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#4432483 - 08/01/18 02:34 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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I'm about 200 turns in to the Dwarfs campaign. We are the strongest faction in the land, though both Lothern (High Elves) and Empire (humans) are close. I have all requirements done for both a short and long campaign victory, aside from cleansing the land of the Chaos invasion. They just keep coming. Wipe out one wave, and another spawns. We are strong enough to deal with them, but it's a bit of a slog.

It's been a fun campaign, and particularly notable for the success we've had co-ordinating with allies. The war goal mechanic has been seen before, but never have I seen it work so well. Especially so with the Empire and our war against the Vampire Counts, who had grown very strong, and their corruption a blight on the land. Using the war goal I was able to direct Empire forces against specific towns or armies. It was due to the Empire being strong enough to have the armies available to respond and mobilize on the selected target. In this way we were able to strike from both sides, Dwarfs from the east and Empire from the west. And we systematically eradicated the scourge.

Same with a war with the Greenskins and a Drawf ally. Not as machine-like due to this Dwarf ally having less means and resources, but it still worked quite well.

I'm at the stage where we are strong enough not to worry about anything, and I've about had it, but I want to claim a campaign win. The Chaos have other plans though it seems.

I either own or am allied with virtually the entire map, so we 'see' everything. As a result, the AI turns are taking 13+ minutes if you can believe it.


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#4432589 - 08/02/18 12:49 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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DBond, what is your makeup,for empire armies? I usually get bogged down with the vampires and the relentless corruption. I use a Lord, a general or witch hunter, and maybe 6 greatswords, 4 crossbows, 4 arty (hopefully he’ll storm but sometimes I’m stuck with mortars) and four reiksguard or, if I’m later in the game, demigryph halberd knights.

Thoughts? Maybe it’s my current game bad luck because the Dwavres are about dead, which is pretty much left me alone against vamps from east and west, (Moiusilon) and Greenskins from south. I’m lucky no chaos yet....


"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Matthew 5:11

Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because “the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
#4432598 - 08/02/18 01:28 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Each army is slightly different, but on the main you've got the same sort of setup I used in my Empire run.

I prefer indirect artillery, so mortars and rockets, not cannon. My late game armies usually had a steam tank too.

I really liked the Reiksguard, great bang for the buck, especially with the buildings in Middenland, but in some armies I mixed in light cav. The grenade Outriders are auto-resolve stars.

Ranged was usually both crossbows and handgunners for the AP.

Franz for example was like this at the end

Franz
Empire Captain
7 x Greatswords
4 x Reiksguard
2 x Handgunners
2 x Crossbows
1 x Mortar
1 x Steam Tank
1 x Helstorm

The corruption is difficult, and I opted for attrition bonuses if I could for armies that would fight Vampires and Chaos I also had lots of Untainted bonuses and followers, so that when my armies were in those lands the corruption would be falling, which helps over the course of a long war.. I tended to invest fairly heavily in the blue tree for my Lords. Encamp stance is a life saver of course. And I ran armies in tandem, supporting.

The handgunners/crossbows were paired up on each flank, one of each type.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4432613 - 08/02/18 04:55 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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I shelved the Dwarfs run. I played a few more turns, and killed a couple more Chaos waves, but more came in their place. With little to do other than fight Chaos and watch long AI turns I decided to put it on hold, and I rarely return to finish these. I want to actually 'win' one of these campaigns though. I need to figure out how to move from Doomtide waves to the final one.

A few notes about the Dwarfs, who proved to be one of my all-time favorite TW factions. Their tech research is insane. I got so many +10% research followers I couldn't use them all. At the end, we were getting 400% research rate. I had almost done every tech, and if I played a little longer I would have. A huge advantage over other factions.

The Dwarfs, for whatever reason, get crap for battle loot, With Elven factions, I often get 3000-5000 in post-battle loot. Dwarfs get 300. Not sure why, but that is a huge handicap.

Dwarfs have a mechanic called Grudges. They even have a huge Book of Grudges, where every slight is recorded and must be avenged, lest the people think the leader is not up to snuff. So if Dwarf lands are raided, or tresspassed, or if a settlement is sacked, razed or otherwise sullied, this affrontery is recorded for all time. If allowed to go un-avenged, order begins to fall and bad things happen.

I went all-in on this haha. If another faction even looked at me wrong I would say out loud, "That's a Grudgin'!" in my best Dwarf-Pirate voice. And it would NEED to be avenged lol. Fun stuff.

