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Empire: Total War - More indepth 1700's information than you can imagine! [NSF56K]

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Posts

  • DashuiDashui Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Militia, with a decent bit of cover, are actually pretty good. I've had militia go toe-to-toe with line infantry and win with minimal causualties.

    Good! So I can start substituting all the line infantry guarding my cities to militia. That should save some good bit of dough. How many, though, is a safe amount? Two units? Three? Maybe throw in a cannon in each city?

    Dashui on
    Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Dashui wrote: »
    Militia, with a decent bit of cover, are actually pretty good. I've had militia go toe-to-toe with line infantry and win with minimal causualties.

    Good! So I can start substituting all the line infantry guarding my cities to militia. That should save some good bit of dough. How many, though, is a safe amount? Two units? Three? Maybe throw in a cannon in each city?

    I wouldn't go that far, but two units of militia, one unit of line infantry, a cannon and maybe some cavalry is a pretty solid defense.

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    My Dutch army currently is
    General's bodyguard.
    2 units of horse
    2 units dragoons (they just look too cool not to use)
    2 rockets
    2 units of rifles
    2 units of grenadiers
    1 Cannon
    everything else is line infantry

    I like firepower, and cavalry is too easy to use, gets boring. My armies in MTW 2 were basically all cavalry so I use mine more to take out enemy artillery.

    DisruptorX2 on
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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    I suck with cavalry. I charge from the flank or rear everytime, but I end up retreating my cavalry a little bit after the initial charge and let line infantry engage them instead. This is with the basic cavalry unit, though.

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • DashuiDashui Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Dashui wrote: »
    Militia, with a decent bit of cover, are actually pretty good. I've had militia go toe-to-toe with line infantry and win with minimal causualties.

    Good! So I can start substituting all the line infantry guarding my cities to militia. That should save some good bit of dough. How many, though, is a safe amount? Two units? Three? Maybe throw in a cannon in each city?

    I wouldn't go that far, but two units of militia, one unit of line infantry, a cannon and maybe some cavalry is a pretty solid defense.

    For each city? Or just the really important ones?

    Dashui on
    Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Dashui wrote: »
    Dashui wrote: »
    Militia, with a decent bit of cover, are actually pretty good. I've had militia go toe-to-toe with line infantry and win with minimal causualties.

    Good! So I can start substituting all the line infantry guarding my cities to militia. That should save some good bit of dough. How many, though, is a safe amount? Two units? Three? Maybe throw in a cannon in each city?

    I wouldn't go that far, but two units of militia, one unit of line infantry, a cannon and maybe some cavalry is a pretty solid defense.

    For each city? Or just the really important ones?

    Hell no, just the ones on the border. Inside I would probably just grab a few units of militia, since you'll be able to send any of your forces to those cities pretty soon.

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • InquisitorInquisitor Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    So Dragoons are pretty much the greatest thing ever, just thought I'd share.

    Inquisitor on
  • bobmyknobbobmyknob 3DS Friend Code 4553-9974-2186 Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    I think I suck at this game, I just started the Revolutionary War in RtI, and I took New York, but I'm having trouble beyond that.

    bobmyknob on
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  • Vorticon013Vorticon013 Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Puckle gun = love (Russians get them, not sure if its side specific)

    When that thing opens up, both sides start running away. too much fun though, I regularly try to have 4 of them in each army. If they're set up right, they can be game winners. (playing on medium difficulty though.)

    Vorticon013 on
  • RamiRami Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Do all infantry use the same guns? Only I can't seem to find attack power for ranged weapons other than artillery. Is it just hit = kill for guns?

    Rami on
    Steam / Xbox Live: WSDX NNID: W-S-D-X 3DS FC: 2637-9461-8549
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  • MalaysianShrewMalaysianShrew Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Rami wrote: »
    Do all infantry use the same guns? Only I can't seem to find attack power for ranged weapons other than artillery. Is it just hit = kill for guns?

