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Post by Nobunaga Oda on Feb 14, 2023 7:00:13 GMT
Seljuk Side:
The number of mercenaries compared to any part of the Byzantine force is not as large as I hoped. Historically, a large portion of the Byzantine forces were made up of them. Some were forcibly dismissed for pillaging territories along the way, others were Turkish by origin and defected or fled.
Plus, there is a strong Armenian contingent whose heavily reinforced commander can deal ~800 dmg on charge, I believe.
Although it is possible to assist our allies by harassing the enemy troops, taking Mazikert is also an option.
Yet we lack an important factor: Men.
Taking the Fatimid city will remove that faction, as with any in this map.
I suspect that there is a way to cause the mercenaries and/or Armenians to defect or flee, but I cannot see how.
Is it by taking the two secondary cities? Or perhaps defeating/"capturing" Romanos IV will do the trick?
Additional note:
- All units found are reflections of how much you upgraded them.
- If you did not upgrade the Klibanphoros, you'll have them at lvl 2-3, like me.
- Or you'll see lvl 17 Garrison Spearmen and lvl 15 Varangian Guards.
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Post by best75 on Feb 14, 2023 11:22:55 GMT
Additional note: - All units found are reflections of how much you upgraded them. - If you did not upgrade the Klibanphoros, you'll have them at lvl 2-3, like me. - Or you'll see lvl 17 Garrison Spearmen and lvl 15 Varangian Guards. I notice they removed the minimum enemy unit levels in all epic battles. Previously they would have a minimum level of 13 and match you level when you upgrade above. |
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Post by Nobunaga Oda on Feb 14, 2023 16:58:32 GMT
Joseph Tarchaniotes will not accompany you on the Byzantine side and will withdraw to the outskirts of Ezurum.
Although the reinforced Seljuk forces at Aleppo have ~1.4k HP, "normal" troops have ~1k HP and Alp Arslan's forces have close to 3k HP, Timur with a lvl 2 tent and some support can weaken them.
Without sufficient numbers, about 5 legions or more, OR sufficient turns after capturing Aleppo, they will not move en masse.
Beware that recapturing Aleppo requires specialised anti-fort war gears due to its 24k HPm
However, Joseph will march on Van (E city) on the Seljuk Side.
Also, beware of the "traitorous" Andronikos Doukas. Although he failed to screen the Byzantine retreat in history, here, he will stoutly hold Melitene and possesses at least twice the HP of the respective troops with a possible power boost and no indicator of being buffed.
Additionally, Emperor Romanos' forces will have four to five times the normal HP of your forces. My Khlibanophoros have 325 HP while his has slightly over 1.6k HP. His Varangian Guards possess over 4.6k HP.
As expected, ET expects you to overcome the enemy spam using War Drums. Do as you will.
I'd rather have fight and win without War Drums and unnecessary enemy spam mechanics.
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Post by best75 on Feb 17, 2023 1:36:19 GMT
I did this on the Byzantine side. I didn't bother with recapturing Aleppo or deal with the troops near Aleppo. The Fatimas held off the Seljuks long enough to prevent them attack my cities until the end. The bulk of my forces smash through the south, taking Monsul, Van, and then Khoi.    |
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Post by best75 on Feb 17, 2023 9:47:46 GMT
On the Seljuk side.
I used Olga with 3 Calmness generals to burn the unit on Aleppo and take it on turn 1. It was left with a few health left, I assume this is due to the rounding of the damage on Olga's burn ability. A single hit kills it and my Olga takes Aleppo.
Killing Romanos will cause a morale drop on the Byzantines. From observation, Romanos goes directly south.
My allies lost all their cities so I had to pivot my forces to retake the cities.      |
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Post by Nobunaga Oda on May 4, 2023 15:33:29 GMT
Finally did it on the Byzantine side without using War Drums or updating to the latest versions (meaning no upgraded troop abilities, Hattin and whatnot). Only loss was Melitene, Justinian, maybe one more gen, and the Fatimid loss of Aleppo. Why did I get an A rank clear on my 15th turn perfect clear?   |
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Post by Nobunaga Oda on May 14, 2023 10:23:35 GMT
  I'm on the version before the ones featuring the fall of Constantinople. Has this bug been fixed? Seljuk side. The map promised ranged and cav mobility +1. I don't mind if using my Mobility gem or removing the archer to increase legion mobility both take 1 turn to come into effect, but if this bug remains, it helps an unfavourable "epic" battle turn worse, no? |
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Post by nikomachos on May 14, 2023 11:15:29 GMT
It is fixed 😀
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Post by nikomachos on May 14, 2023 11:56:21 GMT
Also i am curious did you kill alp arslan for shattering morale or did you try to ignore their whole attack and just rush east?
same Mosul: did you take the city to stop spam or not?
