Commanders have a huge flaw

[ColPaladin]

After 5 playthoughs, only once did I ever get more than 1 commander with XP point. I really wanted one or two commanders to be a mayor of sorts, and give bonuses to towns/cities, maybe another to help move units around, but you have to fight to get XP, and in that case, you almost have to put the XP you gain in skills to help you fight. There needs to be some way for commanders to get XP without fighting, but maybe not allow that XP to be used in the left two sections (only in the right 3, or some such rule).

Right now, from my own experience, and friends, and watching playthrough videos, only the left 2 sections get used 99% of the time.

 

[evonannoredars]

Although the other columns have less directly combat-related themes, iirc some of the abilities within them do have combat-related bonuses. If a commander is in a fairly good defensive position where the enemy isn't a major threat, I'll normally pick that one to specialise in one of those trees.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

only the left 2 sections get used 99% of the time

Interesting - I just assumed everybody would be like me and give them mobility from Maneuver as their first promotion! Getting units to the front quickly is one of their main purposes after all.

There needs to be some way for commanders to get XP without fighting, but maybe not allow that XP to be used in the left two sections (only in the right 3, or some such rule).

It would be interesting to have a "peaceful" section with a different way of gaining points.

 

[Leyrann]

Interesting - I just assumed everybody would be like me and give them mobility from Maneuver as their first promotion! Getting units to the front quickly is one of their main purposes after all.

I don't get how people can live without Initiative as the very first promotion. It's just so good.

I have no issues getting ranks on multiple commanders myself (I'm usually fighting on more than 3 tiles width, after all), so I don't see the issue there. What is an issue is that I tend to always pick the same few promotions, but that's mostly because Initiatve is too valuable not to pick, and then it's a question of 'how do I get to the Commendation as quickly as possible?', which means continuing in the Assault tree. And always on the left because I prefer Infantry-heavy armies.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Military Academies started popping up in Europe at right about the initial period of the game's Modern Age: a new Building that, perhaps, gives 1 XP point per commander with the payment of Inluence/Gold/Production, etc?

For earlier Ages, some cultures (notably Republican Rome, Byzantium, some Chinese Dynasties) 'mixed' the civilian/political and military careers of officials, so that, perhaps, some 'civilian' activities could give Commander XPs - but possibly only those not directly related to Combat, as in the 'right-hand' sections of the current trees.

Such activities could be, for examples, being in a city when a Wonder is completed there, or in a city that repairs X amount of damage from natural disasters, or a city that completes a Unique Quarter - but in each case, only 1 Commander could benefit from each event.

 

[chazzycat]

I have AIs attacking me from different directions pretty frequently, so it hasn't been a problem getting XP on multiple commanders. Even in peaceful games. But I still choose other promotions lol.

 

[wesplaysciv]

After 5 playthoughs, only once did I ever get more than 1 commander with XP point. I really wanted one or two commanders to be a mayor of sorts, and give bonuses to towns/cities, maybe another to help move units around, but you have to fight to get XP, and in that case, you almost have to put the XP you gain in skills to help you fight. There needs to be some way for commanders to get XP without fighting, but maybe not allow that XP to be used in the left two sections (only in the right 3, or some such rule).

Right now, from my own experience, and friends, and watching playthrough videos, only the left 2 sections get used 99% of the time.

Isn't that sort of like governors in Civ 6? I think its fine that armies are battle focused. They can earn tons of XP defending, too.

 

[ehecatzin]

Interesting - I just assumed everybody would be like me and give them mobility from Maneuver as their first promotion! Getting units to the front quickly is one of their main purposes after all.

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It would be interesting to have a "peaceful" section with a different way of gaining points.

Drilling comes to mind, but it would make your units unavaliable for a number of turns. Of course it should take longer to lvl up than regular fightning.

 

[Melkus]

Getting two commanders to level 4 needs much less XP than getting one to level 8, so strategic swapping is risky, but possible (not every battle is tight).

But I've been surprised how much the battles consist of shuffling commanders to collect XP points. (And they don't even collect points if your horse moves outside the circle to kill a unit.)
It's even worse with ships.

