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Thread: ToB combat mechanics

  1. #1
    Jurand of Cracow's Avatar History and gameplay!
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    Default ToB combat mechanics

    Hi Guys,
    do you know a webpage where the mechanics of the combat in ToB is be explained?
    JoC

  2. #2
    ♔Greek Strategos♔'s Avatar THE BEARDED MACE
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    Default Re: ToB combat mechanics

    Νever seen anything about it, but since you're asking I could take a look.

  3. #3
    Jurand of Cracow's Avatar History and gameplay!
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    Default Re: ToB combat mechanics

    I haven't seen either but it doesn't matter, I think ;-)
    I've played like 30 battles in the ToB (some 10 were large) and my conclusion is that you actually may do little in the fight.
    On VH the only viable tactics is to move around the flanks of the enemy lines. The bonuses are big for the AI so you don't have any chance for a breakthrough somewhere, but the AI it makes the same blunders all the time and there's always a flat terrain. And this is an issue: I haven't seen many possibilities to use terrain to my advantage or to have problems because of this. It's practially always two lines clashing (apart from the sieges and river crossings, but including battles in smaller settlements, landings included). I tried to use the "snipe" ability of my javelinmen to shoot out of wood, but they'd be always spotted, or there's no time to use this. Shield castle is useful but other abilities of units don't make much difference (eg. the morale bonus of the inspiring units is negligible so it doesn't make any change if you place such a unit is this place or in another).
    The AI is as bad as in the other TW games. Actually, the modified AI in the Medieval 2 (mods: DLV, SS-family, and EB2 with its peculiar slow battles) behaves better, imo. It blobs, as usual, the general charges first as usual (although in this period this behavior is justified, to be sure). I haven't seen the AI counteracting my cavalry with shooting or saving his archers with spearmen. Once I got around the flanks, it was helpless.
    I like very much the full information about the impacts of morale. This helps to learn what should be done or not. This is the feature that I miss in Medieval 2 (and Rome 2). I'd also like to see the impact of exhaustion on different stats of the units.
    The units differ in the lethality: big axes kill a lot while spearmen sometimes cannot achieve any hit against armored Normans. This is very good and makes you do some planning - but again, you just need to get around the flanks with those axes.
    I haven't played siege battles so I don't really know how do they compare with the other titles (I had great sieges in Medieval 2, but also in Attila). I've seen a recent stream of Legend of Total War and he actually withdrew from the walls but did some manouvering inside the settlement - so maybe there're not so bad, after all.
    Now, I'll stop playing the ToB and go back to the old good Medieval 2, perhaps Pritanoi in Europa Barbarorum - to continue enjoying the British Islands. The units's stats are much more meaningful for me and I somehow enjoy the battles much more.
    Last edited by Jurand of Cracow; January 31, 2019 at 02:53 PM.
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