Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War - turn-based 4X from Slitherine

[Lacrymas]

I must be missing something. The AI out-produces me even on the normal difficulty.

What faction are you playing, and what is your economy looking like?

Ive not played very far into any campaign yet, just fucking around with different factions. It feels like Im too slow though, even when I produce units as fast as possible with my first city.

People usually don't realise that you can build multiple of the same production building to speed up unit training, so you might be making the same mistake.

 

[Fedora Master]

I must be missing something. The AI out-produces me even on the normal difficulty.

What faction are you playing, and what is your economy looking like?

Ive not played very far into any campaign yet, just fucking around with different factions. It feels like Im too slow though, even when I produce units as fast as possible with my first city.

Don't let any unit die; retreat them if neccecary. They get a 33% healing bonus inside outposts. Building them over again wastes resources.

I would say... keep your very few units, say three infantry, fighting together early in the game. Have each one cover the other, so that they overwhealm anything that comes into range with overlapping fire. Explore in one direction, taking as many outposts as possible. Upon suspicion that one faction is nearby, halt. Muster your resources then push your lines forward to outside their city, overwatch killing anything that comes out. When you have enough blast weaponry or overwhealming numbers, you can wipe them off the map.

You are a German; Guderian's legacy is in your blood sir. Follow your Deutsche insticts; nothing piecemeal, when you come, you come in force.

I've realized some of the things you recommend now. I underestimated the importance of terrain for example and I overestimated the power of a single unit out in the field, even if its Tactical Marines.

 

[Louis_Cypher]

I must be missing something. The AI out-produces me even on the normal difficulty.

What faction are you playing, and what is your economy looking like?

Ive not played very far into any campaign yet, just fucking around with different factions. It feels like Im too slow though, even when I produce units as fast as possible with my first city.

Don't let any unit die; retreat them if neccecary. They get a 33% healing bonus inside outposts. Building them over again wastes resources.

I would say... keep your very few units, say three infantry, fighting together early in the game. Have each one cover the other, so that they overwhealm anything that comes into range with overlapping fire. Explore in one direction, taking as many outposts as possible. Upon suspicion that one faction is nearby, halt. Muster your resources then push your lines forward to outside their city, overwatch killing anything that comes out. When you have enough blast weaponry or overwhealming numbers, you can wipe them off the map.

You are a German; Guderian's legacy is in your blood sir. Follow your Deutsche insticts; nothing piecemeal, when you come, you come in force.

I overestimated the power of a single unit out in the field, even if its Tactical Marines.

It's hard to get a sense of the power of a unit from the fluff sometimes... In the Warhammer novels, a single Space Marine is depicted as nigh-superheroic. In the tabletop game they aren't that special; an Ork choppa charge and half of them die in seconds. A squad of Space Marines, wearing power armour, still isn't that different from other infantry. Maybe twice as strong as a Guardsman, but a chapter of 1000 men is probably still just like a guard regiment of say 5000 men. That would mean they are like real Marines, but not special forces, in the Imperium. I think Warhammer in general has a problem in giving inconsistent impressions about how war and logistics operate in 40K. "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine" showed a single Space Marine veteran captain killing hundreds.

 

[Galdred]

As with all 4X games, Gladius has a bit of a learning curve, especially since all the factions play differently. If you want to get into the pvp side of things you have to know them inside and out. Sisters are still op though.

The learning curve is pretty harsh, because there are a lot of ways to shoot yourself in the foot: It take so many steps to course correct your production (you need population buildings, loyalty buildings, then energy, and food, so you end up with 66% -80% forced constructions).
I have found it to be one of the least flexible 4X when it comes to production.

 

[flyingjohn]

The learning curve is pretty harsh, because there are a lot of ways to shoot yourself in the foot

It also doesn't help that the AI is amazing for current times regardless of difficulty(thanks to it being the product of pandora first contact devs). You really need to maximize every advantage or you are dead.

 

[Galdred]

The learning curve is pretty harsh, because there are a lot of ways to shoot yourself in the foot

It also doesn't help that the AI is amazing for current times regardless of difficulty(thanks to it being the product of pandora first contact devs). You really need to maximize every advantage or you are dead.

