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[Total War]: 3 Kingdoms is out! Rats and Lizardman fight it out in WH2.

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Posts

  • The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    Ivar wrote: »
    Kruite wrote: »
    Looks like you won't be able to start as Dong Huo-whatever his name is (or Lu Bu)

    Once we learned of the Han Empire faction and that they acted as Vassal to him from the start, Dong Zhuo became very unlikely.

    There are several examples from earlier Total War games where you play as a vassal, maybe that is the case here as well.

    Oh no that's not what I meant!

    There was an episode of Rally Point they did when they made the Zheng Jiang trailer debut where they spend a good 10-15 minutes breaking the systems down that I'm referring to. I'm pretty sure there was a blog post as well, it's certainly worth hunting down at least one of these if you haven't already, but to keep it brief, and explain my point:

    The Han Empire exists as its own faction, but a faction that exists to be entirely subservient. The Han Empire is composed of the majority of settlements that aren't originally under the control of one of the Lords (the rest are composed of Yellow Turban rebels or one-province AI lords). The child emperor Xian exists in the game and acts as the figurehead of this faction until such as a time as three different lords declare themselves Emperor OR the lord controlling the Emperor usurps him directly.

    Xian is a pawn, as whoever controls him will have the entire Han Empire faction as a Vassal, and this will only change when another major lord takes control of the city in which he resides and moves him to their own capital. For the player, controlling the Emperor is a mid-late game issue, when Dong Zhuo has most likely bitten the dust and the holdings of the Han Empire have been reduced by the expansion of other lords.

    At the beginning of the game, however, the Xian is already in the custody of Dong Zhuo, and thus, the Han Empire serves him from the get-go, fully intact. If a player were able to choose Dong Zhuo they would start with arguably the strongest starting army, the strongest general of that specific time period, and a VERY sizeable portion of the map under their control, albeit indirectly. It would be very easy for a player controlled Dong Zhuo to steamroll the game from quite early on. That is my reasoning behind why Dong Zhuo was very unlikely to be playable once we learned of these mechanics. It would be a dramatically different playing experience from all the other Lords.


    That being said, I've started viewing Dong Zhuo/Chang'An as this games version of Kyoto from Shogun 2. You aren't going to be attacking there in the first few turns, but rather somewhere around the mid-game. However, you probably want to make a move before someone else does, as the prize is too valuable to let someone else hold, even if it means turning everyone else against you. It's a delicate play.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
  • DacDac Registered User regular
    What the bollocks is this bug with spinning loons where a single loon will appear and spin in place for a single second before depopping? Just had a battle where it seemed like 3 out of 4 fanatic units had this happen.

    Steam: catseye543
    PSN: ShogunGunshow
    Origin: ShogunGunshow
  • SpectrumSpectrum Archer of Inferno Chaldea Rec RoomRegistered User regular
    Eeeeeeeeee...!
    Zhao Yun has a steadfast sense of moral duty and will always do what he thinks is right, no matter how dangerous. As a charismatic and skilled warrior, Zhao Yun fights for justice, and will follow none but the most righteous of warlords.
    DuyR9rQWsAAKaFm.jpg

    XNnw6Gk.jpg
  • ExtreaminatusExtreaminatus Go forth and amplify, the Noise Marines are here!Registered User regular
    Has Xiahou Dun been announced?

    Or the perfect and glorious Zhang He?

  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Has Xiahou Dun been announced?

    Or the perfect and glorious Zhang He?

    The Xiahou brothers both have had portraits published. Zhange He / Sima Yi are some of the more notable characters that are absent so far.

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Did someone turbocharge Grimgor in the last mortal empires patch? So far I've done 3 short games and Grimgor has been going hogwild in the wasteland in all three, establishing himself as the no.1 most powerful faction in the world.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    Did someone turbocharge Grimgor in the last mortal empires patch? So far I've done 3 short games and Grimgor has been going hogwild in the wasteland in all three, establishing himself as the no.1 most powerful faction in the world.

    No. But dwarves got nerfed pretty hard iirc.

    wbBv3fj.png
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Grimgor did get a buff in the last update, he got +600 mass.

  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    I'm thinking of doing a Vampire Counts play through since I've realised that I've never actually played as them. Does it make much difference whether I go with the vanilla Vampire Counts faction or the Von Carsteins? As far as I can see I'll pretty much be starting as one and almost immediately conquering the other either way.

