Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
Page 3 of 17 1 2 3 4 5 16 17
#4476779 - 06/05/19 01:50 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Originally Posted by DBond
If they release a Skaven DLC, which is in the works, I will give it another go



Clearly a man of my word, I am back biggrin

CA did indeed release a Skaven DLC, The Prophet and the Warlock ($9) that adds new mechanics and new Legendary Lords for the Skaven and the Lizardmen. Since the Skaven proved to be my favorite faction to play I bought this one and fired up a Mortal Empires campaign as Ikit Claw. He is the Skaven engineer/technocrat lord. His schtick is gadgets and technology. Excellent ranged weapons, including the 'Ratling Gun' lol.

So new units and weapons, new tech abilities and all Skaven factions get a new 'underworld' campaign mechanic, which allows them to build a subterranean lair beneath other factions' cities, to siphon off resources or raise armies unseen in their midst. The ratmen are fiendish. Anyway, a good addition to the game, new Skaven stuff is very welcome for me. Perhaps even a bit OP, but not every campaign needs to be a struggle smile

And Ikit Claw has tactical nukes, called Doomrockets. I fired one off in my first battle (they are limited, about one produced every four turns) and it sent 6 or so regiments hightailing it for the exits, they were shattered, and some just gone. And it partly missed as it's the first one I fired, and I didn't yet know the on-call delay, and the moving mob moved out from under it a bit. Still, a devastating weapon to have in the arsenal.

The Skaven are my favorite race to play, in what I feel is the best Total War game, so picking up this DLC was just a matter of time. I'm interested in Three Kingdoms, but not at $60, so picked this up instead.

RIP Airdrop, you were about the only one here who played this game.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4477911 - 06/13/19 01:48 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Well, easy it was not, I misjudged smile

I played a Mortal Empires campaign as Clan Skyre (Ikit Claw) on Hard/Hard as I always do. The start position for this campaign is tough. I started well enough, capturing the whole neighboring province. But the food mechanic put the brakes on and for the next 100 turns I essentially fought off enemies while developing my infrastructure and expanding my web of undercities.

The undercity thing is really cool. Using agents an undercity can be established below any city. There are four building slots, which can be used for a large number of things. Food, money, and more can be gained. It can be used to spawn a strong army right next to your target, which is very Skaven. But each building increases the detectability so you need to balance what you build against the risk of being found out. Fun to play with.

I reached number 4 strongest faction, but eventually humans declared war and their extensive alliance snowed me under. The Dwarves were their allies and the strongest faction by far, and in the end I could not fight them all off and I quit the campaign. My main issue was everyone hates the Skaven and I had no worthwhile (and nearby) allies and no trade partners.

The faction is a lot of fun, the units and weapons are great. I simply got snowed under by an alliance too big to resist. I was too cautious early on, didn't expand enough and in the end the four armies I could support were too little.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4478519 - 06/17/19 03:21 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Another installment of my Warhammer 2 series. If you've read through the thread you'll know I've played as most of the races, and many of the factions. But there are a lot, and it would take a long time to get through them all. One race I've dabbled in, but never really got too far off the ground is the Lizardmen. They lack a certain appeal for me, but I like mixing it up and experiencing as many of them as I can. Plus, they were fleshed out a bit in the DLC I mentioned in the last couple of posts. So why not? Let's give 'em a go.

This race has four playable legendary lords, as well as a number of factions that cannot be played. Lizards are 'good', defenders of order within the Warhammer world. Start locations are varied. Militarily they feature strong early-game infantry, poor ranged options and fairy strong cavalry. They lack a strong late-game infantry like many factions have. But the start is always so important in a Total War campaign, so they are well positioned to get off the ground quickly.

The main strength of Lizards are the monstrous units, in this case dinosaurs! Stegadons, Bastiladons and Carnosaurs, which simply wreck sh!t. Of the two lords I started with, each has a dino in the starting army. Lizardmen also have a nice selection of flying units. The fact that they have access to their second strongest infantry at tier one (Saurus warriors) and tier 2 (shielded Saurus) gives them a big advantage over most of the enemies you'll face in the early going. A half stack of these can roll through a stack and a half of Skaven clanrats and slaves without much trouble. This means you don't need to turtle or take it slow while teching up, and can go on the offensive right off the bat.

As with all factions, the upper-tier units require buildings, and that will take a while. In my current campaign it took more than 50 turns to recruit my first dino, so it's very important to preserve the ones you're given at the start. Of course I managed to lose mine in an auto-resolve battle, didn't even notice and then played 40 turns without one. Don't be like me smile

Carnosaurs are the apex, but also require a tier 5 building. If you haven't brushed up on your dinosaurs recently, a Carnosaur is a bi-pedal like a Tyrranosarus. Very fast, very strong. Crashing one of these in to the flank of engaged enemy infantry is a delight. The carnosaur will flip enemy soldiers in to the air and grab them with it's mouth. It's awesome. By the time your infantry is being outclassed, you're adding these dinos to your armies and they more than make up for it.

