Keterex
Regular
The following is a quick run down on ONE way to play 1866.
Edit: Since this has been added to the guide I will endeavour to update this ( Also I will probably expand and reformat it soon). Tips added will have the source at the end in brackets in itallics.
Starting Character:
Choose the first option for each choice
Army father and Booming town start gives you more cash plus weapons and a horse. The lower down you choose generally means you are making the game harder ( If you have a bum for a dad and lived in the wildernes you can imagine your start being harder). I choose union start as I need to kill all those CSA rebels for cash ( Would love an alternative here for CSA... I still wouldn't take it I just love freedom of play).
Stat points:
Charisma:
This is up to your own play style but I recommend highly you plan for high leadership ( Lowers troop wages and increases troop size). Since this means a high CHR score it means you might as well focus on trading as well ( Buy cheaper sell dearer ).
Honestly for your main character there isn't much else you really have to raise to have a good game. You will find yourself limited by stat scores to raising the few things you really need.
Agility:
I place this second as it enables high weapon scores ( that you can pump with skill points and not rely on combat promotions) and higher horse shooting accuracy ( You are on a horse right?). You don't need a riding skill above 4 unless you really have nothing else to raise.
Strength:
Not as important as it is in native M&B. Stockpiling is pretty much the only one you really "need" here ( Only your main needs stockpiling, your companions use it not their own stat). Pumping hardiness is ok but 2 HP is not going to save your life that often. Power strike is nice but I tend to stick to pistol/rifle.
Int:
No real need here as you will have companions to fill all the INT roles ( Looting, Scouting ( path finding, spotting, tracking ), Medic ( injury, first aid ) and engineer.
Skills:
Notable skills to raise for yourself:
Power Strike- This depends on your play style ( I personally avoid melee weapons ). If you find yourself using melee weapons often, raise this one for 10% damage and melee weapon speed increase.
Stockpiling- As I have mentioned only your main character needs this. Lets you buy larger ammo pouches ( Very usefull for protracted battles and sieges ).
Weapon Master- Important to being able to raise your weaponskill with skillpoints
Horse accuracy- Makes those mad dashes on your horse, guns a blazing, more deadly.
Helpful skills that aren't vital:
Riding- My favourite horse only needs riding 1 to use. Fastest horse only needs lvl 4 in riding.
Atheltics- Increases your run speed while on foot. Nice to be able to pop out of cover and back again. More use for hand to hand combat as it lets you back peddle faster.
Skills you can leave alone safely:
Persuasion- As it stands this is of little use ( don't be surprised if they find a use for it later though)
Prison management- Unless you want to roleplay a slave trader the returns of this are outwieghed by the loss of raising other skills
Skills for your companions:
I personally train 4-5 companions as specialists. The rest I keep as pure combat.
1)Scout- Pump INT only - Trailblazing, spotting and tracking
2)Medic- Pump INT only - Surgery, First aid and wound treatment
3)Engineer - Pump INT only - Engineer. Since this companion will have quite a few left over skill points they make a good trainer as well.
4)Trainer - Pump INT only. It is best to have one companion with a high level of training instead of many companions with low training. Higher levels of training give larger XP bonus ( Shrugging Khan)
5) optional - Looter - Pump AGI only - Looting
Game Start:
Forget raising troops! Concertrate on getting all 14 of your companions. Travel from town to town and pick them up ( Remember to recheck after picking up a companion to see if another has spawned at the same spot ). Only using your 14 comapnions has two big advatages 1) They cost almost nothing. If memory serves me right I was looking at a 2 buck wage bill most my early game which is incredibaly easy to cover 2) Only having companions means that all fight xp goes to them to help level them up. If you throw in just 5 high level 30 mercs into the battle you will find them "kill stealing" all the the enemy. Often I let the last few enemy be killed by my followers even if I could easily kill them myself ( your comapnions can't be killed so give them every chance to level up and not be "sucky"). Personel note Red Hair Sally has become a beast in my game for I haven't a clue reason, she just keeps getting the last kill shot in. In the mean time get cash by taking on small groups of looters and doing trade runs which brings us to...
Trade runs:
Easy principle, buy whiskey, tequlia and guns from USA and sell to the natives for big profits. While not exactly moral it will leave you swimming in cash ( I had 400 bucks, 14 companions and kitted up before I was ready to take on the world). After you have flooded the natives with guns you can always offload the rest on the mexicans ( For much smaller return ). The key here is your trade skill, with comapanion adjustment mine is at 9 atm which means you can nearly make money of anything ( except hides which are annoyingly uniform).
Where from here?
Well it is your game...take your pick. I personally wait till one indian faction takes on more than it can chew and then jump on them with a rag tag assortment of scum and villany gathered from the various cantinas of the world.
One word of advice is to stay on the good side of the USA unless you wish to play a harder game.
Combat
Mmkay two ways at this. 1) the gamey options 2) Tactical options
1)
A lot you learnt in native still works wonders here. Infantry heavy armies can decimate calvary simply by redpolying to your "retreat zone". All cavalry attempting to circle to your left ( which they will) hits the invisible line at gets "stuck"... equals field day for target practice.
