Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

Seasonal Effects, Shields down while marching and Colorful buttons...Wanted to get more Vanilla feeling after patch + many mods are not updated. Tried smarter battle AI but in two occasions reinforcement AI ally armies just stopped at entering battle map (great help really, won 2vs1 instead of casual 2vs2). So for now Im trying to play without this AI mod...No idea if problem was either mod or base game or if Ai had some superior strategy like, nah, you get it bro, if you need me,im capturing this ...plane near escape root...

Hehe..Sounds like fun.Good to know.

[Daruwind]

One aspect I really like lately is building system. While number of slots is lower, I´m spending time to actually min/max my provincies. :-) Thinking where to put my estates..well war zones are big nono to prevent losing loyalty from governors.. Only sad part is, there is no garrison for minor settlement (which I solved easily with one mod :-) )

[Jurand of Cracow]

Do you know if there's a kind of guide to the pronunciation of the names of places in ThroB? I've found this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxbavj98dyc for the factions, but for the places?

[PikeStance]

One aspect I really like lately is building system. While number of slots is lower, I´m spending time to actually min/max my provincies. :-) Thinking where to put my estates..well war zones are big nono to prevent losing loyalty from governors.. Only sad part is, there is no garrison for minor settlement (which I solved easily with one mod :-) )

I was left with the impression that this was done for historical accuracy, rather than game difficulty.

[Daruwind]

I was left with the impression that this was done for historical accuracy, rather than game difficulty.

It is, you are right. :-) However my gaming part ,prefer little garrison. Especially in middle game my food resources are like 1-and-something farm ahead of food shortages. That´s with 50-60 regions due to number of armies and higher tiers of various buildings eating up a lot food. Plus to me a lot income from province capitols is actually due to bonuses to minor settlements. Rightly stacked bonuses. :-) So invasion into 1-2 provincies could be quite dangerous to food/public order. So i have to keep back some second hand armies around 15 units. With small garrison it is enough to tip off any 20 unit army even on higher difficulty.. My impression so far is, the movement on campagin map feels pretty slow in comparison with any other TW. Armies are moving so slow or map is so big, game pace is slow. It is more like once in 10-20 rounds there is "oh enemy army" and then I´m spending 5 turns just moving my armies to that location before even trying to defeat enemy...just across a few provincies

[PikeStance]

It is, you are right. :-) However my gaming part ,prefer little garrison. Especially in middle game my food resources are like 1-and-something farm ahead of food shortages. That´s with 50-60 regions due to number of armies and higher tiers of various buildings eating up a lot food. Plus to me a lot income from province capitols is actually due to bonuses to minor settlements. Rightly stacked bonuses. :-) So invasion into 1-2 provincies could be quite dangerous to food/public order. So i have to keep back some second hand armies around 15 units. With small garrison it is enough to tip off any 20 unit army even on higher difficulty.. My impression so far is, the movement on campagin map feels pretty slow in comparison with any other TW. Armies are moving so slow or map is so big, game pace is slow. It is more like once in 10-20 rounds there is "oh enemy army" and then I´m spending 5 turns just moving my armies to that location before even trying to defeat enemy...just across a few provincies

Interesting... thanks for the explanation. I am just waiting for it to go on sale. With a newborn, my disposable income is going towards disposable diapers.

[Daruwind]

Interesting... thanks for the explanation. I am just waiting for it to go on sale. With a newborn, my disposable income is going towards disposable diapers.

Congratulation that´s great upkeep choice, much better stats than vikings or some pikemen

Anyway:

FotS is 30bucks on Steam
ToB is 40 bucks
Attila 40 bucks

Comparing all these three, FotS is great DLC according to reviews, ToB would be maybe even better with current patch...great expansion. But once you start comparing ToB with Attila, yeah it is little shorter in content, but better performance, smaller world yet more detailed..Funny thing is, 40 bucks was also Napoleon (now it is 20) and thinking about it, ToB is quite similar to Napoleon and even better. You have way better options for buildings,economy,technology, better character system...in size it feels as big as Napoleon. :-) I´m really thinking the main problem of ToB is being labeled as standalone. It would do great as DLC/expansion...

