Fabius

It should potentially apply by splash, though I am unsure on the exact splash radius, its not something included in the unit details. That being said it does feel a bit to generic for a faction specific tech. Currently those who have bolters are Carthage, Athens, Sparta, Ptolomies, Macedonia and of course Rome. Macedonia is already strong so definitely not them. Ptolomies have machine gun level bolters(Cleopatra boosts fire rate even more) so not them either. Athens I am unsure where they are at, but they have a bunch of ranged options already. Carthage is very much in the same vein too, albeit weaker. That leaves just Rome and Sparta, two strong infantry civs with very lacklustre ranged capabilities outside of siege units which Rome has a significant advantage on. Sparta would certainly benefit the most from it given they have no catapults, flaming bolts on their bolters would certainly be an interesting alternative for building breaking. Rome already has the onagar, but the scorpio is also very iconic to them and they do go hand in hand I would say. They now have a strong theme of manoeuvrability which is cool, so that could be utilised instead. Given their known siege prowess one can definitely still make a case for flaming bolts or something though.

Also Ptolomies should not have access to this tech on the grounds that their bolt shooter is not designed for incendiary projectiles and for potential balance purposes given their rapid fire bonus

That would also be the burning damage application, but yes

Afternoon, I had an idea for a bolt shooter related technology. Flaming bolts, that applies a burning debuff to targets.

Those are good points, I have noticed the unit balance shifting since A27, I almost never see champion cavalry now, unless I am the one trying to use it, civs with strong anti cav options are also getting picked more, and Han crossbow and halberdier/spearman combination is horrifically lethal to champion cavalry and just about everything else too, I was genuinely surprised at how effective it turned out to be. Pikes have also become very decent damage dealers while maintaining good durability, especially great in wars of attrition, so that is a very nice change

I mentioned the idea as linked below, and then it occurred to me that it might be a good suggestion for testing in the community mod. A possible twist of interest is both slinger and archer options but as an either/or setup. That being said given the obvious slowing of eco the Reforms imposes, since spearmen are slower than ranged units, an archer would be most consistent to that with its walk time.

On the topic of Marian Reforms, since auxiliaries become a thing why not add in an auxiliary archer or slinger? That would be a nice alternative option over just skirmishers which tend to inhibited by low range and poor accuracy. It would also fix the lack of a non metal ranged citizen unit that reforms brings about. Not to mention some much needed tactical flexibility in the ranged field.

Need more info on why Marian Reforms is strong in 1v1. The main draw is still onagars I would say, not the ranked up troops since you can already get second rank troops from the castrum in second age. And you have to put up with the economic restructuring that reforms bring too. I would very much like current siege pop left as is. Some more interesting general siege techs would be nice though, like something to increase splash damage or add a burning effect like we have on Iberian fire cav. Honestly it would be cool if we had a return of the A23 style roman scorpio that was packed on a donkey instead of in a cart like everybody else's. Maybe give it a little differentiation like make it weaker and cheaper than the normal bolt thrower but have it more manoeuvrable. Kind of like the abus gun the Ottomons have in Age III.

Interesting analysis of the economic impact. I have seen some players use it akin to the revolt option in Age III or Flemish revolution in Age II, basically a power spike for an existing army which they then throw at you. And unfortunately not everything works correctly currently, eh the missing attack animation on auxiliary lancers and the legionary keyword for first cohort champions. The second is more significant as it impairs the synergy between centurions and the sword champions. The main attraction though of reforms has been the onagar, which honestly gets let down by the drastic shift in eco and the need to often restructure that eco so you can keep doing things, often inefficiently. So while I like the concept flavour, I do wish Onagars where separate and paywalled like champions are rather than having to mess up my entire eco every time just for the option of building them

Catapults have twice the range and many times the damage, how will your slingers deal with that ?

Rome was very fun in A23 because we had strong catapults and bolters to reduce those annoying slinger blocks to smoking craters

I did not

Of course, and most likely it will be on how female citizens are so op and need to be nerfed

Please no, one thread arguing in circles about one random unit is bad enough, we don't need another one....

Yes, usually its the onagars that get used and the infantry, I had never seen the cavalry in use till recently and only in one game, and I myself have never used them

That explains things, I was wondering why they seemed to be going idle in the middle of battles

Formations do not currently confer bonuses, so while that is a nice idea there is currently no method for application in that manner. So until something alters that, bonuses will have to coded onto the units themselves

Definitely agree about the speed reduction, current cavalry is way to fast on screen, you barely get any time to react to their coming and going

That is a rather cool perk. I would be in favour of a negative multiplier as an interesting alternative to a positive one. Adding positives takes us closer to Age II levels of Spear/Cav counters, and I would prefer we did not have that degree

Seems to be the best place to re-mention this, the Roman First Cohort Legionaries are missing their legionary keyword and subsequently are not being affected by the Centurion century manoeuvres bonus. Which is quite the nuisance at times when your centurions outpace the units they are supposed to be commanding. I was told a few months ago this was an error, so am hoping for a fix eventually

What about a damage reduction bonus that has spearmen take less damage from cavalry, a reverse multiplier if you will, specifically for melee cavalry. Eg does 0.75 damage against spear/pike troops.

Then clearly you have not played much multiplayer, because it is has been done and is easy to pull off given sufficient time and resources, especially in a team game setting. Also, again, Fanatics are naked, slapping on some blacksmith upgrades does not change that fact, any regular infantry champion will kill them easy in melee combat, any ranged unit with upgrades will kill them easily, frankly even just having stone walls is enough. so I fail to see the argument when the game has multiple options to deal with them.

it's in the name, they are "naked" ,emphasis on that word, Fanatics, they run around with no clothing or armour, just a shield, and kill hard and fast until they get wrecked by a hobnailed boot to the crotch and proper application of blunt/pointed/bladed weapon by a properly clothed and armoured infantryman. Any competent player with map knowledge can counter a fanatic raid with a mixed citizen force of ranged and melee infantry. Oh and your eco will probably be slower and handicapped cause food and wood are vital for eco expansion in first and second phases and you would have spent it all to make fanatics. Also fighting spearman with cavalry is silly unless they are super heavy like Selucids and even then its not a good idea. The main reason cav is a menace is due to its speed, the secondary one being that they have solid stats, you can pick your fights and disengage much more freely, it is the perfect tool to divide and conquer and your opponent. And yes I unapologetically murder my opponents with consular guard at every opportunity

How many games have you lost to a swarm of fanatics? A once off curb stomp does not render any one unit OP. Also champion cavalry are nowhere near as OP as they where in the past, Selucids and Persians are an outlier on that point as they are a lot stronger than the regular, but that is by design since it has a historical basis. As for counters, basic spearmen are functional against them, you need a numbers advantage though and preferably some champions of your own to stiffen the line, whatever form they take. I have personally annihilated about 100 champion Macedonian lancers using just mass veteran Triari and consular guard, so it is quite doable. And sure they are speedy, but ultimately half of this is a skill issue and not the fault of the game itself. Learn to make the most of what one has to hand. If something is really obnoxious like those Iberian fire cav in previous Alphas then sure fix them, but otherwise just leave it alone as is.

I see, fair point