    Yeah, I think so. I think attack power only comes into play when you are attacking something like a building. With infantry the biggest thing is accuracy and reload rate. Often units with better accuracy will have worse reloads, so you need to use them differently.

    I'm about to go back to my recently started Austrian game. I got some trade agreements including the Ottomans which should by me some time to set up. I grouped most of my forces together and, with Eugene of Savoy at the lead, I have besieged Venice. I didn't have time to finish the battle before work, so I have to start it over. They have more forces but they are about half armed citizens so, while tough, I should win. I'm playing on Med/Med because the last chapter of RtI showed me a lot of my old strategies don't work in this game. Specifically I learned the hard way about insta-sieges. I never left very much in the way of garrisons in the old games, I kept most of my forces in the field as a mobile defense relying on the time it takes to build siege weapons to counterattack. No go in this game. Even with walls up there is no reason for the computer to wait so in every border city I'm going to keep a decent sized force in case of surprise attacks.

    MalaysianShrew on
    Never trust a big butt and a smile.
  • DashuiDashui Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Rami wrote: »
    Do all infantry use the same guns? Only I can't seem to find attack power for ranged weapons other than artillery. Is it just hit = kill for guns?

    Yeah, I think so. I think attack power only comes into play when you are attacking something like a building. With infantry the biggest thing is accuracy and reload rate. Often units with better accuracy will have worse reloads, so you need to use them differently.

    I'm about to go back to my recently started Austrian game. I got some trade agreements including the Ottomans which should by me some time to set up. I grouped most of my forces together and, with Eugene of Savoy at the lead, I have besieged Venice. I didn't have time to finish the battle before work, so I have to start it over. They have more forces but they are about half armed citizens so, while tough, I should win. I'm playing on Med/Med because the last chapter of RtI showed me a lot of my old strategies don't work in this game. Specifically I learned the hard way about insta-sieges. I never left very much in the way of garrisons in the old games, I kept most of my forces in the field as a mobile defense relying on the time it takes to build siege weapons to counterattack. No go in this game. Even with walls up there is no reason for the computer to wait so in every border city I'm going to keep a decent sized force in case of surprise attacks.

    Austria is the best. I kicked the Ottoman Empire out of Europe, and defeated Prussia and Venice and Courland. Now that I'm at peace again, I think I may spend a bunch of turns increasing my treasury and upgrading my roads and towns and prestige. I'm playing a prestige game, and all I need are East Prussia and a little more prestige to win. Maybe I can buy East Prussia from Poland-Lithuania. Those guys have been a huge ally for me the entire game. They were even a protectorate of Courland when Courland declared war on me, and yet they didn't intervene. In fact, during the war, they even came to me for another alliance.

    I don't keep every city full to the brim with soldiers. My border cities have a garrison of one line infantry, two miltia, a carbineer, and a piece of artillery. Even if they're not full, don't understimate those mobs. I had 2,000 men attacking an Ottoman Empire fortified settlement full of armed mobs and they took out half of my army before I managed to take the settlement. Those things are not easy to take, and so I've basically fortified all of my region capitals.

    This game is far too addicting. I started playing at 11:00 PM and the "just one more turn" syndrome hit me hard. I just finished playing and now it's near 5:30 AM. Sonnuvabitch.

    I'll tell you what, though, it's so damn cool seeing two full armies square off. And thank whoever mentioned the Insert-key feature. It's cool seeing a battle from the first person view.

    Dashui on
    Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
  • TodesbartTodesbart Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    This game makes me sad. If I look at Austria in E:TW and at Austria today.. damn.

    Todesbart on
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  • SudsSuds Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Suds on
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  • DeadOnArrivalDeadOnArrival Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Todesbart wrote: »
    This game makes me sad. If I look at Austria in E:TW and at Austria today.. damn.

    Man, the British gave away their empire.

    It wasn't conquered. It didn't rebel.

    They gave it away.