Ranged options are limited and fairly poor compared to other factions like the Elves for example. Javelin units are the mainstay early game. As with all TW jav units, range and ammo are very limited, but they do OK in melee once they've run out of ammunition. But considering other factions have awesome archers, artillery and the like, the ranged options for the Lizards are rather weak. Battle style with these guys is smash mouth, not surgical. You won't have the ability to focus-fire targets like many others can do.

The first lord I tried was Kroq-Gar, who leads the Last Defenders faction. A very strong melee lord (he gets a Carnosaur mount at level 18!), he is hamstrung by his start position. He starts in the extreme southeast corner of the map. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because things are often chaotic in a WH2 start. But Kroq-Gar needs to just defend and fight in one direction, with no threat from the back. A curse, because once you've taken the starting area, you can get boxed in a bit with few options for expansion. Very few trade options as well.

That's what happened to me. I blitzed though the first 50-70 turns, taking town after town, wiping out my enemies. But then I found I was hemmed in by both the terrain and allies. I could have migrated, or sent expeditions out like I did in my Queek (Skaven) Vortex campaign, but instead I decided to try a different lord on the other side of the world.

And that was Mazdamundi, a big fat lard-ass toad who floats around on some sort of magic carpet or something. He is a caster, not a melee lord. While he doesn't appeal to my usual style, his start position does. He starts in the jungles of Lustria (South America), which is much better than the corner that Kroq-Gar starts in. A lot of trade and expansion possibilities. Nearby potential enemies are Dark Elves, Skaven and Vampires. Of course this also means you are more vulnerable to attack.

The start is difficult, or I found it so. I did a bit of reloading before I got it right. But once I did the campaign took off and I've been the strongest faction for most of the game (about 75 turns in, Hard/Hard settings). Corruption (Chaos/Skaven/Vampiric) is a big challenge at higher settings, but on the battlefield I've had a lot of success with these armies. As a 'good' race I easily get alliances and trade deals with high elves factions (and others) , the exact opposite of my runs with the Skaven factions. This is a shot in the arm militarily (war-co-oridination mechanic) and financially.

I won't say that the Lizardmen are among my favorites, but they are interesting, and as always in this game, different. I love ranged weaponry in TW, and that's a weakness here, but it's fun to get out of my comfort zone and try new stuff and hunt a few achievements along the way.

Edit: The top-tier foot infantry, Temple Guards, are strong. Not equal to the very best infantry in the game, but now that I have played with some I see they are better than I had indicated. They do require two top-tier buildings to recruit, so it takes time to get to them, and recruiting provinces will be limited as a result.



Last edited by DBond; 06/19/19 02:15 PM.

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4478920 - 06/19/19 03:36 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
I was going to post an update on my campaign, but it's over already smile

Slow, difficult start, being assailed from all directions. It's difficult to get traction when you're in constant battle from the off. But once I did get a handle on it, things snowballed. Aside from the first 20 turns maybe, I was ranked #1 throughout the the game. I swear, CA programmed something like this

if (isAlly){
// then:dumbass mode

As an order faction I could easily get trade agreements and alliances with the High Elves, which included Lothern, which, in every run I've done are always right at the top of the heap, usually the strongest faction, and often by far. But here -- since they were my ally and I was counting on them -- they did one stupid thing after another. I had to send a rescue operation repeatedly to save their butts as they kept losing provinces and especially their amazing capital. Fun on one hand, annoying as heck on the other. At one point they had the second most provinces (largely through confederation) but were ranked #62. Because they had no armies. Good grief. I've played a lot of TW2 campaigns and never saw them do anywhere near as poorly. They were eventually confederated by a faction with two provinces. Weird.

My Lizardmen though were steamrollers. They crushed everything in the way and were easily the strongest faction when victory came around turn 155. The AI just isn't much of a match for a good player, too easy to exploit them I think. If you can establish your faction, the AI is in trouble. Getting the high tier units, especially dinos, meant that the AI doesn't stand much of a chance on the battlefield. But that's true of most factions. High tier armies in the player's hands are hard to beat. If you're going to lose one of these campaigns, it'll be in the early going, or getting rolled by an uber-alliance, like in my Ikit Claw run.

I had read lots of comments that confederations were nigh-on impossible as Lizardmen, but I was able to, so maybe something was changed in this regard.

I had a good time with the lizardmen, I like the area they are in. But on the field of battle I prefer other races. Dinos are cool, but the whole vibe doesn't really suit my style. Nice change of pace however. So I want to try another, and would ask for recommendations, but err, yeah, no one here biggrin

Vampire Counts are one I have yet to do. No appeal really. Their corruption makes the map look sh!tty, and well they are nasty. But I didn't think I'd like the Skaven either, and they turned out to be my favorite. I'll bounce it around and pick a new one. Haven't tried Greenskins yet either.



