Differences between LoR and vanilla BTS

StMikael

Warlord
Joined
Oct 9, 2005
Messages
137
Location
Prussia
I realize this might be a little too early to ask, but is there no compiled list of ALL the changes between BTS and LoR?

For instance, I never knew the Serfdom civic had been completely revised until I saw the Sevopedia. Now you could argue that all the stats are listed in the Pedia, but problem is, I don't always remember the original BTS stats. This usually means that when I go for my time-tested strategies, I fail. This happened, of course, when I tried to fight fortified Swordsmen with Axemen. I found that Axemen really were no good against fortified positions and cities, and Swordsmen were only marginally better. On the whole, siege warfare in the Ancient era turned out to be a very longwinded and resource-comsuming affair. The Capped Ram was a big help, though.

Not that I'm complaining. I love this mod and find it very interesting to try out new strategies and adapt to new stats. I'm just a sucker for lists. Maybe one will come out when version 1.0 is ready?
 
Not. But I made a cheatsheet a while ago, which might be helpful to some newer LoR players. Basically a summary of what's different from base BtS.

Existing units:
Axeman – now STR 4 and +100% vs melee units. Which makes it a good counter for Swords, but useless against Archers. If you ever believed there was such thing as an Axe rush, stop.
Chariot – now 50% bonus against all melee units. Makes chariots actually useful against something other than Axes, and gives them more of a chance against Spears (still not enough).
Scouts – can now attack other units and capture cities. Beware, the AI will screw you with this early on, especially those with the Expansive trait (3-move Scouts!)
Settler – base movement reduced from 2 to 1.
Trireme – requires Seafaring, not Metal Casting, making them easier to use to counter the dreaded barbarian Galley.
Caravel – requires both Optics and Engineering. Triremes no longer upgradeable to Caravels (in fact, nothing is). Slows down circumnavigation a bit.
Pikeman – 100% bonus vs both Melee and Mounted units. Landsknecht starts with an additional bonus vs Melee. Makes Pikes more useful, but still not great versus cities.
Grenadier – now a melee unit; can get City Raider promotions.
Machine Gun - +100% versus gunpowder and mounted units, STR 16
Infantry – now STR 18
Submarine – can no longer carry missiles (Boomer Submarine can)


New units:
Battering Ram & Capped Ram – these are precursors to the Catapult. They can bombard cultural defenses, but do not cause collateral damage. Ignore them... if you need them you'd be better off beelining Construction IMO.
Bombard – STR 6 siege unit, available at Gunpowder (after Trebuchet (Engineering), before Cannon (Steel)). +50% city attack, making them a bit better than Trebs that way.
Armored Car – STR 17, MV 2, follows Cavalry. The first stepping stone between Cavalry and Tanks
Armor – STR 20, 1-MV predecessor of Tanks. Stepping Stone #2
Motorized Infantry – 2-move unit, STR24, available in between Infantry and Mech Infantry. See a theme here?
Heavy Tank – STR 30, 2-move unit, available in between Tanks and Modern Armor. Does not have Blitz promo.
Gunship - STR 30, a better version of the Air Cavalry (STR 25) which is basically the BtS Gunship. Make sense?
Air Assault – 4-move unit, STR 26, starts with CR I, stupidly good at attacking cities and Infantry. AIs need to build a lot of SAM Infantry to counter these.
Pathfinder - STR 7, later version of Explorers.
Special Forces - STR 18, invisible like spies. Good for wreaking havoc behind enemy lines. Annoying when the AI uses them.
Cog: STR 3 version of Galley, can’t enter Ocean. Another intermediate unit.
Galleass: STR 4 warship, can’t enter Ocean, bonuses against Frigates and Galleons
Ironclad Cruiser – STR 14. Intermediate unit that mops the floor with Frigates and SoTL,
Ironclad Battleship – STR 18. Slow and expensive, just wait for Dreadnoughts.
Destroyer Escort – STR 20. You guessed it, the intermediate unit between Ironclad Cruisers and Destroyers
Destroyer – STR 25
Dreadnought – STR 28
Heavy Cruiser – STR 32
Boomer Submarine – can carry missiles (3 of them); generic Submarine can’t.
Supercarrier – carries 7 aircraft; conventional Carrier holds just 3.

Note for ships: Many ships now have bonuses against other ship types - e.g. Battleships have bonuses against "Capital Ships", Submarines have bonuses versus "carriers", which means the STR ratios among them are more complex than the basic number.

