Indy commanders with magic items

[Hullu]

Just bought the game a few days ago, one of the best game purchases I've ever made I'd say... Anyway I'm a noob so bear with me

Am I just being unlucky, or is looting items from indy commanders not happening. And if it's not happening, is it a bug?

Annoys me to lose my pretender + two other commanders + countless of troops to a 2x cyclops indy province. And one of them was wielding a +50 forge bonus 2h hammer - which I didn't get after the fight:/

So is it a bug, intentional, or bad luck?

[Tyrian]

It is essentialy very bad luck. There is a proportionnal chance to get magic items, it is related to the power of the magic item. Only the cursed items are always found.

[Twan]

The chances of looting an item are based on its rarity and I think the same no matter who carried the item. The item you mentioned is an artifact so you should had a big chance of looting it (I think 80%), and probably very bad luck. Note that looting an item if all your present commanders can't equip it is also impossible (so a 2 hander can't be looted if all the remaining commanders have a 1 or 2 hand weapon).

[Hullu]

Aye, I was considering the possibility of being full slots-wise. But I checked and I had at least two commanders left that could have wielded it.

So the indies DO drop their magic items, and I've just had bad luck is all? Okies...

[Hullu]

Oh, and by the way.

Are there many kinds of indie provinces with extreme defenses like that? I've seen that particular province in two different games, but I don't recall seeing anything coming even close to the destructive power of those two cyclopses...

[Tyrian]

No that sort of defence is very rare on the standard map.

[Saxon]

Some indies are pretty tough, but it is usually in relation to your nation. If I am playing SP without Ermor and then get a Indy 9 of undead, I may not have the right armies to take them. I have noticed the Indies have more variety and decent mages than in Dom II, which is a nice touch.

[Endoperez]

There are few special provinces with special defenders. Usually it's just an Adept of Pyriphlegaton (Fire mage), few Abysian Infantriess and perhaps a Salamander or two, but few that guard unique items are usually tougher. The report will be pretty clear in those cases.

Here's a short list of some more common province types that are tougher to take, or have worse enemies:
Knights and Longbowmen, Elephants (with militia and slingers), Dark Vines (with some Bloodhenge Druids), Shark Knights, Amber Clan Tritons... and Devils. If you see Devils in an independent province, be afraid! Soul Contract the item gives one devil per turn. If an independent commander starts with it, the province will be FULL of Devils. Flying, trident-wielding, nasty Devils.
Because events can now afffect independent provinces, it's theoretically possibly for them to be affected by events. Independent attackers that would take control of your province join its original defenders. If Knights and/or Barbarians have joined forces with units that don't fit the theme, the provinces can be very hard to take. Also, beware Bogus the Troll. He attacks randomly, and he and his merry men have devastated many armies indeed.

[Hullu]

When commanders rout into a dead end (die after routing), are their items gone for good?

And isn't that the case every time an independent commander routs?

[thejeff]

Yeah, they have to actually be killed on the field.

If they get away, you don't get their stuff.