No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4479263 - 06/21/19 02:48 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Not so fast.... So I didn't actually win the campaign. It was late, and an achievement popped and I didn't catch which one it was. Assumed it was for filling the final objective. But it was not. There is still one faction that I need to kill off, Cult of Pleasure (Dark Elves) led by Morathi. They are directly north of my territory and we've been skirmishing throughout the campaign. Her schtick revolves around Chaos corruption, so it is difficult to invade due to the high attrition this causes. Encampment stance can be used to nullify it, but that cuts your movement points in half, so it's slow going. But she is down to her final settlement now, we've razed all the others. I thought I had won at turn 155, but now it's turn 175.

In the mean time, the Doomtide arrived, seemingly endless waves of full stack Chaos armies, who spawn just off my southeastern coast and attack relentlessly. It is quite the challenge, and a bit annoying after you've dealt with the first 3 or 4 waves of six to eight fullstack armies. I had conquered and confederated the entire Lustrian continent, and this invasion has so far razed five of my coastal settlements and cities. The armies I am defending with are battered and in need of refit. Not sure I could do much about another wave if it comes. But I will cobble them together best as I can and meet them on the field of battle until only one of us is left standing.

Losing these five cities means that previously completed objectives (own certain provinces) are no longer met, so they will need to be recolonized once more if I want to get a victory. I won't rush this until it seems the invasion is over. Colonizing a razed city costs about 3/4 of the soldiers in the stack, so they are very vulnerable until they can replenish. Best to wait for the storm to blow over. Doing so also means the invaders would be compelled to move inland to keep attacking me (or further north along the coast where my cities are better developed (walls) ), giving me a better chance to trap them, ambush them and defeat them in detail or at the walls, Or such is the plan smile

The territory I hold is so vast that it is a massive challenge to defend it all against seaborne invasion of elite doomstacks. This mechanic provides a stiff late game challenge, but it is a bit annoying. These waves spawn in the same locations over and over, meaning most of the world's factions never have to deal with them. But since I hold the territory adjacent to this one spawn location, it's left to me to deal with it again and again. My lords gain levels, item and followers, and the pay is good. Plus it gives me something to do with all of my late-game armies.

But I'd much rather the challenge come from powerful AI factions than a scripted mechanic that repeats ad nauseam with cookie-cutter enemy stacks of elite units. I'm ready to move on to a different faction, but I want to achieve a victory. I'm still motivated, but wavering biggrin



No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4479502 - 06/22/19 05:18 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Not sure who I am talking to, just sharing my thoughts and experiences. Thread's gotten some views, so someone's reading it. Unless that's just my clicks smile

The invasion of the final objective-faction (Cult of Pleasure) went well, until they were down to their final settlement, at which point they confederated another faction, which meant killing them just got longer. Next turn they were themselves confederated by Malekith and with that they were 'dead'.

My chaos wave rant was a bit of a short-runner as the next wave I killed was the final one. Once Archaon the Everchosen spawns, then the waves seem to stop. That allowed me to recolonize my razed lands. So now, all objectives are met save one. Archaon himself must be killed. But he is very strong, and his armies too. And he has decided to await developments by encamping in the Chaos Wastes way up north (instead of blitzing the world as he should). I've set him as the war coordination target for all of my allies and half the world has mobilized against him. But until we can hit him with successive armies he'll just shrug it off. He's too strong to be killed by AI stacks one at a time. So I have also mobilized, sending my leader's army and another all the way across the (huge) map to add to the assault. When, and if, he dies the campaign will be won. It has all come down to this. I hope I get a crack at him myself.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4479731 - 06/24/19 02:20 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Victory! Many armies were converging on Archaon's position, including mine, on turn 195. During the AI turn, three stacks from the high elves hit Archaon's stack and killed him. I would have reached there the next turn, but in the end my assistance was not needed. With that, all objectives for the campaign were met.

The lizards are a good faction. Strong roster lacking good ranged options. They need to fight like the VC fought in Vietnam, grab 'em by the belt. Get in close straight away to nullify the enemy's range advantage, or at least make them hit their own troops too.

I'm not a big fan of the legendary lord for Hexoatl. He's a caster and although I've had success with other caster lords, with Mazdamundi I felt I struggled to get the best out of him. Never felt like I used him effectively. In the end I had ten armies, and the other lords were split between magic and melee. With melee lords I feel more comfortable, far less micro, just wade him in to the fray and let him swing his weapon. WIth casters, it's constantly checking cooldowns, and there's a miscast chance, a mana pool, and overall I like the simpler melee lords. Fully-specced casters are probably more powerful in the end, if more difficult to use well.