I had a great time with this faction. Their infantry are amazing,and I loved the whole underground passageways thing. It was fun to fight for a change with no cav and so little mobility on the battlefield. A nice change of pace. It's a difficult start, but once I made the choice to launch the assault to capture the second province and it's port (so important) things began to snowball. The economy took off and we ended up owning, or being allied to, the world. Highly recommended faction.

For Airdrop..... you mentioned the Dwarfs have been mostly killed off and aren't helping from the east. When Warhammer 2 was released, evidently the Dwarfs were OP, there was even a name for it, Dwarftide. CA made some tweaks, and the result is that Dwarfs are now probably underpowered in auto-resolve, and no longer are strong enough to do much in the campaign when controlled by AI.

Even though I shelved this Dwarf run, I am still really liking Warhammer 2, and began another campaign, this a H/H Dark Elves run (Malekith) in the Vortex campaign. It's awesome how different each faction is. These guys are evil, but that's worth a go and we got off to a good start. H/H makes for difficult starts for me, but once you've gotten a foothold I think that's the sweetspot for the AI for me.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4432639 - 08/02/18 08:59 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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I LOVE this game. It’s probably my favorite Total War game so far...and I’ve had em since the beginning.


"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Matthew 5:11

Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because “the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
#4432717 - 08/03/18 12:00 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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I feel the same, though I also realize that novelty is a factor and may be part of why I feel this way. I haven't been in it since the beginning, Rome 1 was my first TW game, but that's still most of them, and Warhammer 2 is right at the top of the list. What do you like about it?

As to your Empire- VC thing, have you tried pulling back and see if they will come to you? Of course the corruption attrition works both ways and if you can get the VC stacks to enter your lands you would benefit. Maybe try setting a couple armies on ambush and see if they will come for your frontier towns. Or use a half-stack bait army with full stacks hidden nearby. A combination of attrition and Assault Units could melt the vampire stacks and open the door.

A questionable tactic I use on particularly tough enemy settlements, like one with a huge garrison and a full stack army is to hit it with Assault units and Assault Garrison and maybe hit the walls and then siege the town. Next turn, break the siege, hit them with the agents again and encircle once more. This prevents the enemy from replenishing. After a few turns you can essentially waltz right in. They might sally of course so be sure you can handle it if they do.

As to my Dark Elves run it's all going well. Dark Elves have some good units and abilities. Their archers-- Shades and Darkshards-- are excellent, probably the best archers in the game. Infantry isn't the greatest, especially I suppose having come straight from a Dwarfs run. Melee defense in particular is not a strength. They are all about hitting fast and hard. The ability called Murderous Prowess is awesome, And they have Dark Arks, a ship that acts as a mobile base, to allow recruitment and replenishment (and bombardment ala Shogun 2) anywhere. An amazing thing when invading faraway hostile shores.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4432955 - 08/04/18 01:07 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Learned something new yesterday, to my consternation I must say.

My Naggaroth was at war with the high elves of Nagarythe. I launched an invasion of their territory and took 3 of their four settlements. The fourth was a port city, called Slaver's Gate I think. I sieged this last town with one full stack army (Malekith) and had a second supporting in reinforcement range as per usual. I then moved my Dark Ark, which I had spent tons of money and dozens of turns building up, to a position adjacent to the port. This would provide bombardment support during, and reinforcement after, the battle.

Clicked end turn and the Nagarythe army that was in the town simply sailed out the backside and sunk my Black Ark! What the?

I don't know that I've ever seen this. The siege of a port city does not close the port and the enemy can freely leave (or arrive?) to a sieged city by sea. There is no blockade mechanic any longer so no way to close it off. What a kick in the teeth that was, to lose this ship that was so central to my invasion plans. Not a problem to recruit another, but it's losing all that progress that stings.

(Edit) Actually this may have also happened in Atilla now that I think about it

I fought another battle, early in this campaign. The battle was tight, I took some heavy losses, but eventually broke them and they ran for the exits. I gave chase on foot and with some volleys of bolts, but most routers escaped. In the after-battle screen I looked at the enemy who survived and thought how great it would have been to have had cavalry to run them down.

Wait a second.... I'm not the Dwarfs. I had two full units of cav that I had hidden behind a hill and then completely forgot about them. Duh.