    DeadOnArrival on
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  • DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    My Swedish empire is bursting at the seams. I now own about 1/2 of russia but almost all of my held provinces are starting to rebel. What do I do?!

    Dissociater on
  • SonelanSonelan Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Bawdy houses. And priests!

    Sonelan on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    edited March 2009
    So would it be an acceptable strategy to build some Bawdy houses in regions i've just captured to increase their happiness, and then later knock them down and replace them with universities? I've started again as Prussia and taken a fuckload of land (possibly more than I can realistically hold), but its starting to look like it'll be a while before these conquered settlements are actually useful.

    Mr Ray on
  • EndomaticEndomatic Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Exempt them from taxes for a year or 2 and keep a large army there until the foreign resistance goes down.

    Once that happens you need to convert the population to your religion (or start doing it).

    Once you do those things you shouldn't have too many issues keeping towns happy. It should only REALLY need a bawdyhouse if there's a school, or more than one economic town.

    Make sure you keep a jughead in your cabinet. Bon Vivant is an excellent one too. I only ever have troubles keeping the lower order happy.

    Endomatic on
  • SudsSuds Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    How do you convert a population to your religion?

    Suds on
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  • KartanKartan Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Todesbart wrote: »
    This game makes me sad. If I look at Austria in E:TW and at Austria today.. damn.

    Man, the British gave away their empire.

    It wasn't conquered. It didn't rebel.

    They gave it away.



    Prussia doesn't even exist anymore

    Kartan on
  • DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Suds wrote: »
    How do you convert a population to your religion?

    I think you just move a priest into a territory and it starts happening automatically.

    Dissociater on
  • EndomaticEndomatic Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Suds wrote: »
    How do you convert a population to your religion?

    Depending on your nation you should have religious special units. An Imam if you're islam, protestant and catholic missionaries if you're those two respectively etc.

    Also, you can raze old captured towns (Madrassas, Church schools, church of the divinity) and make ones appropriate for your religion, which will in turn automatically start converting the population to your religion without the need for a converting unit. You can use both for an increased result. It's all cumulative.

    You can use these units even when you're at peace. Placing them into towns you plan to capture in the future if you don't need them immediately is always a good plan.

    Endomatic on
  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Endomatic wrote: »
    Exempt them from taxes for a year or 2 and keep a large army there until the foreign resistance goes down.

    Once that happens you need to convert the population to your religion (or start doing it).

    Once you do those things you shouldn't have too many issues keeping towns happy. It should only REALLY need a bawdyhouse if there's a school, or more than one economic town.

    This makes sense.
    Endomatic wrote: »
    Make sure you keep a jughead in your cabinet. Bon Vivant is an excellent one too. I only ever have troubles keeping the lower order happy.

    This does not. Could you explain? I have absolutely no idea how i'm supposed to influence who is / isn't in my cabinet other than firing useless ones.

    Mr Ray on
  • RoundBoyRoundBoy Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    its been said before : Militia = infantry in all respects except cost early on, but switching out to proper infantry is imperative pretty much as soon as you get bayonets or fire by rank. Only they get those improvements and they have a great effect in battle.

    I just started a new grand campaign as Brittan, and I am just giddy deciding what to do first. When my dragoons are complete, I will take a new colony. India, you look nice

    RoundBoy on
    sig_civwar.jpg
    Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
  • EndomaticEndomatic Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Endomatic wrote: »
    Make sure you keep a jughead in your cabinet. Bon Vivant is an excellent one too. I only ever have troubles keeping the lower order happy.

    This does not. Could you explain? I have absolutely no idea how i'm supposed to influence who is / isn't in my cabinet other than firing useless ones.

    The traits of your cabinet members can have a massive affect on all your towns, especially in your home region.

    Harsh Reputation, Immorality, and a balance of jug head and status quo are things I look for mostly. I get rid of the harsh and immoral.
    Don't be afraid to kick out a 5 star old guy with a shitty trait for a 3 star young buck with no traits.

