in the series.

[MrHoon]

agent spam isnt an attila/hun only problem imo, its a general problem in this game campaign. Ive lost so many turns and generals/heirs because rome thought it would be funny to plant three rank 8 spies on my main army spamming assassinate, killing off my family tree and leaving me with 7 generals with under 3 loyalty.

[Slaists]

For agent spam: try to stick spies into your hordes. That should help some against the AI's spy attacks. Also, level your generals up in cunning. That also provides protection against spy attacks. Finally, get dignitaries and champions: both have good chances to kill/convert the AI's spies. Avoid keeping champions and dignitaries in your armies when the AI agents are near. They'll 'deceive' (level 1 sabotage) your champion/dignitary and the whole army will lose all of its move points.

[AnonMilwaukean]

Hmmm... did not realize that agents who are in an army will hold that army up if they are targeted with abilities. Was that a change from R2?

And yes, I had a spy in the army that Attila was in. Made no difference. I guess I should have noted that I was taking 2-3 enemy agent abilities per turn at the time that Attila came of age. So, in the 15 turns or so he was up, that's like 30-45 abilities from enemy agents. Had agents from Sassanids and their vassals, which alone was most of the agent spam, and then had the odd ERE agent or Visigothic agent in the mix. The Sassanid and vassal spam of theirs was insane given that I was camped in Dacia at the time... like, why not try and cripple the ERE? Why skip across the straits and decide that someone a distance away was the better target?

But the point of bringing up the agent spam on this occasion was not for its own sake (like I said, I know it's an issue and has been since R2), but was to point out that a player-controlled Attila should get a free death or two as well (like a longer-lasting injury to replace when he should be killed on the first couple times).

[Slaists]

Hmmm... did not realize that agents who are in an army will hold that army up if they are targeted with abilities. Was that a change from R2?

And yes, I had a spy in the army that Attila was in. Made no difference. I guess I should have noted that I was taking 2-3 enemy agent abilities per turn at the time that Attila came of age. So, in the 15 turns or so he was up, that's like 30-45 abilities from enemy agents. Had agents from Sassanids and their vassals, which alone was most of the agent spam, and then had the odd ERE agent or Visigothic agent in the mix. The Sassanid and vassal spam of theirs was insane given that I was camped in Dacia at the time... like, why not try and cripple the ERE? Why skip across the straits and decide that someone a distance away was the better target?

But the point of bringing up the agent spam on this occasion was not for its own sake (like I said, I know it's an issue and has been since R2), but was to point out that a player-controlled Attila should get a free death or two as well (like a longer-lasting injury to replace when he should be killed on the first couple times).

If an agent inside an army stack was sabotaged in R2 that would hold the army up as well. The difference is, in R2, you could kick that agent out of the stack and the stack would be able to move. You cannot kick a sabotaged agent out of the stack in Attila.

A spy in the stack provides some protection against cunning based attacks (spy attacks) but is no guarantee to save you. Having a spy in your stack is especially valuable if your generals has low cunning (that allows enemy spy actions to have a much higher success rate).

[SharpEyed]

(..)You cannot kick a sabotaged agent out of the stack in Attila.
(..)

Yea that sux, idk if could be fixed by mods.

- - - -

I've also disappointed with player's Attila, there is nothing special.. at all..

Btw Huns cant Liberate any faction right?

[Slaists]

Yea that sux, idk if could be fixed by mods.

- - - -

I've also disappointed with player's Attila, there is nothing special.. at all..

Btw Huns cant Liberate any faction right?

Apparently not, I have not been given that option while playing as Huns. You can only subjugate, sack or raze.

[SharpEyed]

Apparently not, I have not been given that option while playing as Huns. You can only subjugate, sack or raze.

Guessed so, i think it should have been, so I added it by only 1 row (with PFM) , as soon as I noticed there wasnt.
It exists for other Hordes btw, only Huns dont.

[Slaists]

Also, pay attention to the young family members and set the ones with a talent in cunning as retainers for the leaders of your prime battle-stacks. They'll earn xp almost as fast as the general himself. So, you always have highly promoted spares if you need to replace a nightfighter (for example when someone goes blind from old age and loses all attribute points).

[SharpEyed]

Also, pay attention to the young family members and set the ones with a talent in cunning as retainers for the leaders of your prime battle-stacks. They'll earn xp almost as fast as the general himself. So, you always have highly promoted spares if you need to replace a nightfighter (for example when someone goes blind from old age and loses all attribute points).

I'll definitely be more careful about this from now on

And yes I already use retainer option, if I got enough members & influnce