• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

The Killer Tofu

Corporal
20 Badges
Oct 29, 2015
39
28
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Imperator: Rome Sign Up
  • Cities: Skylines - Parklife
  • Cities: Skylines - Parklife Pre-Order
  • Crusader Kings II: Monks and Mystics
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Stellaris
  • Crusader Kings II: Conclave
  • Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Europa Universalis IV
Posting this for someone like me who was absolutely lost when I finally noticed CK2+ combat tactics were entirely different from vanilla. For me, it took some serious digging just to find out there were indeed major modifcations to the tactics system to begin with, hopefully this post will give newer users a clearer perpective on how the Better Armies submod works within CK2+

First of all, you can find the Better Armies main download thread here: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-retinue-building-overhaul-ck2-submod.670595/

On that page you can find some preliminary information about why it was designed and how it works, but still lacks much needed documention of the specific changes to combat tactics such as modifiers and weights.

To see the actual numbers, you must navigate to your ck2+ mod directory. You can find the tactics information at:

Documents > Paradox Interactive > Crusader Kings 2 > mod > ck2plus > common > combat_tactics > 00_combat_tactics.txt (this path may be different to yours depending on your installation options)

I recommend viewing the document with Notepad++, otherwise it is a bit difficult to decipher. Understanding the code is pretty intuitive even for a layman, so don't be worried about that.

Some important things I have to point out after going through the altered tactics:
  • You can proc tactics like shieldwall with any unit compisiton, but it's results pretty much resemble a 'no tactic used' scenario. The varying degrees (good shieldwall tactic, "normal" shieldwall tactic, bad shieldwall tactic) alter the modifiers from no bonuses (at best) to small defensive penatlies (at worst).
  • There are no tactics involving camel calvary. I really don't know if this is intentional. I initally thought the mod stopped receiving support before The Sword of Islam DLC came out, hence why no camel tactics; but the most recent post from the creator was posted August 2013, with SoI being released a year before. On the plus side, it would be pretty easy just to add camels yourself, although I havent tried it yet.
  • Most tactics are culture locked. This sometimes means generic tactics are locked to certain cultures, but often have a worthy substitute. One example of this is Iberians not able to use Harass, instead they used a culture tactic called Caballero Raid, which has slightly altered modifers of that of Harass.
I love the changes that Better Armies has made. It's not just the reworked tactics, it's also the changes in holding buildings, and troop size rebalances. It's just so well designed, and sadly I daresay most players will never actually notice it's genius only because there is absolutely no information out there about the mod.
 
  • 6
  • 3
Reactions: