Which Ulm national units should I recruit?

[Zooko]

Templars cost 3 gold per turn upkeep whereas Black Knights cost 4 gold per turn upkeep, right? 90 / 30 vs 60 / 15.

Ulm is fun. :-)

I think I'll get a Fortified City.

[PvK]

Ya, I really enjoy playing Ulm against the AI. I work to build up a core of experienced troops, supported by other stuff. It takes a while to build up, though. Templars (or black knights) and black plate are both a lot slower to build up a large enough force, though, so I usually start with chain and shield troops, with some chain w/o shield troops behind them. Otherwise, it takes me too long to gather a large enough force to be confident enough of success. A small force in full plate can much more easily get tired, demoralized and overwhelmed, but that's much less likely to happen to a larger force in chainmail. So the knights, guardians, and black plate comes later for me, rather than at the start. I think Templars and black knights generally work best as a delayed flanking force than a main assault force, though maybe with enough blessings that might work...

PvK

[PvK]

Zooko said:
Templars cost 3 gold per turn upkeep whereas Black Knights cost 4 gold per turn upkeep, right? 90 / 30 vs 60 / 15.

Ulm is fun. :-)

I think I'll get a Fortified City.

Yes, 3 gold vs 4 gold.

PvK

[Saber Cherry]

Versus militia, incidentally...

Code:

---

'18*Militia' versus '5*Ulm Inf Hammer 2'  in 40000 bouts.



 ~ Attacker's Deathmatch Statistics ~



Score: ----------------------  564

Wins: -----------------------   56.49%

Losses: ---------------------   43.52%

Timeouts: -------------------     .01%

Kills per battle: -----------    3.17

Kills per round: ------------     .25

Deaths per battle: ----------   14.86

Life expectancy (rounds): ---   29.34

Life expectancy (battles): --    2.26

Avg. Rounds Elapsed: --------   12.99

Avg. Rounds to Win: ---------   13.86

Avg. Rounds to Lose: --------   11.86

Hit Rate: -------------------   82.97%

Evade Rate: -----------------   39.59%

Repel Rate: -----------------   59.00%

Damage done per swing: ------     .50

Damage done per hit: --------     .60

Damage taken per hit: -------   14.10

Total damage taken per life:    16.89





C:\Projects\Java\Dominions>java Fight 18*militia 5*ulm_inf_hammer_1



'18*Militia' versus '5*Ulm Inf Hammer 1'  in 40000 bouts.



 ~ Attacker's Deathmatch Statistics ~



Score: ----------------------  181

Wins: -----------------------   18.16%

Losses: ---------------------   81.85%

Kills per battle: -----------    1.48

Kills per round: ------------     .16

Deaths per battle: ----------   17.02

Life expectancy (rounds): ---   11.30

Life expectancy (battles): --    1.17

Avg. Rounds Elapsed: --------    9.66

Avg. Rounds to Win: ---------   11.75

Avg. Rounds to Lose: --------    9.20

Hit Rate: -------------------   54.46%

Evade Rate: -----------------   35.67%

Repel Rate: -----------------   27.96%

Damage done per swing: ------     .41

Damage done per hit: --------     .75

Damage taken per hit: -------   14.08

Total damage taken per life:    16.81

---

Against weak masses, Ulm's light units ("1" is full chain, "2" is full black plate) are much more effective than the heavy units. Militia can't really hurt either of them until they get tired, and heavy units tire faster. But in other situations (against jotuns and barbarians, or with magical reinvigoration, for example) the heavy units are probably better.

[PvK]

My empirical experience suggests that against Jotuns, the cheaper the better, and in fact, may as well use independent fodder. Dodging boulders is much more effective than blocking them. Giants do so much damage that Ulmish armor doesn't help much, and it doesn't make all that much damage whether it is chain or plate. However they do have to hit, and they do get fatigued and fearful over time, so the more high-defense (not high-prot) masses, the better.

PvK