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Survey
Game days: 134
Have you cheated: yes, 4-5000 denars total here and there when I was feeling too lazy to fight looters with a minimal squad to steal bullets, 10-15 low level troops upgraded total here and there to free up space so I could avoid arm troops bug.
Faction you are in: KMT local
Centers number you are holding:Reyvadin, Alburq Castle, Epeshe, hopefully Wercheg (if Graveth decides to grant it to me).
Military forces you have: about 550, mostly (180ish) npla sergeants, about 35 npla officers, 80-100 big sword and vet big swords, 40ish machinegunners of all Chinese factions and local puppet (I haven't trained my own mgs yet), 5 generals (NPLA, 8RA, and PA), around 20 NPLA elite cavalry, 10 NPLA surgeons, 2 radiomen, 5 npc heroes (all chosen to minimize conflicts), assorted lower level riflemen. My current party makeup is based on what I plan to do (raid, campaign, train, siege, defend, administrate).
Other factions military forces: Almost all mechanics come from other factions, most mgs out of faction, an additional 20 civilian officers, and 10 8RA officers, assorted low level and veteran/sergeant riflemen and medics out of faction (mostly 8RA).
Army
Where did you get the soldiers: Recruited/Trained/Armed the vast majority of npla sergeants, officers, and big swords (mostly not from my fiefs). 30-40ish recruited and reorganized from bandits. All medics, cavalry, and mgs (in and out of faction) rescued after battles, though most were trained up by me, and some armed by me. Puppet officers, generals, medics, and mgs recruited directly from prisoners, some trained by me. Several troops recruited from taverns (especially craftsmen, doctors, and radiomen).
Do you use "arm soldier" frequently: All the time--riflemen and mgs are the most consistent, and thus most reliable force on the battlefield, and it's easier to arm them than to constantly search out prisoner-full parties. I use big sword squads only for sieges--much more disposable (considering the prohibitive cost of ammunition) plus the cluster nades are nice. Too likely to nade my precious riflemen on the battlefield, or to just get run over by mgs, cavalry, and jap. grenadiers.
How often do you manufacture weapons: Now that I have workshops, pretty much constantly--it's cheap (100ish silver a day?) and it's consistent, and it's easier to arm troops this way.
Which weapons do you order most: Ammunition, then muskets (only if I'm too far away to supply rifles myself--muskets and rifles are way cheaper and easier to pick up than ammunition), when I get my city armory up, it'll be mgs.
The troops you find most helpful: mgs (duh), medics (lifesavers, plus party bonuses), generals (admin effects, party bonuses, training), officers (training), local guides (party bonuses).
How do you feel about the auto recruit: I got it to work a little bit with another game I played when I was Japanese rebel faction(!). It hasn't seemed to work with my current fiefs--is the recruitment tied to prosperity? Then again, my prosperity is quite high (60's-80's) and my public order is too (70's). However, my relations are low (-5 to -8 thanks mostly to curfew and my own stinginess) and I know native's recruitment strength is based on relations.
how do you feel about the weaponry system: AWESOME, especially from a gameplay angle. A few issues other than the message I sent you about casualty rates, and the aoe collision bug.
1. I don't know about the detailed economics of the time (so correct me if I'm wrong), but I imagine that the actual rifles and smgs should have cost considerably more than the ammunition itself. I understand the balance issues behind why you make ammunition more expensive, because ammo in M&B doesn't dwindle. But it seems rather unlikely to pick up 20 or 30 well-made rifles but very little ammo after a battle. It's even more disconcerting to have a good quality rifle be much cheaper in store than ammo, especially since you can manufacture enough ammunition to arm 15ish soldiers at just 80ish silver a day, when it'd cost you at least several hundred to arm one manually. Is it possible to make rifles considerably more expensive and cheapen ammo by either a) considerably increasing weekly upkeep (to approximate the cost of replacing ammo) or b) make ammo dwindle, much like food dwindles? Is it possible to put it in the food category? This way, you have to keep buying ammo, though ammo would be much cheaper and widely available, while weapons become less common and more expensive.