Bi-Plane – early version of Fighter
Ground Attack Plane – early version of Bomber
Seaplane – can be carried by Carriers, Battleships and Cruisers, can attack naval vessels (poorly)
Jet Fighter, Jet Bomber – precursors to Strike Fighter (analogous to BtS Jet Fighter) and Stealth Bomber, available after Fighters/Bombers
UAV – reconnaissance/attack aircraft, can see Submarines and other invisible units
UCAV – very short range fighter aircraft, but with massive bonuses (+100%) against other planes
Nomad – barbarian mounted unit, STR 3, Mv 2
Marauder – later barbarian mounted unit, STR 5, Mv 2. Both of these add some novelty to barbarians. If you wanted that.

Colonist - later version of Settler, available at Economics. This one is worth noting. Colonists cost a LOT more than Settlers to build, but when you settle a city with one, that city starts with a religion (apparently random), a Granary and Courthouse, a Worker, and either an Explorer or Pathfinder, depending where you are in the tech tree. So you don't need to waste 3 spots on a Galleon to transport Settler, Worker, and garrison unit to a new city location.



UUs
The Persian Immortal is now a replacement for the Swordsman, instead of the Chariot. The enhancement is a free March promotion, which is nice, but not really something to get excited about.
The American Jeep, on the other hand, is a replacement for the Motorized Infantry and starts with Commando. Very very handy.
There are some other good ones, but I didn't keep good notes. The Khmer UU starts with Woodsman 1 and 2, which makes it a good superhealer.

Legends
Sacred Band: A 5-STR melee unit with bonuses against melee and Archers, but requires a state religion to build
300 Spartans: Didn't take good notes on this one, but the AIs love to build it early.
Legio X: An 8-STR mounted unit that is available at Metal Casting, starts with Blitz and Morale (+1 movement) and bonuses against most other unit types. A 3-move, 3-attack unit for the Classical period, this is the prize among the early Legend units. Used judiciously, it can rack up XP quickly and isn’t fazed by anything short of Pikes/Ellies/Longbows.
Kings Yeomanry: They're a pain to kill, but better defensively than offensively. It'll annoy you when the AI builds it.
Barbary Corsair: A 5-STR, 4-MV unit that massacres Triremes, Galleys, Cogs and Caravels. Starts with Blitz and has enough movement to flee stronger vessels. Can enter Ocean tiles with Engineering, not Astronomy. This Legend is viable for a long time, almost as good as the Legio X IMO.
Hungarian Cannon: 8 STR Bombard unit that starts with a lot of promos. Siege is sacrificial, so you're probably better off with 4-5 Bombards.
54th Infantry: Starts with numerous promos, including Blitz (it’s a 2 move unit). Useful but not a game breaker
101st Airborne: Ditto
SAS: A STR 28, better version of Special Forces.
Bismarck: STR 36 Superbattleship. Not worth the hammers IMO - it's too vulnerable to other ships of the same era. Much the same as most ships.
The Red Baron: An air unit that attacks twice and starts with lots of bonuses. Dominates early planes, and holds its own against early modern planes, too.

Promotions
Siege units can receive Combat promotions.
Machine Guns can receive City Garrison promotions. Makes them even better defenders.
Sea units can no longer receive the Blitz promo (exception for Barbary Corsair, which starts with it). Instead, naval units can attack multiple times with the (Blitz equivalent) Gunnery Control promotion, available after Drill II or Combat III and sometime after Gunpowder. However, wooden ships can no longer receive this promotion (so, no more Blitz privateers).
Commando promotion available with Combat III as a prerequisite (17xp), not Combat IV. Commando tanks are pretty easy to get, which makes warfare fast when you match them with Air Cavalry and Air Assault.
Medic promotions no longer available to mounted units. So your first medic unit actually needs to win a few combats to get to 5 XP.

Miscellaneous:
Revolutions, of course.

There are new civilizations and traits.
Many units can only be built in cities with a particular improvement. For example, Swordsmen require a Barracks to be built, Bombers require an Airfield, most modern ships require a Harbour. Units that require a Barracks don’t usually receive the 3XP that comes from being built in a city with a Barracks. Some units (e.g. Infantry) require an improvement initially, but the requirement is removed the further into the tech tree you go.
Expansive trait grants the Morale promotion (+1 mobility) to Settlers and recon units (i.e. Scout, Explorer, Pathfinder). The latter can be upgraded into Cavalry and Tanks with 3 moves.
Spies can now earn experience; there is a whole promotion tree of Spy promos.
 
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