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New Total War game: Warhammer

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Well it's roughly -10% base damage and around -5% base chance to hit and +5% chance to be hit, but the almost +100% charge bonus should utterly massacre a weak unit attacked from behind, yes?

According to what I can find Charge is supposed to be a buff to melee attack and defense that linearly decreases to 0 in 15 seconds after a charge. Going by that, I think my cavalry should be guaranteed at least 2 attacks each before the charge bonus runs out. This should equate to 60 * 2 * 40 = around 4,800 damage. Spearmen has only 30 armor, lowering 75% of the damage by 15%, so that's around 4,300 damage that should be dealt before the spearmen (7000 HP) could feasibly fight back. So yeah, I dunno what was going on. Must have been fatigue, I'm really noticing that fatigue happens way faster than I'm used to from other TWs. Or the enemy general did some buff.
 
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Lone Wolf

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Well it's roughly -10% base damage

Against armoured infantry (60+ armour), it's a lot more than that. Look at the AP difference. Questing Knights do almost as much AP damage as Demigryphs, with twice their number of models (usually, the lower the number of models in a unit, the more damage they do individually). They are completely superior to RG as melee cav (which is how you were using your RG).

but the almost +100% charge bonus should utterly massacre a weak unit attacked from behind, yes?

Against basic Spearmen, yes, should have done them anyway. I don't know why you had that experience; I've never seen Spearmen take a rear charge from RG and survive for any significant length of time.

This should equate to 60 * 2 * 40 = around 4,800 damage

Uhh, kind of. Your entire unit isn't hitting simultaneously AFAIK. Not every model is doing damage. But it should still be plenty of damage, yes.

Nonetheless, use 'J' with RG. Despite their armour, they're not really built to stay in melee.
 

Raghar

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Also fuck the difficulty penalties on the campaign map. -12 Public Order on Legendary because fuck you

Are you playing on Legendary, and complaining spearmen are munching RG? Well, that's what you should expect... Why don't you try Skaarsnik and enjoy your bit higher difficulty? You know normal Denuvo and don't abuse AI. That gives decent difficulty for first playtrough.
 

Maculo

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Strap Yourselves In Pathfinder: Wrath
Queen and the Crone DLC:



Blog post with some more details: https://www.totalwar.com/blog/queen-and-crone-announcement
What is The Queen & The Crone?

The Queen & the Crone is our first Lords Pack DLC for Total War: WARHAMMER II. Bolstering the forces of the High Elves and the Dark Elves, it introduces two famous rival characters and new iconic units from the world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles to your campaigns and battles.

As for Lord Packs for the first part of the trilogy, we’ve intended to focus the DLC around a legendary rivalry from the Warhammer Fantasy Lore; and what could be more of a rivalry than between the Everqueen and the Crone? What’s more we’ve been listening to the feedback from the community following the Steps of Isha Free-LC release and our in-game metrics, this time really focussing on campaign replayability and picking units for this pack that emphasise and suit the new Lords.

The design team’s intent here is to deliver really different and exciting campaign playthroughs, packed with character, for both the Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns. We’re always watching for interesting feedback and impressions though, so let us know how you get on.



The content in this pack is available in both the Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires campaigns and It will add:

  • Two new Legendary Lords with new quest chains, magic items and skill trees
  • New campaign mechanics and objectives
  • New Hero type for High Elves
  • New Lord type for Dark Elves
  • New battlefield units for both races
  • 16 elite Regiments of Renown


New Legendary Lords
everqueen_poster.png


Alarielle the Radiant

Start Position: Gaean Vale (Avelorn) – Vortex and Mortal Empires

Commanding the High Elf faction of Avelorn, Alarielle’s power is that of nature itself. As she travels through the Elven lands, she brings great joy to the people, improving public order and reducing corruption. However, she is also subject to the Mortal World’s Torment; as Chaos seeps into the world, her battlefield powers wane. Only reducing and ridding of Chaos armies will return her to her full powers.

Alarielle is a mixed-lore Caster, with access to a blend of Life magic and High magic. She may embark on a quest for her Legendary Item, the Star of Avelorn, and may be upgraded to ride an Elven Steed, Barded Ithilmar Steed, and a Great Eagle. She can also recruit Forest Spirit units such as Dryads, Treekin and Treemen.

Alarielle also has a unique campaign mechanic called Defender of Ulthuan. It is her sacred duty to see that the inner and outer territories of the High Elves’ home are kept free of enemy occupation. While they remain clear, they bestow powerful benefits. Should invaders sully Ulthuan with their presence however, the Asur’s trust in Alarielle will fall, bringing a suite of negative effects.