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Post by Nobunaga Oda on May 14, 2023 12:12:51 GMT
Checked. It is "fixed" after turn 1. 11 movement points on Turn 2. Acting on earlier advice for a simple win, I ignored the enemy leader and Aleppo entirely. Mosul is a "must have" position which enables the defence of Manzikert and an attack on Khoi and Van. I certainly attacked it. There was no point in wasting Timur there when I could win. Morale drop? I could barely survive. |
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Post by stoic on May 15, 2023 19:24:04 GMT
Just for the sake of fun I did it with my new toys - Ken and Barbie  I mean Murad and Matilda. Murad, Matilda and Theodora are harassing besieging troops. Assault infantry takes Mosul while Timur with pre-deployed generals take Khai. Then Timur and Assault Infantry encircle the last target. Pre-deployed generals return to the first key target to repel the ongoing counteract.     |
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Post by Nobunaga Oda on Jun 24, 2023 19:03:39 GMT
 Turn 1 Burning and Sack of Aleppo. Athelstan (3× ranged cav legion; got one hit and retreated) + Matilda of Boulongue = 2× Arsonist. Alfred on the mixed legion with his active crippling the city walls even more, and 2 hits in. Gao on the 3× melee cav legion to increase dmg to the garrison. Then, the yellow halo gen got two hits in. The last gen captured Aleppo. Cnut as Reinforcement. Spawned Alexios. He and Cnut (with his active) can stay behind to deal with the reinforced gen from Erzurum. In this run, the guy attacked Aleppo directly with an escort. The rest should move to take Manzikert and confront Romanos.  There are different variations of the battle. In my preferred runs, the cheating, secretly reinforced, ranged Byzantine gen attacks Mosul. I handily defeated him. Sadly, it didn't happen. Subutai + Jebe + the starting gen did the trick. Also, Nevsky commanded the starting 2× melee inf unit. In rare ONE ultra-rare instance, I could take Van before it fell. In increasingly common cases, my allies are overrun and destroyed by Turn ~6. Be it a stroke of luck, or misfortune, Romanos IV attacked in this run. Much sacrifice, he was overcome, but the enemy spam is unbearable.  The Armenians doubled back, circled through Byzantine lands, and hit Aleppo. I could neither defend it or the yellow halo gen. Thankfully, in this run, common troops defended Van. I snuck around the Byzantine ranged gen, and finally retook it with Alfred, Nevsky and Jebe. The rest were shredded on the way to Manzikert or while defending Mosul. Cnut, Alexios I, Timur (from Mosul's castles) and Matilda barely took the city back on Turns 14-15. Unexpectedly, I got an S-rank clear. Could be because I defeated many Byzantine gens and Romanos IV.
NO war drums were used. Game version: Before the Fall of Constantinople update. Also, can someone tell me what does taking Erzurum and the other city even do? It seems that Doukas, with his secretly reinforced legion, just sits there. Additionally, I am of the belief that ET gave the AI increased dmg against enemies or just against player troops, as well. |
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Post by Nobunaga Oda on Sept 24, 2023 15:39:24 GMT
Update:  Roman S-rank clear without drums and Talent Upgrades on 30 Sep 2023. Took Aleppo as well since it was weak enough. Is this the criteria for an S-rank clear besides taking Mosul? I found the Aleppo target too difficult alone. My Murad, Subutai and Matilda (the F2P gen with Calmness) barely whittled down the Arab-Turkish troops in time. They needed Frederick Barbarossa to bail them out with spare troops. On the Turkish side, the Romans can be forced to capitulate after all their cities are taken. Not the Armenians, however, because I took the last enemy city, the NE city on the last turn but they didn't surrender. It seems like taking all 3 yellow targets count towards the secondary objective, which turned green after taking the NW city. Or perhaps that city alone was the real target? What was the point if not to force Rome to surrender? Normally yellow targets are triggers or clues. |
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I mean Murad and Matilda.