  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    All the VC heroes are pretty powerful, I wouldnt wipe them out if you could help it.

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Mr Ray wrote: »
    I'm thinking of doing a Vampire Counts play through since I've realised that I've never actually played as them. Does it make much difference whether I go with the vanilla Vampire Counts faction or the Von Carsteins? As far as I can see I'll pretty much be starting as one and almost immediately conquering the other either way.

    Von Carsteins have a more difficult starting position, but they get a unique building in Drakenhof and slightly different special rules. The Von Carsteins is a lot more "Vlad and Isabella slaughters everyone" while ol' Manny is a more strategic approach.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Von Carstein start just means you have Drakenhof by about turn 5 rather than 1.

  • Mr RayMr Ray Sarcasm sphereRegistered User regular
    Kruite wrote: »
    All the VC heroes are pretty powerful, I wouldnt wipe them out if you could help it.

    Should I be aiming to confederate instead of wipe them out then?

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    If you're Vampire Counts you definitely want to confederate the Von Carsteins (because Vlad and Isabella are pretty powerful).
    If you're the Von Carsteins the Vampire counts only have Manny and Ghorst. Manfred is good, Ghorst is pretty bad. So playing the Von Carsteins I would wipe out the Counts unless they were prepared to confederate before the end.

    Overall, VC and VC legendary lords are less important now that you have bloodline lords.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Haven’t people done the numbers and shown they’re flat out better than the VC legendary lords?

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    -Loki- wrote: »
    Haven’t people done the numbers and shown they’re flat out better than the VC legendary lords?

    Not after the skill tree revamp (which gives all factions Warhammer II-style red-trees). So I would rank Isabella, Vlad and Manny higher than the bloodline lords (in campaigns).

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Mr Ray wrote: »
    Kruite wrote: »
    All the VC heroes are pretty powerful, I wouldnt wipe them out if you could help it.

    Should I be aiming to confederate instead of wipe them out then?

    absolutely. you should be able to gain friendly relations with them easily by being at war with empire (eventually)

    Should also consider bee-lining towards Bretonnia to confederate the red duke and Kemmler. They're supposed to update the old world skill lists and Red Duke will be among them; he has a nice ability that reduces the melee stats of a lord/hero, making him an excellent single target duelist.

  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Ghorst is definitely the weakest, but he gets an upgraded version of a vampire spell (the plus movement speed and atk). His cart also counts as a mortis engine. His raise dead spell has 3 charges (I think), but they raise grave guard. Otherwise he's just a slightly better necromancer

  • BethrynBethryn Unhappiness is Mandatory Registered User regular
    Doesn't Ghost give poison attacks to his entire army? Unless that's bugged, that would make it very hard to call him weak.

    ...and of course, as always, Kill Hitler.
  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    I have never successfully confederated with any other Vampire Counts army.

  • The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    edited December 2018
    Spectrum wrote: »
    Eeeeeeeeee...!
    ... Zhao Yun fights for justice, and will follow none but the most righteous of warlords.

    In other words.... Liu Bei. At least the 5 Tiger Generals shouldn't be too hard to assemble for him.



    Now that all 11 initial Warlords have been announced, I'd be curious to know who everyone would be looking to play as in their first games and why, based on what we know so far. I'm still staunchly in the Cao Cao camp. On top of who he was historically, I have always liked playing factions directly in the middle of all the action, geographically speaking. Ma Teng is probably my second place though, largely just based on his position.

    I did have a laugh looking at a similar topic on their forums though. Remember the debut trailer for Zheng Jiang, and all the backlash that came off as a result of her inclusion? Well, I found a poll of who everyone was looking forward to playing the most:
    Of 222 votes across 11 warlords, she is tied for Second Place with Liu Bei. How's that for hysteria?


    While over there, I found this handy map someone made showing the campaign map so far and all the Warlords starting positions. Thought I'd shamelessly steal share it with you guys:
    06kcqkeaow6l.png


    The Brayster on
    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
  • SpectrumSpectrum Archer of Inferno Chaldea Rec RoomRegistered User regular
    Now that all 11 initial Warlords have been announced, I'd be curious to know who everyone would be looking to play as in their first games and why, based on what we know so far.
    I'm either playing Gongsun Zan so I start with Zhao Yun immediately or I'm playing Liu Bei and putting together the 5 Tiger Generals.