After playing a couple of Mortal Empires campaigns (on the big map stitching both games together), this Dark Elves run is in Vortex. I decided I would send a raiding army and a Dark Ark to the old world and sack, pillage and plunder my way about. So I set sail and roll back the fog and err, hit the edge of the map. There is no old world in Vortex. Duh.

Last edited by DBond; 08/04/18 03:19 PM.

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4433704 - 08/09/18 01:46 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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I managed to finish one of these campaigns, this one a H/H run as Dark Elves (Malekith) in the Vortex campaign. It was the best Total War campaign I have ever played. With the amount of discussion going on, I reckon few folks around here will do the same, but I will refrain from spoiling it, just in case. But I will say that the campaign is highly engaging (to me), throws a big plot twist, and really ramps up the challenge as you near completion of the Rituals.

As mentioned earlier, there are two campaigns, Eye of the Vortex and Mortal Empires (ME). The ME campaign stitches together all factions and both maps from Warhammers 1 and 2. It is a grand campaign in every sense. It's like most of the grand campaigns that have come before, and plays out in much the same way, aside from the Chaos Invasion near the end.

The Vortex campaign is quite different. I imagine that CA was looking for a way to keep the challenge level up throughout the campaign. Lets face it, in any Total War title there comes a point where you are steamrolling everyone, usually by mid -game. The last part of the run is academic, as you fill in victory objectives. Or at least that's been my experience throughout the series,

The Vortex campaign seeks to correct this late-game humdrum. In the campaign there are four playable races, Dark Elves, High Elves, Lizardmen and Skaven (Rat men). Each race is divided in to a large number of factions. The leading faction for each carries the Vortex torch for their race.

So what's the Vortex? It's a big blue and green swirling maelstrom above the High Elves island of Ulthuan.designed to drain magical energy from the world. Each race seeks to control it. The Vortex campaign is therefore a race between each, err, race, to gain control. The winner will be the first one to complete five Rituals. Do so, and the power of the Vortex is yours, or so the legend goes.

To perform a Ritual, ritual currency must be gathered. It has a different name for each race --Way fragments, Warpstones, Scrolls of Hekarti and Ancient Plaques -- which, when enough has been accrued, allows that faction to kick off a ritual, which lasts for 10 turns. During the ritual you gain bonuses, reduced upkeep, increased public order and so on, but the forces of Chaos will take exception, sending armies to stop the Ritual. These are not so strong early on, but grow in number and power with each successive Ritual.

Ritual currency is gained through settlements, missions and buildings. Scattered about the map are special Ritual currency sites, settlements that have unique buildings that yield far greater amounts than a normal settlement. These strategic locations transform the game. Their importance is obvious, and each faction needs to control as many as possible, to generate currency for themselves as well as to deny it to their rivals.

Instead of the creeping border tide that we usually see in TW games, this mechanic leads to surgical strikes, invasion of far away places. It adds urgency, encouraging the player to take risks. To get out of your comfort zone advancing and protecting your borders, and instead rolling the dice with a a military expedition. If a faction clear across the world is leading the race, you feel compelled to try and stop them, and that means capturing or razing their Ritual sites.

And it is a lot of fun, for me at least. I loved the whole thing. It shakes up the standard TW gameplay. For others maybe not so much. With so little discussion here at Sim HQ, I've been reading other forums and many players complain about the Vortex mechanics. Some gripes are legit, but for the most part I see it as jaded douchebags who need things to complain about. At the center of their complaints is the fact that the 'race' isn't really one at all. It is possible to win the campaign while ignoring the race altogether. When an AI faction wins the race, the player has a chance to fight a battle against them, and if the player wins, that leading faction is removed from the list of contenders.

Do this against each race and you win, and wouldn't need a single fragment or Waystone. These folks use this as 'proof' that the Vortex campaign sucks. Phooey.

You know, you could finish a marathon by running to the end of the first block, ducking in to an apartment and watching TV and eating Cheetos for four hours, then running the final block of the race and across the line. Marathons suck.

So, because it's possible to win by ignoring the rituals, the ritual race itself is invalidated. CA put this in I am sure so that these same people wouldn't complain that the "AI always beats me to the final ritual, this game sucks." Sheesh.

