[Cross-Clan EU Unit] The Cult of Mithras - Wednesdays at 18.30 UTC?

[Teeth]

MITHRAS!

That was a lot of fun, our effectiveness wasn't top notch yet though.

[Tristan]

Well what an evening.

First epic Hollywood training.
Then epic formation fail.
Then epic fish-squad-mob-winning.

Ok.

Conclusions for the Book of War. Tactics works. Formations don't. (I can already hear you say, I told you so )
Formations are too slow, don't give protection for non-shielders and oh, are to slow. They get skirmished by archers and when they reach their target the rest of the team go down.
Shield walls suffer the same problem, they leak!
Speed and gaining initiative is alfa-omega.

Our builds work very well on the other hand. Lots of shielders with hybrid functions though we need more two-handers.

Next item for training is fighting buddies. Two good builds paired of ready to work together in group. (yeah we're taking a trip back memory lane).
Second topic is to have those buddies fight together as small teams.
And then finally we can always check out, if formations work again.

I hope you are all still with me on testing.

(And archers are welcome next time).

[Leshma]

MITHRAS!

That was a lot of fun, our effectiveness wasn't top notch yet though.

^this

But I believe that in few days you guys will be unstoppable. I'm already shaking at the thought of losing every single round and being raped over and over again by your "unit"

[Tristan]

I'd like to try the following next time:

1) Pair up one shielder hybrid (shield, 1h, pole) with either a thrower, 2h or polearm.
2) Have those buddies get to know each other in some duels against other buddies.
3) Train grouping up so that the buddies can always find each other in chaoes.
4) Then work on rushing, group up, fight with your buddy, group up, rush, fight with your buddy.



p.s Oh btw.

Red Tassel Spear > Light Lance. Why?

Because you can sheath it and its fast. When in fighting speed you need to be very adaptable.

[Captain_Georges]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0brHGJ6xqbk

[Tomas_of_Miles]

Looking forward to getting into this, but if it's going to be Wednesdays each time I might not be able to make any. :S

[Casimir]

As t stands i'd suggest some form of aggressive coordination rather than the strict shield wall and formation holding

[Corwin]

Is there any particular reason why you were using white tunic over mail, and not some heavier armor? It was funny when at one point I got behind "shield wall" and one shot 4-5 of you guys in a row. I think, beside formation, armor was definitely one of the issues, and you really need to change something.

Because last night practically every time I ended up in team with you - we lost. I don't know what was your perception of how it went, but this was my impression.

[Tristan]

@ Casimir: Yes, indeed. I have been theory crafting quite a bit to refine tactics and I believe to have found something very interesting. I hope we still have a team next time to try it out. I am very eager.

@ Corwin: No, honestly it was the formation. When we stopped using the formation and rushed instead we won 5-7 consecutive rounds. The problem was speed and deciding where the battle was fought. When we moved in formation the enemy dictated under which conditions we fought, hence we lost.

[Teeth]

Fighting in a formation proved, although very cool, very hard to do and also not that effective. The enemy doesn't use a formation and are very spread out. We always had to expose our backs to a few enemies whichever enemy we attacked as a formation.

I agree with the teams of two setup. We can still move in a formation, but when the enemies appear we should be able to split up and engage different targets in teams of two. If the correct weapons get put together, and if there is a bit of training in fighting with your mate, I think the next go could turn out much better.

Also when going for sheer battle winning effectiveness, the hoplite builds could be discarded for regular 1h and a few 2h builds. Although hopliting works a lot better with teamwork, I think it's still inferior to the regular battle classes.

I will surely attend next time if I can, cause this was really fun. We better have someone record stuff next time though.

[Corwin]

Guys, ancient armies trained moving and fighting in formation very hard, why do you think that only a little practice is enough? Are you sure you gave formation idea a real chance?

[Tristan]

Guys, ancient armies trained moving and fighting in formation very hard, why do you think that only a little practice is enough? Are you sure you gave formation idea a real chance?

Formation are not completely out. Just a revamp of thought. I hope to see more players than last practise.

[kinngrimm]

i'll be there and i try to get some more of my guys to show up.

[Tristan]

Quote from chadz:

Another perfectly hidden announcement is the change of archery (that will require WSE, read below). We want to give archers a different role in strategus - to shower the enemies with arrows instead of sniping them. Which means faster drawing speed and lower precision for all bows (strategus only). While the new attacker spawn thing will probably counter archers a bit already, we also want to buff shieldwalls by giving additional shield skill to people in formations.

Interesting for our formation right? Same goes for commander.

[kinngrimm]

Quote from chadz:

Interesting for our formation right? Same goes for commander.

sometimes believe me it is a burden to know but not to speak
and yes it gives a bit more focus on formations, especially formations with shieldwalls included.

So the weak spots of shield formations that they can be shot all the time all around is hopefully reduced.