why I'm quitting this game

[Javolenus]

Hi there,

I'm fairly new to this game and have completed only three multiplayer games (I've initiated 6 or 7). Although the game concept and design is excellent, I feel like quitting already. Here's why:

1. I don't understand how battles pan out, and so cannot make effective plans. Here are some examples of battle resolutions that puzzled me:

- I have foot archers 1 hex away from enemy horse archers. They fire their arrows and score 1%. The enemy fire their arrows (from the same distance) and score 3%. At the other end of the field I have foot archers 4 hexes away from enemy horse archers. They fire their arrows and score 1%. How can I decide how best to use archers with results like these?

- Cavalry movement. I have heavy cavalry and want to deploy them. They're on horses right? But when I click on a unit I see that it can move 1 hex in one direction, 2 hexes in another, 3 in another, and 4 in another. I don't get this.

- Cataphracts. I find them impossible to beat. I've attacked them with a combination of light and heavy cavalry, I've attacked them with my own cataphracts, I've attacked them with legionaries - but they are invincible and deal out massive damage. And yet, sometimes the combat resolutions are surprising. Here are some examples:

* I attack 1 enemy cataphract unit wit 3 units of legionaries. I attack from front, and both flanks. I score 0 hits but the enemy scores 15%.
* I attack 1 cataphract unit with 2 heavy cav units on both flanks. I score 0 hits and the enemy score 18% and my troops run.
* I'm forced to attack 1 cataphract unit with 1 unit of Scutari. My unit is obliged to attack frontally. I'm expecting a rout. But the result is that my guys score 1% and the cataphracts score 1%.

I just don't understand. The point is: I expect to lose when playing a new game. But I expect to learn. In this game I can't learn or plan anything because I've no idea how or why combat resolves in the way it does.

2. My second reason for wanting to quit is that, people accept my challenges and then do not follow up. In other words, both sides deploy and then the other guy buggers off without even saying anything.

Finally, apologies for any typos in this post but the message box on this website won't auto-scroll down, so I can't actually see what I'm typing!

[countadam]

I suspect you are on the wrong forum. I think you want the computer game forum.

This forum is for the the tabletop game, where fat men play with toy soldiers.

[Fluffy]

I'm not fat!

[bertalucci]

Sounds like you have been on the wrong end of a series of bad dice throws.
That's what the fat old men use in the tabletop battles to produce random events!

Although you are playing on a computer there is a fairly high degree of randomness to all battle results and your random number generator has not been kind. Keep trying it will even out eventually.

As for the no show guys - shame on them.

Better still
Find a club near you - join in multiplayer games - and play the real thing.
Then when you are ready - buy some figures of an army of your choice (much wider than the digital version) paint them up and get stuck in.
I'd also say buy the rules but as they are looking to bring out Version 2 this is best delayed a while.

[philqw78]

I'm not fat!

Be honest with yourself now, you may just be a malnourished fat person.

[will05]

The computer game has a lot of factors like 'support' & ' regular troops' wich turn better and therefore move further in more directions , the proximity of enemy units can limit movement in certain directions too etc. Though some calculations do stump me like the fact that pike seems to lose (often quite badly ) when charging.....at anything!!!!

Also commanders seem to influence the troops around them quite a bit.

I think that one of the buttons on the top right of the screen brings up the rules.