Announcement: Europa Barbarorum II 2.35A R3.5 released!

[aaronp]

A follow-up to my previous feedback. I'm a bit further in my campaign now and I've had several wars Carthage and the Areuakoi. I don't play without fog of war and I can't comment in-depth on the movements of the AI, but my enemies have fielded large armies and the level of aggression on hard CAI feels good. The AI seeks peace at appropriate times, too, though I did have carthage go to war immediately after asking for peace due to naval shenanigans. That's hardcoded isn't it? Maybe a problem for that memory hacking project I've been hearing about to solve.

Speaking of naval shenanigans, I'm definitely noticing a lot of tiny navies running around as I think Dooz mentioned in his thread, but so far I don't see this as a problem. Naval battles are basically pointless in this game, and I like the idea of it being more a game of maneuvering around rather than having large stacks duke it out. I haven't had to deal with them too much though since so far I've only used temporary transport fleets that get immediately disbanded.

The battle are dynamic, fun and altogether excellent. I have never been a huge fan of M2TW battles at all, but especially with the latest cav changes EBII has really found something that works.

[QuintusSertorius]

A follow-up to my previous feedback. I'm a bit further in my campaign now and I've had several wars Carthage and the Areuakoi. I don't play without fog of war and I can't comment in-depth on the movements of the AI, but my enemies have fielded large armies and the level of aggression on hard CAI feels good. The AI seeks peace at appropriate times, too, though I did have carthage go to war immediately after asking for peace due to naval shenanigans. That's hardcoded isn't it? Maybe a problem for that memory hacking project I've been hearing about to solve.

Speaking of naval shenanigans, I'm definitely noticing a lot of tiny navies running around as I think Dooz mentioned in his thread, but so far I don't see this as a problem. Naval battles are basically pointless in this game, and I like the idea of it being more a game of maneuvering around rather than having large stacks duke it out. I haven't had to deal with them too much though since so far I've only used temporary transport fleets that get immediately disbanded.

The battle are dynamic, fun and altogether excellent. I have never been a huge fan of M2TW battles at all, but especially with the latest cav changes EBII has really found something that works.

What faction are you playing as? Have the cavalry changes been particularly noticeable and impacted your recruitment choices and usage of cavalry in battle?

[Aodh Mór Ó Néill]

What faction are you playing as? Have the cavalry changes been particularly noticeable and impacted your recruitment choices and usage of cavalry in battle?

Currently at turn 70 as Epeiros. I always roleplay so my cavalry numbers are pretty much remain the same as before (2 heavy including FM's, 1 light/medium, 1 skirmisher). Also I haven't seen a need yet to experiment with exotic 101-man cavalry units (for the moment Thracian/Italian mercenaries, along with Thessalians/Molossons, do the job well enough).

However my cavalry usage has changed drastically. Particularly with my FM's, I'm using my cavalry very aggressively, wiping out whole units before the enemy even reach my lines. This doesn't feel too overpowered though, as heavy infantry/elites resist the charges quite well unless their general has been killed (on that note, it feels a bit easy sniping infantry FM's with elite cavalry, only really a problem with rebel stacks though).

Overall I find the cavalry changes very satisfying, as cavalry truly feel dangerous now (without being as overpowered as they were in the last patch). Battles are also a lot more fluid, they don't just devolve into the same old hammer-and-anvil brawl they used to.

[aaronp]

What faction are you playing as? Have the cavalry changes been particularly noticeable and impacted your recruitment choices and usage of cavalry in battle?

I'm playing as Lusitania. I've never played them before, but I always try to recruit a realistic mix of troops based on the recruitment pools rather than min-maxing the most effective armies, so I won't say my recruitment habits have been consciously impacted impacted. I always used skirmisher cav, but they just under-performed and didn't have a clear role. Ultimately in those older versions I ended up just using them to tie up other fast moving units so the infantry or heavy cav can reach and envelop them, a sort of reverse-hammer and anvil technique.

In this version my tactics are completely different. Cav seem more deadly and more fragile. The AI has plenty of cav as well, and I like how they start out already far out in the flanks, prepared to envelop you if you make a wrong move. They have to be dealt with. All the cav at least around there has javelins and is in skirmisher mode by default so a lot of the early battle is maneuvering cav around each other, throwing javs at each other while trying to find an advantageous position for a trap. I don't want my cav stuck in direct melee for any length of time. When I do charge infantry, they'll have been significantly softened up already with the actually-effective javelins and engaged in melee with other infantry and if I've done it right they route soon after.

This more closely follows my mental model of how battles in those days would have actually progressed. I think the RTW-style battles of treating cav like medieval knights is pretty anachronistic for most of the world during this period isn't it?

[Aneuth]

I play as the nabateans (Hard campaign, medium battle) and am now mainly waiting for the rulers to get the want to settle trait. After an initial period of war, the situation calms down a bit. The seleucids and the ptolemies fight each other fiercely and Syria often changes its owner. But the Seleucids tend to dominate.
Due to the high movement, the AI sometimes expands strangely. The Seleucids conquered eastern Arabia and wanted to expand into southern Arabia before I beat them to it.

