[Discussion Area] Redundant Units in the Troop Trees + Noble Branch tier simplification

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Terco_Viejo

Spanish Gifquisition
Grandmaster Knight
I open this space for debate by proposing the idea of a slight restructuring of the factions' troop tree. In my opinion there are quite a few units which have a redundant role in both equipment and performance. Also, the noble troop line seems to me to want to stretch the gum; Imean...I think that following the criteria of three tiers like with minor factions would be much more interesting and straightforward.

All this comes after my realizing that the Empire Tree is lacking one unit compared to the others and that Battania does not follow a criteria in my opinion that is appropriate for the noble line; the whole of it, ranged troops as opposed to the other factions with pure cavalry lines.

Well, here I have created this troops scheme with the help of mountandblade.fandom (There are some names that have not been updated but the structure is the same). As I said, I've reduced the noble line to 3 tiers and slightly altered the regular troop tree.

Original left, modified right:
IPZ_3.jpg

Vlandia: Vanguard and Squire are two redundant units and therefore I would dispense with them. Also, and as a substitution of role, I would move Gallant as a regular troop in the cavalry branch.

Empire: Vigla Recruit is redundant, while Equite would be relocated as regular cavalry.

Sturgia: Warrior Son redundant and Vetaran Varyag may switch its equipment to Varyag, moving it to the regular infantry branch.

Khuzait: No change to the regular branch. However, Noble's Son and Qanqli would not fit into this 3-Tier system even though they don't contribute anything either as they are redundant (This faction already has enough cavalrymen).

Battania: I consider that the noble line should be exclusive to the cavalry (horse as a symbol of power) and therefore the current one should be absorbed by the regular branch. Highborn Youth and Highborn Warrior are two units that are too similar and contribute little to the ranged line; therefore, I would personally get rid of them. Fian and Fian Champion, on the other hand, in my opinion would fit much better in the regular branch as what they are, a specialized ranged swordman. After these changes, we would have a fairly complete tree with a combination of infantry, ranged, riders and skirmishers. The noble line would consist of Scout and Horseman, who would jump from the regular line directly to the noble line and as a complement a new unit need to be created (or transformed).

In my opinion, the Battania noble line should play a role as heavy skirmishers (archetype of Celtiberian - Gallic horsemen).

Aserai: No change in the regular branch. However, Youth and Tribal horseman would not fit into this three-tiered system even though they do not contribute anything, as they are redundant.

What do you think?

Do you think that the trees would need a revision? Could the noble line be simplified to three tiers? Are there redundant troops among the trees?

----
Analysis Expanded:
Here I bring a little analysis that gathers what is commented in this thread. As I mentioned earlier I believe that in the Native there is redundancy of troops and I truly believe that there is an undefined system of strengths and weaknesses for each faction. In the regular troop tree each of the units should be well defined and framed within their role by function. Imo, only the noble troops should have "versatile" functions, which as I said, I would reduce to three units.
In the regular troop tree each of the units should be well defined and framed within their role by function. In my view, only the noble troops should have "versatile" functions, which as I said, I would reduce to three.


Melee Missiles
I2r8-.png


At this point, a number of questions arise... For example:


Can (light-heavy) infantry be equipped with missiles? - throwable as pila or other type of spears when they do not exceed the pair of them, yes. Equipping an infantry unit with one or two bags of javelins would already be framing it in a role of which it does not belong; we would be turning it into a skirmisher.

What defines heavy cavalry in general lines? -essentially the horse's bard (and the type of horse) and the rider's panoply.

Should a ranged troop have high melee skills? The high tier would, however, never be more efficient than an average infantry tier; their function is what it is, role function ranged.

Can a shock troop have throwables? My answer is no because it would be performing a skirmisher function indirectly. This is where I put the focus on Fiann's units. High level ranged units which perform shock functions with high levels of efficiency in both melee and athletics; in my opinion they are a nonsense.

Do you see where I'm going?

So, here is a reformulation of the troop trees with defined function roles.

(Native troops - Native function - Function proposal)

dJdjl.jpg


Vlandia: Cavalry push. Function role lines defined in a missiles-infantry-cavalry balance. Weaknesses, they don't have skirmishers. The noble troops would be framed within the role of Cavalry complementing itself with a high performance in melee.

Sturgia: Pure muscle structure. Role lines of function that tend towards the branch of pure infantry. Weaknesses, low level of ranged troops. The noble troops would frame them within the role of heavy cavalry being complemented with a performance in good melee.

