Ulm beefed up ...

[PrinzMegaherz]

Another Idea that would make Ulm something special...
What about giving the smiths higher paths, but take their abilitiy to cast spells. They would be "Forge only" mages, unrivaled in producing things (with maybe 2 in each kind of magic), but useless on the battlefield.

[Boron]

PrinzMegaherz said:
Another Idea that would make Ulm something special...
What about giving the smiths higher paths, but take their abilitiy to cast spells. They would be "Forge only" mages, unrivaled in producing things (with maybe 2 in each kind of magic), but useless on the battlefield.

Would be a great idea for dom 3 .

In dom 2 it is not possible though afaik . Maybe it is implemented in a new patch though .



What about the following new mastersmiths ?

E2F1N1 . This way they can forge endless bags of vine .
And in combat they can cast eagle eye for higher precision magma eruption / blade wind .

I am still against giving them E3 or any random .
If they can get E3 their combat abilities would be really greatly enchanced :
With earthboots + summon ep they can cast weapons of sharpness + petrify without needing gems .
Forgingwise they can forge dwarfen hammers asap and need no earthboots .

So what would you think about earthsmiths with E2F1N1 for 150 gold ?

[Graeme Dice]

Boron said:
I am still against giving them E3 or any random .
If they can get E3 their combat abilities would be really greatly enchanced :

That's the point. It gives them petrify.

[alexti]

PrinzMegaherz said:
Another Idea that would make Ulm something special...
What about giving the smiths higher paths, but take their abilitiy to cast spells. They would be "Forge only" mages, unrivaled in producing things (with maybe 2 in each kind of magic), but useless on the battlefield.

Maybe leave master smiths as they are, but add a new capital only unit - Crippled Grand Master Smith - with strategic movement 0 and right kind of afflictions (chest would, probably blindness etc) and with 2E2F1R (or maybe with 3E1F1R). They will be good for forging and decent for research, but not for the battles.

[Zen]

Possibility could be to change Iron Will to a Nation Specific Spell for Ulm, Change the cost from 1E to 1H (or 2H) and then it would bridge the gap somewhat, however, the AoE on Iron Will is pretty unspectacular (and no way to mod it) however, this would make me sad since I wouldn't be able to use Earth to cover the MR gap for other nations.

To each their own.

I've gone both ways on my feelings of Ulm. I've played it to death and I really enjoy certain aspects, however, it's crippling aspects, requirement to cover your nation's weaknesses with pretender/non-national mages and the speed at which their units become less viable (Abysia/Jotun/Pangaea on the other hand have more long term viability of their troops, as well as blessables, which base Ulm lacks) makes me shie away from base Ulm in lieu of other similar nations (Vanheim for Earth love, Abysia for armored unit love).

[PvK]

Yes, I agree that it would be a good thematic tweak, SC.

(I'd only quibble that Ulm can do quite well against Ermor even with their current fatigue.)

PvK

[Arralen]

I have released version 1.01 of "Black Steel of Ulm".

Hopefully it will be available through Illwinters website soon.

Code:

---

README.TXT - Changes in v1.00:



All changes are given in []



--   All units get -1 encumbrance, e.g. Inf has (2) instead of (3)

--

--   All Standard Inf is STR 11 [+1] (fits it's HP 12)

--

--   All Black Plate Inf is gold 12 [+2], ATT/DEF 11 [+1], MOR 11 [+1]

--   Black Plate Pikeneer end up with MOR 12 [+1]

--

--   General MR is 11 [+2], which works out to 12.5

--     with the inevitable drain 3 ..

--   Knight Commanders are at 12.

--

--   The troops wear either "Full Chain of Ulm",

--   "Helmet" and have strat move 2[+1], or

--

--     "Full Plate of Ulm", "Black Steel Helmet"

--     and have strat move 1.

--

--     "Full Plate of Ulm": prot 17[-1], def -2[+3], enc 4[-1]

--

--     "Full Chain of Ulm": prot 14[+0], def -2[+1], enc 2[-1]

--                          vs. "standard full chain"

--

--   Crossbowmen prec 11 [+1]

--

--   Black Knight gcost 50 [-10] rcost 60 [-10]

--   Black Lord gcost 120 [-10] rcost 60 [-10]

--     Knights use swords for melee now.

--

--   Master Smith has Fire-1, Earth-2, Elemental-1 [+1] now

--     Base Encumbrance is 3 [-2], MR is 15 [+1]

--     HP 12 [+2], STR 13 [+2] ... they're SMITHES, after all ..

--     Cost 185 gold [+45]

--

--   Unit descriptions redone, to give some hints

--   about advantageous usage.

--

--

--   PD changed to build shielded inf and armored commander first,

--   priest and arbalests later.

---

[PvK]

Nice. I like most of the changes, although:


-- Black Plate Pikeneer end up with MOR 12 [+1]

Does anyone know why Black Plate Pikeneers have +1 morale compared to other infantry of Ulm anyway???


-- "Full Plate of Ulm": prot 17[-1], def -2[+3], enc 4[-1]
-- "Full Chain of Ulm": prot 14[+0], def -2[+1], enc 2[-1]
-- vs. "standard full chain"

Improvements to armor seem unnecessary to me - Ulmish armor is already one of their best points. Improved chainmail is ok, but I don't understand why Ulmish plate is given the +3 defense. If it's based on the realism argument mentioned earlier, then I don't think it makes sense to apply it without applying it to all tailored plate armor of every nation.


-- Master Smith has Fire-1, Earth-2, Elemental-1 [+1] now

I'm not sure I like the added elemental magic. It'll certainly help Ulm a lot, though, since (as you know doubt appreciate) not only does it reduce the need to find indy mages, but it means they can use forge bonus on additional items without empowerment. I do like the other Smith changes.


Did you touch the themes, or just the default theme? I guess you couldn't really handle BF Ulm with your PD change since the PD will apply of BF Ulm as well. I'd like to see Ghoul Guardians improved (higher MR to avoid banishment, reduced cost, mb Ulmish armor), and the Holy Knights get a commander version (too bad that would require a duplicate graphic though).


PvK

[Endoperez]

I have already made a similar mod, found earlier in this thread, in which I replaced Black Acolyte with Black Paladin, gave Ghoul Guardians better mr and Ulmish armor and gave the base theme few special commanders, foot commander with fighting stats and berserk +1, cowardly arbalestman with high precision, and weak (old) general with ldr 75, standard, move 1/5 or so and low stats.

I also gave Lord Guardian map move of 2 and supply bonus 5 or so.

The idea was to give Ulm better possibilites to use magic items and its national armies.

[Saber Cherry]

PvK said:
-- Black Plate Pikeneer end up with MOR 12 [+1]

Does anyone know why Black Plate Pikeneers have +1 morale compared to other infantry of Ulm anyway???

That's to make up for pikes lacking armor piercing, like in Master of Magic

-- Master Smith has Fire-1, Earth-2, Elemental-1 [+1] now

I'm not sure I like the added elemental magic.

Really? I think it's pretty cool. It's a bit... um, "bad" to have a forging nation incapable of forging... really, anything interesting. Replacing the fire with elemental (EE #) seems fair too, though.