But for example Mazdamundi has a spell called Net of Amyntok. This locks the unit(s) you hit with it in position, making a follow-up cav charge devastating while the enemy can't react. But it makes the player a lot busier coordinating it all. The other lizard lord I played, Kroq-Gar, is a melee lord, and I would prefer him over Mazdamundi except for their start positions. The dinosaurs were a lot of fun though. A nice assortment of them to choose from, and they were the difference makers in a number of battles, especially the more difficult quest battles. On hard/hard settings the AI isn't terribly strong, but a few battles could have gone either way if it weren't for the strength and staying power of the dinos.

Another campaign victory with yet another faction. The lizards don't really fit my style, but were fun to play. I love the asymmetry that each faction throws at you in this game. Each one play very differently, and keeps it fresh and interesting.

I've started a new H/H ME campaign as Lothern (high elves). This was my very first WH2 faction, and I noticed I quit that run before victory to try other factions. So giving them another go to tick that one off the list. This faction has a lot going for it, good roster, great start position. useful campaign mechanics and bonuses. Not a hard one, but as I hadn't actually won a campaign as them I decided to give them another go. Kinda wished I had made it a Vortex campaign, but it'll do.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4480082 - 06/26/19 05:18 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
I'm blowing through these campaigns. Haven't finished it yet, but the Lothern campaign is going very well.

This high elves faction has a lot going for it.

Roster is well balanced. They have tier 1 spearmen, but those are quickly outdone by the Sea Guard, which are hybrid missile/spear troops that are very useful early to mid game. Their late-game, high-tier infantry is a match for any.

Archers are a strength, not only are they good, but they have a range advantage over other archers. Dark Elves get AP on their archers, which high elves do not. But that long range is highly valuable, and even more so as you tech up.

Cavalry is excellent, and they have phoenix and dragon units, which, while not as strong as other monstrous units, are absurdly cool. The only roster weakness is artillery. High elves get a bolt-thrower, which is OK, but nothing compared to the artillery options of the Skaven or Dwarfs for example. It's most useful for compelling the AI enemy to charge you and your arrow rain..

So they play traditionally, with a good balance, hammer and anvil works great. The legendary lord, Tyrion, is a melee beast. Once he is high level I think he could eventually chop down entire armies on his own. Lothern also gets special choices for additional lords, ones that are better than a typical generic one.

In the campaign, Lothern gets a cool mechanic that lets you spend influence on diplomatic relations. You can increase or decrease relations between any two factions. Want two nations to go to war? Make 'em hate each other. Want to get a trade agreement with a reluctant faction sitting on the fence? Butter 'em up a bit and they might agree next turn. Lothern also has a good start position. They start as the Gatekeepers of Ulthuan, which is the island in the center of the ME map. With just one settlement, and enemies at your doorstep, the opening moves must come off. But once you've taken control of the province, things start to look much better indeed.

Confederations are fairly easy to get, and with the influence mechanic you can bend them as you see fit. By turn 100 I had confederated all surviving high elves factions. This easy expansion, combined with a good start position, plentiful trade agreements and strong, balanced roster makes Lothern one of the very best factions in the game. I'd recommend them as a good choice for a new player's first campaign.




No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4480598 - 06/29/19 02:29 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
High Elves campaign done and dusted.

I feel like I should bump the difficulty to very hard, but the penalties and AI bonuses bother me. It's the age-old complaint that difficulty should come through better AI rather than stacking bonuses or maluses like most games do. As much as I like this game, I see the AI doing stoopid sh!t all the time. Better AI would be so nice to have.

One of my main complaints would be that 'order' factions have a terrible time dealing with corruption, especially vampiric and chaos corruption. They never get a handle on it, I'm guessing they don't build or gain untainted bonuses like the player will. So they take terrible attrition. Here's an example of what I see all the time.

Bretonnia is at war with the Wood Elves. The Wood Elves' home forest imparts attrition on any army that enters their lands. So Bretonnia, who are very strong, want to attack a settlement that's a short distance beyond the border. A player will stop at the border, so he ends his turn outside of the attrition zone. The AI though goes just over the border and runs out of movement points, meaning they cannot use encampment stance to avoid attrition and they suffer the effects at the end of the turn. Now weakened by the losses, the stack moves to the target but realizes I guess that they now lack the strength to attack. So they sit taking attrition for another turn. Then the defending stack comes and crushes them. A player would have taken the settlement, the AI fails.

A second issue I have, and one that would give the AI a big boost, is that the AI doesn't have a good plan when it comes to which buildings they build. The player can plan it out so their full roster is recruitable, and they get the buildings that give faction-specific bonuses or other goodies. So, AI stacks are often low or mid-tier troops simply because they didn't build the right stuff, and can have some silly compositions, like 16 crossbows and three agents.. Large empires seem to do OK just because with so many towns they have a better chance of getting the right buildings. Small or tall factions don't.