Natives in siege battles are super simple to beat ( Hill fort ). Stand way back and plonk away... their arrows are crap at that range. Break siege and repeat. 30 men can take out 150 easy with you seriously killing half. ( This with a high injury stat which means that nearly 75 % of your casualties will be only injured where all theirs will be kills... a few hours rest and repeat )
If you are the only one on horse you can charge forward and get the enemies cavalrys attention then proceed to circle them in front of your foot soldiers for a battle of attrition that has only one outcome...
The above is even true once the battle has truly ensued. Simply take passing runs through the enemy infantry, pistol firing red and you will get most guys looking your way... that is until you break line of sight with them and they revert to old objective...repeat. Concertrate on the muzzle loaders as they are the ones that make you go,"Ooof, you lose 22 hp" at long range.
2)
Cover = gold. In order of my prefrence. Wagon - tall cacti - low wagon and cacti - hill crest - your own men - your horse ( You did dismount for long range shots? ). Obviously for a town map, building corners are not too bad, not bad at all.
Infantry needs to be deployed on hill slopes to mitagate the charge factor of cavalry. Enemy side if you have numbers plus slow loaders, near side if you are weaker or have fast firers ( I know a few will have objections to this, test it out yourself)
Learn to love the number 4 button. Your cavalry works best enmass*sic*( can't be botherd to find right spelling). Left to the order of general charge you will see your cav doing stupid stuff. I personally usually have them on "follow me" with "hold this position" to reinforce the silly buggers to get the hell out of that 15 man enemy clump. A couple enmass charges really breaks up an enemies charge ( which is all the AI does with the exception of fort maps where they will sit pretty and take it)
Keep moving while in comabat( especially on foot). If you are using muzzle loaders, try to fight next to cover. Fire, run to cover, reload and repeat. If using breech loaders or magazine guns, keep strafing while loading to present a harder target while out in the open. (LCJr)
The enemy always bee lines straight to you. Deploy to a side of an impassable terrain feature and they will get split up trying to get you...Hmm this needs to go in number one category.
While I am not a fan of abusing save games ( It ruins the fun) I can highly recommend new players replaying the same battle a few times to try out your own tactical prefrences. It can really give you insight seeing how the same battle can play out so differently depending on your orders.
Factions
They are your enemy!
( More to come)
Enjoy!
Post about the use of weapons by your companions on horseback, http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,93688.0.html
Edit: Since this has been added to the guide I will endeavour to update this ( Also I will probably expand and reformat it soon). Tips added will have the source at the end in brackets in itallics.
Starting Character:
Choose the first option for each choice
Army father and Booming town start gives you more cash plus weapons and a horse. The lower down you choose generally means you are making the game harder ( If you have a bum for a dad and lived in the wildernes you can imagine your start being harder). I choose union start as I need to kill all those CSA rebels for cash ( Would love an alternative here for CSA... I still wouldn't take it I just love freedom of play).
Stat points:
Charisma:
This is up to your own play style but I recommend highly you plan for high leadership ( Lowers troop wages and increases troop size). Since this means a high CHR score it means you might as well focus on trading as well ( Buy cheaper sell dearer ).
Honestly for your main character there isn't much else you really have to raise to have a good game. You will find yourself limited by stat scores to raising the few things you really need.
Agility:
I place this second as it enables high weapon scores ( that you can pump with skill points and not rely on combat promotions) and higher horse shooting accuracy ( You are on a horse right?). You don't need a riding skill above 4 unless you really have nothing else to raise.
Strength:
Not as important as it is in native M&B. Stockpiling is pretty much the only one you really "need" here ( Only your main needs stockpiling, your companions use it not their own stat). Pumping hardiness is ok but 2 HP is not going to save your life that often. Power strike is nice but I tend to stick to pistol/rifle.
Int:
No real need here as you will have companions to fill all the INT roles ( Looting, Scouting ( path finding, spotting, tracking ), Medic ( injury, first aid ) and engineer.
Skills:
Notable skills to raise for yourself:
Power Strike- This depends on your play style ( I personally avoid melee weapons ). If you find yourself using melee weapons often, raise this one for 10% damage and melee weapon speed increase.
Stockpiling- As I have mentioned only your main character needs this. Lets you buy larger ammo pouches ( Very usefull for protracted battles and sieges ).
Weapon Master- Important to being able to raise your weaponskill with skillpoints
Horse accuracy- Makes those mad dashes on your horse, guns a blazing, more deadly.
Helpful skills that aren't vital:
Riding- My favourite horse only needs riding 1 to use. Fastest horse only needs lvl 4 in riding.
Atheltics- Increases your run speed while on foot. Nice to be able to pop out of cover and back again. More use for hand to hand combat as it lets you back peddle faster.
