Let's Play: Empire Total War! - Knights of St. John run

[Integrity]

So....battle tactics should be more of a surgical strike feeling instead of overwhelming firepower.....although I like to play defense, I'm going to have to think of some tactics.. I've seen pure light infantry armies where everyone's deployed in Light INfantry Doctrine. So the player divides the guys into several groups, perhaps groups of 3 units. They give each other overlapping fire, and hide when possible.....hmmm... Bah I'm thinking too much.

Yes. YESSSSSSSSSS.

/boner

[Parrhesia]

Hm...I'm likin' the sound of it, personally. If only there was some way to fight the IGNFCALRPGHHHS...

[Integrity]

Could always do a Custom Battle versus the AI.

...or against me, but that's inadvisable because the AI would handle a big battle better than me :P

[General Herpus Derpus]

For strategy try attacking the flank with bait weaker units to distract the AI while the AIs distracted get a charge going if the enemy falls for the bait

[Parrhesia]

Well, AcaciaSqd can't be everywhere at once, and I can't imagine light infantry making any devastating charges.

[IGdood]

Could always do a Custom Battle versus the AI.

...or against me, but that's inadvisable because the AI would handle a big battle better than me :P

Hahaha, well......artillery + light cavalry vs. light infantry swarming?!

For strategy try attacking the flank with bait weaker units to distract the AI while the AIs distracted get a charge going if the enemy falls for the bait

Most likely will happen.

Well, AcaciaSqd can't be everywhere at once, and I can't imagine light infantry making any devastating charges.

Hmm, there's gonna be some regular footsloggers in the mix, and AcaciaSqd won't be the only unique dragoons there... HEHEHEHEH.

[Acacia Sgt]

Hmm, there's gonna be some regular footsloggers in the mix, and AcaciaSqd won't be the only unique dragoons there... HEHEHEHEH.

inb4 I claim those Dragoons as well. lol

Edited October 7, 2010 by Acacia Sgt

[IGdood]

inb4 I claim those Dragoons as well. lol

OH NO YOU DIDN'T LMFAO

[Acacia Sgt]

Hey, at least look it on the bright side, that means I ran out of claims, right? XD

[IGdood]

Maybe. At this rate I might have to extend it to 3 claims per forumite. XD But I'll give the thread some time first. Maybe say.....10 in-game years.

[Acacia Sgt]

Oh yeah, you mentioned not going militaristic for a while. Oh well, looks like the day to ride the battlefield is not here yet...

[IGdood]

I'm afraid so. I just gotta build up the war machine + economy and get my technology up to speed.

I can use the natives for target practice....unfortunately the Plains Tribes are allied with the French and the Iroquois are allied with the British. Pissing off the Natives is okay, I can beat them easily. Pissing off the French or Britain? That's game over, or at least it will be a drawn-out war of attrition.

[eclipse]

Nope, you keep the limit at two! I have no idea what to name, since I don't know if/what I'm getting. . .but I'm interested!

[IGdood]

Nope, you keep the limit at two! I have no idea what to name, since I don't know if/what I'm getting. . .but I'm interested!

Yessir

Well, maybe you can have Minutemen or something, hahaha.

[IGdood]

Okay, more campaign update. =)

I continue to follow the British example and industrialize my nation. While town wealth doesn't increase immediately, the growth picks up in a few turns or so and becomes noticeable in 10-15 turns.

Oh yeah, did I mention you can build your own roads? Roads facilitate transportation, so in a way it improves trade income + town wealth. It also greatly improves how far your armies can travel, provided they're staying on the roads. Otherwise they won't receive a bonus.

I improve my one and only naval production facility. Yes, trade ports can produce ships too, but they only produce very low-tier ships. Drydocks and other ports produce Ship-of-the-lines, which are your main combat ships.

I begin to amass an army......around Annapolis, Maryland.

A few posts back I mentioned I'd claim Pulaski's Legion for myself.

By Presidential Decree, I hereby name them the Sable Order. Rumor says that Pulaski's first name is Camus. May they steer themselves out of harms way, and deliver killing blows with every strike. If you didn't look at the Prussia LP, I'll briefly go over unit types as I come across them.

So, Pulaski's Legion is a lancer cavalry unit. They have rather low stats for cavalry, either on par, or worse than, most dragoons. However, they're actually pretty good for the lancer cavalry class. Anyways, those are irrelevant. The important part is the charge bonus. Lancer Cavalry deal the most damage in a charge, afterwards you MUST wheel them out of combat or else they're dead.

