Hey guys,
What an amazing job on this update - thank you.
How significant is the change - "Slightly increase morale penalty for exposed flanks and rear attacks"?
In my campaign as Media Atropatkan, I noticed that it is too hard to route a fairly weaker army with much weaker general. It either takes too long to route them, or the numbers advantage plays too big of a role for them. I am playing on normal battle difficulty so there's no advantage for the AI army.
I know the mod was probably designed this way (to make battles last longer), but my elite units should not have any trouble routing average forces and should make quicker work of them. I feel the overall morale for average units is too high. They seem to fight too long - and my elite cavalry charges from the rear don't have enough morale impact (unless it's a direct 2v1 advantage). Maybe the general's morale effect on the enemy army should be greater? Especially for elite generals. I never see those mass routes from a well placed cavalry charge, like in Rome 1. Those are satisfying and I miss them. The battles are often a grindfest, even when you know you're gonna win.
Also, one of the biggest problems is the numbers advantage is too exaggerated. Numbers always beats quality. 1 elite army + elite general can't defeat 2 average armies. Which I feel is detrimental to the gameplay. I want to take risks and invade enemy territory with my best general - but you just know the AI will attack you with 2 armies which means death. So you have to play conservative and always have the numbers advantage before invading, despite quality of troops. It makes the game, especially the battles less tactical, as it becomes about who has greater resources, and not about who's the better tactician on the actual battlefield.
Somehow it just doesn't feel right IMO. I want my elite armies to act like an elite army and shred the enemy, no matter how many numbers they throw at you. Like Sun Tzu said "In war, numbers alone confer no advantage."
It's so much fun when you can sit on the battlefield with a truly elite army and fend off attackers from all directions.
After all, we can't field infinite elite armies anyway due to the population class system. Generally I think the morale disparity should be greater based on quality of troop, and I feel routing should have more of a "chain effect" on the entire army. Perhaps a simple stat fix could address this?
Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!