Alarielle has access to a unique Rite: The Invocation of Lileath. Once active, this rite brings a suite of benefits to Handmaidens, Sisters of Avelorn and Dryads.



crone_poster.png


Crone Hellebron

Start Position: Har Ganeth (The Road of Skulls) – Vortex and Mortal Empires

Hellebron the Hag-Queen leads the forces of Har Ganeth, a uniquely murderous Dark Elf faction. She may periodically call a Death Night, expending slaves on a night of murderous rampage, to keep her powers strong. Failure to regularly hold these festivals will have a detrimental effect on Hellebron. As each Death Night is called, nearby Dark Elves undertake the Blood Voyage, raising an army in thrall to Crone Hellebron, and in whose post-battle rewards she shares.

Hellebron gains massive upkeep reductions to Witch Elves and Har Ganeth Executioners and Sisters of Slaughter, which she can also improve via her unique skill tree. She may embark on a quest for her twinned Legendary weapons, the Deathsword and the Cursed Blade, and may be upgraded to ride a Dark Steed, a Cauldron of Blood, and a Manticore.

Hellebron also has access to a unique new Dark Elf rite: Sacrifice to Drakira. Once active, this rite brings bonuses when fighting High Elves, a reduction in diplomatic relations with High Elves, and rank bonuses to both Death Hags and Witch Elf units.



Will the Legendary Lords be available in the both the Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires Campaign?

Yes, The Queen & The Crone will be available to play in both the Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires Campaign.



When is Norsca and the 30th Anniversary Regiments of Renown coming to my Mortal Empires Campaign?

On May 31st alongside the release of the Queen and The Crone. If you own these DLCs already for TW:WARHAMMER, they should automatically appear for you to use in game.

If you own TW:WARHAMMER and haven’t yet picked up your free 30th Anniversary Regiments of Renown, join or log into your free Total War Access account. Find out more here: https://www.totalwar.com/regimentsofrenown



Will the Legendary Lords in TQ&TC be fighting for control of the Vortex?

Both Alarielle and Hellebron will fight for the control of the Great Vortex alongside their new unique faction mechanics, which can be experienced in this campaign and Mortal Empires.



What’s the Free Content that will come alongside the DLC?

Alith Anar will be a new, free Legendary Lord coming free alongside The Queen & The Crone, as well as his personal Shadow Walker unit. We’ll share more information on him soon.



What’s in the Free Update that will come alongside the DLC?

The Resurgent Update will contain lots of tweaks, fixes and additions to Total War: WARHAMMER II whether you purchase the DLC or not. We’ve already mentioned a few of these as part of Tuesday Newsday. Some additions we hadn’t mentioned yet, so stay tuned for full patch and update notes coming soon.



Any content post release?

…But this is not all. The Druchii possess a dark and powerful weapon.

When blood runs in rivers and the air is choked with Death, the chains will break and this monstrous secret will be unleashed.

Also, FLC lord Alith Anar for High Elves. I wanted Malus Edgeblade damn it.
 

Maculo

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I hope so, I found that character so damn fun. One of the few lord options I would happily pay for to obtain.
 

FreeKaner

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Reiksguard say they are anti-infantry. I don't see any specific bonuses to anti-infantry stats on the card but I assumed a 250 upkeep cavalry charging into the back of a 80 upkeep spearmen (other Empire-type faction) that is already engaged in melee with my own line troops would work well, instead they lost around 1/4th of their strength before the spearmen routed. They don't look too much worse compared to Bretonnia's cavalry comparing them in custom battles, in fact their charge bonus in the 60s is almost double the charge bonus of Bretonnia's anti-infantry cavalry. Maybe they need a larger distance to speed up or something.

Aside from that I've noticed that units seem to really tire quickly in battle in TWW. Walking/Running doesn't do much but 20s of shooting something or fighting in melee and everyone becomes exhausted. Not sure how that affects things, does exhaustion screw your charge bonus or something? At least it doesn't seem to matter much for firing crossbows.

Reiksguard is not bad at all. I would say they are probably the best jack-of-all-trades cavalry, especially for their price. They can even stay in combat for a while but obviously if you charge them into cheap anti-large then let them stay in sustained combat they will be extremely cost-ineffective. Cheap anti-large units are the no. 1 counter to cavalry. Use them to flank and rear charge, use them only against anti-infantry units and ranged units in sustained combat. Don't pay attention to unit card text, they are often misleading, just look at their stats. Cavalry and monsters are the playermakers in this game, they deal the decisive blows and move the combat forward.
 