For me, I enjoyed every minute of it, and felt a distinct challenge all the way to the final battle. The campaign was strategic on a level that all others are not. I could go on sprinkling praise or a critical eye over what I think is the best Total War title of them all. And will do so if asked. But for now, I just wanted to share a few thoughts on the Vortex campaign so others might get a feel for what it is.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4433830 - 08/10/18 11:54 AM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Here's a shot showing Malekith's army as he returned from the final battle to take control of the Vortex, which you can see the bottom of in the center of the shot (looks like a tornado).

The city at the bottom of the screen, Lothern, is the capital of the High Elves. Or it was. I sniped it while the HE armies were away, mostly.

Winning the final battle raised all Lords levels by 5, though I stopped playing at this point. In Malekith's army are several Executioners (green unit card), which are the top anti-infantry infantry unit for the Dark Elves. The Shades (blue card) are excellent ranged units, also having greatswords and do a nice job in melee when called upon. All Dark Elves archers have armor piercing, which is fabulous.

Purple cards are Regiments of Renown, special upgraded versions of regular troops that are unlocked as your general gains levels. Also in the army are cavalry and mounted bows, plus a dragon and two Hydras, which are 5-headed beasts that just wreck sh!t. A few units of Executioners were lost in the final battle, because it ain't easy.

[Linked Image]

Attached Files darkelveslothern.jpg

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4434465 - 08/16/18 05:04 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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A weekly Warhammer update! Yeah, yeah, I know. Hey Russ, what ever happened with your solid day of Warhammer/? Did you play? What did you think?

Since the last post I've played a couple more campaigns. After completing the Eye of the Vortex as the Dark Elves I messed around with a few things, including an abortd run as Bretonnia in Warhammer 1, then chose Grombrindal the White Dwarf. A really strong Legendary Lord and lots of fun. I fought through the difficult start to emerge strong on the other side and grew quickly. After confederating several Dwarf clans I stood poised in the mountains to invade the Vampire Counts. Just as Chaos emerged from the wastes to the north, we launched an invasion with 5 stacks. Upon capturing the first settlement I saw I had only options to sack or raze, no occupation. In Warhammer 2, settlements are either suitable, partially suitable or unsuitable, but all can be occupied, with varying levels of bonus or malus depending upon suitability.

In Warhammer 1, it's far more blunt. You cannot live here, the game tells you. And with it, the entire strategical plan I had coiled was undone. I would be left to play out the remaining turns defending, sackin', raidin' and razin'. Not enuff grudgin'! So I lost my enthusiasm and decided to go a different route. There are some things I grew accustomed to in WH2 that are absent for WH1 and while it's still a great game, the Mortal Empires campaign means I won't need to play WH1, regardless of faction. Glad I gave it a go though, and ticked one more title off my 'played' list.

In Warhammer limbo once more I debated the various factions. As I've mentioned a few times, the factionality in this game is fantastic. Each race is so different. and I've only played a few. One I had not tried are the Skaven, the rat men. At first glance they weren't too interesting, a bit repulsive to be honest. They live underground, their settlements appearing as razed cities to the unwary. They have a mechanic that requires a constant food supply which can put the brakes on expansion. They rely on plagues and pestilence. And, well, they're rats.

But as I played other factions and fought the Skaven they started interesting me. They could wreck me with their artillery. and sheer numbers. They have slave units that are meat shields and you sort of take on a different view. These troops are expendable. They are dirt cheap. Like mob the enemy and then hit the whole blob with your awesome artillery. You can always raise more rat slave units.

Furthermore, they have fantastic agents, and their high-tier military units are quite good. And they have some really good abilities. One is called "The Menace Below". It's a battle ability that lets you spawn a unit of low level rat warriors anywhere on the battlefield. So many uses, but spawning them in the center of a group of enemy archers is hilarious. Or in front of a fleeing unit to slow them down. Or in front of their main line advance, causing the enemy to stop and deal, while that awesome artillery rains destruction. So much fun.

On the campaign map they have an ability that grants a chance that your attack is an ambush. So you can move to attack, and get an ambush. Not just ending your turn in ambush stance. This is so amazing.

With my current DLC soup I have three Skaven Legendary Lords to start as.

Strolk is in Lustria (South America) in the jungles. He is full-on plague lord, and this is central to his playstyle. This region remains the only one I have not played in. There are minor factions there that I have yet to meet, let alone fight, since by the time I can see this region in previous games, these minors are gone.

Tretch Craventail is in the NW part of the ME map (North America). He is a backstabber extraordinaire. His faction actually gains public order for each diplomatic treaty he breaks. LOL. But I've played extensively in this part of the map (Dark Elves) and wanted to go somewhere different for this run.

So that leaves Queek. Of the Skaven LLs, he is the most melee-centered. And unlike most Skaven, he is loyal and brave. A real character, yes-yes, kills me some dwarf-things, yes-yes. He starts way down in the SE corner, amongst Lizardmen and Vampires and Tomb Kings. And he is the only Legendary Lord with a start labeled as Very Hard in this campaign. So yeah, that sorta seals the deal right there,

So sure, another 'awesome faction' according to me, but hey I'm easy to please. This post is longer than planned so I'll end it here. I just want to reiterate once again (talk about redundancy!) how amazing this game is with each race being a complete new experience. New techs, units, abilities, handicaps. With each one I play I feel like it's an entirely different game. Really enjoying it.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4435444 - 08/23/18 03:11 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Another week has gone, and with it, an astounding 260 turns of a Skaven campaign. Can't recall the last Total War campaign that I've played as long.

This is a Hard/Hard Mortal Empires run, and as mentioned in the previous post, it's the only start in Mortal Empires labeled as Very Hard. And it is, or at least, it could be. I felt that in the early turns things broke well for me. I see the potential for disaster, but avoided it, or it avoided me perhaps.

In the very first turns I cleared out the Greenskins from my starting province and began slowly expanding. There is no time limit in this campaign, no need to rush. The primary threat for me at this stage was the presence of the lizardmen to my east. They clearly didn't care for my ratmen. Early units for Skaven are quite squishy, and the lizards are not. They have armor and monsters and dinosaurs. I had little to counter this. So it forced me to play differently, and to approach army composition with specific guidelines and a change in both strategy and tactics..

I came to see my armies as hard-counters. That is, ensuring I have the correct unit types to counter the specific threats in the enemy's armies. Does the enemy have a preponderance of armor and monsters? Then I need to have armor piercing and anti-large units to deal. Sending a few units of clanrats with swords against a few charging dinos is sure to end in a pell-mell race for the exits.

I also came to see the Skaven roster as awesome. But it takes a while to unlock it all of course, so the early game was a series of skirmishes, raids, sacking and plundering. Complicating matters is the food mechanic that Skaven have, Each army and each settlement you have costs one food. If you fall low on food reserves you get order and leadership penalties. So expansion, both in territory and in military strength, is tempered by the need to balance the food reserves.

So I went slowly. 100 turns in I had just 15 regions. The leading factions had over 50. But by taking my time I was able to build a solid base, tech up and fill out my armies with the units I needed. After clearing out the lizardmen and settling this corner of the map,I insulated my entire starting area behind a huge wall of allies. Potential enemies would need to travel through many provinces owned by my allies before they could even get to me, and even then my cities appear as ruins and the AI is programmed to be fooled by this, or so it seems. So more than any other TW faction I've played, I came to realize that I could venture further afield, and leave my homeland mostly undefended by mobile armies. This was supported by the fact that Skaven have really good, strong garrisons, and I could take on any single-stack army at the walls, if it came to that.

But this sort of locked me in. I couldn't expand my little corner of the world without going to war with an ally. So a distant target was needed. I took Queek's army and another and began the long trek over land and seas to Lustria. Usually in a TW run I will start sending agents off in all directions to roll back the fog, discover other factions and hopefully get some trade partners out of it. But in Warhammer I've more or less stopped doing this. New trade agreements are valuable of course, but there's also a chance that the faction you discover says something along the lines of "Oh there you are. We hate you. To war!" And they declare on you on the very first turn you learn of one another. That's not too good. So I began keeping everyone on a short leash. just rolling back the fog enough to keep an eye on anyone encroaching my borders.

But this also meant I had yet to discover any other Skaven factions, who would make good allies and potential confederation targets. The skaven lord Skrolk is in Lustria and as my first agent touched down on his shores I began trying to butter him up. Not only did I want to be allies, I also needed somewhere for my two armies to encamp. The long journey through deserts and open ocean had caused serious attrition. So I did things like give gifts and use my agents against his enemies to curry favor and get military access. This was done and my armies made landfall to find he was down to 3 regions, and a second lizardman faction was sweeping down to crush him. My two armies added stiffness to his defense and together we fought them to standstill. The High Elves were also a problem, but by using the underways and ambushes we started to roll them back. Skrolk was so happy about this he agreed to confederate and now my Clan Mors had a second homeland and a second Legendary Lord as well. Skrolk is a caster and a nice complement to Queek's melee-centric abilities.