It reminds me of when I first started playing FE. I saw cavaliers and paladins using lances without charging (except the Paladin crit animation) and that bothered me. (I'm nearly a realist when it comes to combat; I've followed total war from its first game since I was umm.....7 years old?)

Drink, drink, drink.

So, as I type this, I feel very regal; I'm guessing the fact that I'm wearing a robe right now also makes me feel more noble. Anyways....

By presidential decree let it be known that these Mounted Tribal Auxiliary be called The Other Kinda Indians.

They have absolutely horrible melee stats, and their shooting stats aren't very good either. They also come in a group of 60 as opposed to Dragoons' 80. But stats aside, let's take a look at some of their abilities.

Can skirmish: Useless due to poor AI. Plus, I'll do my best to keep them out of harm's way. The ability means the unit will keep themselves a distance away from enemies.

Can hide in woodland: Not special, as pretty much everyone can do that. It just means you can hide in forests.

Can hide in light scrub: This is special for cavalry. It means in low bushes and such this unit will remain hidden. Very good if I want to make a surprise attack.

Paths seldom trod: This is more of a campaign map ability. It just means if all the units in an army has this ability then the army can hide in forests on the campaign map.

Good stamina: I can make these guys run around and they won't tire easily.

Resistant to heat fatigue: In hot weather (useful when fighting in deserts, India, etc.) units will tire out very fast. These guys won't. Very good.

I need NAMES. These guys are mid-tier light infantry. Decent shooting skills, and a surprising charge bonus.

These guys are like a better version of the generic line infantry. They have some more morale and more defense. Otherwise the other stats are more-or-less the same.

Who are these hobos?! Whatever, I'm taking them in.

I like roads. You will too.

Gotta keep the war machine going! Recruit, recruit, recruit...

By Presidential Decree, let it be known that the 1st Maryland shall be named the 53rd East Gruen Foot Guard. Let them keep my the light infantry from out of harm's way, and jump in front of bullets when necessary.

I wonder if Creative Assembly hates the 13 Colonies because CA is British, or if the USA army really sucked back then. While these guys ARE guard infantry, their melee attack and morale are pretty low for guard units.

The Barbary states sue for peace. I politely decline.

Oh shit, what happened to my income?

Oh wait, that's why. I have to pay for all these men!

And they all go gather themselves around Pennsylvania. Yeah I moved away from Maryland. By the way, this general seems pretty awesome, but he's getting old.

I'm moving them to Florida's border. I....I....want.

In the meantime, I strike a trade deal with Venice.

I decide to check out the Cherokee Tribe. They have no Allies, which makes them vulnerable. Let's take a look at their national leader.

1 star fail. I also highlighted the salacious trait for shits and giggles.

So we've got a new election....and this time the people are...decent-ish.

Holy fuck, I better not piss Britain off now.

Drink, drink.

By Presidential decree, I hereby name this unit of Puckle Guns "Lugnasadh." let them mow their enemies down without mercy.

Here's a piece of artillery you probably haven't seen before. Puckle Guns are short-ranged, primitive machine guns. They're great in mowing down enemies, although I have NEVER used them before. Let's see how this works.

Hm, so I have to research Shortened Carbines...to unlock the good dragoons.

I check out the stats of the other dragoons.

These guys have slightly better morale than AcaciaSqd.

These guys are less-melee oriented and more shooty-oriented. Oh yeah, you can reserve them and the guys up there, people.

Lugnasadh/Puckle guns joining the main army...

WOOHOO!

It'll take 9 turns to unlock Shortened Carbines, so I think I'll go ahead and declare war on the Cherokee first. The dragoons will prove their worth later on.

Trying to catch up in the Naval area.....

Of all the nations, only Britain and the US has unique ships. This is the USS Constitution, a medium ship with a high attack power.

Let's get ready to get bloodied, guys.

Yes.

Yes, the White man will wipe you.

[Acacia Sgt]

I therefore claim these Dragoons:

Call them 'Terminian Division'.

[Integrity]

I lay claim to the Rangers.

HENCEFORTH: Let them be known as the Oscar Mikes

Edited October 8, 2010 by Integrity

[IGdood]

I therefore claim these Dragoons:

Call them 'Terminian Division'.

