Brigade comparisons

[JohnnyUtah]

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Iron Golem [1]:
Ultimate fighting machine!  Just rolls right over you and breathes! So, no LR or SR. You just do not want it anywhere near you. One of the things I notice is a lot of the ranged attacks are accurate even when the others are not.  I figure when he adjusted the ranged that he reworked a lot of them.  This is another where a very good Brigade got pushed up.

Our thoughts was the LR and SR were not likely, it seemed like the extras would be due to the breath but that was covered under the specials and were not required.  Pulling those, we added to the areas it was not already Ultimate.  And then let you know it was severely understated in ratings.

Posted, Actual --- Proposed
LR:Good, Good --- Absent
SR:Excellent, Excellent --- Absent
CH:Ultimate, Renowned --- Awesome
M1:Good, Awesome --- Ultimate
M2:Good, Ultimate --- Ultimate
CO:Excellent, Ultimate --- Ultimate
DE:Superior, Ultimate --- Ultimate
ST:Renowned, Ultimate --- Ultimate

I always found their defense suspect taking twice or more percent damage than other brigades I had (can't remember the kingdom- probably a wizard). Maybe something else was doing that, as the actual DE was ultimate. Curious.

Yes, my IG's always seem to take 21.3% damage.

[Pine Needle]

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Iron Golem [1]:
Ultimate fighting machine!  Just rolls right over you and breathes! So, no LR or SR. You just do not want it anywhere near you. One of the things I notice is a lot of the ranged attacks are accurate even when the others are not.  I figure when he adjusted the ranged that he reworked a lot of them.  This is another where a very good Brigade got pushed up.

Our thoughts was the LR and SR were not likely, it seemed like the extras would be due to the breath but that was covered under the specials and were not required.  Pulling those, we added to the areas it was not already Ultimate.  And then let you know it was severely understated in ratings.

Posted, Actual --- Proposed
LR:Good, Good --- Absent
SR:Excellent, Excellent --- Absent
CH:Ultimate, Renowned --- Awesome
M1:Good, Awesome --- Ultimate
M2:Good, Ultimate --- Ultimate
CO:Excellent, Ultimate --- Ultimate
DE:Superior, Ultimate --- Ultimate
ST:Renowned, Ultimate --- Ultimate

I always found their defense suspect taking twice or more percent damage than other brigades I had (can't remember the kingdom- probably a wizard). Maybe something else was doing that, as the actual DE was ultimate. Curious.

Yes, my IG's always seem to take 21.3% damage.

That number rings a bell to me, too. Maybe a bug (which is unfixable right now.)

[Olorin]

Thanks to all the folks who commented here and on Brekk's Troop Changes threads. We just did a review and will post results as soon as I update the ratings. The reason it will take a bit is I have to re-calibrate average and all other brigades ratings relative to that for each Rating. So a mere 800-900 numbers or so.

[Lord Garth]

Orlin,


Thanks for doing all that work posting each brigade type.  And thanks for all the work you are doing with Brek.

I read the whole thread and had the following thoughts:

1) It should probably be clear to most what the ratings mean.  Ultimate, for example, at 400% of Average does not mean its 4 times as strong as Average.  

2) With all the new brigade types,  Recruitables have clearly slid in value.  And they were already barely worth it as the game is currently constituted.  Consider, when Kingdom Named brigs are not enough players will usually turn to companions, and then to summonables, and only then to the recruits.  Recruiting brigs only give you 2 a turn per pop compares to 7 companions, are often expensive, damage your pc giving long term expense, and usually arrive Green meaning you must wait a turn and issue yet another order and spend more recourses just to get them to Regular.   

Sometimes you do it for the special but some recruitable troops don't even have that. Vikings and Paladins/Knights of Styx (which are very expensive) are examples.  Yes, they have no cap but unless you have Devout or Industrious to replenish your PC tax base it can be hard to recruit much of them.   If you want recruitables to be a desirable factor in the game without upsetting the applecart too much some adjustment must be made.  Perhaps allowing them to be trained up to Veteran in certain circumstances.  Otherwise they will be a 4th rate option which can be fine if that's the intention.

3) There was debate that the Ancient Ones should be buffed.  I agree that they were meant to be a strong brig type but with few reinforcements.   I would start with raising DE.

4) Necromancer is another that needs a buff.  I see them as the newer version of the old Witch King.  Back when there was only 3 wizard kingdoms the WK had by far the best troops but the wizards cost 1000 extra per level.  Plus I think their K.N. brigades were expensive.  Today the Necromancer still costs more than other wizard kingdoms (thanks to Order) but the troops stink.  Thankfully their brigs are cheap to maintain now.  I'd buff their brigs but I wouldn't give it much in the way of reinforcements.  Let it recruit hoards of undead to supplement its armies.

5) Centaurs.  Lower LR raise CH.

6) Chameleons.  Switch LR with SR

7) Lycans.  Seem a bit overly tough.  Would probably lower DE or ST.  Or both.

9) Orcs.  SR down to Above Average and put CH to Average.   Possibly lower LR and put that on ST.

10) Ogres.  I agree.  Lower LR.  Raise M1.

11) Phantasms.  I always considered them Average across the board.  Good SR seems weird.

12) Ranger.  Another brigade that I always imagined to be elite and just below the Big Guys like SA, GI and RD.  You buff them which is great but lower their ST.  This may be an issue for a kingdom already unable to take a Legendary.  Also, if you want to frontload so much of their might in ranged you may want to give them Archers trait.

13) Scorpions.  I'm guessing they are Giant Scorpions but Renowned in both Melee?  I would lower.

14) Tyrant.  This brigade is worse than I thought.  May need an overhaul.

15) Unicorns are now capped at 7 and Griffons are at 10.  The Free Traders are getting a lot of love here.  This is supposed to be an economic powerhouse with poor military.   But with all the companion choices and unique special companions the FT is approaching a very formidable military kingdom.  There are other kingdoms out there that don't have near the amount of Traits or Special Abilities of the FT and still have less recruiting options.  I would consider making the "special recruits' available to some other needy kingdoms and/or cutting other companions from the FT.

16) Westmen, I agree and would raise DE to Above Average.

17) Warg Riders.  I would give them a bit more CH.

18)  Question.   Is Stormgate Guard rating given at it's raw amounts or the inflated Veteran numbers?

19) Adjusting 30+ kingdom's Military Might can't be easy.  Between kingdom brig values, reinforcement schedules, companion options, their values and their recruit caps as well as recruiting and maintenance costs, well, let's say I don't envy you.  However there may be some options that might help (or possibly complicate) matters.   

Consider adjusting Reinforcement Schedules to provide a Veteran Brigade instead of a Regular at, say, Turn 20.  (Call it a brig returning from sea or the frontier or whatever)  Or perhaps granting an extra General with the reinforcements. This is a great to way to supplement group strength without extra cost and could be a good way to aid some military kingdoms then tend to slip around that point in the game.  


Anyway, these were my thoughts on reading your posts.  I hope they were helpful.  Thanks again for all the work.


Lord Garth
Once the widely esteemed Runner up of all Alamaze.  Now, just like the rest of you.  sigh.