    Amusing Cad is one that I don't like much and I have a feeling it's more because of the description of the ancillary than what it does :P

    When you put a fresh guy into your cabinet he will usually pick up a relevant trait rather quickly.

    In my Maratha campaign, all my cabinet members are 8 stars or whatever the highest is except for anyone who might die (and has to make it back up).

    Mistresses are great ancillaries, as are anything war related. Any cabinet members with the "mistress" (In quotes, I.E - a gay mistress) ancillary gets removed immediately. I think it causes -2 happiness to lower or middle classes and that is pretty big.
    EDIT: I might be mistaken. I'm not in game just now, but I think "mistress" gives +1 noble happiness and -2 middle classes. I'm not sure if the negative is applied to absolute monarchies as there is no middle class, just upper and lower. Middle class is a replacement for nobility in republics like the united provinces.

    When you have someone you'd like to replace, you can kick them with the boot to the ass button or you can click and drag your replacement over the old one (if you're an absolute monarchy. You can't do this in any other government type). With the other gov't types, you can only remove the old guy, which gets replaced at random by another.

    The great thing about non-absolute monarchies is that every new election gives you a massive happiness bonus to your population. Also, the talented cabinet members tend to keep their positions. After a few elections you should have a skilled cabinet without too much issue.

    Endomatic on
  • Prester JohnPrester John Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Suds wrote: »

    Joined. I think one of y'all needs to pop my multiplayer cherry this weekend.

    Edit: also, I'm loving this game way, way more than the previous titles. Part of it's the time frame, which I dig. Part of it's that I can genuinely say that I enjoy every addition they've made to the game. Tech tree? Yes. Naval combat? Yes. Trade theaters? Yes. Buildings outside of cities? Yes.

    The spread of my glorious Maratha empire continues to bring me joy. Last night I finished wiping the filthy Mughals off the face of the earth, then just continued on west and marched an army into Persia, 'cause they were being a bunch of dickholes and no one likes them. I took Kabul on the first turn, ensuring that my crack troops will have a steady supply of fine, uncut heroin for their relaxation. Persia got all stroppy and sailed some ships my way to try to mess with my trade lanes. Fuck you, Persia. Those shiny new fifth rates that you thought were so awesome? Mine now. And for that, I'm going to go blockade all of your ports. Ahhhhhh...

    Prester John on
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    I don't like how characters and traits are handled in this game. It was very personal in Medieval 2 and I'd be selective about marriage and who to keep alive to preserve the best traits. But since its all random now its lost its luster, also character details UI just annoys me for some reason I can't specify.

    Demiurge on
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  • BloodsheedBloodsheed Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Wow, you guys use horses far more than I do. About the max number of mounted troops in any of my armies is 2 units to chase down flankers and the general's bodyguard. My Austrian full stack invasion armies are usually made up of:

    1 General's Bodyguard
    2 units of Calvary (either Household or Hungarian Light)
    4-5 Artillery Pieces (1-2 mortars, the rest cannons, though I'm trying Puckle Guns now)
    2 units of Light Infantry
    and the rest filled with Line Infantry

    Of course, partly my reliance on foot is my Line Infantry are the most advanced in the world right now and tear apart anything that faces them.

    For Garrisons, on the borders, I've been able to keep full stacks in the cities, a result of my war with Poland where they kept sending raiding forces every turn. Usually these are just made up of the invasion forces that took the city, minus the 5 units of Line Infantry that have been in every major conflict since 1700 and are all 3-chevron. Those units (each named) are pulled, along with the best general I have at the moment, and put into the newest army before each new war. The inner provinces usually have 3 or so Militia and a unit of Line watching over them, though Hungary and Transylvania have more as they were Poland's favorite target.

    Bloodsheed on
    Xbox Live, Steam, PSN: Eclibull
  • EndomaticEndomatic Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Yes, I am as well.