Maculo

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I hope so, I found that character so damn fun. One of the few lord options I would happily pay for to obtain.

Honestly I want Lokhir more, just for dat tentacle mask.

latest


But anything works I guess.
I initially thought he would be a bad choice for a lord, because the Black Ark system is so damn basic. I now think he is more likely, because he could simply buff Corsairs and/or improve the benefits of Black Arks (e.g., replenishment and raid bonuses). Plus, dat mask...dat mask.

Still, I think Malus Darkblade would make a good choice, especially if CA is open to changing the campaign mechanics (e.g., Tomb Kings, Queen and Crone, etc.). He has clear legendary items and mount options. Plus, he could buff Dark Elf cavalry.
 

Maculo

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Someone on the total war subreddit noted that one of the dread knight RoR is related to Malus Darkblade.

From steam update page:
Knights of the Ebon Claw (Dread Knights)
  • Does not Rampage like other Cold One units
  • Murderous Prowess upgraded to Murderous Mastery

From the Warhammer wiki:
A warband with a long and notorius history, the Knights of the Ebon Claw swore allegiance to Malus Darkblade following the fall of Clar Karond. They shed no tears for their former home, decrying it as a refuge of weaklings and traitors, and pointed to its fall as proof of both accusations. They now rode in Darkblades' vanguard, little realising that this position had not been granted out of honour, but rather so that their new master could keep a close eye upon them. Darkblade was all too aware that an allegiance that shifted once could easily do so again.

Also, Dawi update: https://www.totalwar.com/blog/updates-to-ungrim-ironfist-and-the-dwarfs-in-mortal-empires

Alongside the long-anticipated addition of Norsca in Total War: WARHAMMER II’s Mortal Empires campaign and a bunch of changes and upgrades, the Resurgent Update includes a significant update focused on one of the main Old World races.

In this joint blog, Richard Aldridge and Eva Jobse talk about some of the more noteworthy improvements to Mortal Empires that affect those most stoic of grudge-bearers, the Dwarfs.

First, let’s hear from Eva about a brand-new start position and some new legendary buildings…

New Ungrim Ironfist Campaign Start
Last year, we started playing with the idea with moving some of the existing Legendary Lords of the Old World races in order to give players some new ways to experience the Mortal Empires campaign. We saw a great debate ensue throughout the community, with players both for and against this idea. So we proceeded with caution and identified a Legendary Lord that almost everyone agreed on should be moved: Slayer King Ungrim Ironfist will be returning to Karak Kadrin to resume his duties as its monarch. Karak Kadrin lies to the north of Karaz-a-Karak and is famous for its Slayers and home to the Great Slayer Shrine.

Its northern location is sure to provide a brand-new experience playing as Dwarfs, as you’ll now primarily be encountering Empire, Vampire Counts, Norscans, and Chaos with relatively few Greenskin factions nearby.

Beyond this new initial challenge we wanted to further emphasise Ungrim’s role as the Slayer King by being able to recruit Slayers straight out of the gate on turn one. Combine this with improvements and perks to the Great Slayer Shrine of Karak Kadrin and his ability to settle unimpaired in Frozen climes and this means you can now push north to Kraka Drak and on into Norsca.

To celebrate King Ungrim’s return to the Slayer Keep further still, we’re adding a brand-new Giant Slayer unit. Giant Slayers are a new variant of Slayers that wield large two-handed axes and allow Dwarfs to better deal with the great number of fearsome beasts that have been introduced with the new races of Total War: WARHAMMER II. Along with their bonus versus large, these units deal substantial amounts of armour-piercing damage as well.

New Landmark Buildings
In addition to a new unit, we’ll be adding additional legendary landmark buildings.

Dwarfs were slightly underrepresented in the legendary building department, so we’re adding some interesting new options for them. The ancestral birthplace of the Dwarfs, Karak Zorn in the far south, can now host the Hall of the Ancestors. In the far north, at Kraka Drak, Dwarfs can now build the Silver Hall to show off the great wealth of this remote hold. Karak Izor is famous for its copper, so Dwarfs can exploit the Copper Mountain. Additionally, below Iron Mountain vast magma chambers are uncovered, providing a way to acquire high-quality obsidian – which is sure to come in handy as Richard will explain. The last two buildings can also be exploited by Skaven. Speaking of which, Skaven may also have found a use for Brightstone…

Dwarfs have long held many grudges against the Elves of Ulthuan and you’ll have the opportunity to deliver a time of reckoning as Dwarfs can now sack the palace of the Phoenix King himself to extract payment. Norscans also have their eye on these treasures and they’ll be able to construct a new building in Skeggi, the major Norscan colony in Lustria, founded by Losteriksson.