FQbLj.jpg


Khuzait: Mounted archers. Role lines of function that tend towards the branch of mounted archers, pure steppe tactics. Weaknesses; they have neither shock nor skirmishers. Noble troops would frame them within the role of mounted archers with the equipment of the heavy cavalry (bard+panoply).

Empire: All in one. All types of function roles are part of the tree in a balance of missiles-infantry-cavalry. Weaknesses; it has none, it is the Empire. The noble troops would frame them within the role of heavy cavalry complementing itself with a good performance in melee.

UwSMo.jpg


Battania: Hit and run. Role lines of function that tend towards the branch of infantry and missiles. Weaknesses: No heavy cavalry. The noble troops would frame them within the role of skirmishing cavalry complementing itself with a high performance in melee.

Aserai: Mobile force. Lines of role of function that tend towards the branch of skirmishers and missiles. Weaknesses; little presence of pure infantry or shock. The noble troops would frame them within the role of skirmishing cavalry with the equipment of the heavy cavalry (bard+panoply). With this restructuring there would be room for light cavalry camel units.
 
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I get what you're saying with the redundancy but I think the point of having so many tiers for the noble line is that you have to recruit them "young" and you are not guaranteed that they will survive until they reach their elite ranks. Whereas if you were to hire 15 tier 3 troops they are more likely to live until they reach rank 6.

We were discussing the disciplinarian perk missing in 1.5.5 and the idea came up to have a similar perk apply to common troops instead of bandit troops. Which would also be considered more realistic... So if you could branch off to noble tree at, for instance, rank 3 but you would need 5x the experience to do it (or whatever is reasonable) then that would work well with your suggested tree structure as well, I think.

I agree that the Battanians having no archers is kind of weird. It's the only non-empire faction I haven't played yet so can't really judge how hard it is to miss them but archers are usually at the core of my armies. And the 3 villages where you can get the Battanian nobles are always low on recruits because everyone and their uncle stops there on the way through.

I had hoped for more creativity with the nobles, maybe give the empire some tank-like infantry unit and the Sturgians a true berserker - spread the strengths a bit. As it is now, I would agree that all noble trees being horse based makes the most sense.
 
I dislike "dead-end" upgrade paths. It makes players feel like they are getting screwed out of something if they can't advance certain tiers, essentially exporting the complaints about the minor faction troop trees over to some of the regular faction lines.
 
Good analyses. My only concern is that noble units being recruited from villages wouldn't make sense if they start at tier 4... If we moved Noble unit recruiting to town and castles only, this would make more in-world sense.
 
I think simplifying the trees makes alot of sense although I am not sure I would replace the Fian with Cavalry. Honestly I like that the Noble lines are quite different and for the most part have a distinct role or fighting style. Personally I think it would be cool if Sturgian Noble line were elite infantry with shields or beserkers like Octanoz mentioned. As it stands their noble line, the Imperial and the Vlandian one are more or less the same.

Another idea could be to remove the noble line altogether. I don't particularly feel their separation results in great gameplay choices, just more running around the map if you want to have them.
 
I add one more question to the debate:
What do you think about these evolutions?

Bedouin Rover > Nomad Bandit > Harami > Aserai Faris > Aserai Veteran Faris > Aserai Vanguard Faris
Bushwacker > Freebooter > Forest Bandit > Battanian Fian > Fian Champion
Steppe Bandit > Marauder > Raider > Khuzait Kheshig > Khan's Guard
Sea Raider > Warrior > Chief > Sturgian Druzhinik > Sturgian Druzhinik Champion
Hillmen > Brigand > Highwayman > Vlandian Champion > Banner Knight

Is it logical for a bandit to evolve into a nobleman?

For me absolutely NOT, that's why in my opinion the noble troops should be reduced to 3 (less XP distance between tier? why not?). Bandit troops and other similar troops should never be able to generate noble troops; in fact the only faction that keeps this approach is the Empire (evolution to regular troops).

Good analyses. My only concern is that noble units being recruited from villages wouldn't make sense if they start at tier 4... If we moved Noble unit recruiting to town and castles only, this would make more in-world sense.

Honestly, it should be like that... because:

Dev Blog 07/09/17 said:
HAVE ANY CHANGES BEEN MADE TO THE RECRUITMENT SYSTEM?