    Priorities, y'know.

    XNnw6Gk.jpg
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    Zheng Jiange is my spirit animal.

    But Zhao Yun sounds easier for a first campaign.

  • Carson VendettaCarson Vendetta Registered User regular
    Is Atitila run from the Rome II engine? I've been having a lot of fun with Rome II and Attila is on sale plus its dlc looks fun and warhammer II is still a little outside of what I'd like to spend.

  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Is Atitila run from the Rome II engine? I've been having a lot of fun with Rome II and Attila is on sale plus its dlc looks fun and warhammer II is still a little outside of what I'd like to spend.

    I think it's a different engine, but it is fun. Western Roman Empire is one of the hardest campaigns they have ever made

  • KarozKaroz Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    While the Holiday Forum was going I finally sat down and did a Mortal Empires play of Queek, and things went much better thanks to all your advice.

    It also helped having played Vampire Coast that I immediately went for catapults to make my rat hordes actually come with some punch to them.

    It was a rough start where I failed an early battle against the local Orks...but escaped with all of my army's units albeit wounded. It was time to sneak-kill the orks and an opportunity soon revealed itself.

    Afterwards, I decided to take out the Lizardmen in the southeast before they became a huge threat while allying with the Silver Host vampires. This went well, and my allies did an admirable job helping to quell the lizardmen threat. But cracks started to form in our competing corruptions and The Silver Host's seizure of Lizardmen settlements (which belong to Skavendom, yes-yes). So, as soon as the Silver Host's elite army fell fighting Lizardmen, I did the most Skaven thing possible: declaring war on a military ally. The Lizardmen weren't even totally knocked out yet but I knew now was the time to seize my chance. Sure enough, I finished moping up the Lizardmen and quickly took out Lahmia and other smaller vampire settlements. While the final settlement was a bit of a tough nut, my three armies amassed and swept it away in a vermintide.

    Suffice to say, my diplomatic decisions had made me very unreliable--but betraying the Silver Host made me very popular with the local Tomb Kings and even the Dwarf-things. This helped me strike up a lucrative trade deal with the Desert Kings faction who had recently seized the dwarven stronghold to the south, and more or less secured my western flank. But like all my Mortal Empire games, once I feel fairly comfortable I start to get a little bored. So I needed a goal, and what better one than to seize Karak Eight Peaks? Well the masses of Orks and Dwarf-things is a bit off putting, despite the Crooked Moon Mutinous Gits still being the main target. I decided to put the game on hold till I get the stiff-tail to wallow into the badlands yes-yes.

    Thanks again for the tips, turning minor settlements into tier 3 right off the bat sped things up and made them that much more defensible. Food mechanic could still be hit or miss but I found it more manageable with ample raiding in enemy territory.

    I will say I wish Skaven had a sort of Pirate Coves mechanic that they could exploit since it seems thematically appropriate, feeding on the underbellies of other races' cities.

    Edit: Also tried a mod that gave Sartosa more living units to choose from. While awesome, I still was depending on instantly raising more undead troops and would have preferred just making her an entirely human pirate faction. The vampire corruption was a bit iffy and alas the legendary lords you could recruit were only vampirates still. Also some of the units (Norscan reavers with armor, shields and good unit count) sort of ran counter to Vampire coast powder philosophy but you also need to get some decent meat shields for the powder to properly thrive so it'll be a hard balance.

    Karoz on
  • SharpyVIISharpyVII Registered User regular
    I bought Vampire Coast over Christmas and they're probably my favourite army.

    They combine my love of artillery with monster units.

    Harkon has 4 mortars and Queen beds and with the right abilities and lord unlocks they absolutely destroy anything.

    Siege battles are particularly nice as they just sweep everything off the walls.

  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    I think as a gunline they're a bit too highly tuned, especially with a couple of Necrofex in there and a few Bloated Corpses to take out flankers and alpha charges. I've seen AI armies simply evaporate.

    Luckily the AI doesn't seem nearly as adept at using them and they're not too bad to fight. I think Vampire Counts suffer worst against them since their ranged firepower really hurts before your meatshield line gets there.

    But boy are they fun to play as.

    -Loki- on
  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    -Loki- wrote: »
    I think Vampire Counts suffer worst against them since their ranged firepower really hurts before your meatshield line gets there.

