Let's Play - Prophesy of Pendor 3.9.3 - this time in English from the beginning!

[Pacific_Salmon]

I was of course thinking prior to the OP CKO phase.  At this point you can pretty much defeat anyone.

Ebony Gauntlets might be good but it's not easy to amass them in the early-mid game.

 

[Gorvex]

@Plasquar:
You cannot control minor faction armies as long as you don't get into positive relations with them. Once you do (0 is enough as well iirc), you'll be able to command them as their ally just fine. Also, since v3.9.3, unique spawn leaders are able to use advanced formations for their armies, so they won't charge their units into their deaths blindly, especially not archers.

And yes, as long as you inmediately run away from a fight where you were allied with a stronger enemy than your party, you'll be able to do so, as such parties stop for a moment after winning fights (and also when you speak to them btw). But if things are looking rough, don't forget that prisoners are slowing you down considerably and releasing them might give you the edge to be able to reach safety from your pursuers.

 

[T.L.S.]

I was of course thinking prior to the OP CKO phase.  At this point you can pretty much defeat anyone.

Actually arquebusiers + meatshield infantry doing the job pretty fine

 

[King Edric]

I was of course thinking prior to the OP CKO phase.  At this point you can pretty much defeat anyone.

Ebony Gauntlets might be good but it's not easy to amass them in the early-mid game.

Ebony Gauntlets in general are meh

 

[Plasquar]

My biggest question is how will you fight the Noldor?  (or maybe you won't)

I won't.
My CKHO shall look unique anyway and not like Noldor. 
And I like those guys.

Silvermists are a really nice option as well, especially if you like the Noldors, as those are the guys that can get the closest to a Noldor Ranger among the normal KO-s.

My problem is that there is no chapter in Senderfall.
And if I have to spend a Qualis Gem anyway, I'd rather found my own KHO. 

 

[King Edric]

Well... you can always spend two qualis gems

 

[Plasquar]

If you donate some, sure! 

 

[King Edric]

*sends a Qualis gem and some ladyfingers and milk to Plasquar*

 

[Plasquar]

You know that I'll spend that gem for Noldor troops, right? 

 

[King Edric]

I'm completely fine with it

 

[Gorvex]

@Plasquar:
Having 2 companions that are enemies with each other is not a problem on its own, those are manageable and neither companions will leave. But having both 2 enemies of a companion present in your party, that will end up in the "offended" companion leaving eventually, unless you have 10 Persuasion.

You could buy some mercenaries from ransom brokers occasionally (keep only the ones on foot ofc), as long as you are hired as a mercenary yourself. Simply because they are quite strong units for their tier and their only downside is the +200% wages, but that gets covered completely with your mercenary payment.

The Three Seers and Eyegrim the Devourer are unique spawns that can give you Qualis Gems. But never on the first "capture", as that will always be a CKO unlock first. Only after that it's possible to get Qualis Gems from them as well. And the leaders don't have to survive or be alive at the start of the battle, the "capture" roll is only based on your Prisoner Management skill in their case.

And lastly, all unique spawn leaders will automatically escape upon fighting against one of the Noldor lords. This includes Eyegrim and the 3 Seers as well.

 

[Plasquar]

Thanks. I'm trying to avoid mercenaries because unlike other mods you can never have enough money in Pendor.
But I'll get some every once in a while since the Jatu Army is waiting and we need more units...

And something baffled me a few moments ago: Upon releasing the Mettenheim unique spawn guy and asking him for his recipes he gave me the recipes for Snake Cult stuff? 

 

[Gorvex]

Thanks. I'm trying to avoid mercenaries because unlike other mods you can never have enough money in Pendor.
But I'll get some every once in a while since the Jatu Army is waiting and we need more units...

And something baffled me a few moments ago: Upon releasing the Mettenheim unique spawn guy and asking him for his recipes he gave me the recipes for Snake Cult stuff? 

Mercenary payments get adjusted to your party's wages. So you won't lose out money by having more mercenaries. Your net income will be roughly the same, with ot without mercenaries

Here is a little backstory about Obrist Heynrich:

A famous Mettenheim colonel that served Mettenheim and Barclay. Very successful in his battles, specially outstanding his anti-cavalry tactics, that were very helpful against the Snake Cult. He refused to go against his people's rebellion against Barclay and he was never forgiven by his own people for arriving late to Mettenheim when the Snake Cult invaded it.

He was outlawed in Barclay and exiled from Mettenheim, now, he disembarks in Pendor accompanied by all his loyal Mettenheim soldiers who admire him as a leader plus some many other that trust him and never were to blame him for the year Mettenheim was under the Snake Cult's dominion.

Due to his exile from Mettenheim because of the Snake Cult, I guess he swore an oath to not rest until all of them are defeated, in hopes that he can finally return to his homeland. But in the meantime, he must've learned the ways of the Snake Cult and how their equipment are constructed. These are the secrets that he shares with the player upon his capture. Since almost all of Mettenheim-related equipment is available for the player's CKO from the start (except for the Mettemheim Arbalest which can be optained from the KO you joined), there's nothing else left to get unlocked.

 

[Plasquar]

Alright, good to know.
What happens if you choose to learn the recipes once more when catching that guy?
Or is that dialoge gone now for unique spawns with Snake Cult stuff?

 

[Gorvex]

Once you choose to share the secrets, that dialogue for that given spawn leader will be gone the next time you meet him/her. But of course, you can still ask for sharing the secrets from other unique spawns

 

[Plasquar]

If I can ever defeat them...
How are you supposed to fight K'Juda with infantry only? 

 

[King Edric]

I destroyed Warlord Zulkar once with mainly Sarleon Halberdiers and Pendor Heavy Spearmen. I lured him to the edge of the map, which is far eastern Jatu territory and that part of the map is mountainous, so the battlefield was mountainous as well. His units were pretty much useless against my infantry, except his Grim Riders who have bows, so they were able to deal some damage, but not a ton. I suggest that you give this a shot.

 

[Plasquar]

Yep selecting a flat battlefield would be a bad idea.
Horse archers hmm... I could turn on horse archers AI and see how well an infatry only army deals with horse archers. 

 

[Gorvex]

Yep, choosing a hilly battlemap (near mountains on the map) is one solution.

The other one is finding a nice river and plant every infantry inside, archers behind at the river bank. And if your archers are about to get flanked by the Jatu, then you can still order them to stand closer and move into the middle of the river as well

If a Jatu cavalry charge gets stopped by either methods, then in fact it's easier to beat them from that point on foot, as you can simply surround them to make the kill and then wait for the next wave.

And imo you can allow yourself some 'tactical' retreats occasionally, which are still far from actual retreating, as you won't leave the fight, just regroup or choose another battlemap (among the 3 possible per location) which suits you better.

Horse archers hmm... I could turn on horse archers AI and see how well an infatry only army deals with horse archers. 

If you don't want to sabotage your playthrough from that point onwards, then I highly recommend to forget about it. Horse Archer AI destroys foot units with very minimal casualties

 

[King Edric]

The retreating would definitely help out if you start to take heavy casualties and jatu will have to charge your infantry again. I do that mainly when I have a bunch of archers, but I'm pretty sure it will work out well for your infantry only army.

E: I just remembered that one of the rules is that you won't retreat.