“There have been many changes to the recruitment system. First of all, players can recruit base troops only from notables of fiefs. Some notables even provide higher level troops, such as archers or infantry, rather than just recruits. Depending on the relations with that particular NPC, they can provide a reduction in the recruitment cost or offer more troops for the player to hire.

Some special troops, such as Vlandian Knights, represent minor nobility. These kinds of units have completely different troop trees. In the instance of Vlandian Knights, they can only be upgraded from Vlandian Squires, who in turn can only be recruited from NPC nobles. With this in mind, it is wise to maintain good relations with Vlandian nobles if your eventual aim is to have Vlandian Knights in your party.

However, that’s not to say that you are restricted from acquiring heavy cavalry if your relations with the Vlandian nobility is too poor. You will still have access to Vlandian Men-at- arms, who are almost as skilled as Knights but aren’t as heavily armoured.”


Dev Blog 07/09/17

Where do noble NPCs live or should spawn? I think in cities or castles, isn't it? :iamamoron:
 
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I add one more question to the debate:
What do you think about these evolutions?

Bedouin Rover > Nomad Bandit > Harami > Aserai Faris > Aserai Veteran Faris > Aserai Vanguard Faris
Bushwacker > Freebooter > Forest Bandit > Battanian Fian > Fian Champion
Steppe Bandit > Marauder > Raider > Khuzait Kheshig > Khan's Guard
Sea Raider > Warrior > Chief > Sturgian Druzhinik > Sturgian Druzhinik Champion
Hillmen > Brigand > Highwayman > Vlandian Champion > Banner Knight

Is it logical for a bandit to evolve into a nobleman?

For me absolutely NOT, that's why in my opinion the noble troops should be reduced to 3 (less XP distance between tier? why not?). Bandit troops and other similar troops should never be able to generate noble troops; in fact the only faction that keeps this approach is the Empire (evolution to regular troops).
Yeah makes no sense to me at all, the only reason I like it right now is because its the only damn way to get noble troops right now and if we didn't have it we would rarely see noble troops.
Honestly, it should be like that... because:
Where do noble NPCs live or should spawn? I think in cities or castles, isn't it? :iamamoron:
Anything to get me access to more noble troops. The coolest units in the game barely existing just feels bad. I'm also cool with having a side upgrade for troops dependant on a perk so you eventually can start building the roster you desire (but not too early game).
 
I'd like to see different cultures have different types of noble troops. Five of the seven cultures have noble cavalry. Where's the noble infantry?
Sturgia should have noble infantry. They seem more the infantry heavy type.
 
So essentially you cut off two tiers of noble troops. Works for me tbh, so long as they make them a little bit rarer. I feel its a bit too easy to collect noble troops- and that's without the exploitation of bandits! I have to play on realistic recruitment just to make things more interesting.

Might just be me though, seeing other comments about how hard nobles are to find.

I'm quite conflicted about the idea of making all nobles cavalry. On the one hand, it makes every bit of sense. But on the other, there's a definite loss of variety. My own mod went with expanding the noble troop trees, but I can see how people might dislike that.

I guess I'll stick with cavalry nobles, assuming there is a way of making them all unique and distinct from one another.

Maybe...
Aserai: All rounder
Battania: Javelin skirmisher, no lance
Empire: Tanky as f*ck, but slow cannot couch with shield
Khuzait: The best horse archers, but they tend to carry a very random assortment of melee equipment instead of a second quiver (glaives, shields, lances)
Sturgia: Two hander cavalry that fight better in pitched combat
Vlandia: Pure lancer cavalry

I dislike "dead-end" upgrade paths. It makes players feel like they are getting screwed out of something if they can't advance certain tiers, essentially exporting the complaints about the minor faction troop trees over to some of the regular faction lines.
I agree with the general sentiment and especially hate minor faction troops. Dead end troops with little to offer suck and do nothing but clog up the encyclopaedia with their mediocrity.

But I think 'dead end' troops can still be worth while. The problem with them tends to be being absolutely subpar in every way to their upper tier troops. If they were to be better than other same tier troops however, you'd have something different. Take the Nord Veteran Archers of Warband for example. Put them against any other top of the line archer and they lose. But they quicker and cheaper to recruit, fight better in melee, can run fast and aren't too much worse than their competition at archery. They absolutely have a place.

Not that I'm letting @Terco_Viejo off the hook though. The idea of dead end troops is not wrong, but I think yours could be done better. TW did not design their troop trees to enable three branches of recruitment (I've tried), so your examples won't work. And even if they did, I feel more could be to better reflect faction strengths and weaknesses. So what about for example...