Reserved. I just noticed that these special USA dragoons have a huge 90 range.

I lay claim to the Rangers.

HENCEFORTH: Let them be known as the Oscar Mikes

On the Move. Reserved.

Front page updated with new reserved regiment names.

[eclipse]

Yessir

Well, maybe you can have Minutemen or something, hahaha.

Since I don't know what does who. . .er, I mean, who does what, throw a couple of unit types and descriptions at me, and I'll be as random as possible.

[IGdood]

Since I don't know what does who. . .er, I mean, who does what, throw a couple of unit types and descriptions at me, and I'll be as random as possible.

What does who....-cough- XD

Well, since I'll save you the horror of going through the past campaign to learn about the units, here's a good summary.

Militia (weak, unskilled, cheap)

USA units that fall in this category:

Minutemen - Actually not THAT weak, are surprisingly able to have all 160 men fire instead of having the men fire by rows. Wear brown uniforms and have brown berets. No bayonets. Will be pwned if charged.

USA Volunteer Soldiers - I haven't tried out this unit yet, but I believe they're somewhat better than the minutemen....other then that I don't know. They also come in a huge group of 200 and that makes them great meatshields.

Line Infantry (Regular generics, somewhat different between each country, but otherwise there to hold the line)

1st Delaware - Regular soldiers with nice hat, have a slight boost in reloading time compared to the generic USA soldiers.

Sepoys - Native Indians from India, which I won't be able to recruit right now, maybe later. Vastly inferior stats compared to generic soldiers.

African Infantry - Native Africans.......stats are even worse than the Sepoys.

Guards (Elites)

Republican Guard - Elite generic soldiers, inspires nearby units and can seriously **** up the enemy if used wisely.

Grenadiers (Elites, in small numbers unless they're Guard status + Grenadier status, can throw bombs and melee people to death very quickly)

Grenadiers - Comes in groups of 80, which is a pretty small size. Have nice hats, can throw grenades, can melee people to death...oh wait I wrote that above.

Cavalry (There to catch enemies running away or cut them down)

Cuirassiers - Can actually hold their own in a swordfight, slower than other horsies, sends people flying when charging.

Irregulars (NOT professional soldiers; varying stats, may hide better or otherwise have some sort of gimmick. Usually cheap and will be outclassed farther down the game)

Guerilla Mercenaries - Citizens paid to shoot at people. Somewhat decent shooting, very crappy......melee.

Light Infantry (Usually suck in a melee, but can otherwise shoot farther than anyone else)

Legion of the US - Jack-of-all-trades soldiers; have nice hats. Can hold their own in a melee, can shoot people to death pretty well, can do everything but not specialized.

Artillery ( Big guns, bombarding foes from far away but will be cut down in a melee)

Mortars - Shoot far, can shoot explosive bombs and maybe later on acid bombs.

Melee (Some footsoldiers don't have guns. They can range from ultimate suck to ultimate win.)

Ghoorkas - Think of the trueblades from Fire Emblem. Then pretend they have shields.

I'm sure there's a lot more units but I just can't think of them right now.

[eclipse]

I like horses, so if this stuffs your plan, I'm sorry!

Cuirassiers - The Chainsaw Brigade

Light Infantry - Black Rock Shooters

[Fayt Zelpher]

2 Questions about this campaign.

1 - The capital is in Philadelphia, not Washington D.C. Is there any reason for this?

2 - Is the US Civil War bound to happen in this game, or does that simply not exist?

[Acacia Sgt]

2 Questions about this campaign.

1 - The capital is in Philadelphia, not Washington D.C. Is there any reason for this?

2 - Is the US Civil War bound to happen in this game, or does that simply not exist?

1 - Well, it was originally in Philadelphia historically, so in here they may just choose to not change it. Though I'm not sure.

2 - I suppose it would depend. If he chooses to not follow his territorial gains like the real deal, then obviously not... I think.

[Integrity]

2 Questions about this campaign.

1 - The capital is in Philadelphia, not Washington D.C. Is there any reason for this?

2 - Is the US Civil War bound to happen in this game, or does that simply not exist?

1 - Because it was 1776.

2 - The game's "history" ends at 1800.

[Parrhesia]

1 - Well, it was originally in Philadelphia historically

...it was?!

Um.

...Well, now I know marginally more about US history.