In truth we are comparing modded older TWs to more recent vanilla TWs.
But that's one of the biggest problem with the series. They've been clamping down on the moddability since R1/M2 up to a point that it's nonexistent past Napoleon.
Imo Empire has best map / strategic play. Napoleon best battles. S2 is the most coherent complete package. R1 and M2 are modder extraordinaires, probably also could be described as most fun.
Some things where annoyance has been building up for years is for example that the engine lost sense of unit/formation weights after R1. Basically only EB1 (maybe RS) does it right. In every other iteration formations don't behave acceptably - they've devolved into fights between multiple individuals, not something where you can feel the weight of e.g. phalanxes going head to head. For example the breaking of organization of a phalanx should be the clinching point, not successive deaths of individual soldiers.
But that's one of the biggest problem with the series. They've been clamping down on the moddability since R1/M2 up to a point that it's nonexistent past Napoleon.
Imo Empire has best map / strategic play. Napoleon best battles. S2 is the most coherent complete package. R1 and M2 are modder extraordinaires, probably also could be described as most fun.
Some things where annoyance has been building up for years is for example that the engine lost sense of unit/formation weights after R1. Basically only EB1 (maybe RS) does it right. In every other iteration formations don't behave acceptably - they've devolved into fights between multiple individuals, not something where you can feel the weight of e.g. phalanxes going head to head. For example the breaking of organization of a phalanx should be the clinching point, not successive deaths of individual soldiers.
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