Now it was on. The entire western side of the map was nothing but me and enemies and a shrinking Dark Elves enclave up north. I was at the extreme southern end with my rear secure and one direction to fight. And as luck would have it, another lizardman faction as enemy with my stacks tailored for this particular foe.

We now have 40+ regions and are the strongest in the land. Sadly, my allies suck big time and can't do anything right, so I'm on my own as I watch them do stupid sh!t every turn as their cities are taken by the enemies. When the campaign starts I think there are 117 factions, plus a number of emergent and rebel factions that pop up. Now, 260+ turns in, it's down to the last 23. Battle Royale, Total War style!



No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4436500 - 08/30/18 08:33 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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That's right folks, another week has gone. I decided to snap some pics and put them up for SimHQ consumption, then basically forgot to take any, so that was a fail.

Can hardly believe it myself, that I am still playing this game. It's been a couple months now and I am still finding new and interesting stuff. The factionality thing continues to pay dividends. Each faction or race I choose is like an entirely new game. So far I've played as

High Elves (twice, in each campaign)
Empire
Dwarfs (two times, each with a different Lord)
Dark Elves (Twice)
Skaven
Bretonnia (briefly)

Each of those plays so differently, it's awesome. And now I've gone and bought the Tomb Kings DLC. I'll keep it brief as there's little interest, but it's another great faction. These dudes are all undead, skeletons and stone monsters 'living' in the desert, with a decidedly Ancient Egypt theme. Entirely new mechanics than any I've tried so far. For example, their armies have no recruitment cost nor upkeep. Recruitment is capped by research (for new Lords) and buildings (for higher tier units). Lots more unique facets.

Infantry is a weakness, but maybe the most powerful monsters in the game, a unique tech tree mechanic and in the Vortex campaign, they have objectives separate from all other races that are doing the Vortex thing. I'm playing on Hard/Hard as per usual, and frankly it's been the easiest start I've done so far. It got more challenging after 50 turns, but a fairly easy start. I'm finding that fighting other Tomb Kings is difficult.

I've dropped a ton of time in to this title, far more already than Atilla which I liked. The replayability factor with all the different factions is extremely high. And there are still a few factions that I have yet to try.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4436520 - 08/30/18 10:42 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Check up in the community War hammer 40000 Space Marines is free at Humble Bundle for a bit..I got a steam key from them and no issues signing onto Steam and getting it in my library..The price is right
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/warhammer-40000-space-marine


Russ
Semper Fi
#4436583 - 08/31/18 02:41 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Well it's Warhammer, and a reply, so I'll take it. Thanks man. How did your solid day with Warhammer that you mentioned go? Did you try it?

A few times I've referred to 'monsters', but that's just me being lazy. Monstrous units is more accurate, if the point isn't too fine.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4436628 - 08/31/18 09:10 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Man, I just had a weird experience...I got destroyed as Empire in a game. I had ports, etc. Vamps and chaos just killed me!

I'm gonna have to have a go at that again. That was weird!!!


"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Matthew 5:11

Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because “the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
#4436634 - 08/31/18 09:48 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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What difficulty are you playing? I've had the VC afflict a few heavy defeats on me as well. They are tough, especially once they have their roster teched up. The key as I see it, and easier said then done, is to snipe the Lords as quickly as possible. I began embedding an Empire Captain who was heavily invested in the yellow line, to exclusively go after the enemy Lords. Knock the Lord out and the army crumbles. Not always possible though and the Vampires have some excellent Legendary Lords.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4436649 - 08/31/18 11:59 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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It was on hard. But I’m stupid in that I basically let them get too established and didn’t do what you said and take out their lords soon enough. Good news is with my health condition, I’ve got loads of time to give it anither go....


"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Matthew 5:11

Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because “the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
#4436694 - 09/01/18 11:42 AM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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It seems in about half the campaigns I play the Vampire Counts become one of the top factions, usually at the expense of the Empire. On the others, the Empire rolls over the VC.

