Thanks Thudo and Arkhan for the clarifications regarding my second report.
Report #4 for Beta 2Players: SM (Me) + DE, Vs. SoB x 2
Winner: Me + DE
Map: Mountain Trail
Difficulty: Hard
Resource Rate: Standard
Resource Sharing: Disabled
Heroes: Enabled
Massive Battles: Enabled
Additional Comments: In this match I wanted to test the Sisters of Battle's gathering behavior more than anything else, but I've also noticed something worthy to mention concerning the capturing of a LP by a Missionary, idling behavior (linked to gathering, I'm pretty certain) and then concerning the Canoness' willpower in face of great dangers...
1)
Missionary capturing a LP while under attack, not reacting until his deathAs the title suggests, and as determined as the Emperor was when he made poor Horus cry for Khorne's plea, a Missionary decided he would not abandon and give his life for a just cause. He started capturing a LP without being under attack, but then only a few seconds later both my Scouts squad and my Space Marines squad attacked him. He faithfully stood to his holy duty until he realized that he lost all of his body's fluids... for bullets tend to make holes in the flesh, 'ya know.
He probably did so due to the Canoness' presence along side him. However she properly retreated before dying the same way. On a more serious note, this might have to do with a certain "threat level" or something similar, I'd presume. He should have retreated with the Canoness, preventing the loss of additional precious Requisition to train another one right after his death. And the same thing happened with the Canoness later on...
2)
Canoness uselessly dying (suicide run... more or less)Following the Missionary's example of how the servants of the holy Ecclesiarchy should die, the Canoness ran towards a well defended position, and died to three of my turrets plus an infantry squad, all of them firing at her. Suffice it to say that the best Power Armor in the Imperium can't really stand such punishment, at least not for too long.
It was more or less of a suicide run. It can't really be only so, due to the presence of some supporting Battle Sisters with her (they all previously gathered before attempting to assault my position). But then her supporting infantry left her behind (or perhaps she left her infantry, depending on how you see it), and then she decided to stay... and die, even though she certainly and more importantly should have retreated to fight another day really. The Canoness is expansive, and with a Standard Resource rate and early in the game it shouldn't happen. The result was the spending of another Canoness' cost to have another one ready as soon as possible after her initial death.
And I want to say that I'm not referring to the target she chose here. I'm referring to the fact that her health was going down and that she should have reacted to that instead of keep on with the fight.
3)
Very long gathering before attackingIn this case I know exactly what happened, and I believe that it was a little ridiculous and unneeded. Simply said, one of the Sisters of Battle factions started to gather units to their controlled Relic (with the Canoness)...
While the gathering was occurring, a single Battle Sisters squad continuously attacked my northern position, alone, without the group further north by their own Relic. By doing so alone, they lost units, and reinforced the squad in question, which cost Requisition, and in the end brought absolutely nothing but the loss of Resources, in my opinion at least.
Meanwhile, the Canoness, in her steadfast concentration and her idling Relic contemplation probably wondered why there was a strange purple cloud surrounding her body; "The Emperor's strength incarnates me!" she probably thought.
That's the fabulous result of the A.I seeing the whole map, and taking the advantage of it, sadly. At least the DE were on my side this time. All of this refers to a very long gathering of units, of course. It lasted a good period, within which the already gathered group could have easily attempted to attack me, before I myself reinforced my position so much to a point where they couldn't do anything anymore, other than minimal damage.
When I saw that the group finally moved, I realized what they were waiting for...
An Immolator. They were waiting for it, and it was almost futile, since it had been upgraded just moments later, making it, as we know, useless against my infantry, which at that point was still my main force (and they gained experience as well). Let's not point at the Immolator's upgrade here, but only at the fact that all that time, those 4:00+ minutes, they all idled (expect a single Battle Sisters squad who apparently wasn't part of the gathering plan) to end up with a single more unit, which helped pretty much nothing.
Closing Comments: After watching the replay on the point of view of that one particular SoB faction (the one I myself confronted on my side of the map), I come to the conclusion that my victory is in large extent part of that faction's gathering behavior at the point explained above. By pictures you see what I mean, but when watching it in action you can realize how much of a negative impact it can have to do nothing during only a few but very crucial minutes. Clearly, controlling territory means nothing if you stay on a defensive stance, at least when you do so for too long.
The second Sisters of Battle faction in this match used a different tactic. They also gathered, but they never waited that long, and they actually put up quite a decent fight against my DE ally (without putting them in any real danger though). I myself played very defensively, obviously, and honestly? I'd say that my play style in this match should have resulted in my complete destruction. If the SoB faction I faced would have used its ally's tactics instead I would have been in danger indeed. First, they send a Missionary and he dies when he shouldn't have. Then, a Canoness dies and they train another one right after that, spending Requisition where it shouldn't have been spent. Then they gather their units for a good 4:00 or 5:00 minutes without 1) doing anything and/or 2) even helping their ally, at least. Meanwhile, a single Battle Sisters squad tries to attack my fortified LP position, obviously without doing anything.
I'm not sure where to put my finger exactly. On the pathing in Mountain Trail only? Probably not. A real pathing issue could have caused, for instance, a group of enemy units passing by my own base without stopping there to destroy anything, continuing their advance towards point "B". That would be a pathing issue. But what they've done relates, from what I can understand, to the gathering code and something that concerns the threat level (dying, when it fact you should clearly retreat). I focused my attention to that particular SoB faction during my first replay watching. I will have to take another and perhaps a third look at it to see what the other SoB did with more details (even though I know they did put up a decent fight, as I mentioned earlier), along with what my DE ally did exactly (again, I do know that they've been quite offensive for the whole match).
Edited by Zenoth, 19 March 2008 - 11:13 PM.
