We want heavy axemen to be more offensive-inclined troops while heavy spearmen should work better in a defensive formation. Heavy axemen have good harassing weapons and as such work better against shield walls.
@
anoddhermit already has one response that is not working in practice. I noticed the same thing once my armies got large enough, and also noticed that shieldbreaker units ... didn't. So I just spent several hours running unmodded sim battles. Here is why they don't in 1.7.2, and based on that some suggestions.
General note on sim battles. Line length matters due to moral, and very much when line breaking a shiled wall. I used 200 v 200 with the AI line being either 200 Darkhan or 200 Legionary. The AI line is longer than your default line, so I would always adjust my line to be the same length, then charge. Also Darkhan still underperform vs Legionary, but that is not much of a surprise.
A. OK, why. It is the throwing axes! On multiple tests, if I "Held Fire" then charged the line breaker troops performed the job adequately.
One - formation matters initially. The throwing animations are staggered, which visually looks quite nice, but it means the lines staggered as they approached. That meant the troops that threw later (moved forward more) were easily enveloped by the advancing shield troops.
Two - AI was more likely to have the shields up if a ranged missile was incoming, so the AI front line was always all shields. With actual archers also present, this may not always be a factor. Maybe they'd have them up for archers. But the throwing axe made sure they shield was up even if no archers.
Three - and
the worst offender by far. After small sub melees broke out, whenever the throwing axe equipped line breakers went to reposition themselves (AI movement not a command) they would nearly always throw another bleeping axe. That meant the non-throwing weapon carrying shield troops quickly moved to them and smacked them in the face before the throw finished.
The staggered formation, the stacks of axes and desire to throw when melee is close made them always lose. If I "Held Fire" before they got close enough to throw the win rate was over 90% using any of the heavy axe shield breaker types, all which now have throwing axes. So even if they were worth throwing, which they aren't, the act of throwing them is not worth doing. Esp. with Legionary and Darkhan having no thrown weapon and closing during the throw animation.
The throwing axes themselves are part of the problem. They not only aren't worth throwing, but having at all harms the AI movement both at engagement and once the lines have met. If they are meant to break or even severely damage shields, they don't. So the movement negatives are all that is left.
All axes except 2H were not useful for shield breaking. Using 1H axe troops in the testing
showed that 1H axes are nearly as bad as thrown at shield damage. That doesn't seem right.
B. So, fixing? Not every one of these needs to be changed. But at least one or two. They are just options.
Fix the throwing axes used for shield breaking. First, only one throwing axe, a behemoth called a francesca was used for this purpose. In game the "franceska" is the lightest of all! So if you want axes on shield breaker troops to break shields, give them an axe just for that job. Make that axe have a significant shield break bonus so it is at least worth throwing on that troop type. Skirmishers can use the existing throwing axes. If you do make a shield breaker specialist throwing axe variant should be the "francesca". Make it worth throwing.
Alter how all axes break shields. It currently feels like a chance based on damage. So thrown axes give a small bonus. Also The thing that made shields break was weight not the "axe". That is why the thrown francesca was so heavy. So, change the shield break bonus to be based on axe weight, and give the axes various troops use weights useful for the purpose you want them to have in the troop tree. Or if shield break is already a stand alone bonus and not tied to damage, adjust it so axes used by various troops better fit their role in the troop tree. All the axes. Only 2H seem to fit the role as of 1.7.2.
Change the AI distance where shield breaker melee is willing to throw the axe to: only if the target is very far. This prevents them from raising the axe to throw in melee and getting a sword in the face. It might also give them a chance to regain formation before collision after an initial throw wave.
Take the thrown axes away from shield break melee specialists. Give them something else? Part of the issue is that Legionary troops no longer stop to throw, and this is an advantage in AI movement for them. Maybe make a "hook axe" like was used to grab a shield. Not thrown, leave thrown on skirmishers. Have the "hook axe" nullify or "break" a shield. So they'd use a hook axe to break the shield if the target had a shield. If no shield, or once broken, then not switch to 2H or regular melee weapon. So only this new non-thrown axe is the "axe shield break specialist weapon".
Make axes used on shield break troops only throwable once. This doesn't fix problem one, but if it were at least worth throwing then it may justify staggering the formation on impact. But then they'd have to be very good. Also, with Legionary not throwing and using stack size 1 as the flag for that, this seems messier.
Anyone else with suggestions? I am done spending hours watching troop animations for the day.
...Things that have been thoroughly and meticulously feedbacked by fans/community since the game was released two years ago.
... No, please, no glaives to cataphract...
