The MA Ulm issue.

Chris_Byler · #1 September 22nd, 2007, 12:49 AM

I think Ulmish troops need either a few more points of skill, or a slight reduction in blacksteel armor encumbrance/defense penalties, or both. If that isn't enough, maybe a couple more HP and another point of strength.

If they're only going to do one thing well, let them do it *really* well.

A national spell that gives a squad of troops/all friendly troops 50% resistance to all elements would be very nice, too. They have Tempering the Will to counter MR-negates spells, but nothing much to deal with Falling Fires/Frost or Orb Lightning (the regular counters to those elements require paths Ulm doesn't get easily). I realize this would basically duplicate Gaea's Blessing, but - Ulm *needs* to be able to counter other people's counter to armor, because they don't really have a Plan B.

One way to deal with the morale issue would be to give them commanders with Standard. If Strategoi and Legati Legionarum (if that's the correct plural, been a long time since I took Latin) can lead their men to greater valor, I don't see why Ulmsmen can't learn to command that well too.

A way to get enough Nature magic for Relief would be nice too, but might be too big a change to the nation because of all the other applications that nature magic would have.

Cor2 · #2 September 22nd, 2007, 01:11 AM

For me the problem would be solved by rasing the castle resource bonus from 25% to say 75%.

My complaint is not the MR or the slowness, I see that as central to the theme. My problem is I cannot crank out enough troops to keep up early game.

Should be pretty easy to mod, I might do that.

Lazy_Perfectionist · #3 September 22nd, 2007, 01:23 AM

Oh... and before I forget...

While Arbalests open Ulm up to friendly fire, I'm not aware of the game taking any special considerations into account. That is, Tower Shields should be just as effective against friendly fire as hostile fire, with maybe only an 3% hit rate at the outset, climbing as high as 14% with 99 fatigue. If you recruit shielded infantry, you shouldn't really need worry about friendly fire so much as wasted ammo.

Sombre · #4 September 22nd, 2007, 01:23 AM

You know it's sort of like putting a band aid on a festering axe wound, but Ulm could simply have their resource bonus in forts increased. It's currently 25% I believe. If it was 50% they would at least be able to produce their troops in bulk and some people might be tempted away from prod 3.

Cor2 · #5 September 22nd, 2007, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Sombre said:
You know it's sort of like putting a band aid on a festering axe wound, but Ulm could simply have their resource bonus in forts increased. It's currently 25% I believe. If it was 50% they would at least be able to produce their troops in bulk and some people might be tempted away from prod 3.

Hey I just said that!

Sombre · #6 September 22nd, 2007, 01:32 AM

Yeah, sorry, I didn't see :]

It's very easy to mod, if anyone wanted to test it out.

You just need to #selectnation (MA Ulm's number) then #castleprod 50 or 75 or whatever. Then #end :]

Just as a sidenote: Arbalests aren't the best missile weapons in the game. They're worse than crossbows imo. And Ulm's arbalests cost a load of resources, making them far harder to mass than say Marig's crossbows.

Xietor · #7 September 22nd, 2007, 01:42 AM

the only bad thing about cranking 300 Ulm Infantry and an army of Black knights. Then a mage teleports in with a runesmasher, eye void, spell focus and casts master enslave and that person owns your army.

Yeah you can cast tempering the will if you have the luxury of going to thau. 5. That raises the mr from 9 to? I had commanders with 24 mr get enslaved in alpaca. heh. what chance does mr 9 have?

Of course you may get your commanders mind hunted, and be stuck with no one to cast tempering the will. Then it is pretty much automatic enslavement.

Maybe master enslave needs toned down a bit. But that is for a different thread. It is potent now though, and Ulm is last in being able to defend against it.

Lazy_Perfectionist · #8 September 22nd, 2007, 02:19 AM

Well, none really... but Master Enslave is a Thuamaturgy 9 spell, requiring an S8 mage, something thats not necessarily common. It's not the worlds fairest comparison. Tempering of the Will can be helpful against plenty of other spells, though.

620 RP versus 4600 on standard... That's CORRECTION: 1/7th of the effort required. If you're not facing anything that require you to boost your resistance earlier than that, then you're quite lucky. You'll have better odds than many 10 or 11 MR nations....

Regards to mind hunt, you've still got the not-quite effective enough lead shields. Though your Master Smiths will have a decent chance of surviving, the cost of mind hunt is obscenely low.

Even if you can't wipe them out, it may be worth finding the time to kill a level 8/9 astral pretender early, a couple of times. It'll stop wishery.

KissBlade · #9 September 22nd, 2007, 04:19 AM

This will probably come as a surprise for most people but IMO MA Ulm isn't as terrible as it's made out to be. I think most people are either feeling the after effects of Dom II (where they are the worst nation) or the CB where Earth boots got bumped in cost and blade wind nerfed. In base, MA TC and MA Argatha are both in a worse off position (just going off the top of my head) with MA Oceania not doing too great either. Ulm troops are decent if you spread them out to avoid them clustering (and as a result eating up) too many magic attacks. Their mages, while unversatile, are actually decent in battle between earth buffs, decent prot, blade wind + magna spells. Arbalests are crappy but sappers are actually usable for their bonus + xbows. Drain 1 isn't too terrible compared to magic 3 in base if you're relying on indie mage research and drain 3 is just free points if you're planning on ending the game pre turn 50.