This is standard TW level stuff. All of the games suffer from these sorts of things. CA build great games, but I feel with a little more attention to the details they could be far better.



No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4480900 - 07/01/19 03:29 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
This 'having my own thread' thing is awesome biggrin

Hard to believe this game gets so little love 'round here. But even the historical titles are hardly discussed. Panzer and F/O talk about the games, but that's about it now that Airdrop has passed. Warhammer 2 is really an excellent TW game. I wish folks could put aside the fantasy aspect and give it a go. WH2 is 50% off for the Steam Summer Sale. If you've been on the fence, now's a good time to give it a try. I took advantage and picked up the Curse of the Vampire Coast DLC on sale.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/835670/Total_War_WARHAMMER_II__Curse_of_the_Vampire_Coast/

A few new, completely different factions to try!

I started a new save, this one as the Dreadleet on Very Hard. Actually I started on Legendary, but had forgotten that means no orders can be issued when paused, actually nothing can be done while paused, like scoping the battlefield, zooming out to take it all in, checking morale on enemy units and so on. While I like the challenge, I also value the ability to pause and look around, so I restarted on very hard. Things happen too fast on legendary for me, and it Iacks the sense of control needed to both fight well and enjoy myself while doing so.

So these new factions are vampire pirates. They have unique campaigns and mechanics, completely different from any others. In essence, they are hybrid hordes and normal factions. The faction leader gets mechanics very similar to hordes in Attila. You build up your ship, which allows recruiting and other bonuses in the same way any city does. But it's mobile. So if you want to spend the campaign pillagin' and plunderin', sackin' and razin', you can do it easily. There is no need to ever settle or occupy.

I played Dreadfleet in the Vortex campaign, and the objectives are different from most races, the ones that are racing to control the Vortex. The Vampire Coast factions instead are attempting to control an ancient seamonster. In order to do that the player must complete missions, such as obtain a weapon (win a battle), and defeat various pirate captains to obtain their sea shanties. When all have been gathered, a final battle is fought to win the campaign.

What this means is that the player can really do anything he wants. You can conquer and expand, or simply sail your fleet around doing piratey things. Like the Skaven's undercity mechanic, the Vampire Pirates have a Pirate Cove mechanic. Using agents, or through battle, pirate coves can be constructed on any settlement. These can be used to siphon money, or other benefits for the pirates. In this way, you can maintain an income without ever actually conquering anything. Sack, raid and cove your way to riches.

There are a host of other new mechanics and features, new units, agents that hunt for treasures and tech trees. There are 'Offices' you can assign your generals to, like the Empire have, but with better bonuses. Vampire Coast factions have a cool roster. They are similar in some ways to the Vampire Counts from WH1. They have the raise dead ability for instant recruitment, and their troops never break. Cause they're already dead I guess. But unlike the VC, these new factions have gunpowder! Great artillery and missile units. Infantry isn't the best, but with strong ranged units and monstrous units the infantry isn't as key as with some other factions.

I enjoyed the first 100 turns of the campaign. I chased objectives, raided and pillaged and eventually took a province to give me some territory. Battles were fun. But after a while I felt like I had little aim. It wasn't strategic like I want it to be. No plans for conquest of distant targets, few enemies to defend against. Maybe a pirate's life's not for me. I plan to try another campaign with a different faction and treat it more like a conventional campaign, with conquest and expansion, while having the pirate ship to aid in these endeavors and still do pirate stuff on the side to gain infamy, money and experience.

After a year of playing this game off and on, time to take stock. I've played campaigns as the following factions, though some were never completed, and some played more than once.


Clan Skyre
Clan Mors
Khemri
Naggarond
Dreadfleet
Vampire Coast (starting tonight!)
Last Defenders
Hexoatl
Lothern
Loremasters
Von Carstein
Bretonnia
Dwarfs (Thorgrim Grudgebearer)
Dwarfs (Grombrindal)
Empire

I think that's it? Plenty more to go....


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4481415 - 07/04/19 04:18 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
[Linked Image]


As mentioned, I decided to try a different Vampire Coast DLC faction, oddly enough it's the Vampire Coast biggrin

Another pirate faction, but this one starts with a settlement, The Awakening, on the northeast coast of Lustria. Having a province capital as the starting town is quite useful. Instead of playing full-bore pirate, I'm doing a hybrid sort of run, conquering and expanding ashore, while ploughing the high seas in search of riches and scurvy dogs to fight.

Roster is the same as the Dreadfleet I played first. Units offer a nice mix of ranged, melee and monstrous, but lack cavalry. The legendary lord, Harkon (shown above) is awesome. A lot of work goes in to these Legendary Lords, for their skills, spells, unique traits and so on. But most of them I develop little affinity for. They are just the sharpest tool in the drawer. However a few I take a real shine to. Queek Headtaker, the skaven lord for Clan Mors, is one. I loved his whole act, from the voice acting, to the 'personality', his abilities, his bring-it-on attitude. My favorite one so far.