IPZ-hmj1.jpg
T4 common horsemen (lets call then Veteran Equite) will be just short of most other armies' t5 cavalry, while being affordable and perfectly good at light cavalry work. No warhorse tho.

Imperial crossbow men will not outperform Vlandia's, but they will be cheaper, still shoot really well, and better armoured than even Vlandia's best. Perfect for garrison duty.

Imo, I think the Empire's archers and trained archers should become crossbowmen instead, to better reflect how much easier it is to use crossbows than bows. Hell, their militia should be crossbowmen too.

IPZ-hmj2.jpg
Basically infantry up the wazzoo. Vargyag veterans could be armed like Veteran warriors. Good hand weapons+ throwing weapons and better one handed and throwing skills. Veteran warriors could be spear armed instead and excel at spear combat. Now you have a huge range of guys to build your shield wall with.

Sturgia's ranged components will mirror the Nords. Weaker and you have to get through mediocre skirmishers, but once you get them they will be great budget troops. Hardened Brigands will be spammable and extremely versatile light cavalry capable of many roles, and the archers will fight in close combat better than any other archer thanks to their shield, while will still shooting well.

I think there's more that could be done, but those are the only ones I'm bothered with right now. Maybe I'll make a super vanilla 'Less Troops Mod' one day, assuming TW doesn't decide to pick up on this (which I don't think they will).
 
So essentially you cut off two tiers of noble troops. Works for me tbh, so long as they make them a little bit rarer. I feel its a bit too easy to collect noble troops- and that's without the exploitation of bandits! I have to play on realistic recruitment just to make things more interesting.

Might just be me though, seeing other comments about how hard nobles are to find.

I'm quite conflicted about the idea of making all nobles cavalry. On the one hand, it makes every bit of sense. But on the other, there's a definite loss of variety. My own mod went with expanding the noble troop trees, but I can see how people might dislike that.

I guess I'll stick with cavalry nobles, assuming there is a way of making them all unique and distinct from one another.

Maybe...
Aserai: All rounder
Battania: Javelin skirmisher, no lance
Empire: Tanky as f*ck, but slow cannot couch with shield
Khuzait: The best horse archers, but they tend to carry a very random assortment of melee equipment instead of a second quiver (glaives, shields, lances)
Sturgia: Two hander cavalry that fight better in pitched combat
Vlandia: Pure lancer cavalry


I agree with the general sentiment and especially hate minor faction troops. Dead end troops with little to offer suck and do nothing but clog up the encyclopaedia with their mediocrity.

But I think 'dead end' troops can still be worth while. The problem with them tends to be being absolutely subpar in every way to their upper tier troops. If they were to be better than other same tier troops however, you'd have something different. Take the Nord Veteran Archers of Warband for example. Put them against any other top of the line archer and they lose. But they quicker and cheaper to recruit, fight better in melee, can run fast and aren't too much worse than their competition at archery. They absolutely have a place.

Not that I'm letting @Terco_Viejo off the hook though. The idea of dead end troops is not wrong, but I think yours could be done better. TW did not design their troop trees to enable three branches of recruitment (I've tried), so your examples won't work. And even if they did, I feel more could be to better reflect faction strengths and weaknesses. So what about for example...

IPZ-hmj1.jpg
T4 common horsemen (lets call then Veteran Equite) will be just short of most other armies' t5 cavalry, while being affordable and perfectly good at light cavalry work. No warhorse tho.

Imperial crossbow men will not outperform Vlandia's, but they will be cheaper, still shoot really well, and better armoured than even Vlandia's best. Perfect for garrison duty.

Imo, I think the Empire's archers and trained archers should become crossbowmen instead, to better reflect how much easier it is to use crossbows than bows. Hell, their militia should be crossbowmen too.

IPZ-hmj2.jpg
Basically infantry up the wazzoo. Vargyag veterans could be armed like Veteran warriors. Good hand weapons+ throwing weapons and better one handed and throwing skills. Veteran warriors could be spear armed instead and excel at spear combat. Now you have a huge range of guys to build your shield wall with.

Sturgia's ranged components will mirror the Nords. Weaker and you have to get through mediocre skirmishers, but once you get them they will be great budget troops. Hardened Brigands will be spammable and extremely versatile light cavalry capable of many roles, and the archers will fight in close combat better than any other archer thanks to their shield, while will still shooting well.