Finally, we have two that appear together: Sartosa. These are Smithy’s Tavern and Peg Street Pawnshop, with many races being able to make use of one or both of these buildings. And what’s more, we’re also adding Sartosa to the campaign map of Mortal Empires.

Now over to Richard Aldridge to talk about an exciting extra feature for the Dwarf factions…

The Forge
Following the release of Rise of the Tomb Kings, we noticed many fans of the game quickly pointed out how the Mortuary Cult feature for the Tomb Kings could be used in a similar fashion for other races in Warhammer, but in particular the Dwarfs.

This made total sense to us too and fitted with the lore so well, hence the creation of the Forge.

The Forge works in pretty much the same manner as the Mortuary Cult, allowing Dwarfs to forge Weapons, Armour, Talismans, and Enchanted Items all themed around various Dwarfen character archetypes such as the fabled Dragon Slayers and Ironwardens, thus allowing you in kit out your characters with a bespoke set of magical items. However, the system does come with a few small differences.

First up, Dwarfs have no need for Canopic Jars, and instead have their own unique resource that they can collect throughout the game called Oathgold. This precious material is used in conjunction with other trade resources to forge unique items and can be acquired from completing Grudges, constructing specialist buildings such as the Smithy and Trade building chains, and via a number of new and existing character skills.

The Runesmiths and Runelords, for example, have now been equipped with the Master of the Forge skill, which means at certain experience levels they can produce a wealth of Oathgold each turn. To help get things started a little sooner, Runesmiths have now been moved down to the level three Armoury building, and all Dwarf Legendary Lords have a skill of their own which can also help produce Oathgold for their faction.

The other difference comes in the form of Recycling. This option within the Forge allows you to crush down and make new any unwanted magic items you’ve either randomly received throughout your campaign or forged but no longer wish to keep.

Any items not currently equipped to one of your characters will be displayed in a convenient list under the recycle tab which displays the amount of Oathgold you’ll receive back in return for removing the magic item from your pool. The amount of Oathgold gained via this method will vary greatly based on the rarity of the magic item, with Legendary items offering the highest return and common items the least.

Finally, the Dwarfs will now make use of the Golden Idol trade resource found throughout the world in their schematics for forging the new magic items.

We hope these changes bring more fun and challenge to playing the Dwarfs and Ungrim in Mortal Empires.

The Resurgent Update is due out on the 31st May, along with the Queen & Crone DLC and Alith Anar Free-LC.

Dawi receive crafting and another legendary lord running around the map (new Ungrim start position).
 

Lone Wolf

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As much as I enjoy the free stuff, if you're loading up SFO + Crynsos Unlocker + Runic Forging mods, you already have all the Dawi changes above.
 

Raghar

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I wonder what Steampunks are doing. It would be nice if they released again, and then did once per month re-release.

Also CA is doing nerf nerf nerf, and is heavily trying to remove anything interesting under guise of balance.
 

Maculo

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As much as I enjoy the free stuff, if you're loading up SFO + Crynsos Unlocker + Runic Forging mods, you already have all the Dawi changes above.
True, but it does seem like they are taking cues from fans and updating old factions. I also imagine they will apply Alarielle's"protector of Ulthuan" system to empire.
 

Lone Wolf

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I also imagine they will apply Alarielle's"protector of Ulthuan" system to empire.

Which is already in SFO's 'Empire of Man' module.

Like I said, it's great that they're doing this, but the modders are leading the charge on anything not involving new unit models and animations.

A mod was released yesterday that finally lets us get the legendary lords of confederated states who are in a wounded state, complete with a skill-point reset. TW:W modders are doing good, good things.
 

FreeKaner

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Anyone who plays SFO should be beheaded for lacking taste and class.
Elaborate on that. SFO is not perfect, but it lends an extra degree of replay value with different balance and new units.

If you install SFO, you can't have advanced AI. That alone is cause enough to not install SFO.

Other than that it's unbalanced and ridiculous mess, with a flood of nonsensical units and design decisions. It downgrades the game from an actual coherent system to vision of someone who is trying to pump as much content as possible with no regard for anything else.
 

