Total War: Warhammer 2

So apparently Pirate Coves just sometimes don’t work.

No real reason. Reloading sometimes makes them work. I go to build, no slot available. Save and Reload and one of my two Coves says I can build now.

I did the Rite for Bess. It didn’t let me recruit Bess. So… uh…
What?

Otherwise it’s pretty cool, but when fundamental mechanics of the faction don’t work for no real reason… yeah.

Factions seem great but I dunno about all the new mechanics though. I am with you Shiva may need to let this one percolate for a few days.

Turns out Bess is because I was at sea, likely the same for all RoR. Also any upgrades to heros you get don’t count for the dudes you recruit from your boat. So the boat is… kinda crap in a lot of respects.

Not sure on the Coves yet.

Coves are now working for me, so no idea what it was.

Coves are a mechanic that takes a small bit of getting used too.

They’re nothing too complex, they’re a outpost you put in someone else’s port city that does something depending on what you build.

The cost/benefit on them seems terrible from my first attempts. They cost a ton to establish, the building for the one building slot is expensive, and they don’t produce a lot. I think the only useful one is the steal-50%-income if one can sneak it into a port with a goldmine or other massive income booster. I know I put a few into coastal minor provinces and realized I was spending like 5k to get a building that gave me 200 income and +2% research and +2% trade (who trades with Vampirates?). It seemed like a really bad deal.

Yes, you don’t want to use the “Establish Pirate Cove” hero action on cities that don’t make a bunch of money.

But defeating a city in combat also allows you to put in a Cove. So you’re roaming the coast, hit a city you can’t possibly hold. Sack it for cash. Then hit it again (you can do it same turn) and establish a Pirate Cove. Then head off. Now for 1k you’re getting 200 gold a turn and the research and trade bonuses (and people will trade with you, Dark Elves, Tomb Kings and Skaven don’t tend to hate you for no reason). Or drop some Vampire Corruption that will endlessly spread while you’re off doing other things making the region weaker for when you’re ready to conquer it, etc.

The Hero action is expensive, but also basically unstoppable. Head to Lotheran and pop in a Pirate Cove. It will cost a few thousand gold and then generate 1-2k a turn forever. Repeat for every coastal town that makes 1k or more. Roll around in piles of gold forever.

I just received a Steam coupon for 50% off Warhammer II, anyone need it?

The DLC for 2 never goes on sale does it?

I think there was a discount a few months ago. I imagine you’ll see a bigger deal next year.

I got tw2 and all but the newest dlc on sale a few months back. 40% off I think except the newest vampire dlc was preorder and only like 10% off so I didn’t get it. I assume it will be on sale this winter

Yes the pirate expansion seems just a bit pricey. But …. it really ties the room together.

Holy cow what a fun game. Held off on diving into WH1 or 2 until now – despite being a TW fan – because I knew it would take over my life. I was right. Dove into the mortal empires campaign playing as the norse guys (because vikings and mammoths). I’ve got the north secured and money rolling in, and now everyone is starting to declare war on me. We will see if I can hold it together.

They did a very good job making it approachable. Despite not playing TW since medieval 2, I was able to pick up on things pretty quickly. I love how the quests give you continual short term rewards.

The “one more turn” is strong in this one, though the long wait for the AI turns gets a bit agonizing. I wish there was a smaller sandbox campaign.

Also, amazing performance on my ok-ish CPU and video card.

Are you enjoying it more in Eye of the Vortex or Mortal Empires mode?

Is there enough here for the strategic layer to enjoy? I don’t have time for 30 minute RTS battles

TIA

I believe so. I really enjoy the research (and it’s different for every faction) and building up cities and getting new units. I actually auto-resolve most fights, but I like to do early game battles as much as possible to get acclimated with the units, and large fights that are important (though honestly, sometimes the AI does this better for me as well).

Also, most fights are at most like 10 minutes. The skirmishes aren’t very long in this, and that feels about perfect.

JP I’ve only played as Sartossa and only in the Vortex campaign. Some very different (if similar to horde) mechanics from my usual. I got taken with my great Last defender campaign and haven’t gone back. Thing about the pirates (and for that matter the tomb kings) is that dlc it makes both campaigns more complete. I have complained about neverending DLC etc but in Warhammer 2 they do add so much to the game it makes you want to play a new campaign. Even the elven campaign that added Avelorn and Nagaryth (so sry) changed the game. Since some of the empty or vacant places get filled, those factions push in different ways. And Lustria is just a freakin crazy battleground now.

Bangorang2003 (and I know Scott knows this or I think he does) there are some nice mods in steam workshop that give AI control in battles to some or all units (AI spectator and AI general I believe) and can make the chaos of battle a bit easier. They are terrible (as least in my experience) in siege battles. They are invaluable to me. I can set the grunts to ai and run the dragons etc and have fun. Or set my heroes to ai so they will use their abilities automatically and I can sit back and watch.

And yes for whatever reason the strategic ai is better in Warhammer 2 (imhop) than in the historical warhammers (though strategic Attila wasn’t bad in some of the campaigns).

Oh and the pirates have this great long range musket unit that is pretty good. Racks up some kills!

Bought this and all the DLC during the Steam sale (I had owned WH1 for quite awhile but didn’t really dig into it because it ran pretty poorly on my old pc). Built a new gaming rig a couple weeks ago and with everything maxed out, oh my the eye candy. My wife is not going to appreciate me bunkering up with this for a thousand hours.

I am exactly the same way. Well except for the ex-husband doesn’t care. But yes the game is fantastic with a better pc. Too bad mortal empire turn times are still a bit slowish. Not slow --maybe 1 minute?