Harkon is another. He has a 'fractured mind' ability, if you can call it that. His madness means that at random times a different personality will take over, changing his unique skills and traits. "The Mad", "The Coward", "The Bad", "The Narcissist". This occurs with no warning, always keeping me guessing, and adapting to the new guy in charge. Fun. This has it's own quest chain, and eventually if you meet all the requirements, you'll reunite his mind. I have yet to achieve this so don't know what benefits this imparts.

He carries a pistol, and it's awesome watching him take aim and firing a devastating round that rips through the enemy ranks.

On the battlefield I rely on the artillery to weaken the enemy. Good gunner units help too. Infantry is not a strength. The high-tier units, called Depth Guard, are awesome. But their unit count on ultra is just 60, whereas most other factions have 80 to 120 in theirs, and with all armies capped at 20 units, every swinging deck matters. And there is no shielded version so they are vulnerable to missiles. The lower tier infantry, called Zombie Deckhands, have a unit count of 160, but they aren't very strong. I keep a few in the army to bolster the Depth Guard. Overall, the infantry is underwhelming. The aces up my sleeve are units called Bloated Corpses. They are literally suicide bombers. You can walk them in to an enemy unit and they explode, using up the unit, but dealing high damage. Properly timed, this is a battle-changing ability.

The units are also Aquatic, meaning they don't suffer penalties from fighting in shallow water, so that is a key terrain piece on any map when playing these factions.

Monstrous units tend to be the decider in many battles. With middling infantry units, having strong, tanky monstrous units is good. Giant crab-like creatures called Rotting Leviathans are devastating to closely-packed infantry lines. But my favorite is the Necrofex Collosus. See the thing in the shot above that looks like a cross between a ship and a titan? That's the Necrofex. It has ranged attack, massive melee attack, causes fear and is armor piercing. Awesome.

Like the Skaven, this faction has become one of my favorites despite the fact that before playing them I wouldn't have thought they would be for me. The Vampiric Corruption mechanic is great for helping defend your lands. Non-vampire invaders suffer terrible attrition to it. Allowing the enemy to come to you, then counter-attacking after a round or two of attrition works so well. I really enjoy the campaign play, the ability to play the hybrid style, and the feasibility of playing tall. The pirate coves mechanic lets you support a growing army, without needing to expand your territory along with it.

It's to CA's credit that they keep coming up with interesting, unique factions. I now own every DLC made for Warhammer 2 (and some from WH1 which can be played in the Mortal Empires campaign alongside the WH2 factions), which says it all really. I've enjoyed a lot of Total War titles. Atilla and Napoleon probably my favorites, with honorable mention to Shogun 2 and Med 2. But none of those games are anywhere close to WH2 in the sheer variety and scope of what they have in Warhammer 2. The replayability is sky-high as a result. I listed the factions I have played in the last post, and it's as many as I've played in any three historical titles probably, Medieval 2 excluded. In those games, switching factions means some differences, but in many ways they are very much alike, aside perhaps from the hordes in Atilla. But in WH2 every one is very different. I've been harping on this 'factionality' as I am calling it. But it's what makes this game so compelling, and so much fun to try a new one.

Edit: Errata correction: I do not own the Beastmen DLC, oops

Attached Files harkon.png
Last edited by DBond; 07/06/19 07:22 PM.

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4505760 - 02/01/20 07:30 AM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  

**DONOTDELETE**
Unregistered
USSCheyenne
Unregistered


Hey DBond! I just started playing WH TW quite recently. Bought it during Christmas sale. I'am during my first campaign with the Empire. I have to say it's guite difficult and i had to restart couple of times. Little money, only one army to afford after taking first province, Beastman, Greenskins, problems with public order and vampiric corruption. Just another day at the office:)

After the Empire i really would likr to play as Norsca and of course Vampires. When i'am done with those, then i will get Warhammer 2.

#4505774 - 02/01/20 01:16 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Cool mate, Empire was the second faction I played with, although I bought WH2 first, then picked up WH1 in order to play the Mortal Empires campaign, which stitches together the maps from both games and is an epic campaign with all of the factions on the map. I played a couple of WH1 campaigns, but mainly bought it to have those factions playable in ME.

If you like Warhammer, I reckon you'll love Warhammer 2. It's better in a lot of ways, subjectively, and the ability to still play whichever 'old world' factions you want is a neat bonus. Plus, WH2 has the Vortex campaign, which shakes up the traditional blob-fest type campaign play that the TW series is known for. I really like it, though not everyone does.

Beastmen are one faction I've yet to play, and I never did pick up their DLC for WH2. I have almost all of the rest of it.

From WH1 my favorite faction was the Dwarfs. From WH 2 the Skaven, but on both games there are so many options, the replayability is high. Each faction is so unique, and as I've gone on and on about in this thread, this factionality has a huge appeal for me, as you never feel like switching factions is more of the same, ya know?


