Manual:
- EBOOK and printer-friendly versions of Manual updated for Sublime Porte.
Gameplay:
- Stakes and Field Fortifications (if available) are now optional in non-Campaign Custom Battles. This is on an all or none basis for each. Either all longbowmen capable of using stakes will have (and pay for) them or none. Either FF can be placed (and will be paid for) for all non-light Infantry and Artillery, or none.
- Allowed stakes to be placed by units on slopes, but only if facing downhill. (Otherwise the stakes get partly or completely buried in the hill).
- The check for whether a Falling Back unit must take a Cohesion Test now ignores enemy 45 degree turns that would not prevent a charge. (Because charges can include a free 45 degree turn even for Unmanoeuvrable or out of command range troops).
- Note also that the enemy unit does not actually have to be able to charge, just to be non-routing non-light troops, and in a position where it could charge if no other units were present. (Fall Back cohesion tests are intended to simulate irrational panic, not logical thought).
- Mounted troops and elephants inside Heavy Fortifications (castle or city walls) now get 75% cover when shot at from outside the walls. (Same as infantry).
- (Custom or Campaign battle Deployment phase:) Unit in tile with FF cannot redeploy without removing the FF first. This prevents the exploit of using 1 unit of Artillery to place a line of FF ahead of the main deployment area.
- (Custom or Campaign battle Deployment phase:) Unit that cannot itself place FF cannot swap position with a unit in a tile with FF. This prevents various exploits.
- Reduced the variability of casualties caused by artillery. It is still more variable than other troop types, however, and still skewed somewhat towards the lower end of the stated range.
- Reduced the casualties caused by pre-gunpowder artillery by reducing their artillery capability to 80%. This is to compensate for their advantage (over gunpowder artillery) in being able to shoot overhead on level ground. Units costs therefore not changed.
UI:
- Ammunition moved over to left hand panel in the unit UI panel (at the bottom of the screen). This was because in some resolutions (e.g. 1920 x 1080), the Ammunition line was disappearing off the bottom of the right hand panel for the new Hungarian and Polish Pavisier, Crossbow and Handgunner units.
Units:
- Added Later 15th century Men-at-Arms models.
- These have texture sets for 1) Men-at-Arms, 2) Mercenary Men-at-Arms, 3) Polish MAA, 4) Hospitaller MAA, 5) Teutonic Order MAA, 6) Iberian Military Order MAA. They are designated as (L) for (Later) after the unit name to make them easier to pick in the Editor.
- These (and their dismounted versions where relevant) are classified in game exactly the same as the earlier versions. This is despite the full late 15th century panoply giving somewhat better protection than earlier armours, which is offset by the fact that a smaller proportion of the men in a unit could afford the full latest panoply. Also the vast majority of horse armours were in fact of cuir bouilli rather than steel, though we depict the Superior MAA with steel horse armour to help distinguish them from the Above Average Mercenary MAA. Keeping the classification unchanged also avoids distorting game balance.
- To allow them to be easily distinguished, the Superior Men-at-Arms have helmet plumes, coloured lances and unpainted decoratively-embossed steel plate horse armour, the Above Average MAA have no helmet plume, some painted helmets, unpainted lances, and painted cuir-bouilli horse armour. Men-at-Arms (prefer to fight on foot) use the Mercenary textures, but fight on foot as Superior with poleaxes.
- Added new Clipeati, Crossbowmen and Handgunners unit for late Hungarian armies, and Pavisiers, Crossbowmen and Handgunners unit for late Polish and Lithuanian armies. These each have their own textures, courtesy of Miguel Sales (toska). Many thanks, Miguel!
- Disembarked War Wagon crew and Clipeati/Pavisier, Crossbowmen and Handgunners units now have gun smoke and sound effects coming from roughly where the handgunners would be, when shooting in Handgun range. (Note, before you ask, we cannot actually show the handgunners).
- Best-Equipped Cavalry and Later Rus Cavalry can now dismount. (As bowmen).
- Improved textures for Albanian cavalry and light horse, Turcoman cavalry and light horse, light longbowmen, later medieval massed and light archers.
Unit Costs:
- Reduced cost of Swiss keils from 154 to 148.
- Stakes and Field Fortifications (if available) are now optional in non-Campaign Custom Battles. This is on an all or none basis for each. Either all longbowmen capable of using stakes will have (and pay for) them or none. Either FF can be placed (and will be paid for) for all non-light Infantry and Artillery, or none.
- If you turn FF or stakes back on again after using up all your build points, the game will automatically deselect and undeploy sufficient units to correct the overspend. You can then adjust your selections as you see fit.
- Cost of stakes reduced from 9 to 6 per unit.
- Cost of Field Fortifications reduced from 9 to 6.
- Reduced cost of Average Longbowmen from 54 to 51.
- Reduced cost of Average Longbowmen with stakes from 63 to 57.
- Reduced cost of Pike and Longbowmen from 48 to 46.
- Cost of Bill and longbowmen not reduced from 50 because it should in fact have been 52 before.
- Corrected cost of Albanian LH to 28. (Was erroneously 32)
- Time Warp (ancient) 100% pike units reduced in cost – Superior from 96 to 92, Average from 72 to 68, Raw from 48 to 45.
Army Lists:
- Lists starting from 1440 (Italian), 1445 (French) or 1450 (most others) now have the new later 15th century Men-at-Arms models.