[Jurand of Cracow]

It is, you are right. :-) However my gaming part ,prefer little garrison. Especially in middle game my food resources are like 1-and-something farm ahead of food shortages. That´s with 50-60 regions due to number of armies and higher tiers of various buildings eating up a lot food. Plus to me a lot income from province capitols is actually due to bonuses to minor settlements. Rightly stacked bonuses. :-) So invasion into 1-2 provincies could be quite dangerous to food/public order. So i have to keep back some second hand armies around 15 units. With small garrison it is enough to tip off any 20 unit army even on higher difficulty.. My impression so far is, the movement on campagin map feels pretty slow in comparison with any other TW. Armies are moving so slow or map is so big, game pace is slow. It is more like once in 10-20 rounds there is "oh enemy army" and then I´m spending 5 turns just moving my armies to that location before even trying to defeat enemy...just across a few provincies

These are very apt observations. It seems that:
1. food is playing a role in the game, eventually. In the R2TW/ATW it was just another unnecessary thing to watch. The upkeep for the military also in food is an excellent choice putting a limit on your military, additionally to the money.
2. eventually, there's no stack-spam. You have to be very, very careful with the number of armies and units. No need for an artificial, external limit of the number of the armies (as it is in R2TW and ATW). Now the number of the armies is just an outcome of the game - it simply doesn't pay off having more armies.
3. finally there's an operational movement as a part of the game. In R2TW and ATW the armies just jumped from one place to the other. now it takes more time to get there and you may get prepared, try to get reinforcements etc. Plus there're "border wars" - just taking or sacking those small settlements. with a low number of the armies and units you may play this war of maneuver (well, if the AI is capable to do it...).
4. lack of garrisons in the smaller settlement has done away with the constant small-scale battles. On the other hand, the large garrisons in the province capitals make it really difficult to attack - you need to devote a large army that may be needed elsewhere. And after taking such a settlement you're much safer having a kind of additional army.
5. the balance seems to be very good - if with 50-60 regions (and the appropriate number of units) you are on the border of a food shortage then the snowballing seems to be curtailed significantly.

[PointOfViewGun]

Yeah, food was a real challenge to watch out for in Thrones of Britannia. In my first play I didn't pay much attention to food and realized what a mistake it was after on a dozen turns or so as food shortage sinked my campaign. Once you figure it out its not always something you can click and ignore. Sometimes you can create a good surplus but if you want to be competitive and increase your income you need buildings that consume a lot of food, and if you want to have enough armies to protect your borders you end up consuming a lot of food too. In pretty much all my campaigns I had to keep watching for food to have enough troops to cover my entire border, hence, often had to operate with less than the number of armies I'd like to have. Since it's unit-based, I couldn't simply max my armies to 20 units either. Often, you might need to stand back on updating a building like the city or the castle due to being low on food. It is certainly challenging.

[PikeStance]

Interesting, the first game that had food as an issue was in Shogun II. There is was less about armies and more about rebellions. I had to abandon my first game because I ignored it. Rome II introduced it as a concept of army maintenance. Sounds like they double down on it with ToB. Thanks for sharing, Y'all really pique my desire to grab the game at the slightest of discounts.

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

Interesting, the first game that had food as an issue was in Shogun II. There is was less about armies and more about rebellions. I had to abandon my first game because I ignored it. Rome II introduced it as a concept of army maintenance. Sounds like they double down on it with ToB. Thanks for sharing, Y'all really pique my desire to grab the game at the slightest of discounts.

Food was introduced from the beginning in Rome 2 indeed, but the Supplies feature was created by Magnar and one of our best coders Litharion. Now that's a really role-playing worthy feature.

[Daruwind]

New blogpost about what teams are working on...this time there is note, ToB team is working on yet another update. Which is kinda great after successful Allegiance update.
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/what-t...Al7UtSw_-PLOQo

After spending some time reviewing community feedback and looking at how the last update has impacted the game, we’re now just about to lock down our plan for the next Thrones update. We’ll be able to share more details on what we have in mind in the next blog, until then make sure your make yourself heard.

