Comparison of Knights

[tinkthank]

@reverend: sorry, I sort of excluded the BN because I think it's a no-contest vs. the other two "heavy" knight units as far as cost/usage goes. BNs cost less originally, but since they are not sacred you pay through the nose for upkeep. The KofA is also not sacred, but he is worth it IMO, and recuperation is just great. Also, the BN'S low MR makes them sitting ducks later in the game.

@endoperez: How did you format that please?

[Gateway103]

@endoperez: How did you format that please? [/QB]

I am not Endoperez, but I can help you with that.
Simply add the tags "code" and "/code" before and after, replacing quotation mark with square brackets, and type the info between as you would want it to appear.

To see an example, use QUOTE on Endoperez's post, and see how he formated the columns. It really is an easy yet useful tag ^_^

-Gateway103

[tinkthank]

Originally posted by Endoperez:

quote:

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Originally posted by tinkthank:

code:

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     Van     Man     Ulm     Tien     Marig



hp      13      14      15      10      14

prot	13	20	24	15	20

moral	12	15	15	15	15

MR	14	13	9	12	12

str	11	12	13	10	12

attk	12	12	12	12	13

 

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Code-tags do wonders. Although I don't understand why hp-column needs so many spaces...

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Ah ok -- thanks much. I just type how he did it and it automatically takes the nice formatting of my wordpad? (I thought "code" stood for something I must then enter, like a long number or whatever.) Thanks!

[Patrik]

I like the Vans as well, however, the low strength+spear combo (damage only 14!) is hurting them and without some bless effects I think there are several more priceworthy options.

My absolute favorite cavalry for the moment (although it can hardly be called a knight unit) is Pangeas Centaur Warrior (CW). These are the stats:

code:

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hp           20

prot         11

mor          12

MR           13

str          13

att          10 

def          16

mov         3/29

gold/res   40/11

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These stats are quite good in themselves, (except for prot and attack), however, what makes CWs shine are their wonderful 'add-ons'

1. Berserk +3. This is a Nature 8 blessing for free! Very nice increase to protection, attack and damage. Defense will decrease to 13, which however still is quite decent.
2. Recuperation. Due to the low prot the CWs will get hurt a lot, however they have a good chance of surviving thanks to the 20 hp. I see very few afflictions among my squads with 2 or 3 stars veterans.
3. Sneaky. Only Vanheim has better (but more expensive) sneaking troops
4. Forest survival. Most importantly, this makes it possible to take full advantage of the strategic move of 3.
5. Hoof damage = Strength. Normal cavalry have a somewhat useless Hoof attack with damage 10 (strength not added). Pangeans Hoof damage is 0 with strength added. For CWs that means 13 normal, then 16! when they go berserk.

Since I use CWs as the core of my Pangean armies, I can easily afford to take sloth 2, giving me points to spend elsewhere.

Buffs are an issue by itself, but IMO a Pan casting Summon Earth Power/Legions of Steel/Strength of Giants on a squad of CWs with Hold and Attack orders will create a truly awesome force, capable of taking on any standard troops. And then of course there is Mass Protection.

/Patrik

[Huzurdaddi]

I find Van's with a good bless effect ( water anyone? ) to be almost silly good. Sure they don't kill quickly due to their low damage attack, but they sure don't take any damage either ( their defence becomes silly ). Add in the glamour ability and you will have units with lots of experience stars in no time. And that only makes the defence go higher! Yokies.

Sadly I find bless effects pretty costly in general. You are pretty much giving up on a really effective SC when you go for a big bless effect ( like water 10 wooooot ).

[Firebreath]

Some good stuff. Just to add a little,

Most heavy cav are very good when used in their context.

E.g. the Van cav. when used with a water 10 blessing, and glamour combo.

Ulm cavalry (which comes sacred, but capital only in one of the themes), with an earth 10 blessing, becomes equally formidable, especially if combined with the protection spell ulm starts with, they get to a protection of about 33 I think. Of course, their low magic resistance is a big drawback, but just put some militia in front to draw the initial mag. flak.

The amazon cavalry is amazingly cheap, and generally has pretty good stats, and one of them is fearfull to boot. They only have spears, but they're tactictly flexible (unlike some of the other heavy cavs).

Other cavalry units that have not been mentioned are unit (leader) cavalry. Sacred and not. Unique units too. When equiped with good items, they can be pretty good supercombatants.

One final point: an important additional comparison point is the weapons that they come with. Lances + morningstar, of course, are a damn sight better than a simple spear. But then, all heavy cav. are good, just as long as you use them in the right situation.

I'm curious though, has anyone found a good use of the fire mage cavalry (it comes from a magic site, and is basically a heavy cav. leader with fire 2). Apart from fire shield (which is nice when fighting off hordes of low hp units with just one regenerating unit), I can't think of anything else to do with the magic. Any ideas?

[ April 21, 2004, 22:48: Message edited by: Firebreath ]

[E. Albright]

Well, Fire Lords do offer fairly high mundane leadership for a recruitable mage...

Since the subject of exotic units has now been breeched, where do y'all think Grey Knights fit into the grand scheme of knight quality?