Hi, first of all I wanted to thank you for developing this mod and putting the time and effort into it, it is my favourite M&B mod and I thoroughly enjoy playing it.
Especially sending your Phalanx across the field, I haven't played around with with split troop assignment yet, thus enabling me to have 2 phalanges simultaneously, but I'll try to do that.
It surely is a lot of fun. I've got the troop limit at the moment at 260, I might increase that to fill up the ranks with more troops.
I've started two games so far. One as a Gallic noble raising a large army of Gallic cavalry, asking my liege to release me of my oath and moving down south to Crete to found my own kingdom. My tactic was to station infantry and archery troops in towns/castles and keep only cavalry with me, I topped up the ranks with Greek and Macedon cavalry. Together with my path finding skill, that enabled me to have a strong and fast army of over 300 cavalry units, that would crack enemy Phalanges in no time.
The other game I started as a Macedon warrior (infantry), serving in different armies. I stayed in each army until it was defeated and then changed to another one, that enabled me to make a lot of money from loot, get my hands onto some good arms and armour and gain a lot of experience and try out the really cool slingshot, I made a few good head shots with it, throwing cavalrymen off their horse. The feature to serve in somebodies army is really cool, because you just can straight away participate in huge battles and you don't have to worry about controlling your forces, you can just enjoy being right in the middle of it. The mod gives you a really good ancient feeling through very well made items and nicely done troops.
After going through four different armies of four different nations, I've decided to start hiring my own troops to build up my own army. I am still unmounted and I am not hiring any cavalry units, mainly infantry and a few archery units to engage the enemy whilst my phalanx is moving in. I was hired as a mercenary and I am trying to win favour with the king, to become a vassal. I am fighting on the Hellenic side now against the Macedons. It's a lot of fun, the more difficult part is to protect my archery/skirmisher units from Macedon cavalry units.
All together, I love the mod and the feel of it, it's really cool. Obviously as any mod it has to deal with all the faults and weaknesses it inherits from M&B/M&B:WB vanilla.
Now to the bugs:
- The doors in cities and castles are wrong. The door for the prison is a door to the enterprise, the door for the castle is a door to the city.
This did not bother me too much, but I got the quest to help a lord to break out of jail (a really cool quest to get btw.).
Now there is double bug when I went into the castle in disguise I was seen and had to fight the guards. In the next scene I am naked (walking in the courtyard scene) but had my bodyguard companion with me. I bribed the prison guard to be let into the prison, that worked, I spoke to the prisoner and told him I will get him out of here, he told me that I need the keys for the chains on his feet. So I went back to the courtyard (again naked), fought the prison guard, killed him (actually my bodyguard did) and when I wanted to enter the prison I ended up in the enterprise (the bakery). I have not other option than to conquer the castle I suppose.
- Some farmers/thieves/peasants have invisible legs, I assume they are using a wrong item as shoes.
- Some of my ministers have invisible hands, I think it has to do with their armour (the cloak) in that case and not with gloves.
- On the battle map where there are ruins, the units on your side always get stuck along the mountain.
- The value/price of some items is 0, but equivalent items are available for gold.
- Controlling your troops becomes very buggy after you've given them orders to attack a certain type of enemy (I think I encountered that before in another mod)
- This might not be a bug just something which hasn't been done yet, but unlike the player party, the icon of other parties does not change into a ship when on water.
- I think on some maps the war-chest is missing.
- one of the Gallic Lords is naked.
(I might have forgotten some of the bugs I've encountered, I will comment below should I remember them or encounter any new ones)
Now things the mod could improve on according to my taste:
- In siege maps, having a broader/additional ladder would be good, sieges would be quicker and more fun (I think).
- I am not sure if its possible on the battle map with the bridge, to force the units actually use the bridge, would be cool. To have on the edge of the map a place where you can cross the river (much slower of course) would be good for tactical reasons, if you want to outflank your enemy and crush him from the rear.
- Obviously more ancient scenes would be good.
- ancient clothing (perhaps different from culture to culture, obviously all the Roman and Hellenistic people can look the same, but Gauls, Egyptians should look different) for the ladies, ministers, farmers/peasants, etc....
- the additional nations you've been talking about
- a troop tree / troop guide would be good, there are so many troops and I would like to organise them into infantry / pole-arm infantry / extra long pole-arm infantry
- maybe sea battles
- catapults !?