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4506286 - 02/05/20 07:10 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
I picked up the Shadow and the Blade DLC, but for now at least I am skipping the Hunter and the Beast.

As mentioned, there's been a massive improvement in the turn times in Mortal Empires. Very nice.

New Skaven faction, Clan Eshin, is cool. The other three LLs in the above mentioned DLC don't hold much appeal for me at the mo.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4507927 - 02/19/20 09:33 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
I was thisclose to having someone to discuss Warhammer with when Cheyenne made his post. So close, and yet, so far biggrin

I played Clan Eshin in Mortal Empires. They are a pretty cool Skaven faction, with stealth and subterfuge their calling cards. But the starting position is pretty poor. A one-province start on the east coast near the lizards, goblins and dwarfs. Proximity to Queek is nice, and the two of you can team up to cause mayhem. Eshin's drawbacks though are hard to overcome at the start, particularly the fact that non-Eshin units cost double, which hurts until the economy is banging. And Skaven economies never quite bang like the best of them, since most of the world hates you and won't agree to trade deals.

I noticed I had not gotten two achievements, one for winning a WH2 campaign with an Old World faction (from Warhammer 1) and had not won a WH2 campaign as Dwarfs. So two birds with a single stone and played as Grombrindal, conquering and confederating my way to victory on turn 160 (Hard/Hard). That was cool and all, but what really jumped out at me was how powerful both Queek of Clan Mors, and Franz of the Empire became. Far better than in any of the previous dozens of WH2 campaigns I have played. Not sure what was changed through DLC or patches that would benefit them so much, but clearly it did.

One more note, not only are CA pumping out DLC, with new mechanics and legendary lords, they are also expanding the Mortal Empires map, adding additional territory to accommodate these newcomers. Seriously, anyone who likes Total War games has to play this campaign. It's epic. There has to be 150 factions on the map at the start, and others can emerge through the course of it. Battle royale, TW-style.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4519673 - 05/05/20 04:48 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
With the recent up-tick in Total War discussion around here lately, it got me thinking about it and I fired up Warhammer 2 once again. No new DLC since February that I can see.

The hard part is deciding on which faction to play. My DLC soup gives me 45 legendary lords to choose from. Some of those are free DLC, but most are paid, either through the game or paid DLC. There are a few DLCs I have not gotten, like the beastmen, so there are several more LLs I don't have. 45 is a lot though, and gives plenty of range of choice. So which to play?

I fired up the last campaign I was playing that I didn't finish, the Clan Eshin Skaven run. I had mentioned the struggle I had economically in that run in my last post, but after loading it up I noticed it was on Very Hard, and that would explain it. For me to have any hope for success with VH campaign difficulty I need a faction with clear opening advantages, like Tyrion, Malekith or Kroq-Gar. Very Hard is OK once I've gotten 50 turns in. But openings at that level are difficult for me, and it often all goes to sh!t, requiring save-scumming or restarts and that's not how I want to play.

Hard/Hard has always been my sweetspot, but I wanted to get the achievement for winning a Skaven campaign on VH or Legendary. It's not impossible, but I don't think Clan Eshin is the right one to do it with. Their starting location in Mortal Empires is bad. Cool mechanics and I want to give them a proper go, but at lower settings to make it less of a chore. This new DLC faction is all about subterfuge and back stabbing and have a Shady Dealings mechanic to do it. They also have a +200% recruiting premium on the types of units I want to field which is a drawback. I think if I give them another go I'd do it at Medium/Hard because otherwise the AI will always have superior stacks since I can't afford to match their better infantry units. Skaven have excellent ranged weapons, but their infantry is sub-par, so it's important to at least have the best ones.

Another run I had aborted was also Skaven, as Ikit Claw of Clan Skryre. This faction is one of the coolest in Warhammer. They have a Forbidden Workshop mechanic that lets you built weapons and improve them, including a weapon not unlike a tactical nuke. It is devastating and a bit OP, though how many you can build is restricted so you only have them now and then. Skaven are rats, and even though it probably would have been my least favorite race coming in to the Warhammer series, it became my favorite after playing them all. And as rats might do, they can burrow underground. They can travel across the campaign map, using the Underway, ignoring terrain like mountain ranges, and bypassing enemy armies unable to do the same. A devious and fun mechanic that adds a whole new aspect to map movement. Dwarfs and Orks can also travel this way, and this leads to some interception battles in huge underground caverns with no retreat option. Like TWs version of a cage match.

