Questions about PD and other

[Kristoffer O]

Hi Crafty.

1) PD troops appear in the center of the battlefield and cannot be placed by the player.

2) Yep. But 100 PD seems very costly. Make sure you have bought troops instead. Soldiers at 10 gold each is more worth it than two or three at a cost of 100. It is rarely worth it to go above 25 or 30 in PD (a bit depending on nation)

3) I think there is a hot-key-list somewhere in the manual, but I couldn't find it on a quick inspection. 'f' is fast forward.

[Jazzepi]

3) F turns on fast mode, which about doubles or triples the speed. N takes you to the next turn of the battle skipping everything on that turn.

Jazzepi

[Crafty]

Thanks.

One more question, when scouting, do they report correctly the PD troops as well? How does PD work with fortresses? Do they work like normal troops? Do PD troops gain experience?

I just started playing with PD in SP using Arcoscephale (with very very good scales + imprisoned so I had tons of cash)
against T'ien Ch'i. It's pretty funny, the AI pretty much wipes out itself trying to invade provinces with PDs 30+. Turn after turn they try and try and they get killed over and over again.

At first I didn't understand what was happening, it's like he had a 100+ army in one province, suddently he had only 10+ the next, and I was like huh??...

Once I figured out I built walls of high PD and the AI promptly wastes his troops trying to break through... Meanwhile I conquer the rest of his provinces.. What an idiot!

I figure the PD troops have killed more of the enemy than my own controlled troops lol.

Towards the end I hemmed in his capital with a PD 100 provinces, and he couldn't break through the poor sap... Fun to watch his God get killed over and over again just by PD.

I've noticed the AI seems to have this weakness of trying to bang his head against a brick wall (heavily defended province with super troops) over and over again, but using PD to exploit this is really evil, cos the troops regenerate and it doesn't tie up your elite attacking troops...

PD is really great man!!!

[Jazzepi]

1. One more question, when scouting, do they report correctly the PD troops as well?

Sort of, I don't have a ton of experience with this, but I can tell that there are difference description of the "organization of the local defense" that change based on the amount of PD. In multiplayer people usually only get 1, 10, or 20 because of the double commander at 20, the ability to detect scouts at 10, and the ability to keep a scout from taking a province by himself at 1. Though there are rare times when you put up 30-40 points of PD into a province when you are trying to lay a trap for someone, or if you have a particular choke point.

How does PD work with fortresses?

It works outside the fortress. PD in a province with a fortress will only defend the province itself. If you have units inside of a fortress set to "defend" they will NOT assist the PD in defending the province. Instead they will hide inside of the castle while the province is conquered. If you want them to be able to defend with the PD, outside of the castle, they must be set to "patrol".

Do they work like normal troops?

PD troops gain no XP, come back 100% healed/restocked if the battle is won. They also cost no upkeep. The manual lists what troops you get for how many points of PD in every nation listing. Some nations have far better PD then others.

Do PD troops gain experience?

AFAIK, nope.

PD is a useful tool, but it is a million times less effective against a player then it is against the computer.

Jazzepi

[Sombre]

Yeah the AI is seriously retarded vs PD - when I play against the computer I limit myself to no more than 25 or so PD. 60 PD may be technically inefficient and a bad move, but VS the AI the fact that it comes back every time it wins (which is every time, since the AI has no concept of building up forces before invading) and that it costs no upkeep+supplies,... well against the AI high levels of PD do make sense. Not 100 though, that's just nuts.

[Archonsod]

Sombre said:
60 PD may be technically inefficient and a bad move

It's not always a bad idea though, PD has it's own advantages that a normal army doesn't. For example, it's unaffected by sites which spread disease, thus if you're unlucky enough to find Inkwell End or similar in a key chokepoint then it's cheaper in the longterm to invest in high PD rather than constantly be replacing defenders, especially if you're a resource heavy nation.

[thejeff]

I never seem to get this invincible wall of PD vs the AI effect.

Maybe because I tend to play against Impossible level AIs? At least the initial attacks tend to have 4-500 troops. Even 100 PD isn't going to stop that for most nations.

Sure, once I've slaughtered most of those troops with mages and elite units, high PD would probably stop the AI's attacks, but by that time I'm advancing and most of that PD winds up in the backfield, where it's useless.

[MaxWilson]

Crafty said:
I've noticed the AI seems to have this weakness of trying to bang his head against a brick wall (heavily defended province with super troops) over and over again, but using PD to exploit this is really evil, cos the troops regenerate and it doesn't tie up your elite attacking troops...

PD is really great man!!!

On the other hand, if you defend w/ real troops they'll get a ton of experience from winning all those battles, and it will be a lot cheaper to set up and/or move the defense around. Although you still want a bit of PD for arrow/mage chaff.

-Max