Skills you can leave alone safely:
Persuasion- As it stands this is of little use ( don't be surprised if they find a use for it later though)
Prison management- Unless you want to roleplay a slave trader the returns of this are outwieghed by the loss of raising other skills
Skills for your companions:
I personally train 4-5 companions as specialists. The rest I keep as pure combat.
1)Scout- Pump INT only - Trailblazing, spotting and tracking
2)Medic- Pump INT only - Surgery, First aid and wound treatment
3)Engineer - Pump INT only - Engineer. Since this companion will have quite a few left over skill points they make a good trainer as well.
4)Trainer - Pump INT only. It is best to have one companion with a high level of training instead of many companions with low training. Higher levels of training give larger XP bonus ( Shrugging Khan)
5) optional - Looter - Pump AGI only - Looting
Game Start:
Forget raising troops! Concertrate on getting all 14 of your companions. Travel from town to town and pick them up ( Remember to recheck after picking up a companion to see if another has spawned at the same spot ). Only using your 14 comapnions has two big advatages 1) They cost almost nothing. If memory serves me right I was looking at a 2 buck wage bill most my early game which is incredibaly easy to cover 2) Only having companions means that all fight xp goes to them to help level them up. If you throw in just 5 high level 30 mercs into the battle you will find them "kill stealing" all the the enemy. Often I let the last few enemy be killed by my followers even if I could easily kill them myself ( your comapnions can't be killed so give them every chance to level up and not be "sucky"). Personel note Red Hair Sally has become a beast in my game for I haven't a clue reason, she just keeps getting the last kill shot in. In the mean time get cash by taking on small groups of looters and doing trade runs which brings us to...
Trade runs:
Easy principle, buy whiskey, tequlia and guns from USA and sell to the natives for big profits. While not exactly moral it will leave you swimming in cash ( I had 400 bucks, 14 companions and kitted up before I was ready to take on the world). After you have flooded the natives with guns you can always offload the rest on the mexicans ( For much smaller return ). The key here is your trade skill, with comapanion adjustment mine is at 9 atm which means you can nearly make money of anything ( except hides which are annoyingly uniform).
Where from here?
Well it is your game...take your pick. I personally wait till one indian faction takes on more than it can chew and then jump on them with a rag tag assortment of scum and villany gathered from the various cantinas of the world.
One word of advice is to stay on the good side of the USA unless you wish to play a harder game.
Combat
Mmkay two ways at this. 1) the gamey options 2) Tactical options
1)
A lot you learnt in native still works wonders here. Infantry heavy armies can decimate calvary simply by redpolying to your "retreat zone". All cavalry attempting to circle to your left ( which they will) hits the invisible line at gets "stuck"... equals field day for target practice.
Natives in siege battles are super simple to beat ( Hill fort ). Stand way back and plonk away... their arrows are crap at that range. Break siege and repeat. 30 men can take out 150 easy with you seriously killing half. ( This with a high injury stat which means that nearly 75 % of your casualties will be only injured where all theirs will be kills... a few hours rest and repeat )
If you are the only one on horse you can charge forward and get the enemies cavalrys attention then proceed to circle them in front of your foot soldiers for a battle of attrition that has only one outcome...
The above is even true once the battle has truly ensued. Simply take passing runs through the enemy infantry, pistol firing red and you will get most guys looking your way... that is until you break line of sight with them and they revert to old objective...repeat. Concertrate on the muzzle loaders as they are the ones that make you go,"Ooof, you lose 22 hp" at long range.
2)
Cover = gold. In order of my prefrence. Wagon - tall cacti - low wagon and cacti - hill crest - your own men - your horse ( You did dismount for long range shots? ). Obviously for a town map, building corners are not too bad, not bad at all.
Infantry needs to be deployed on hill slopes to mitagate the charge factor of cavalry. Enemy side if you have numbers plus slow loaders, near side if you are weaker or have fast firers ( I know a few will have objections to this, test it out yourself)
Learn to love the number 4 button. Your cavalry works best enmass*sic*( can't be botherd to find right spelling). Left to the order of general charge you will see your cav doing stupid stuff. I personally usually have them on "follow me" with "hold this position" to reinforce the silly buggers to get the hell out of that 15 man enemy clump. A couple enmass charges really breaks up an enemies charge ( which is all the AI does with the exception of fort maps where they will sit pretty and take it)
Keep moving while in comabat( especially on foot). If you are using muzzle loaders, try to fight next to cover. Fire, run to cover, reload and repeat. If using breech loaders or magazine guns, keep strafing while loading to present a harder target while out in the open. (LCJr)
The enemy always bee lines straight to you. Deploy to a side of an impassable terrain feature and they will get split up trying to get you...Hmm this needs to go in number one category.
While I am not a fan of abusing save games ( It ruins the fun) I can highly recommend new players replaying the same battle a few times to try out your own tactical prefrences. It can really give you insight seeing how the same battle can play out so differently depending on your orders.
Factions
They are your enemy!
( More to come)
Enjoy!
Post about the use of weapons by your companions on horseback, http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,93688.0.html