- Split the following lists at 1450. The later part will have the new later 15th century MAA: Teutonic Order 1380-1500, Castilian 1400-1476, Portuguese 1400-1500, Scots 1438-1500, Anglo-Irish 1415-1500, Danish 1397-1487, Swedish 1397-1500, Free Canton 1420-1500, Hussite (Utraquist) 1419-1479, Cypriot 1415-1474, Wallachian 1430-1500, Berber (Marinid) 1320-1465, Berber (Hafsid) 1351-1500, Granadine 1320-1492.
- The Portuguese 1450-1500 list has no pre-dismounted men-at-arms.
- Compulsory pure longbow units removed from Wars of the Rose English lists, and mixed bow and bill unit maxima slightly increased.
- Halberdiers, and new Clipeati, Crossbowmen and Handgunners units added to Hungarian 1441-1500 list. Number of available pure spearmen units slightly reduced. New intro for this list.
- New Pavisiers, Crossbowmen and Handgunners units replace Pavisiers and Crossbowmen units in Polish 1455-1500 list.
- Lithuanian 1386-1500 list split into 1386-1454 and 1455-1500 lists, to allow the evolution of the Polish army to be reflected in the Polish units in the later Lithuanian list. It gets the new Pavisier, Crossbow and Handgun units, and some Polish lancer banners.
- Wallachian and Balkan (Serbian) light horse added to Polish 1386-1454 and 1455-1500 lists, and Hungarian 1441-1500 list.
- Serbian lancers from 1040-1344 AD now have 50% bow.
- New models with Byzantine-influenced armour added to appropriate lists from previous DLCs: Armoured Serbian Lancers (Serbian lists) and Armoured Noble Lancers (Bulgarian lists, also Armenian 1080-1099 list and Georgian 1008-1117 list).
- New later Byzantine kite-shielded skutatoi models added to Byzantine lists from 1155 AD.
- Catalan Company allies added to Latin Greece 1204-1319 list.
- Cypriot 1320-1414 allies added to Armenian 1155-1375 army list.
Epic Battles:
Medieval Base Game:
- New camp models added to some Epic battles: Tinchebrai and Otepaa
- Szekler cavalry models swapped for Moldavian in Kalka Epic battle.
- Some Armoured Noble Cavalry units swapped for Best Equipped Druzhina in the Kalka River, Otepaa, and Lake Peipus Epic battles.
Reconquista DLC:
- New camp models added to some Epic battles: Civitate, Sagrajas, Las Navas de Tolosa, and Benevento.
- Las Navas De Tolosa (MP): Swapped 2 Raw Almohad Spearmen for Average Almohad Spearmen. Removed the following units: 1 Castilian Knight, 1 Basque Light Horse, 1 Aragonese Spearmen, 1 Almughavar. Added the following units: 2 Berber Cavalry, 2 Berber Irregular Foot, and 2 Massed Muslim Archers.
- Corrected Frozen Bridge bug on the Benevento maps.
Swords and Scimitars DLC:
- New camp models added to some Epic battles: Dorylaeum, Ascalon, La Forbie, and Kili.
- Old Armoured Noble Lancers models swapped for the new Balkan style Armoured Noble Lancers in Manzikert Epic battle.
- Old Armoured Noble Lancers models swapped for the new Serbian Armoured Lancers, and Byzantine Skutatoi swapped for the new Late Byzantine Spearmen models in Sirmium Epic battle.
- Morale drop scripting improved for the Manzikert scenarios.
Storm of Arrows DLC:
- New camp models added to some Epic battles: Crecy, Castagnaro, Grunwald, and Kulikovo.
- Courtrai (MP): Flemish foot quality decreased to Average.
- Some Lithuanian LH models in the Grunwald Epic battle replaced with Balkan Light Horse and Wallachian LH as appropriate.
Rise of the Swiss DLC:
- New camp models added to some Epic battles: Kuna Hora, Brunkeberg, Loja, and Dornach.
- Men-at-arms models swapped for the new late 15th century models where appropriate.
- Towton (Yorkist): More extra points, and Yorkist quality drop reduced for difficulty levels lower than Prince.
- Corrected text error in Bosworth scenarios.
- Fornovo (French): Made French Mounted Crossbowmen (0) uncontrollable on the first turn.
Campaigns:
- The following campaigns have had their ArmyList.txt file updated, so that campaigns saved with previous builds will not work correctly.
- Manuel Komnenos
- Rise of the Swiss
- Louis XI
Hotseat:
- In Custom Battles, if you deploy the Side B army using hotseat mode prior to switching hotseat mode off and letting the AI control the Side B army, the game will now automatically reassign the units to the appropriate AI teams to allow the AI to work correctly.
- Previously, if the player redeployed Side B units without re-assigning them to the teams expected by the AI, AI functioning could be significantly impaired.
Editor:
- Added Western and Eastern Camp models to all of the regional terrain objects sets. The different regions have different textures – snow in Frozen, faded in Middle East, slightly faded in Southern Europe.
- Note that they have not been given a “built-in” terrain type. This is to allow different terrain types (e.g. Enclosure, Rough, Difficult, Impassable – as required by the scenario) to be set using tile overlays.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed evade decision logic bug that took into account possible flank attacks by other enemy units, but not possible rear attacks.
- Fixed bug that allowed Pikes to count Deep Pike POA vs War Wagons at Impact. (They shouldn’t because all combat against War Wagons counts as “not in open terrain”.)
- Fixed bug that could occasionally cause double corner slope overlays to appear on the flat top of height 200 hills.
- Fixed bug that prevented placement of FF if your army had allies and you placed an extra general before deploying your FF.
- Fixed incorrect Spanish translation of Longbowmen in Rise of the Swiss epic battles.
- Removed crossbow bolt bag from Halberdiers and Billmen.