Transports only through ports for Attila

**Augustusng** · March 11, 2015, 04:10 PM

This mod is based on a very similar mod created by IlluminatiRex for Rome 2. It's a very simple change, but hopefully it should reduce the tendency of AI hordes (and armies in general) to move out to sea. It seems impossible (or very difficult) to stop hordes from being able to use transport ships entirely, but this should mitigate that problem. This mod does exactly one thing - dramatically increased action point cost when moving from land to sea through beaches. So most of the time, armies will be much better off moving to/from the sea using ports instead of beaches. It seems that the AI actually responds to this change, and in fact, this mod stops hordes from going to sea almost entirely (the only exception may be the Rhine ferry crossing, for reasons unknown to me).

Download Link:
Mediafire Link
Steam Workshop Link

Thanks to:
IlluminatiRex for the Rome 2 mod.

Permissions: Feel free to use this in other mods or make additional changes to it.

Known Issues:

Hordes can still go to sea using those ferry crossing points (straits), as if they were ports. I don't know a way around this yet, but it doesn't seem to affect every strait. I think it might even be limited to the one on the Rhine.
I've heard one report that AI transports will sometimes move to land through a beach and be stuck there, but I can't confirm this report yet. I haven't seen this happen in my campaigns so far.
If you're a horde in Europe at war with the ERE, the only way you can cross to Asia is by going all the way around the northern coastline of the Black Sea. The Hellespont strait is blocked by the zone of control of Cyzicus, making it impossible to cross. There might be a few other parts of the map where something similar happens.
This might be a vanilla issue, but it could be a result of the AI being unable to make good pathfinding decisions with this mod - but sometimes a horde will sit encamped in one location for several turns, perhaps even a whole campaign. Again, I don't know if this mod causes it, and it doesn't seem to affect every horde.

Changelog:
1/31/2016 - Updated to work properly with Age of Charlemagne. Also you don't need to disable this mod with TLR now, but it won't work with TLR anyway. I've decided to allow transports anywhere in TLR so that Belisarius can actually go to sea when he needs to.

Old, stance-based version. I'm keeping the old version up in case I do something else with it in the future, but don't use the old version unless you want to try and change/fix it yourself (which of course you're free to do).

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Well, I guess I'll continue my pattern of mods starting with "Revised." Why not? I should get a catchier name though, one of these days.

What this mod seeks to do is make it almost impossible to transport a horde over any large body of water. After all, a horde represents not just an army, but the whole civilian population and infrastructure of a tribe. I've done this using inspiration from Dresden's work in DeI for Rome 2 - he used movement effects attached to seasons to affect only armies, while leaving fleets and transports alone. What I've done is similar, but there's a notable difference. I've given large movement bonuses to each season, but attached severe penalties to all stances. What this means is that transports, especially transported hordes, will have a tiny movement range. I've also added attrition to hordes using any naval stance except the default (Default stance is shared by armies and navies, so it wouldn't work. Also I don't think there's a way to stop the attrition on land without adding more season effects).

Hopefully the AI will realize just how small their transport movement ranges are, and thus prefer to go by land when possible. But I have no idea if the AI makes decisions like this, so it might end up with AI hordes sailing ever so slowly into the Mediterranean.

Needless to say, this needs proper testing, which is why I'm posting the mod here as a WIP. EDIT: It looks like the AI does not make smart decisions. Who would've guessed? I'm probably going to scrap this mod unless I can figure out a better solution. Or maybe turn it into a smaller mod to decrease transport movement.

In the future, I might add more effects to some stances and maybe get some more culture-specific stances, to make this more of a full stance overhaul. For now, it just nerfs transports immensely without affecting navies or armies on land (much. I hope that my changed movement values add up to values similar to vanilla). Actually, non-horde armies will now have slightly faster movement than hordes. Oh, and I've also added slight movement penalties for Winter and "bad" seasons. It might actually be compatible with Dresden's Meaningful Seasons though. I'll have to test this, since I'd like to use both mods together anyway - actually, I think I'd probably have to make a version of this mod specifically to be compatible with that mod, since he adds new seasons that would need altered movement bonuses.

Download Link:
Revised Stances.7z

Known Issues:

Sometimes the movement penalty does not seem to apply until you change stances, but afterwards it will be fine. This might only be with saved games though; I'm not sure.
If your army uses a port to go to sea, they'll still have a lot of movement points as transports that turn.
The AI doesn't really like this mod. They'll still send transports into the sea... and leave them there doing nothing for a few turns. Also they like to use patrol stance to go even more slowly...

**Augustusng** · March 12, 2015, 07:28 PM

So, big surprise to no one, the AI doesn't really handle these changes well. They'll still send out hordes to sit in the middle of the English Channel - and in double-time too, so they're taking attrition while doing it. If the AI was smart enough to make better decisions, this mod would probably work pretty well. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Maybe I'll rework this mod into a smaller one to just decrease transport movement, but for now I'm going to scrap the idea unless I can figure out a better solution to hordes at sea.

**Linke** · March 13, 2015, 01:01 AM

You could check out a mod for Rome II that makes it only possible to become transport ships through a port, since hordes
don't own any ports...

**Augustusng** · March 13, 2015, 06:31 AM

There's a mod like that out there? That would be a pretty good solution actually. Didn't realize that was possible.

**GODzilla** · March 18, 2015, 05:10 AM

The AI also does not get the winter attrition, so I figured it doesn't get attrition at all. Too bad.