Indeed, the AI is very good at optimization in this game. But it won't priorize the player in FFA, which is both good and bad. I had games I won just because the AI were killing each other while I grew to mop them up later. But in a way, it feels kind of in line with the 40K lore, especially when playing Eldars...

 

[Fedora Master]

Research order really matters a lot. It's incredible how much of a game changer Apothecaries are.

 

[Lacrymas]

Dark Eldar are the next faction -

When they come out, Gladius will be the first 40k game with 11 factions. Technically, Battlefield Gothic Armada has 12, but it has 2 Aeldari and 2 T'au factions, so 10 unique ones.

 

[Malakal]

Dark Eldar are the next faction -

When they come out, Gladius will be the first 40k game with 11 factions. Technically, Battlefield Gothic Armada has 12, but it has 2 Aeldari and 2 T'au factions, so 10 unique ones.

Kinda weird took so long for dark elves.

 

[Louis_Cypher]

Thats incredible, so long after release. If they put Votann in that is amazing.

 

[Lacrymas]

The only other viable faction is undivided Chaos Daemons. Votann neither have a full roster nor were in the edition this game is based on. And are a meme.

 

[Galdred]

The only other viable faction is undivided Chaos Daemons. Votann neither have a full roster nor were in the edition this game is based on. And are a meme.

Indeed, but they could still add titans for each unit! It would be a bit odd with the scale, but anyway, I always felt like these units were an abstraction (and the scales felt more like Rites of War than Final Liberation).

 

[Lacrymas]

Considering most games don't reach tier 10, adding titans wouldn't be the best decision overall ;d

 

[Cyberarmy]

I had this one sitting in my library for a long time and want to try it nowadays. Are race packs needed or core races are enough to get some enjoyment?

 

[Lacrymas]

Are race packs needed or core races are enough to get some enjoyment?

They are 100% enough.

 

[Space Satan]

I accidently clicked this topic thinking it is about Rogue Trader and got confused for a moment

 

[Lacrymas]

This game is most likely better than Rogue Trade is going to be.

 

[Lacrymas]

The dark elves come out on the 30th -

 

[lightbane]

This planet is sure getting cramped.

 

[Cyberarmy]

This game don't kid around man, I like that the AI not giving me any breathing room. Played a bit with Space Marines and nearly destroyed the Necrons with a dreadnought and some devastator squads but they came with fully fresh units out of nowhere and kicked my ass. Lost most of my army and chaplain hero survived with 1 or 2 HP.

What is the best healing method for hero units BTW?

 

[Lacrymas]

This game don't kid around man, I like that the AI not giving me any breathing room. Played a bit with Space Marines and nearly destroyed the Necrons with a dreadnought and some devastator squads but they came with fully fresh units out of nowhere and kicked my ass. Lost most of my army and chaplain hero survived with 1 or 2 HP.

What is the best healing method for hero units BTW?

The SM have Apothecaries at T5. You can also get medic packs from Jakeiro trading posts. However, the heroes in this game aren't a no-brainer unlike basically all other strategy games ever. The opportunity cost to get them is insanely high and it's usually not worth it on a smaller than medium map.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Yeah, I guessed as much, especially as SM who has only one operating base.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's like that for basically all factions with the possible exception of the sisters (who are an exception for a lot of things, lol). You only use your main city for unit production because getting all the necessary buildings up and running is a whole ordeal and the other players will outplay you economically.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Early focus on research is seems to key to victory. And a good place for my your first city. I thought water tiles would be useful in someway but they are just dead tiles and hindered my progress.
Also attacking to other factions before 30-40 turn is a bit suicidal, at least against Necrons it felt that way. If I had a few more units on the front it'll be much better.
Nice things that I learned about combat;
-AI can be somewhat manipulated with overwatch. They often avoid rushing if I had 2 or more units on OW.
-AI pulls wounded troops early, so I started doing the same. Every unit matter, especially if experienced and death cause morale loss.
-AI sure loves flanking so I learned grouping up quickly. I just hope there isn't some kind of AoE damage hero.
-Holding defensive position and let the enemy come to us is a valid tactic as usual. Fog of War can hide some nasty stuff.
-Kastelan Robots don't fuck around...

 

[Parsimonious cook]

TBH fam it is kinda shocking that the game is still getting new content this long after release. It is somewhat low key, but apparently one of the most successful 40K releases of all time.