Greetings! Today I will be discussing the changes made to the factions of Norway and Denmark in my submod, Roar of Conquest. Unlike the Russian factions I talked about previously, Denmark and Norway did not suffer from a bad roster that woefully under-performed. In fact, they did rather well for themselves on the campaign map...as long as they stayed in their home regions. Once they started conquering other lands, say in northern sections of the Holy Roman Empire or in the western provinces of Russia, they lost all their momentum and were always pushed back. The reason was simple; the bulk of theirs armies, especially in the early game, were limited by area of recruitment, or AOE. Once they were able to recruit their base-level soldiers, (above peasant milita but below feudal knights), these factions started to do rather well for themselves on the campaign map. When controlled by the AI, it's a coin toss whether Denmark or Norway will be the ruler of the north, (it depends which one gets the upper hand in the early campaign), but once the dust is settled and the north united, death shall come to their neighbors in swift wings. Let the world tremble, for the vikings come to conquer in fire and sword!
Universal Changes, (Affects All Listed Factions):
1) Feudal Knights have an increased melee attack, now 6 up from 4.
2) Huskarl Cavalry have an increased melee attack, now 7 up from 6.
3) Foot Men at Arms are no longer restricted by area of recruitment, or AOE; any castle you can build the appropriate Barracks building will now recruit them anywhere on the map.
4) Late Pikemen have increased melee stats, 5 attack up from 2 and 4 charge up from 3. They also have better defense, with a total of 15 up from 10. Hurrah for useful pikes!
5) Men at Arms are no longer restricted by area of recruitment, or AOE; any castle you can build the appropriate Stables building will now recruit them anywhere on the map.
6) Norse Archers have increased melee stats, with 4 attack up from 2 and 3 charge up from 2. They also have better defense, with a total of 12 up from 11. I changed this unit up a bit so that, while they are still a poor archer, they are now at least a decent light/mid tier infantry that just happens to have a bow. Before, they were practically useless. Most important of all, they are no longer restricted by area of recruitment, or AOE; any castle you can build the appropriate Archer Range building will now recruit them anywhere on the map.
7) Norse War Clerics have a better melee attack, now 5 up from 4. Nothing quite like, "Convert or I'll smash your skull in" to encourage a change of religion, right?
8) Pikemen have better melee stats, with a 5 attack up from 2 and 4 charge up from 3. Their defense is also now 8 up from 3. I'll say it as many times as I'll damn please: Pikes. Are. Now. Useful. For those of you wondering what I'm ranting about, refer to this article: Moddb.com
9) Viking Raiders are no longer restricted by area of recruitment, or AOE; any castle you can build the appropriate Barracks building will now recruit them anywhere on the map. This gives both Denmark and Norway a decent infantry unit to fill out their battle lines, especially in the early campaign.
Denmark
Not many changes here, I'm afraid, and no changes that are specific to Norway. The changes I list below are not unique to Denmark per see, but reflect some general changes that I made that affect many factions in the game, so don't be surprised if you see these changes mentioned again in later articles.
1) Chivalric Foot Knights are now recruitable throughout the entire game once they are unlocked. For those of you who don't know, Stainless Steel 6.4, (the mother mod to my work), had a system that as new units unlocked throughout the game after certain events, other units would become less available or not available at all. For example, after the Half Plate event, Feudal Knights become less readily available to recruit, but you can now recruit some Chivalric Knights to compensate. By the Full Plate Event, Feudal Knights can no longer be recruited, but you can now recruit more Chivalric Knights. This change makes sense, since Chivalric Knights are superior to their Feudal counterparts, with better armor and often superior melee stats. Some factions in the game, like Norway, do not get a replacement to Feudal Knights in their roster, and simply cannot recruit them after the Full Plate Event; this change was most likely due to the fact that the original modders did not see Norway as a nation which would field elite late-game cavalry, which does make sense given it's geographic location. However, Stainless Steel had a tendency to remove elite knight units in the late campaign, (about 1550) from those factions that could field such units. I disagree with this change, since I see no fun in losing your elite units late in the campaign, especially since the units that are supposed to replace them are rather underwhelming, (pikes and musketeers, to be exact). While many people probably do not play so late into the campaign, I felt that it was not fair that they lose their best knight unit at this stage in the campaign. Therefore, I tried to make it so most, if not all, factions that could recruit such units would not loose the ability to recruit them in the very late campaign. I apologize for the lengthy explanation, but I hope people will now understand what these changes mean and why I did them. Rest assured, I will not bore you with this lengthy explanation in future articles; I'll simply link this explanation in later publications.
2) Chivalric Knights are now recruitable for the entire campaign once they are unlocked.
So there you go, the changes for Norway and Denmark in Roar of Conquest. I am aware that Norway could use a bit more affection, since they do not quite measure up in the late game to Denmark in faction-unique units or have any compensation for not getting Chivalric units. While I do not have any plans for them in the near future, it is something I will keep in mind for future changes in Roar of Conquest. For those of you who like what you heard and would like to play the mod for yourself, here's the download link: Moddb.com
