Angry Joe Show on Napoleon: TW

[Vympel]

Includes a video of an interview ith a guy from CA that is breathtaking in its chutzpah on the endless series of patches that Empire:TW went through

I like Angry Joe, he's a funny fucker and not too annoying in large doses.

[Spekio]

Really?

I find AJ one of the most annoyingly unfunny guys on TGWTG.

[Edward Yee]

Any other word on whether Napoleon is worth taking the plunge for a pre-purchase? So far Empire: Total War (Steam) hasn't been giving me many problems*.

Also, does Medieval II: Total War - Kingdoms add anything substantive to the existing game if I don't want to play any of the New World content? (I skipped the "Warpath" stuff for Empire too.) The Imperial Edition for NTW is looking rather tempting; $10 extra for M2TW (save $10), a pre-order-only unit plus ten exclusive extra units? Sounds sweet to me. (I'm aware they'll probably end up being DLC later, so why not avoid having to buy them all separately later for probably more afterward.)

* I could be biased because in the very first battle in the American campaign after Bunker Hill, on the way to Maine, George Washington's unit actually charged at William Howe's unit and killed him early on.

[haard]

Also, does Medieval II: Total War - Kingdoms add anything substantive to the existing game if I don't want to play any of the New World content?

I thought the Crusades scenario was fun; also, there's a mod to add MTW2:K features to the original campaing; haven't tried it myself though. For $10, I'd say it's worth it.
Edit: Of course, how fun the Crusades are depend on how much you like heavy cavalry / horse archers...

[Darkdrium]

Most mods tend to need Kingdoms to work properly as well.

[Edward Yee]

Ahh, boo. Basically with M2TW and Kingdoms I'd be trying to stick to the "endgame" period, i.e. Renaissance warfare in the Italian city-states. The $10 difference over the regular NTW at least comes with extra NTW units, it's just a matter of whether Kingdoms is worth shelling out for, I know I skipped Warpath for this reason with ETW (I'm not interested in playing as the Native Americans).

[Artemas]

Kingdoms is worth it. In addition, you will then have a dozen well made mods to play, inluding a lord of the rings mod, a warhammer mod, a major "redo" mod, and a half-dozen other theme mods.

[Edward Yee]

Sounds good, I think I'll pick up M2TW Kingdoms next time it's discounted, and for now Imperial Edition it is! What's the redo mod though?

[Artemas]

Called Stainless Steel. It is basically an expanded and redone vanilla campaign. More units, more factions, better AI, balancing, bunch of other stuff.

It is the most popular mod out there. The same guy who made it also made the Third Age mod, which is professional beyond belief.

Check out twcenter.net for all of these mods. Many of these mods are so big they have mods for the mods.

[Thanas]

The CA interview was performed by Jörg Langer, who is my favorite gaming journalist ever. link to his website.

It also has a great N:TW gameplay video up here

[Vympel]

I know I'm a sucker but I preordered the special edition of N:TW just like E:TW because I'm a CA fanboy and think that E:TW was a one-off error and N:TW is sure to be a more polished experience.

The game comes out the day after tomorrow, so I guess we'll know soon.

[Edward Yee]

I know I'm a sucker but I preordered the special edition of N:TW just like E:TW because I'm a CA fanboy and think that E:TW was a one-off error and N:TW is sure to be a more polished experience.

The game comes out the day after tomorrow, so I guess we'll know soon.

Steam Imperial Edition, or the retail version?

I'm kinda liking vanilla ETW, or at least it's relatively easy to me. Then again, it could be because my George Washington is ridiculously stacked... Actually auto-battled successfully against a British stack, then the attrited American stack was attacked by a separate British stack whose units were fully manned... I personally commanded the battle, and the American stack routed every British unit, with none of mine being destroyed or even routing. Oh, and at the beginning of Episode 3, when I moved George Washington's stack against William Howe's on the way to the Maine regional capitol, Washington's unit charged Howe's unit and killed him early in that battle.

[Stark]

At this point I'm not sure anyone needs more anecdotes about how a CA game is easy.

Vympel, the little Napoleon statue the retail version gets is actually pretty cool. It'd make a decent bookend.

[Vympel]

Yeah I saw it and its one of the reasons I preordered.

[Skgoa]

The CA interview was performed by Jörg Langer, who is my favorite gaming journalist ever. link to his website.

Why is there no "Oh mein Gott, wir werden alle sterben!" anywhere on that site? Yeah, he is great and I can attest to the declining quality of Gamestar since his departure. Thanks for posting that link.