[Aodh Mór Ó Néill]

Got the centralised Epeirote reform, and I built a Prostratus first in Pella, then Ambrakia. However the option to build a Basilike only appeared in Pella. Can the option not be present in more than one city at a time?

[bordinis]

Is there anything I need to do with Getai generals to get reformed government buildings? I saw traits like uniter and so fourth.

[realm56]

Got the centralised Epeirote reform, and I built a Prostratus first in Pella, then Ambrakia. However the option to build a Basilike only appeared in Pella. Can the option not be present in more than one city at a time?

Is Ambrakia at city level with lvl 2 polis and military colony?

[Aodh Mór Ó Néill]

Is Ambrakia at city level with lvl 2 polis and military colony?

Indeed it is.

[Aneuth]

I really hope that the higher movement will be kept. It makes the East with its big provinces much more pleasant to play.

[bordinis]

It should be since AI is finally reinforcing and we don t have challenging BAI so veteran units for AI in later stages in the game are a welcome addition.

[Aneuth]

The missions of Bactria seem to be buggy. I did all the missions but only got one colony point.

[Shoebopp]

The missions of Bactria seem to be buggy. I did all the missions but only got one colony point.

That's unfortunate. Did you accidentally conquer Antiochea Skythias before getting the approval from the Seleucids to do so? That caused me to not get any colony points for the rest of the campaign

[Aneuth]

No, I conquered the settlement after the approval. But it worked after I gave the settlement to the Saka and then conquered it again. Now I have enough points to build military colony level 3. Still weird, I have no idea why it didn't work the first time.

[Shoebopp]

Forgive me for my ignorance, but is R3 (as in the third patch for 2.35a) released yet, and if so, where can I find it?

[QuintusSertorius]

Forgive me for my ignorance, but is R3 (as in the third patch for 2.35a) released yet, and if so, where can I find it?

It's in the original post, it's the post-patch file. It's R3.5.

[Shoebopp]

Thanks QS! Some notes on a Hayastan 2.35a R3 campaign:

1. The massive increase in movement points allowed me to besiege and relief-cheese Ganzak on turn 1. In fact this buff allows for easy "region-hopping" where the early-game player blitzes settlements turn by turn. Ships travel ridiculously far - I was able to exile my non-Yervanduni FMs to Krete in 1 turn from the docks of Kutatsi. Mid-game I was able to adopt the Byzantine Empire's strategy of stationing infantry in key settlements and moving around a pure cavalry force. In theaters of war the pure cavalry force can trek across the entire empire in one turn and merge with the local infantry to create a proper army. This is crucial to maintain an empire centered on Persian heartlands (I migrated the Yervandunis to modern day Iran).

2. Caucasian Tribal Kingdoms now require towns with at least 800 households to build :'(. I thought I could break my Imperial/Independent Hayastan record this playthrough until I noticed that the building was temporarily missing from the queue.

3. The Seleucids no longer bend over backwards to negotiate an alliance with you on turn 2.

4. In fact, the Seleucids and AI factions in general are much more prone to betraying you. I had to reload a save when the Seleucids got fed up with my buying up their core Persian settlements and besieged Hamadan. My second reload came when, upon negotiating yet another Iranian Purchase the Seleucids said "go crucify yourself" and canceled our alliance. I never knew the AI could even do that! Even the Nabataeans who I sold Syrian Seleucid settlements to began camping armies near my Western frontiers. The changes to faction "personality" are really visible.

5. Pontos actually managed to conquer Trapezous on turn 1! I'm so proud of them.

6. Just as a note, I would personally love to see a few Iranian/Hellenistic ethnicities added to the Hayastan suitor pool. The Armenians historically were later influenced by the Hellenes and even expanded to encompass the Medes, one of the most famous Iranian peoples.

[Domeric_Bolton]

Are there any plans to expand the Getic roster? It currently feels a little lacklustre, and like its missing some upgrades - The Komatai Epilektoi do not receive an Upgrade, but the phalanx does, even though I believe it could literally just use the same model.

[QuintusSertorius]

Are there any plans to expand the Getic roster? It currently feels a little lacklustre, and like its missing some upgrades - The Komatai Epilektoi do not receive an Upgrade, but the phalanx does, even though I believe it could literally just use the same model.

The only unit missing from their regional roster are the Carpathian Skaplinai (axemen). Their new elites are due an armour upgrade.

[bismarck 1899]

Something is off with the AI. I had this a dozen times now.
I play Ptolomys and conquered Antiochia 60 turns ago. Now when the AS send a diplomat to ask for a ceasefire (I agree) and in that same turn attack me again. Same happens if I sent a diplomat. They immediately attack me again. Never had that before. I even tried paying them regular tribute. No effect.