SF ability

[De-Legro]

Ok, I had some confusions regarding ranged SF. Do they perform poorly at melee combat? Do they have any special ability or range itself is one?

Ranged SF that I have commanded have always performed well in melee.

There's three possibilities.

One, that your troops retain whatever special ability that the first RC has, similar to archer range.
Two, that you lose the special ability when you recruit from multiple RCs.
Three, that the special abilities stack.

I think the third option is the least likely.

I'm not at a machine where I can check this, but doesn't range average out when you recruit from centres with different range characteristics?

[Marlboro]

I'm not at a machine where I can check this, but doesn't range average out when you recruit from centres with different range characteristics?

Sure does.

[egamma]

http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Unit#Recruiting_a_Unit

Note added.

[Marlboro]

Did a little test and added 3 range-2 SF to my 2-person melee unit (Blah blah horrors are nasty). Range averaged out to 1. Recruited 3 more melee dudes, but kept range 1. I think with an ideal number of recruits available and a full time pool I could fill the rest with the badass melee dudes by just continuously recruiting a number less than the current squad and keep that range up. Not a huge advantage and not something that is possible for me at the moment but it is possible.

Don't think that math would work out for keeping anything higher than Range 1 though while only fielding melee guys. Also unclear on whether or not that's an abuse of mechanics or just a successful use of them.

[Charles]

My guess is that the melee combat of your unit will decrease slightly as you add ranged troops.  it only seems fair...

[Cren]

Did a little test and added 3 range-2 SF to my 2-person melee unit (Blah blah horrors are nasty). Range averaged out to 1. Recruited 3 more melee dudes, but kept range 1. I think with an ideal number of recruits available and a full time pool I could fill the rest with the badass melee dudes by just continuously recruiting a number less than the current squad and keep that range up. Not a huge advantage and not something that is possible for me at the moment but it is possible.

Don't think that math would work out for keeping anything higher than Range 1 though while only fielding melee guys. Also unclear on whether or not that's an abuse of mechanics or just a successful use of them.

This averaging of range is funny, at least I feel that.

Imagine that you recruited 10 melee SF to your 10 men of range 4 SF. Range drops to 2. Now how would you RP that?

[Marlboro]

This averaging of range is funny, at least I feel that.

Imagine that you recruited 10 melee SF to your 10 men of range 4 SF. Range drops to 2. Now how would you RP that?

Sawed-off crossbows. 

But seriously, the onus is on you to explain it IC. If you can't justify it in your head best to just leave it alone.

[Cren]

Sawed-off crossbows. 

Technically, the 10 melee guys don't have any ranged training. The other 10 are capable of firing at 4 range. But somehow all of them are capable of firing upto range 2 in battlefield.

[Sypher]

The game averages the stats of the old and new units. Tracking each soldier and its armor/weapons/range etc for every unit would probably be a nightmare for Tom & the rest of the team.

[De-Legro]

Technically, the 10 melee guys don't have any ranged training. The other 10 are capable of firing at 4 range. But somehow all of them are capable of firing upto range 2 in battlefield.

Yes it doesn't make sense. The Alternative would be to create a new weapon characteristic for ranged weapons. Then ranged units would have Melee Weapon %/Ranged Weapon %/Armour Percentage. Then when recruiting melee SF and ranged SF obviously the ranged % will drop. However then what happens with recruiting range 3 and range 4 archers? Should the system record how many are ranged 3 and how many are ranged 4 to ensure that only x number fire at the max range? Easier just to do as we are doing and average out the range.

[fodder]

eh? if it's xbows.. then how would the ranged be reduced? unless they are aiming too low and shoot at the ground or something..

don't xbow go... pretty much in a straight line (as opposed to bows which goes in a parabola or some such)?

now.. my region does have 2 types of sf...
90   55/55-5
55   85/70

possibilities the next time my men get decimated? hmm.
----
stuff like equipment is obvious.. but what about the other allegedly hidden abilities? it keeps the majority ability and dumps the minority one?

if ranged is not a special ability.. does that mean it gets to keep the range and the special ability?

[Velax]

Yes it doesn't make sense. The Alternative would be to create a new weapon characteristic for ranged weapons. Then ranged units would have Melee Weapon %/Ranged Weapon %/Armour Percentage. Then when recruiting melee SF and ranged SF obviously the ranged % will drop. However then what happens with recruiting range 3 and range 4 archers? Should the system record how many are ranged 3 and how many are ranged 4 to ensure that only x number fire at the max range? Easier just to do as we are doing and average out the range.

I think Cren's just asking how you would RP something like that in-game. I don't know, maybe say the new melee guys don't have the training to use the ranged guys' longbows and the unit captain refuses to mix weapons, so gives everyone javelins instead. Or some such.

[Marlboro]

eh? if it's xbows.. then how would the ranged be reduced? unless they are aiming too low and shoot at the ground or something..

When you cut the stock off of a shotgun it becomes less accurate because you can't hold it up to your shoulder to fire. Or, you could but you'd hurt yourself. Same goes with a rifle; you're pretty much resigned to firing it from the hip, which is not nearly as accurate as shoulder-firing and using the sights. It does not reduce the range of the projectiles you are firing but it reduces the effective range by wrecking accuracy.

It was a joke, anyways. I can think of reasons for it but there's no reason to give a comprehensive list since it's up to the person doing it to RP it out.

if ranged is not a special ability.. does that mean it gets to keep the range and the special ability?

Yeah, I wanna know if range in and of itself is counted as a special ability. It really could be, since by all accounts they still bust faces in melee, unlike archers.

[fodder]

ah.... but that's got nothing to do with training though.. unless it's some really special training..

[vonGenf]

This averaging of range is funny, at least I feel that.

Imagine that you recruited 10 melee SF to your 10 men of range 4 SF. Range drops to 2. Now how would you RP that?

When you have 10 4-ranged men, their special ability is to magically always have the wind in their back.

When you add melee guys, they shield the wind, and the arrows don't go as far.