    There were VERY many traits in M:TW. I haven't seen even half as many yet in this one. Probably not even 1/3.

    Endomatic on
  • dasnoobdasnoob ArkansasRegistered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Endomatic wrote: »
    Yes, I am as well.

    There were VERY many traits in M:TW. I haven't seen even half as many yet in this one. Probably not even 1/3.

    Evidently all my admirals are drunks (Three bottle trait) and all my general's are fatasses (some weird named trait they keep getting).

    Oh well, right now my Brits are conquering those evil injuns. Once we wipe out the cherokee nation, georgia, and new france the thirteen colonies will join Britain.

    Oh, my best town name. Moosefactory.

    It is in the artic circle lol.

    dasnoob on
  • Shorn Scrotum ManShorn Scrotum Man Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    They get the drunkness and fatty traits for sitting around and not doing anything. Give your generals something to do!

    Shorn Scrotum Man on
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  • EndomaticEndomatic Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    There is nothing!

    Rather, they are tasked with keeping down rebellions. That's not nothing. It's just easy because my country is fuckrich.

    Endomatic on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    when is the multiplayer campaign thing slated to be patched in?

    Evil Multifarious on
  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Demiurge wrote: »
    I don't like how characters and traits are handled in this game. It was very personal in Medieval 2 and I'd be selective about marriage and who to keep alive to preserve the best traits. But since its all random now its lost its luster, also character details UI just annoys me for some reason I can't specify.

    I completely agree. This feature of the games (even if it made no sense in Rome) allowed us to use our imaginations to a degree, pulling us further into the game and giving it a personal, memorable touch. That's all gone now. I can no longer "influence" who will be the next King or Emperor or whatever (usually I would do this by having their general unit charge a large enemy army, hehe!), in fact I can't even see who will be next on the throne. Why would they get rid of this feature? I mean, it's also a handy way of recruiting the right generals to lead armies into battle, while others are more suitable for city administration...

    The loss of this small, seemingly unimportant feature has really ruined a lot of the atmosphere of the game for me.

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Endomatic wrote: »
    Mistresses are great ancillaries, as are anything war related. Any cabinet members with the "mistress" (In quotes, I.E - a gay mistress) ancillary gets removed immediately. I think it causes -2 happiness to lower or middle classes and that is pretty big.

    Oh that reminds me. When I was playing as the British, my Queen got a mistress as an anciliary. So either that's a bug, or Queen Victoria was a closet lesbian. I choose to believe the latter.

    Mr Ray on
  • InquisitorInquisitor Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    when is the multiplayer campaign thing slated to be patched in?

    I don't know if there is a definite date yet but I want it so badly.

    Inquisitor on
  • BabbleBabble Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    So yeah... Fire by rank is possibly the most awesome upgrade ever. I finally stuck with one campaign and unlocked it and man I can't believe the difference!

    Babble on
  • InquisitorInquisitor Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Babble wrote: »
    So yeah... Fire by rank is possibly the most awesome upgrade ever. I finally stuck with one campaign and unlocked it and man I can't believe the difference!

    I am now very happy that I have been having my researchers plow down the military tech tree as fast as they can.

    Inquisitor on
  • RoundBoyRoundBoy Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Babble wrote: »
    So yeah... Fire by rank is possibly the most awesome upgrade ever. I finally stuck with one campaign and unlocked it and man I can't believe the difference!



    Zoom in close to your guys. The detail in the animation is very cool. Especially with everything cranked up high. The front ranks fire, then duck while reloading.

    Then the next rank fires, and ducks. Repeat.

    its also awesome to see the huge cloud of smoke from everyone firing at the same time vs individually. Now if only my lines had some basic friendly fire protection from each other, i would be clutch.

    i love fire by rank so much, i;m pretty much racing to learn that right away in my first campaign.

    RoundBoy on
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    Librarians harbor a terrible secret. Find it.
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