And aside from the campaign map, the Skaven also have a mechanic called the Menace Below, which can spawn a unit of slaves anywhere on the tactical battlefield. It's easy to see how this can be used, raising them in to an enemy artillery battery, or stand of archers. Mayhem ensues. Now, imagine using a Menace Below on and advancing army deployed in line abreast, who both outnumber you and are much stronger. Every unit nearby decides to get their licks in on this unfortunate mass of wavering rat-slaves that have appeared in the midst. That makes one very unlucky unit of shattered rat-slaves ground zero for the tactical nuke strike. The aiming point, if you will, now surrounded by the ill-disciplined enemy infantry.

Boom, chaka

And the odds are now a bit more even. That's how the Skaven play, expendable fodder backed by overwhelming ranged firepower, and supported by a web of undercities, siphoning food and money from the unsuspecting factions above. And that's a lot of fun.


No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4529356 - 07/09/20 07:10 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,618
JohnnyChemo Offline
Member
JohnnyChemo  Offline
Member

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,618
Buffalo, NY
I took a flyer on this one in the Steam Sale. It's not that I'm a Warhammer guy, the best I can say is that I'm aware of the existence of the franchise. But I've always been intrigued by the Total War series. I have a good friend who is a big fan of it, and hearing him talk about it has made me curious. I picked up Napolean in a Steam sale ages ago (~$5 for the "Definitive Edition" which includes all DLC), but never really gave it a go. I tried the tutorial a couple of times but never really did much more than that. I've also picked up Shogun 2 (it was a giveaway at some point so I nabbed it) and Rome II Emperor Edition (not sure how that one wound up in my collection, but there you go.)

From what I've read online, Warhammer 2 is considered by many to be the high water mark of the Total War series. I've been keeping an eye on it, and gave into temptation late one night during the sale and promptly lost even a few more hours of sleep to it. I am finding the tutorial to be much more approachable, I feel like I have a handle on the campaign, at least the strategic layer. The tactical is what is killing me. I'm in need of a good lesson or video series on battle management - not just the initial deployment, but what to do with my units during the actual engagement.

So any good tutorial videos or guides out there you can suggest?


Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck.”
-Robert Heinlein
#4529359 - 07/09/20 07:23 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
DBond Online content
Strategerizer
DBond  Online Content
Strategerizer
Veteran

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 13,198
NooJoyzee
Which faction are you playing? There are very distinct differences from one to the next, and how I approach the battle depends on what my faction's strengths and weaknesses are.

Early on you won't have much of your recruitment unlocked. At this stage it's standard TW fare, form a line of infantry, with ranged units deployed close behind them. Cav out on flanks, maybe hidden in some trees. Once the lines are in contact, slam the cav in to the rear of the enemy units and keep cycling, don't let the cav get bogged down in melee, their strength is in the charge. Army composition is important too.

Once the enemy infantry is engaged, I will try to work my ranged units around the flanks to shoot more bad guys than good guys. Flanking is powerful in TW. I might keep a couple of infanty units in reserve, using them to either stiffen wavering units, or if things are going OK, work them around to surround one or more enemy infantry units. Morale breaks can chain down the line, so if you can get one enemy unit to rout, it can snowball down the line. Killing or wounding the enemy leader is the best way to break the enemy, but that can be difficult depending on who that is.

Sorry I can't recommend any videos, not sure I've ever watched one.

Artillery is important. Not only for the damage it can do, but because it tends to compel the AI to come to you.

Quote
Warhammer 2 is considered by many to be the high water mark of the Total War series


Not around here, as there is a decidedly historical bias. I get it, but I think people are missing the best TW title of them all as a result. A few years ago I gifted a copy of WH2 to someone who as far as I know never played it. That was a disappointment. I've played most TW titles, and like all of them, but for me WH2 stands above, for reasons I have outlined in this thread.



No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!
#4529360 - 07/09/20 07:38 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 430
Vaderini Offline
Member
Vaderini  Offline
Member

Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 430
As for videos on WH2, I would watch Legendoftotalwar's stuff. He exclusively streams WH2 for the past year, and made a ton of WH2 content before that as well. There are tons of battle tips for pretty much every faction to find there

#4529366 - 07/09/20 08:56 PM Re: TW: Warhammer 2 [Re: DBond]  
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,618
JohnnyChemo Offline
Member
JohnnyChemo  Offline
Member

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,618
Buffalo, NY
Thanks, Vaderini. I'll check him out.
I'm playing the High Elves with Tyrion. So far I've had mixed results in battle, albeit one battle I had was using the garrison at a city rather than my main army. They didn't stand much of a chance but we gave 'em a bloody nose at least!


Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck.”
-Robert Heinlein
Page 3 of 17 1 2 3 4 5 16 17

Moderated by  Meatsheild, RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
Carnival Cruise Ship Fire....... Again
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:58 PM
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:51 PM
The Oldest WWII Veterans
by F4UDash4. 03/24/24 09:21 PM
They got fired after this.
by Wigean. 03/20/24 08:19 PM
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
10 years after 3/8/2014
by NoFlyBoy. 03/17/24 10:25 AM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0