How big are your battles?

[Oyclo]

I've recently upgraded my system from one that would chug quite a bit on 150vrs150 with greatly reduced settings, to one that handled 300 vrs 300 no problem with *8 AA on and all the whistles.

While it was fun to see, the AI is far too horrible to use battles that big.  On a random bridge map they all got stuck on the bridge for example.  In the open they just bunch up into a horde.

So whats your magic number for battle sizes?  Even after the upgrade I think I'm sticking with 150 vrs 150, Warband just doesn't know what to do with more.

 

[xenoargh]

Yeah, I pretty much designed the mod around the max size.  I just don't think the engine handles larger sizes gracefully atm.  There's no magic wand that I can wave that cures pathfinding issues, other than smallish tweaks of the AI meshes; that's big deep nasty stuff on the engine end.

 

[Flandy]

I have mine on max default due to CPU bottlenecks.  Unfortunately unless you spend around $1250 on an i7 980X for the higher core speed, a CPU that will handle any modern game with multi-core support actually maxes out fairly easily in M&B due to running the AI.

I can run Bad Company 2 on highest settings in 1080 without issues, but M&B with it's amazing single core support wrecks me

 

[Azrooh]

I'm currently fighting a 1500 vs 8000 (entire Swadian army vs me and my two lords) with a 500 battlesize and winning. The just bunch up at the siege ladder and go up one by one to get killed by archers.

 

[Oyclo]

I have mine on max default due to CPU bottlenecks.  Unfortunately unless you spend around $1250 on an i7 980X for the higher core speed, a CPU that will handle any modern game with multi-core support actually maxes out fairly easily in M&B due to running the AI.

I can run Bad Company 2 on highest settings in 1080 without issues, but M&B with it's amazing single core support wrecks me

I got an i5-760 and even not overclocked it was fine for 300 vrs 300.

I still think its the video which is the major bottle neck and for that I have 2 460GTX with 1mb.

I'm currently fighting a 1500 vs 8000 (entire Swadian army vs me and my two lords) with a 500 battlesize and winning. The just bunch up at the siege ladder and go up one by one to get killed by archers.

I wish they had two settings for battle size, on for siege and one for open field.  The AI is SO bad at siege and big numbers always favor the defender because the top of the ladder is just a meat grinder.  Playing a siege with a smaller battle size is much more realistic in that you don't have a huge mass of men just waiting to die in a blob at the bottom of the ladder.

The AI should also not just send archers up but hold them near the ladder to shoot defenders until the infantry starts to get thin or they start to take the top of the ladder area.

I'd be far far happier if instead of mutliplayer which is most likely played by no more than 500 people world wide, they fixed the AI for warband.

 

[Steffenximus]

Try defending against a vaegir siege, and we'll talk.

 

[Oyclo]

Try defending against a vaegir siege, and we'll talk.

Not sure why everyone is so Vaegir obsessed.  They only have an advantage in the lower tier infantry.  If you are defending with low tier period you made your mistake already. 

 

[Steffenximus]

Dude, i'm defending with Rhulg Destroyers, rifles, uber troops, but the sheer number of vaegir tankers can crush through anything. And the ratio was 4k vs 800 of my troops. I fought like a devil and still we were barely able to kill 1200 vaegirs.

 

[Lancefighter]

that advantage in low tier infantry - the fact that each of them is as tough to kill as the high tier (minor hp difference doesnt really matter) makes armies of even untrained vaegir hard to kill.. when every single unit of a lord carries plate armor, its kinda hard to kill them all.

 

[pampl]

You guys are making me excited to fight Vaegirs.  So far I've only extensively fought Rhodoks and Khergits.

On-topic: I have to leave my battle size pretty small or else my laptop melts   I avoided BnS for a while because I thought it wouldn't be any good with a smaller battle size, but it's actually still a lot of fun, especially if you spend most of your time at sieges where you don't need hundreds of bots present for things to be crowded.

 

[Lucan946]

I have mine set at 510. It's working fine for me so far.

 

[Wu-long]

200 for me its running just fine well only rare occasions of stuters but even then after a few minutes its all good.

 

[Ser_Higgins]

I get a C++ error at just 200. A bit odd, when native mount and blade runs around 300 no problem.

 

[Cathedralsqaure]

I run at 350. A large enough size to ensure some good melees and a decent AI.

 

[Steffenximus]

I get a C++ error at just 200. A bit odd, when native mount and blade runs around 300 no problem.

Try reducing the Texture Detail to 10%.

 

[Ser_Higgins]

I get a C++ error at just 200. A bit odd, when native mount and blade runs around 300 no problem.

Try reducing the Texture Detail to 10%.

Won't the game look horrible then?

 

[Steffenximus]

Certain textures are very little affected, like Vaegir armor, but the game will be playable.

 

[gamerman345]

Dude, i'm defending with Rhulg Destroyers, rifles, uber troops, but the sheer number of vaegir tankers can crush through anything. And the ratio was 4k vs 800 of my troops. I fought like a devil and still we were barely able to kill 1200 vaegirs.

Ive been playing this mod since last night, and i just had my first siege defense. I was caught up in a siege on Sargoth (Good god that never happened in native) and there was 240 nords vs 600 vaegirs, and to be honest they are so bloody hard to fight. They all wield either an axe or a sword that can kill you in one well placed hit (50% of the time) and even as a barbarian with greatsword im having trouble.

 

[Gr. Adm. Thrawn]

Dude, i'm defending with Rhulg Destroyers, rifles, uber troops, but the sheer number of vaegir tankers can crush through anything. And the ratio was 4k vs 800 of my troops. I fought like a devil and still we were barely able to kill 1200 vaegirs.

Ive been playing this mod since last night, and i just had my first siege defense. I was caught up in a siege on Sargoth (Good god that never happened in native) and there was 240 nords vs 600 vaegirs, and to be honest they are so bloody hard to fight. They all wield either an axe or a sword that can kill you in one well placed hit (50% of the time) and even as a barbarian with greatsword im having trouble.

The key to defending against Vaegirs is packing a cannon, no cannons. Find someplace that overlooks where the ladder to your castle/town is placed at where you have a clear shot at the base of the ladder. Give all your companions cannons, preferably Nest of Bees and employ standard cannon shell, yes the standard one.

Why standard ammo for the cannons? Well, because 30 explosive shells is abusing an oversight that's gonna be fixed, and standard (green) rounds penetrate through ranks. Penetration is immensely useful for when enemies assault they will be packed at the ladder base and one well placed shot will kill several of vaegir tanks. It is not uncommon to kill 10+ troops in a single shot, though 4-5 will mostly be what you'll get. More importantly, whoever left behind will be picked by your archers easily. However, if you're lucky, one or two of your guys will be smart enough to use the cannons and then you can put on Motorhead's "Death From Above" while slaughtering waves of Vaegirs  . Sure, some will get through, but that's what your own Rhulg guys are for.

I've defended with 500 people, mostly Mercanary Huntresses and Female Irregulars (regular) and about 50 Destroyers vs 4.5k revengeful Vaegirs . In the end, I had lost about a hundred souls while they lost over 4k.
Hope this helps.

 

[Steffenximus]

Nest of bees is considered an exploit in current version. Using it is equal to cheating. Xeno said he will nerf it down in next release.