Here are a couple of shots, just ones I happened to have

This is a Skaven ambush of the dastardly High Elves just as the Plagueclaw catapults unleash their first salvo

[Linked Image]


This is the map at one point during a Mortal Empires campaign as Skaven. Yellow is my territory, and as you can see I took over certain strategic locations, not just a creeping border tide. This was a very fun campaign, one of the longest I've played. Starting location was in the southeast corner.

[Linked Image]

This shot is of the Skaven armies standing victorious at Karak Eight Peaks, one of the more important settlements in the campaign, and the objective of several factions. We just happened to win the race

[Linked Image]

The Araby desert, home to the Tomb Kings. These shots, I think, fail to really capture how gorgeous the map is.

[Linked Image]


Attached Files 20180819233926_1.jpg20180824225840_1.jpg20180818010955_1.jpg20180831192101_1.jpg
Last edited by DBond; 09/01/18 03:27 PM.

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4436845 - 09/02/18 05:07 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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Finished the Khemri campaign with Settra. That was fun, and was over in 155 turns. The final battle was epic. For much of it I thought I would lose, and I came about as close as can be.

A few notes about the Tomb Kings, then some pics. Like the Dwarfs, the Tomb Kings have a crafting mechanic. The more trade resources you have access to the more items you can make. Some of it quite powerful, on par with any of the purple items from quests. The absence of recruitment cost or upkeep seems OP at first glance, but it isn't. Armies are capped through tech and infrastructure. At the end I had 6 armies, which is more or less in line with what I've done with other factions. Income is far less for Tomb Kings, which plays it's part in the equation as well. For me the main advantage here is that no recruitment cost means you have little objection to using global recruitment. There is still the extra recruitment time, but with no monetary cost you'll use both queues and therefore can recruit an entire army in 3 turns. Losses are quickly replaced, and new Lords are up and running in no time.

The start for Settra is pretty easy as I mentioned. Other Tomb King lords have more difficult starts. Settra himself is a beast. I put him on a warsphinx mount and he just crushes. As monstrous units became available I focused on them, and had several in every army. The sphinx and the titan especially were vital. In the final battle even Settra went down, but there was a single titan that won that battle at the end. Epic stuff. With fairly weak infantry, the monstrous units are the key for victory on the battlefield for Tomb Kings.

Another interesting thing is I won this campaign having held only 20 settlements (7 provinces). It didn't require massive conquering, and that's cool since it's all a bit more manageable and streamlined. I'll add Tomb Kings to the long and growing list of fun WH2 factions.

So the idea in the campaign for Tomb Kings is to ignore the Vortex race and search for the Books of Nagash. They are scattered about the map, some held by armies, some tucked away deep in the recesses of various cities. Nine in all, but only five are required for the campaign. Once I had found the fifth one, the final battle arrives. It pits Settra's army, along with two half-stack allies, against two full stack enemies. As the battle unfolds, the enemy gets reinforcements, and they come from all directions, which is always the thing that rips my tactical plan to shreds and makes for a chaotic mashup. In this battle they received FOUR FULL STACKS of reinforcements! Sorry for the spoilers, but that is insane! And they all came at the same time. Are you kidding me? When I saw this I was sure that the battle was lost, I wasn't certain of the outcome before this happened, let alone with this massive influx of fresh troops with their own titans and sphinxes. Somehow we managed to win. But only just.

This is the setup at the start, there is no deployment phase and I have no control over the allied armies.

[Linked Image]


And this is the final tally. Epic,ain't it?

[Linked Image]

The Tomb Kings stand Supreme!

[Linked Image]


Attached Files 20180902112711_1.jpg20180902120230_2.jpg20180902120328_1.jpg
Last edited by DBond; 09/02/18 05:13 PM.

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4438172 - 09/10/18 08:00 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
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After 3 months, and err, hundreds of hours, I finally burned out on Warhammer yesterday. I ended up playing as every race aside from Vampires, Beastmen and Chaos, which leaves me with a few reasons to return. If they release a Skaven DLC, which is in the works, I will give it another go. In the end I only found a couple of factions to be not my thing, most were fun and interesting.

I will now say for certain that Warhammer 2 is my favorite TW title. I like most of them, but WH2 stands above for me.

My favorite faction was Clan Mors, Queek Headtaker. Going in I would have picked any other one, but in the end it's the faction I enjoyed playing the most.

This is a great game. I had hoped to generate some discussion, but it wasn't to be. However, if anyone down the line gets in to it don't hesitate to crank this thread back up.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
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