A Boy Named Friday

[Anguille]

Played some:

- Horizon
- Grand Ages Rome
- Imperium Galactica 2

And went to the theater to see the last Star Wars....

[Nefaro]

Been reupholstering crap for  days now; is it the weekend yet?

:'(

Who let you out of the sweatshop?!

It's difficult to find good slave drivers these days.   >:(

[Gusington]

What does the Darth Mod do for Shogun 2 FOTS compared to Radious?

[Gusington]

Awesome bit on the best and worst TW games from RPS:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/04/best-total-war/#more-338313

We've had knock down drag out fights here over the years on this very topic.

[Sir Slash]

It's a New Year so it's time for a brawl. I agree Shogun 2 was the best TW game but I liked Empire too. I liked the world-wide economy and the 3 continent strategies it required. Napoleon was very good but very limited in scope and the only thing wrong with Rome 2 is the AI almost always stays in the cities. Rarely have I fought a genuine land battle against it. Loved the New World and all it's gold opening up in M2TW and the siege battles, and the first gunpowder units( if they were mine). Rome TW was my first TW experience and so holds a special place in my heart to this day. Attila is also great but takes place in the most chaotic TW world ever. Reminds me of New York City in the 70's.

[Hofstadter]

I would have loved the musket ones if they didnt screw up in several aspects. In both games the AI was shoddy and could not seem to form a line, they just shambled about doing nothing. Empire had lag and was horribly optimized, napoleon ran better but it was completely centered in europe and limited in scope

[Gusington]

The only TW games with muskets and other firearms that I really have a handle on is Shogun 2 FOTS and the early firearms represented in M2TW. If Empire had been more coherently put together it would have been one of the best games evah.

A TW set in Brooklyn in 1979 would be epic. The Warriors: TW.



Can you dig it?

[W8taminute]

My favorite TW game is Shogun 2 as well.  It has the best battlefield ai out of all the TW games I own and I own quite a few.

Never really understood the hate for Empire.  In terms of map, economic depth, and military options it is the best since the game spans the world.  I've never experienced any performance issues with the game.  It's battlefield ai is admittedly weak for anyone who has good tactical skill.  For those who are not too familiar with TW style games Empire's battlefield ai is ok I suppose.  Overall I love Empire and have spent a lot of time with it.  Try it again using Darth Mod Empire and you will be surprised.

Don't really care for Attila and it's not the historical subject matter that disappoints me.  It's the fact that you just wander around razing cities and live in tents out in the open like a berber is what turns me off.  I like managing fixed empires better. 

I suspect the new Warhammer TW game is going to be some kind of wander around the world and doing cool stuff and being entertained by prettiness but not actually playing a strategy game where you manage the economy and infrastructure of a fixed empire.  I could be wrong though.  We shall see.

[Gusington]

^I like a 'proper' empire as well.

Also in Empire: TW I never really felt I had a handle on the new firearms tactics.

Less so in Napoleon TW.

[sandman2575]

To me, the biggest obstacle with the TW games, all of 'em, is the tediousness of the early game phase. I just find that I almost always lose interest in a campaign before I can establish a viable, reasonably self-sustaining nation/empire. Not a hegemonic, world-beating empire mind you, just a decent-sized state with half a dozen provinces that can defend its borders while also launching campaigns into enemy territory...

It just takes too long to build up your cities and forces. Everything is always so damn expensive -- upgrades to buildings, troops other than the most basic militia/spearmen, troop upkeep, agent actions (always ridiculous -- "35% chance to sabotage an enemy building -- and it will only cost you 50% of your treasury." awesome!).

The amount of resources you need to sustain a full-stack army -- which is still less than 5000 men, even on "ultra" setting -- just strikes me as absurd. And then you get into a big battle and that carefully crafted army is in tatters and will take many turns to recouperate. Meanwhile, your completely undefended southern border is under attack from 2 enemy powers, etc.

I bought the Charlemagne add-on for Attila and it's the same old thing. I guess this is CA's way of striking 'balance' in the early game, making you scrape and crawl from a state that can barely sustain 2000 troops and a navy larger than 3 ships into something more formidable. But man if I don't just get bored and frustrated before I can build up to something more interesting...

[Sir Slash]

My all time funniest TW moment came when Empire first came out. Watching the enemy Mohawk Hatchet men marching in perfect lock-step toward my troops was just hilarious. With their war paint and feathers they looked like a Gay Pride Day parade. I actually enjoyed the musket battles though the fort-wall scaling infantry was somewhat of a joke. The mods made the game much better.

[Gusington]

^What's the best all-encompassing mod for Empire?

[sandman2575]

^What's the best all-encompassing mod for Empire?

I'd say Darthmod, the latest version thereof.

[sandman2575]

My all time funniest TW moment came when Empire first came out. Watching the enemy Mohawk Hatchet men marching in perfect lock-step toward my troops was just hilarious. With their war paint and feathers they looked like a Gay Pride Day parade. I actually enjoyed the musket battles though the fort-wall scaling infantry was somewhat of a joke. The mods made the game much better.

For me, the thing that really let all the air out of Empire TW (which I was ridiculously, childishly excited about at the time) was the early-on revelation that the campaign AI couldn't launch overseas invasions, and so all those turns I'd spent as England were pretty pointless because the home isles were invulnerable....

Yeah, there was a *lot* wrong with Empire TW at launch. Obviously, Rome 2 launch was pretty catastrophic as well...

[Gusington]

^Darthmod fixed the overseas invasion issues in Empire TW, didn't it?