Black Company Mod

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by Uh-Nu-Buh:
Peter, I have only played Tien Chi once, but it was only a week ago. I hate to think I am whatever that thing is, the thing where you forget stuff all the time.

I am sure I had it on the tip of my... Whaddya call it.. thing in the mouth... Not teeth... A moment ago.

Anyways, I really thought that one hero had 110, not 11 hit points.... Oh well, I'm sure you are right. Ok, the Taken are Powerful!!! I was originally going for Tartarian Gates type units, then I thought--nah, that's too powerful, I will scale them back to super wraith lords. Heh heh.... This mod is supposed to be top-heavy for two reasons, my ideas on supplies, and to be true to the books. I keep nibbling away at these guys. Keep hitting me in the noggin with your points until they sink in.

Hey, so long as nobody plays MP with it, but it is just for fun and giggles, there is little reason to scale down the Taken. If you go by the books, they ARE more powerful than most pretender gods in Dominions 2 It is only if you want your mod to be used competitively that you should really attempt to scale it down.

[ February 29, 2004, 03:11: Message edited by: Peter Ebbesen ]

[Kristoffer O]

I'm not sure of your intentions. If it's SP then it's OK, but if it's MP I reccomend taking a look at the following easily missed fact:

Black infantry has two javelins. This is very powerful at normal gold/resource cost. You could make new light javelins with lower dmg and give them two to represent a higher rate of fire.

Just got a hilarious picture in my mind. Imagine an olympics game champion with one spear in each hand running a couple of yards and throwing them at the same time

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by Kristoffer O:

Just got a hilarious picture in my mind. Imagine an olympics game champion with one spear in each hand running a couple of yards and throwing them at the same time

Perhaps give them precision 2?

[Uh-Nu-Buh]

I do want this to be an MP nation. The Taken are slowly sliding into DomII acceptability. I compare them to Wraith Lords, Tartarian Gates dead pretenders, and Tarasques and do not find them that bad. It is part of this nation for them to have small numbers of very powerful units, just as some nations depend on masses and masses of incredibly cheap weak units (e.g. Ermor). I don't mind if it turns out they are the most powerful Heroes in the game, and in the top two tiers of the most powerful units. It is still possible for the mod to be balanced, the way it was designed.

Javelins cost res=1 I believe. This is in line with the cost of Black Infantry. Their armor is worse than militia, they have no shields, they get torn to shreds by missile fire, or even militia up close. They are pretty weak units really, with the one saving grace of two Javelins. I like the idea of scaling their damage back. I will look into a new Version of the Javelin. I see them going into battle with two slender javelins in one hand, and throwing them into the thick of battle. This is a weak unit, with the one saving grace of an oomph at the very beginning of most battles.

What do you guys think of the forvalaka and boomers?

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by Uh-Nu-Buh:
I do want this to be an MP nation. The Taken are slowly sliding into DomII acceptability. I compare them to Wraith Lords,

Okay, check the stats of the Taken again, will you? Wraith Lords have NOTHING on these guys - and Wraith Lords require Conjuration 7 and 40 deah gems, whereas a nation with luck 3 has a decent chance of getting a Taken within 10-15 rounds - and might get it on round 2.

Tartarian Gates dead pretenders, and Tarasques and do not find them that bad.

Conjuration 9. Not seen before round 25-30 (and usually only much later), and that is only if you go straight for conjuration with a magic heavy nation, and have mages specifically boosted to meet the path requirements or have researched construction as well.

[lonewolf]

I like the mod's flavour.

That said, I have a leetle wishlist:

1) The icons need transparent backgrounds; dark or very pale units are ok, but coloured backgrounds make it difficult to count troops - and look awful on the battlefield.

2) Lighter infantry grunts with only one javelin, weaker armour and appallingly cheap: the BC books have lots of 'fake Black Company' soldiers around to take the heat, get killed, etc... they don't have to be very tough - they only need black cloaks... maybe even camp followers (like slave units) to act as cannon fodder.

3) Still feel uneasy with forvalaka armies... If they were to be an assassin alternative to scouts (with berserk?), I'd feel better.

4) I got Soulcatcher on turn 2 as someone prophesied earlier. Hmmm. Still reasonably susceptible to missile fire, and hence balanced. But she looks like a Black Witch! Argh, could you please give her a nice dark background at least?

Thanks for giving it such a good try. I'm looking forward to Version 2...

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by autolycus:

4) I got Soulcatcher on turn 2 as someone prophesied earlier. Hmmm. Still reasonably susceptible to missile fire, and hence balanced.

....until you give here a L2 construction Shield of Valor, Robe of Missile Protection, or Amulet of Missile Protection (Probably go for the Shield. Any Black Witch can make such one)

[Uh-Nu-Buh]

Got a lot of changes porposed in the Last day or so. I'm going to apply them and get the new Version uploaded. Some of the changes

--witch doctor: costs more, shld of accursed-->totem shield.
--fear for all units dampened
--new stealth units
--forvalaka made a stealth unit
--assorted others

[Uh-Nu-Buh]

I sent Illwinter the new Version of the Black Empire Mod. It should be in the Incomplete section, due to the graphics, soon. Some of the Major Changes:

2 new infantry units
forvalaka made stealthy assassins
1 new leader unit
1 new hero unit, Bonegnasher
3 new weapons
the Taken have been pared down in numerous ways:
--up to 2/3rd hit points gone
--some magic levels gone
--unholy priest powers gone
--armour reduced drastically
Black Witches cost more

Additionally, lots of small changes made for game balance--more or less ST, ATT, Cost in gold and resources, etc.

Enjoy!

[Kristoffer O]

It's up, but the zip has the same name so you wont noyice the difference unless you play it.