Just thought I'd give my 2 cents. I've just finished all 5 Empire LL campaigns in IE post TOD. All with Long Victory conditions and making sure to unite/reconquer the Empire.
Franz, easier but satisfying:
- The first 10 turns are much faster thanks to having access to Helmgart. It also gives some additional early gold from immediate diplomatic visibility to Bretonnia.
- Emperor Decrees are a fantastic addition. Open the Gates is vital for building your economy and rapidly increasing tiers in Reikland, but I found myself using all of them.
- The new IA mechanic seems very generous. I didn't drop below Stagnant once, only increased. The overall game plan is still largely the same. Go kill One-eye, Festus, Drycha, then Vlad. Though I can see some players now being able to take their time and choose the threat they want to engage first, or even abandon the Empire entirely as the negatives only impact Empire territories (apart from the EC State Troops). One issueI noticed is that the 3 fort provinces don't count towards the IA mechanic, and for some reason Laurelorn Forrest does? I think that should be swapped around.
- There’s even less reason to bring back electors after they’re defeated now. Unless it’s Middenland or Wissenland for their LL’s. I wish CA could make the other electors worth saving.
- Small issue with Toddy in that he didn’t get all the new Empire General skills, and he doesn’t have anything unique despite being a legendary lord. If it’s possible why not give him the missing skills but let him go down both branches?
- I was unable to confederate Volkmar as he was dead by the time I got to the Southlands (this happened a lot).
- I managed short victory around turn 35 and long victory by turn 76.
Gelt, my favourite LL right now:
- I really enjoy the mini-branching storyline. I wish it applied to other factions. I chose the "Help but for a Cost" chain. I'm definitely going to give Gelt another playthrough to try out the other branches. I may update this when I finish those campaigns.
- An Empire campaign in Cathay is a breath of fresh air. It plays a bit slower, I managed short victory around turn 47 though that's also partly my fault as the only thing I spent my unique currency on was more wizards and getting money.
- I probably didn't make the most out of Gelt's new mechanic. I mainly spent his currency on more wizards, transmutation, instant army healing, and the unique items.
- Volkmar was dead by the time I got to the Southlands. Elspeth was dead by the time I got to the Empire.
- I managed short victory around turn 48, mainly due to me not making the most of Gelt's new mechanic, and long victory by turn 86.
Elspeth, spectacle but fairly vanilla:
- Did Vampire Counts get buffed? I found retaking Wissenland from the new minor VCount faction quite difficult. I actually had to restart a couple of times due to some difficult battles, and even autoresolve will end up putting you in a bad position. After that the campaign got much easier, but it’s a very harsh 4-5 initial turns.
- Master Engineers with Hochland Scopes is definitely my favourite new lord. Having ranged focused armies with Landships/Steam Tanks to tie up enemies is quite fun.
- I don't really have much to say about her. Her mechanic is quite straight forward, and the ability to quickly teleport is nice.
- Volkmar was still dead by the time I got to the Southlands.
- I managed short victory around turn 42 and long victory by turn 79.
Volkmar, surprisingly difficult start:
- Like Elspeth, his start seems to have gotten much harder. My usual game plan was to destroy the Dune Kingdoms and then take outThe Drakenhof Conclave. However, now it seemsThe Drakenhof Conclave take out the Dune Kingdoms faster than I can. I had to restart several times after failing to push backThe Drakenhof Conclave. Instead I just went South taking outTlaqua and had much more success building a power base there first.
- Flagellants still suck and need some kind of buff. I think Volkmar now starting with the Sigmar building chain is likely the reason for his difficulty spike, and explains why the AI is now dying so frequently.
- One of the few Empire campaigns I actually managed to confederate all the Empire LL.
- His mechanics are still boring and take way too long. I achieved long victory before getting all of the books. I hope he gets a glow up some day. Such as giving Volkmar the new state troop unlock technologies, instead of having them unlocked via the books. If Emil and Cult of Ulric ever get added I'd love some kind of supporter mechanic between the 2 Empire cults.
- I managed short victory around turn 40 and long victory by turn 81.
Markus, more of the same:
- Still a bit of a mess. I had more fun abandoning Lustria after establishing a power base then moving to rescue Volkmar, then the Empire. Volkmar was maybe 5 turns off dying, apparently his AI is suffering now.
- His unique hero mechanic needs a rework as it's still buggy. I had to reload several times to complete his Hunter missions. The hero's themselves need their skill trees looked at, as even after their skills being changed with their generic counterpart update they're either still missing skills or their unique skills are just worse versions of new generic ones.
- Hostility needs to be better defined. There's a really good post around here somewhere and I'll likely link it when I find it.
- Like Volkmar, Markus also needs an update. Markus has got one of the worst LL unique starting traits. Markus’ skills are fine but they focus too much on Archers and Huntsmen, it’d be nice to get some buffs for basic melee infantry too. His hostility mechanic needs to be better defined for the player, and Markus should also unlock EC State Troops from the new technologies.
- I managed short victory around turn 51, mainly due to me not focusing on Lustria, and long victory by turn 87.
Other Issues with Empire:
- Is there no way to increase Lord, Captain, and Witch Hunter rank now? Via buildings specifically. I think the old Imperial Academy building should make a return.
- Mustering armies is now way slower too. Thanks to the lack of a blacksmith chain. Sure, CA added local and global recruitment slots to stables but to get the most out of that building chain you're going to have to build it in a major settlement, which limits its usefulness massively. Compared to being able to get the most out of it in a minor settlement. It also makes Empire infantry even worse than they normally are, as losing that blacksmith chain means you're recruiting them at much lower ranks. I pretty much ditched melee infantry for the new Black Rose Knights as soon as I could get them.
Updated 11 hours ago.