I think there's more that could be done, but those are the only ones I'm bothered with right now. Maybe I'll make a super vanilla 'Less Troops Mod' one day, assuming TW doesn't decide to pick up on this (which I don't think they will).

That's what this area of discussion is about, mate. Thank you for enriching it with your opinions.

When you said "The idea of dead end troops is not wrong, but I think yours could be done better. TW did not design their troop trees to enable three branches of recruitment (I've tried), so your examples won't work" I was surprised that it was not possible. After a quick test, It is possible if you add to the T1 (the base troop unit I mean) unit code line " is_basic_troop="true"".

KntHS.png
P-zC8.png
 
That's what this area of discussion is about, mate. Thank you for enriching it with your opinions.

When you said "The idea of dead end troops is not wrong, but I think yours could be done better. TW did not design their troop trees to enable three branches of recruitment (I've tried), so your examples won't work" I was surprised that it was not possible. After a quick test, It is possible if you add to the T1 (the base troop unit I mean) unit code line " is_basic_troop="true"".

KntHS.png
P-zC8.png
I saw that sneaky edit.

Troops is just about all I can really talk about, so I'm glad to contribute something.

When I said three branches of recruitment, I mean three separate paths. What you show in your images is just a single line consisting of three different troops. I was more meaning something like a unit turning into one out of three paths is not possible from what I've remembered testing.
 
I saw that sneaky edit.

Troops is just about all I can really talk about, so I'm glad to contribute something.

When I said three branches of recruitment, I mean three separate paths. What you show in your images is just a single line consisting of three different troops.

I was more meaning something like:

Levy man​
Footman Horseman Archer

is not really possible from what I've remembered testing.

The sneaky edit was basically to get the alert mention directly to you ?. Ah I understand, three parallel lines. It has to be possible...
Edit:
From within the code it must be possible to enable a third branch (the one generated by Menavliatoi seems to be blocked in the following); for Taleworlds it would certainly require less than 1 minute to do so.
K9Cvp.png
 
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The sneaky edit was basically to get the alert mention directly to you ?. Ah I understand, three parallel lines. It has to be possible...
Perhaps it can be done, but I wouldn't care to try. Not that I even could.

Btw, mind if I make a mod out of your ideas? Just as a complete alternative to 'More Troops'.
 
I think that bandits should have their own troop tree. It´s really not logical to convert them into noblemen. But they can be "Heros" ^^
For example:
Bushwacker > Freebooter > Forest Bandit > Forest Bandit Boss(Melee) > Forest Bandit Hero(Melee)
> Forest Bandit(Range)

Though my thoughts about the Trees are not finished, because i have to consider the other Bandit types.
 
So essentially you cut off two tiers of noble troops. Works for me tbh, so long as they make them a little bit rarer. I feel its a bit too easy to collect noble troops- and that's without the exploitation of bandits! I have to play on realistic recruitment just to make things more interesting.

Might just be me though, seeing other comments about how hard nobles are to find.

I'm quite conflicted about the idea of making all nobles cavalry. On the one hand, it makes every bit of sense. But on the other, there's a definite loss of variety. My own mod went with expanding the noble troop trees, but I can see how people might dislike that.

I guess I'll stick with cavalry nobles, assuming there is a way of making them all unique and distinct from one another.

Maybe...
Aserai: All rounder
Battania: Javelin skirmisher, no lance
Empire: Tanky as f*ck, but slow cannot couch with shield
Khuzait: The best horse archers, but they tend to carry a very random assortment of melee equipment instead of a second quiver (glaives, shields, lances)
Sturgia: Two hander cavalry that fight better in pitched combat
Vlandia: Pure lancer cavalry


I agree with the general sentiment and especially hate minor faction troops. Dead end troops with little to offer suck and do nothing but clog up the encyclopaedia with their mediocrity.

But I think 'dead end' troops can still be worth while. The problem with them tends to be being absolutely subpar in every way to their upper tier troops. If they were to be better than other same tier troops however, you'd have something different. Take the Nord Veteran Archers of Warband for example. Put them against any other top of the line archer and they lose. But they quicker and cheaper to recruit, fight better in melee, can run fast and aren't too much worse than their competition at archery. They absolutely have a place.

Not that I'm letting @Terco_Viejo off the hook though. The idea of dead end troops is not wrong, but I think yours could be done better. TW did not design their troop trees to enable three branches of recruitment (I've tried), so your examples won't work. And even if they did, I feel more could be to better reflect faction strengths and weaknesses. So what about for example...