- elephants
Especially sending your Phalanx across the field, I haven't played around with with split troop assignment yet, thus enabling me to have 2 phalanges simultaneously, but I'll try to do that.
It surely is a lot of fun. I've got the troop limit at the moment at 260, I might increase that to fill up the ranks with more troops.
I've started two games so far. One as a Gallic noble raising a large army of Gallic cavalry, asking my liege to release me of my oath and moving down south to Crete to found my own kingdom. My tactic was to station infantry and archery troops in towns/castles and keep only cavalry with me, I topped up the ranks with Greek and Macedon cavalry. Together with my path finding skill, that enabled me to have a strong and fast army of over 300 cavalry units, that would crack enemy Phalanges in no time.
The other game I started as a Macedon warrior (infantry), serving in different armies. I stayed in each army until it was defeated and then changed to another one, that enabled me to make a lot of money from loot, get my hands onto some good arms and armour and gain a lot of experience and try out the really cool slingshot, I made a few good head shots with it, throwing cavalrymen off their horse. The feature to serve in somebodies army is really cool, because you just can straight away participate in huge battles and you don't have to worry about controlling your forces, you can just enjoy being right in the middle of it. The mod gives you a really good ancient feeling through very well made items and nicely done troops.
After going through four different armies of four different nations, I've decided to start hiring my own troops to build up my own army. I am still unmounted and I am not hiring any cavalry units, mainly infantry and a few archery units to engage the enemy whilst my phalanx is moving in. I was hired as a mercenary and I am trying to win favour with the king, to become a vassal. I am fighting on the Hellenic side now against the Macedons. It's a lot of fun, the more difficult part is to protect my archery/skirmisher units from Macedon cavalry units.
All together, I love the mod and the feel of it, it's really cool. Obviously as any mod it has to deal with all the faults and weaknesses it inherits from M&B/M&B:WB vanilla.
Now to the bugs:
- The doors in cities and castles are wrong. The door for the prison is a door to the enterprise, the door for the castle is a door to the city.
This did not bother me too much, but I got the quest to help a lord to break out of jail (a really cool quest to get btw.).
Now there is double bug when I went into the castle in disguise I was seen and had to fight the guards. In the next scene I am naked (walking in the courtyard scene) but had my bodyguard companion with me. I bribed the prison guard to be let into the prison, that worked, I spoke to the prisoner and told him I will get him out of here, he told me that I need the keys for the chains on his feet. So I went back to the courtyard (again naked), fought the prison guard, killed him (actually my bodyguard did) and when I wanted to enter the prison I ended up in the enterprise (the bakery). I have not other option than to conquer the castle I suppose.
- Some farmers/thieves/peasants have invisible legs, I assume they are using a wrong item as shoes.
- Some of my ministers have invisible hands, I think it has to do with their armour (the cloak) in that case and not with gloves.
- On the battle map where there are ruins, the units on your side always get stuck along the mountain.
- The value/price of some items is 0, but equivalent items are available for gold.
- Controlling your troops becomes very buggy after you've given them orders to attack a certain type of enemy (I think I encountered that before in another mod)
- This might not be a bug just something which hasn't been done yet, but unlike the player party, the icon of other parties does not change into a ship when on water.
- I think on some maps the war-chest is missing.
- one of the Gallic Lords is naked.
(I might have forgotten some of the bugs I've encountered, I will comment below should I remember them or encounter any new ones)
Now things the mod could improve on according to my taste:
- In siege maps, having a broader/additional ladder would be good, sieges would be quicker and more fun (I think).
- I am not sure if its possible on the battle map with the bridge, to force the units actually use the bridge, would be cool. To have on the edge of the map a place where you can cross the river (much slower of course) would be good for tactical reasons, if you want to outflank your enemy and crush him from the rear.
- Obviously more ancient scenes would be good.
- ancient clothing (perhaps different from culture to culture, obviously all the Roman and Hellenistic people can look the same, but Gauls, Egyptians should look different) for the ladies, ministers, farmers/peasants, etc....
- the additional nations you've been talking about
- a troop tree / troop guide would be good, there are so many troops and I would like to organise them into infantry / pole-arm infantry / extra long pole-arm infantry
- maybe sea battles
- catapults !?
- elephants