It also has a great N:TW gameplay video up here

Well, I was prepared to not buy NTW(would be the first TW game I didn't get ASAP), but this review made me change my mind. Lets see how buggy it is and how much the improved AI really shows, but I think I'm going to buy this after all.

[Thanas]

I won't. Simply because I refuse to reward CA for now releasing the game they originally promised while essentially saying "screw you" to everyone who bought E:TW. I should not have to buy a second game to get features that were promised in the first.

[RogueIce]

I won't. Simply because I refuse to reward CA for now releasing the game they originally promised while essentially saying "screw you" to everyone who bought E:TW. I should not have to buy a second game to get features that were promised in the first.

I feel strongly in that as well, but I may change my mind if feedback on it (here and at TWcenter) is good. At least so far as playability and such is concerned. I do think I prefer the time setting of ETW better, but it seems CA is not interested in finishing it, which really bites.

[Vympel]

Just picked up my copy whilst on lunch break. One good thing is that it's not as expensive as E:TW was. I got the special editition for 'only' $99.95, as opposed to how much the E:TW special edition was.

[Edward Yee]

Playing NTW... and other than setting, this is it. Dear gosh, someone needs to make an "Empire's campaign setting" mod for NTW. The "half a year" turns are made even more ridiculous by NTW's half-a-month turns.

A shame though that artillery still seems to have an almost absurd capacity for friendly fire kills... I lost a full quarter of Napoleon's unit (on the right edge of my 6-pounders unit's fire arc) to a canister shot at advancing British infantry at Toulon, and he ended up routing when he charged them as they charged the gun.

[Edward Yee]

Also, just completed my first historical battle at Lodi (on Easy), which gave me a newfound appreciation for horse artillery. Considering that this was an "urban" operation* I definitely saw the value of their ability to gallop like cavalry, thus being able to provide flanking fire in a more timely manner compared to foot artillery, and even "pursue" enemies by more quickly responding to enemies staying just out of range (particularly for canister shot!). This was crucial to my strategy of an overall envelopment instead of trying to cut off the rearguard from the main body, though I'm not sure whether this was due to "CA-Easy" AI as opposed to in-game option Easy. Still, the mass routs by my horse artillery were what gave me the space to send the chasseurs à cheval (no idea if that's meant to be capitalized) across the river on the other side of Lodi from my starting position, from which they were able to get to the road and ride down Johann Beaulieu.

I'm definitely liking what I see so far in the real-time battles, but has anyone noticed that apparently units may have differing strategic map "speeds"? I noticed that Napoleon (during the campaign tutorial) had a wide movement area, but when selecting both him and an artillery piece together, it actually decreased.

[Scottish Ninja]

I'm definitely liking what I see so far in the real-time battles, but has anyone noticed that apparently units may have differing strategic map "speeds"? I noticed that Napoleon (during the campaign tutorial) had a wide movement area, but when selecting both him and an artillery piece together, it actually decreased.

Hasn't that been true since RTW? Or do you mean something other than "armies move at the rate of their slowest unit"?

[Skgoa]

I noticed it, too. Sometimes my combined army has a longer range than the individual units.

And Edward Yee's "this is it." is absolutely 100% correct. This game is just so much fun in all the ways Empire wasn't.
For those who wonder about it: yes, the AI is definitivly improved. Its still not perfect. It just doesn't use its artillery right, which allways puts it at a disadvantage in this game, since the big guns can be quite effective. The AI also agressivly attacks me even in battles where it is the defender and might even have won, had it not left the cover of it's own artillery and thrown itself against my wall o' canister shot.
But I have seen it do sensible things on the campaign map like going for and taking underdefended cities and pursuing/forcing a battle against numerically inferior armies. And had it wipe the floor with my army when it had a sufficient advantage.

[Thanas]

Is it still ridiculously easy to outflank them and do they still suck at taking buildings/hedges?

[loomer]

Not so easy now, and they seem to have responded well enough to me using buildings (normally storming them with two units of line, or completely obliterating them with artillery, as opposed to the 50/50 chance in Empire of 'storm it' and 'sit there being shot')

[Skgoa]

Is it still ridiculously easy to outflank them and do they still suck at taking buildings/hedges?

Haven't tried many flanking maneuvers*, but the AI is very aggressive in seeking local superiority and going after exposed units/flanks. I have seen it put its infantry into square formation when my cavalry gets near them.



* I keep my cavalry close to guard my own flanks.