**Augustusng** · March 20, 2015, 01:37 PM

Okay, there's a new version up. This is an entirely different approach, used with permission from IlluminatiRex's mod for Rome 2. Could be he'll release his own version for Attila in the future, but there's this for now. Please try it out and see if it changes anything.

**Go0lden_Archer** · March 20, 2015, 01:51 PM

Nice, was using same thing in R2, I hope it works the same as there.

**Go0lden_Archer** · March 20, 2015, 06:25 PM

Hm, it seems to work, tho apperantly AI can't really manage it, for example Saxons transport-stack from the start of the campaign, wandering around from British Isles to Scandza and back, without being able to land. Or Franks who traveled to Britania Minor, and for 3 turns stuck at the sea, doing nothing.

Tho, it's probably because of reduced campaign movement modification that I'm also using. I'll have to test it without reduceded camp., movement once I get back home.

**Augustusng** · April 02, 2015, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by Go0lden_Archer

Hm, it seems to work, tho apperantly AI can't really manage it, for example Saxons transport-stack from the start of the campaign, wandering around from British Isles to Scandza and back, without being able to land. Or Franks who traveled to Britania Minor, and for 3 turns stuck at the sea, doing nothing.

Tho, it's probably because of reduced campaign movement modification that I'm also using. I'll have to test it without reduceded camp., movement once I get back home.

Did you ever try without the reduced campaign movement mod? I had similar issues when I tried to stop hordes at sea with reduced movement effects - the AI would still go to sea and do nothing for a few turns. Of course, the issue with the Saxons is that they start with a transported army - their only options on the first turn are to attack a city, or stay at sea.

But I'm also posting because I've got interesting news. I don't know if anyone else has been testing this, but I might take the mod out of WIP status soon, as it seems to work... but there's one weird issue. I mentioned earlier that hordes could still go to sea using those ferry crossing points at straits. With some further testing (playing as the Huns), it looks like that issue may be limited to only a few straits on the map (the one on the Rhine at least). When I try to order my hordes in Dacia to move into the Danube or Black Sea, the game lags for a bit (pathfinding calculation I assume), then decides that I should go somewhere very far west in order to get to the Danube - I assume it's pointing me, strangely enough, to the Rhine or some other strait in that direction.

Other than that though, the mod seems to work. Playing as the Huns, I can't go to sea, and I think the AI responds to the change as well - I assume the game makes the same pathfinding calculations for them. The nearby Alans and other hordes have been staying on land.

**Augustusng** · April 16, 2015, 10:02 PM

Announcement - Released and moved out of the WIP section! The mod is still very simple. It's literally two lines changed in the db, but it makes a huge difference I think in the way hordes play.

**Augustusng** · May 06, 2015, 02:38 PM

Update - Reverted sea-to-land movement cost back to vanilla values. You can land your transports anywhere, but you can only go back to sea in a port.

**IlluminatiRex** · May 06, 2015, 07:10 PM

Subbed on Steam

**Droiyan7** · May 11, 2015, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Augustusng

If you're a horde in Europe at war with the ERE, the only way you can cross to Asia is by going all the way around the northern coastline of the Black Sea. The Hellespont strait is blocked by the zone of control of Cyzicus, making it impossible to cross. There might be a few other parts of the map where something similar happens.

I think this is workaround-able by sacking Cyzicus and crossing the Hellespont strait before the garrison of Cyzicus is regenerated.

**Augustusng** · May 11, 2015, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by Droiyan7

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I think this is workaround-able by sacking Cyzicus and crossing the Hellespont strait before the garrison of Cyzicus is regenerated.

Yes, but you can't do it if you're in Europe. You have to be in Asia Minor for that. Doesn't work from the other side.

**Droiyan7** · May 13, 2015, 04:56 AM

Originally Posted by Augustusng

Yes, but you can't do it if you're in Europe. You have to be in Asia Minor for that. Doesn't work from the other side.

Oh, I didn't see that. Thank you for explain.

**Riekopo** · May 13, 2015, 01:41 PM

Thanks for this mod. Since Rome 2 came out I've been wondering. Is it possible to just make it impossible for horde factions to go to sea? Is it possible to make it so embarking takes one whole turn? If that could be done then an embarking army could be vulnerable in a weakened state on the beach while it builds its ships.

**Augustusng** · May 13, 2015, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by blackberryalpha

Thanks for this mod. Since Rome 2 came out I've been wondering. Is it possible to just make it impossible for horde factions to go to sea? Is it possible to make it so embarking takes on whole turn? If that could be done then an embarking army could be vulnerable in a weakened state on the beach while it built its ships.

I wish something like that was possible, but I don't think it can be done.

**Hellenikon** · June 30, 2015, 08:35 AM

I used the IlluminatiRex version of this mod, and as the ostrogoths was unable to go to sea using the ferryport in the Rhine, and was able to cross through Cyzicus (ERE was neutral) in order to reach Egypt. I´m just commenting because in your OP you said there were issues with these things, but i have found none myself. I can see the ai having problems with this feature however, so it would need testing to see how the AI hordes behave.

**Augustusng** · June 30, 2015, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by Hellenikon

I used the IlluminatiRex version of this mod, and as the ostrogoths was unable to go to sea using the ferryport in the Rhine, and was able to cross through Cyzicus (ERE was neutral) in order to reach Egypt. I´m just commenting because in your OP you said there were issues with these things, but i have found none myself. I can see the ai having problems with this feature however, so it would need testing to see how the AI hordes behave.

He made a version for Attila? Is it different than this mod? Maybe he's found a way to fix that.

As far as Cyzicus though, the issue only appears if you're at war with the ERE. If they're neutral, you're okay.