IPZ-hmj1.jpg
T4 common horsemen (lets call then Veteran Equite) will be just short of most other armies' t5 cavalry, while being affordable and perfectly good at light cavalry work. No warhorse tho.

Imperial crossbow men will not outperform Vlandia's, but they will be cheaper, still shoot really well, and better armoured than even Vlandia's best. Perfect for garrison duty.

Imo, I think the Empire's archers and trained archers should become crossbowmen instead, to better reflect how much easier it is to use crossbows than bows. Hell, their militia should be crossbowmen too.

IPZ-hmj2.jpg
Basically infantry up the wazzoo. Vargyag veterans could be armed like Veteran warriors. Good hand weapons+ throwing weapons and better one handed and throwing skills. Veteran warriors could be spear armed instead and excel at spear combat. Now you have a huge range of guys to build your shield wall with.

Sturgia's ranged components will mirror the Nords. Weaker and you have to get through mediocre skirmishers, but once you get them they will be great budget troops. Hardened Brigands will be spammable and extremely versatile light cavalry capable of many roles, and the archers will fight in close combat better than any other archer thanks to their shield, while will still shooting well.

I think there's more that could be done, but those are the only ones I'm bothered with right now. Maybe I'll make a super vanilla 'Less Troops Mod' one day, assuming TW doesn't decide to pick up on this (which I don't think they will).

I do like these proposals, this would also further show the differences between the cultures and would highlight where each faction has its pros and contras.

Although I would take care to really differentiate the various infantry units. For example why would I currently take an Oathbound instead of a Wildling? The former may be able to hook cavalry from the horse, while the latter offers throwing spears. Both of them now have pole arms . IMHO differentiating four kinds of infantry troops may be a little bit hard to do.
 
No problem mate; but I will be very strict regarding the Battanian troops (joking :lol: You know why I say this)
Not a clue ?

Although I would take care to really differentiate the various infantry units. For example why would I currently take an Oathbound instead of a Wildling? The former may be able to hook cavalry from the horse, while the latter offers throwing spears. Both of them now have pole arms . IMHO differentiating four kinds of infantry troops may be a little bit hard to do.
Way I handled Oathsworn and Wildlings in my mod was simple. Oathsworn only get a single throwing spear and lower throwing in exchange for better melee skills. Wildlings on the other hand gain a second pack of hooked javelins, better throwing and athletics, but are more lightly armoured.

I would honestly hand the hooked spears to Vlandian sergeants. No idea why people think they're good. They're actually not well armoured, don't randomly whip out short bills anymore and they have no throwing weapons. A hooked spear would at least give them the niche as the definitive spear & shield infantry.
 
Way I handled Oathsworn and Wildlings in my mod was simple. Oathsworn only get a single throwing spear and lower throwing in exchange for better melee skills. Wildlings on the other hand gain a second pack of hooked javelins, better throwing and athletics, but are more lightly armoured.

I would honestly hand the hooked spears to Vlandian sergeants. No idea why people think they're good. They're actually not well armoured, don't randomly whip out short bills anymore and they have no throwing weapons. A hooked spear would at least give them the niche as the definitive spear & shield infantry.

True, but this is something that has to be kept in mind. For example the Vlandian Sergeants should simply have a shield and a bastard sword, that can be used one- and two-handed. Make them really heavy infantry without any other weapon. So you have to use the pikemen to hold up cavalry.
 
Offtopic



Don't you remember the discussion we had in the comments section of my troop mod (Nexus) where you told me what you thought of the Battania branch? :iamamoron:
I am regretfully aware, seems I failed to convey the intent of my reply. That was the closest emoji I could to mimic a nervous sweat.

True, but this is something that has to be kept in mind. For example the Vlandian Sergeants should simply have a shield and a bastard sword, that can be used one- and two-handed. Make them really heavy infantry without any other weapon. So you have to use the pikemen to hold up cavalry.
Could work I guess. I made my Vlandian Sergeants pure spearmen, while handing the role of dedicated anti infantry infantry to my Foot Men-at-arms, who get to have heavier armour, better one handed/two handed stats and the chance to spawn with big weapons.

I think spearmen and pikemen can exist together without too much overlap. Spearmen can be decent anti cavalry with the ability to withstand enemy volleys, while pikes can be the real cavalry stoppers, albeit at the cost of being target practice for archers.
 
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