Maculo

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Anyone who plays SFO should be beheaded for lacking taste and class.
Elaborate on that. SFO is not perfect, but it lends an extra degree of replay value with different balance and new units.

If you install SFO, you can't have advanced AI. That alone is cause enough to not install SFO.

Other than that it's unbalanced and ridiculous mess, with a flood of nonsensical units and design decisions. It downgrades the game from an actual coherent system to vision of someone who is trying to pump as much content as possible with no regard for anything else.
I do not recall broken AI due to SFO. Did something change? It has been a while since I played with SFO.

Otherwise, SFO Bretonnia campaign still is worth a try in my opinion. SFO Bretonnia reinforces the play style of a small elite cavalry faction enhanced by elven magic blessed by the Lady and pitted against hordes of greenskins, beastmen, and chaos/norsca. Grail Knights and Grail Guardian are insane.
 

Lone Wolf

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Well, that's simply untrue, FreeKaner.

SFO is anything but incoherent. They accentuate factions to fit the lore better (eg. lower Elven model counts, higher Skaven/fodder Undead ones) and create an actual tiered structure for army compositions (elites are lower model count, high upkeep, which forces you to spread them out across multiple armies and use lower cost filler).

In the base game, there is absolutely no reason to use first tier troops after you have access to the next tier, ever.

In SFO, spearmen and spearmen with shields are two units with different uses. The former has a higher melee attack stat, whereas the latter has higher melee def and a shield to absorb missile fire. Both are useful. In the base game, once you have access to spearmen with shields, you should never, ever touch base spearmen again. They're identical units, one just has shields and is therefore better.

And modded army composition AI is already in SFO. As is a rework of auto-resolve, which is essentially broken in vanilla (enjoy having auto-resolve battles against chaff that see your most expensive single model units destroyed, while the rest of your army is untouched).
 

FreeKaner

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Absolute diversity is not desirable, more often not what absolute diversity does is make factions more similar to each other because each of them individually possess a breadth of options that are overlapping. SFO fills the gaps in unit rosters that are there by design, Bretonnia is not supposed to have elite infantry comparable to elves for example. In base game unit counts are already not equivalent, swordmasters of hoeth have fewer models than empire greatswords, which has fewer models than stormvermin. SFO does not accentuate factions, SFO bloats factions by filling it with unnecessary units that cover weaknesses they are supposed to have with nonsensical "balance" changes that streamline factions closer together.

Concept of sidegrades already exist in base game, especially concerning some of the higher tier units. You have plenty of units that are same base type that have different weapons thus have different roles that cost roughly the same, with shielded ones being better defensive but lacking anti-infantry or anti-large bonuses for example. On top of this, there is nothing wrong with having upgrades in a strategy game, more importantly there is nothing wrong with outclassing the units you start the game with.

Why would spearmen with shields which cost more and require additional building be a sidegrade? Spearman with shields is sidegrade to swordsmen not regular spearmen. It's a strict upgrade to regular spearmen and that's good. You want ideally in your game tiers, upgrades and sidegrades, not just sidegrades. You also tend to use chaff units in base game already because they cost less and can be trained from less developed regions, to support your main army or to deal with rebellions etc. without having to build expensive building upgrades. What bloatmaxx mods like this do is make too many sidegrades and tiers that make your end game armies look like incoherent swissknife of a composition, this is only good for those that value diversity over anything else and these people have bad taste.

Currently the auto-resolve is bugged and CA acknowledged that. You don't need an overhaul bloatmod for that. There are plenty of good, unobstructive mods that fix bugs or spice the game without bloating it. Extensive overhaul mods that add 50+ units and do unsolicited balance changes are always bloat in vision of content addicts that leaves no room for elegance.
 

Seethe

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SFO was nice for Total War Warhammer 1, however it ended up too much of a mishmash of mods that offer no customization. I prefer to make my own custom "SFO" by installing individual mods that affect the game the way SFO does, but in the way I want. Also, I hate the fact that they added units(yes I know you can remove them), and the infinite regen thing is the worst. It makes the game too imbalanced. And the horde factions sucked already, but with SFO they are a pain in the ass to play.
 

LizardWizard

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Also, I hate the fact that they added units(yes I know you can remove them), and the infinite regen thing is the worst. It makes the game too imbalanced. And the horde factions sucked already, but with SFO they are a pain in the ass to play.

Implying that the vanilla game is balanced. Though, you won't find a more balanced tested overhaul mod for WH than SFO

At least SFO's units are semi-lore friendly, but like you mentioned they can be removed and so can infinite regen.
 

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