2. Have you seen the shield bash script from mirathei and zaro? I feel like that script and animation can be implemented (by just changing shields to all guns and bayonets) to knockback enemies with rifle-butts (you already let us block with guns
) to add more to hand-to-hand.
3. Have you seen the morale script from chel? Since most battles aren't fought to the death, and a solid line is essential for mgs and riflemen, This could be an interesting addition to battlefield tactics.
New buildings
Which are the useful buildings you think: Camps, Tier 3 and up Workshops (due to ammunition), Radioposts (if you're not cheating), Schools/colleges, Mills, Barracks
What do you think about the prices and building times: Very reasonable in terms of game balance. In terms of realism, I don't know. It'd be nice to see my officer/general in town, much as we see elders in town.
Public order system
How would the public orders of your centers normally be: 0-30 when I first take over, usually around 70ish when I lift curfew.
Did they change too fast: no, pretty good speed.
Can you feel the influence of this system: Yes, I think. I'm not sure what public order is tied to--does it mean I get fewer troops, longer building times, and fewer manufactured guns? I just feel like it's something that should be raised even though I'm not sure what it does... is there any way to tie public order to how often you run into nighttime bandits (or is it already?)?
Generally, how do you think about this version: I like it a lot. I really like mods that really immerse you, and you've done a good job of that. I really like how you get us to mix up our parties especially with support troops, and I love what you've done with area of effect. And I think you do a good job of reaching your objectives for stage 2. Additionally, the upkeep costs are much more balanced and realistic than native M&B--money is HARD to come by, and investment choices are real--do I buy personal weapons, invest in arming soldiers, invest in a workshop, bribe a baggage officer or elder, or pay my huge upkeep? I like having to make these choices, especially with the pressure of an ongoing war. Native buildings are much more useful and realistic than their native counterparts as well. I also like what you've done with persuasion and the morale system.
However there are some gameplay problems.
To even out my line, (because M&B spawns your battleline according to your party slots' order), I take equivalent soldiers from other factions, so all my top tier troops aren't concentrated on one flank--I'm not certain this is something you can address.
Machineguns are overpowered for the player party (just like Swadian knights are for native M&B) because the player doesn't have troop number restrictions that npc parties have (increased upkeep cost or constant ammunition degeneration could correct for this?). This means that with enough stockpiled mgs, a player would generally like to fill his party up with exclusively mgs (hell, I plan on doing this too).
Speaking of ammo, the cost of ammunition makes too much of the early game (especially before you build a tier 3 workshop) a hunt for ammo. I've resorted to making one hero npc +10 on looting and hunting bands of 30 looters with just the 2 of us in order to pick up looter's ammo. I should rather be hunting Japanese armies for their ammo.
As for other investment costs for troops--is there anyway to return weapons and ammo from your own troops who have died? E.g. it makes perfect sense for you to lose dead soldiers' ammo and rifles for battles that you retreat from or lose, but if you win a battle, and you've lost a lot of men, shouldn't you get some return on that 1000 silver per soldier ammo and rifle investment?
Speaking of balance--in native M&B, there was a real choice to spend both player and npc character points amongst personal fighting skills, party skills, and party size. Since the use of lmgs and coehorns (both by the player and by enemies) make personal fighting skills not very useful, party skills end up being largely be covered by party npcs (who no longer have value as highly upgraded melee or range fighters), and thus party size and persuasion skill becomes the place where I consistently invest most of my points. A suggestion would be to make certain weapons unlockable only with a certain skill, which is what you already do with first aid kits. You could do the same with lmgs and coehorns--create new skill categories (taking out some old ones like shields, etc.) that you have to raise to a certain point to use better forms of lmgs and coehorns. This creates incentives to reinvest in skills other than leadership and persuasion.
Again, great job Williamberne