    Depends on the composition of your army and the terrain. My own favorite VC army (Graveguard, flyers and cavalry) just mow them down. You will need a good offensive magic user though, otherwise depthguard with halberds will hurt. They're not so tough after being softened up by Wind of Death and Terrorgheist shrieks (but still did a thing on my Graveguard with Greatweapons).

    Fiendishrabbit on
    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Thrones of Brittainia; fun little expansion that's basically Charlemagne (Attila) part II.

    Right now the Legitimacy mechanic for the Gaelic factions is borked. The only way you can gain it is by taking Irish territory (you get 1), and the campaign win conditions require you to confederate 4 factions. (80 Legitimacy spent total). Having negative Leg. gives you pretty severe penalties (minus loyalty, minus tax income%)

  • Jealous DevaJealous Deva Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    ToB seems like something I should like since I really got into Charlemagne (Especially with unit and campaign expansion pack mods like sebidee’s or Moon Hoplite’s)

    But I just can’t really seem to get into it. I start a campaign, play for a bit, and then wander off to play Warhammer or Rome 2.

    I think part of it is the faction units are all a bit too samey, as opposed to Rome 2 where you had 4 or 5 army “types” with pretty different units and tactics, or Warhammer where literally every faction is different.

    I honestly felt the same way about rise of rome, pick any random faction and you can pretty much predict the roster: Sword guys, spear guys, cav guys, and javs or archers. In charlemagne at least you had the avars and norse to mix things up a bit with horse archers and infantry heavy armies.

    Jealous Deva on
  • KarozKaroz Registered User regular
    Well I finally did it

    (big)
    23DFA0EDA91F441F4618D07CE9E255951F54A2C8

    Captured Karak Eight Peaks and had loads of fun doing it. Sadly didn't get a chance to use hellpit abominations or censer bearers but I had lots of fun with usually 2 catapults and 1 lightning cannon to help decimate my foes.

    Food is still a weird mechanic at times that can hold me back but on the flip side gives me those tier 3 minor settlments instantly. If skaven do get a revamp I hope it's to make pirate cove type things with an option to be food generation.

    Thanks again for all the tips, I couldn't have done this without your advice!

  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    I feel like they buffed the raise dead battle sites thing pretty considerably? I'm pulling together some bonkers armies as Kemmler.

  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    Pirate coves should have been a skaven mechanic don’t @ me

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    Tube wrote: »
    Pirate coves should have been a skaven mechanic don’t @ me

    Zombie Coast skaven faction?

    Basically the Redwall pirates?

  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    Tube wrote: »
    I feel like they buffed the raise dead battle sites thing pretty considerably? I'm pulling together some bonkers armies as Kemmler.

    Nah, been like that forever. They actually nerfed the raise dead cost reductions you could stack.

    You probably just fought more (and larger) battles in the same area. The Kemmler area is a lot more dense than the Manfred starting area. And your opponents tend to have larger armies (peasants vs dwarves and humans)

    Edit: additionally its easier to stack zombies now because you can get >1 immortal lord early on

    Goumindong on
    wbBv3fj.png
  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    Tube wrote: »
    Pirate coves should have been a skaven mechanic don’t @ me
    But they can cove up/ steal food everywhere

  • IblisIblis Registered User regular
    Tube wrote: »
    Pirate coves should have been a skaven mechanic don’t @ me

    I have been assuming that Skaven were the last faction they worked on and they kind of just threw out what they had ready for TW:W2's rather quick launch. Food was a mess, their ruins mechanic is useless to the player, there are significantly fewer Skaven landmarks than the other factions, etc. Considering how they iterate on ideas, I am also assuming the vampire cove mechanic started life as an underempire mechanic before they eventually threw up their hands and went with the ruins thing because the game was shipping soon.

    So I suppose that makes what looks to be a much longer wait for the third game much more palatable at least. But here's hoping they do SOMETHING with the mechanic when they release the new lord pack.

    Steam Account, 3DS FC: 5129-1652-5160, Origin ID: DamusWolf
  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Tube wrote: »
    Pirate coves should have been a skaven mechanic don’t @ me

    Zombie Coast skaven faction?

    Basically the Redwall pirates?

    .... damnit

    takemymoney.gif

    Kana on
    A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
  • KruiteKruite Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    I think the file is too big, so I'll just post the link
    https://us.v-cdn.net/5022456/uploads/editor/dm/cpi6e20xj7nl.jpg

    Yue Jin

    Kruite on
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