Parking them on a barracks could slowly collect points and make the building more interesting (maybe depending on the amount of units they carry?).

 

[MasterPaw]

its doable to have multiple leveled up commanders, although i regularly fought with independant, i view independent i dont ally as towns i need to raze to gain XP, loot and settlement spot

I did declare some wars sometime just to gain xp, especially when the end of age was near and my armies were sitting idle. I think its an interesting way to make war without taking settlements have some value

i have used and like bastion, assault, and maneuver. Maneuver +1 movement and ingoring terrain penalty/amphibie can be quite useful. Commander doesnt really attract me, although i can see the first skill being nice, but a commander at home doesnt level up. Logistics might tempt me but mostly for the extra unit slots, i didnt find very useful the maintenance or production toward units boost as i had good economy

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Ive begun to primarily use the Maneuver tree. It seems to be the most broadly applicable abilities.

 

[UWHabs]

Personally, I kind of feel that a lot of the promotions are hit or miss, and the tree is so big. I really think they could simplify it to 3 levels down per tree, shorten up how much it takes to get a commendation, and then I could actually play a little more. I really don't know how much you'd have to fight to actually complete like 3+ trees.

 

[BarbarianHunter]

I'm not seeing much reason to choose anything outside the Maneuver or Logistics trees.

 

[wesplaysciv]

Personally, I kind of feel that a lot of the promotions are hit or miss, and the tree is so big. I really think they could simplify it to 3 levels down per tree, shorten up how much it takes to get a commendation, and then I could actually play a little more. I really don't know how much you'd have to fight to actually complete like 3+ trees.

The naval and air commanders are 3 levels it works pretty well.


I think there’s a bit of a bug with how the land units gain xp right now though and they should be getting a bit more

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Military Academies started popping up in Europe at right about the initial period of the game's Modern Age: a new Building that, perhaps, gives 1 XP point per commander with the payment of Inluence/Gold/Production, etc?

For earlier Ages, some cultures (notably Republican Rome, Byzantium, some Chinese Dynasties) 'mixed' the civilian/political and military careers of officials, so that, perhaps, some 'civilian' activities could give Commander XPs - but possibly only those not directly related to Combat, as in the 'right-hand' sections of the current trees.

Such activities could be, for examples, being in a city when a Wonder is completed there, or in a city that repairs X amount of damage from natural disasters, or a city that completes a Unique Quarter - but in each case, only 1 Commander could benefit from each event.

Cities with a Military Academy already grant a free Level for new COmmanders built in that city (honestly it is so easily missed that certain exploration and modern bildings grant bonuses outside of adjacencies)

 

[King of Prussia]

The +1 movement and attack after unpacking are my top 2 picks. The +2 size is also nice for later in the game. I prefer the ranged side of the assault tree, and leave my infantry on defense so they can heal and tank. The defense tree is ok.

Im not sure if the leadership tree is worth it. the 5% yields seems underwhelming unless its in a big city.

I do agree commanders getting xp over time would be nice.

 

[gdr_willter]

I love the Leadership tier 2 promotion. It allows units to be upgraded regardless my territory! The tech-army mismatch was always the problem for my war planning in previous titles.

 

[Tanel]

The 1st Assault and Maneuver skills are usually my 1st picks and then I usually complete the Assault and Maneuver trees for the Commendations. The Bastion tree is also fine especially with Rome as you already get 1 free promotion there. I don't think the +2 Army Size is that good before the Modern era because it's hard to deploy so many units into a fight before you get the 3 range Artillery and you can always just have more commanders which is better as it helps to widen the front as well.I have only picked the 1st leadership skill in games where I didn't plan to do any fighting.

 

[canadamufc]

The first Assault promotion is genuinely OP and is always my first pick.

 

[CoconutTank]

Yeah Initiative is too important to pass up on for the most part If I wanted to have a Commander on garrison duty I'd usually pick the promotion that grants +1 Gold per packed unit, but not being able to act after unpacking can be fatal.