Mod: CBM 1.7 released

[Calahan]

Originally Posted by NooBliss

4 years since CBM 1.7? ^^

Ah, apologies NooBliss, I thought you were arguing against the changes that CBM 1.7 made to Ulm. (since you were talking about them having decent troops etc, which they still haven't really got even with the 1.7 changes. Still no MR and a troop roster mostly full of 10's on base stats).

The hammer nerf hurts them the most though, as what hasn't been considered yet (or I haven't seen it) is how much the hammer nerf destroys some nation's diplomacy powers. As the likes of MA Ulm and EA Agartha can often survive the early game by grabbing some NAP's, along with the added "I'll give you a few free hammers if you sign a NAP" sweetener. I used this very successfully in the Legends of Faerun game (around 18 monts ago) to survive as EA Agartha when I started next to Lanka, Hinnom and Helheim (ie. I'd have been dead in 10 turns if I didn't have the option to give my neighbours several free hammers, which is the item they'd want the most in the first 20 turns).

So without hammers as bargaining tools, the weak Earth nations are more boned than ever. And each nation will likely require a complete re-write to make them competitive again in a hammer free world. As no amount of small tweaks will do it IMO. Neither will a forge bonus on mages, as it was the ability to "give hammers" that was the key to their early diplomacy options against uber neighbours. All IMO of course