What would you like to see adjusted? What do you think should be left untouched? Let us know here.

[ThePoshBarbarian]

Also, don't forget to go to this threed to give some much needed feedback for ToB guys, may they be bugs, tweaks, and QoL issues!
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussi...u-like-to-see/

A posh raider fellow wuz 'ere~

[Daruwind]

New blogpost about what teams are working on:
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/what-t...-november-2018

Saga Team – Thrones of Britannia



A new update for Thrones is being worked on by the Saga team. In this, they’re aiming to build on some existing mechanics and also address some player feedback from the last update. We chatted to one of the designers about just a couple of improvements that players can look forward to in December:

“In answer to a common request, the new update will implement a new Political Difficulty option. We understand that some players like to challenge themselves with political manoeuvring, while others prefer to stay away from such back-stabbing. You can now tweak this area of the game separately from Campaign Difficulty. The politics system is also undergoing some other changes, particularly in the events that come about as the result of political actions.

Estates have also been reworked to play a more meaningful role within the game. The benefits Estates provide now depend on the person who runs them. Accumulating traits will now determine a general’s “main” trait category, which will in turn affect the way estates are managed by that character. Additionally, your generals have caught up with the times and will now demand land from you (in the form of estates) in exchange for further support (mission rewards).

These are just two areas that will be receiving an upgrade in the winter patch. There’ll be more to come in the next few weeks so stay tuned.”

-more details to come. Huzza, I´m personally pretty excited. Politics and Estates are two areas I would love to improve

[AHumpierRogue]

Also, the team’s been debating the next SAGA game with a keen eye on player feedback and ideas have begun to form around the potential for a new historical flashpoint ! While we’re itching to shout it from the rooftops, because it’s so awesome – and unexpected – we’ll be keeping Mum until next year."

Sounds like rather than DLC they'll be making a new game. Can't say I'm too surprised, sales weren't stellar for ToB but I am glad they will keep trying with new SAGA titles, I do think they are a good idea I just wish ToB was better. Now the main question is just: Where will the next Saga be?

They say it's unexpected but I'm not really too sure how to take that. Personally I could see a Warring States game, they can take the environmental assets from 3K and use the 3K version of the engine with all the benefits that presumably provides while also using the assumed extra budget of a Saga compared to a mere DLC to really flesh out the Warring States a bit more. A SAGA set in China would also allow them to create a much more historically orientated game to appease more ultra hardcore history fans who might be a bit iffy on 3K

Sorry if the post above is hard to read, I'd edit it if I could but I can't. Must have misclicked.

[Daruwind]

I reposted the part about new SAGA game under Upcoming TW titles :-)
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...New-SAGA-title

[Jurand of Cracow]

If I disagree with you a little, I think the number of armies plays an important role in determining the end result

It's always fun to have a discussion!
In what sense you disagree? I think that the number plays a role (the more the better - there's still the sniping army groups tactics there), but it's an outcome: there's no artificial limit - you may recruit a dozen instantly - but you've got to pay such a price (in terms of food and problems with loyalty of the generals) that you just don't do it. In the R2TW / ATW you'd always be limited by the imperium-related number of armies, not by food or money or generals.

[Daruwind]

We got new blogpost about what are teams working on - January 2019:
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/what-t...6ZsSI7Dh2T46zc

During the next few months we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on Thrones and how the update is working out while the Saga team switches gears to begin laying the groundwork for the next Saga title.

So basically ToB is done as of now and Jack´s team is moving onto new SAGA project.

[PikeStance]

We got new blogpost about what are teams working on - January 2019:
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/what-t...6ZsSI7Dh2T46zc



So basically ToB is done as of now and Jack´s team is moving onto new SAGA project.

I don't actually say that.

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]During the next few months we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on Thrones and how the update is working out while the Saga team switches gears to begin laying the groundwork for the next Saga title.[/COLOR]

[Daruwind]

Okay, let me reprhase it. ToB is probably done in terms of new content and possible big updates. Bugfixis are still possible.