Your feedback is appreciated Stagus! I'm glad to see the invasions and challenge are functional. I'm actually a little surprised Ruthertaurs and Beakwolves still appear easy.
To put things in context, I'm maintaining a military of 90 dwarves (50 melee, 40 markmen), over half the size of my population, with the added challenge of not using traps and defending an outdoor open courtyard. And it's
really challenging.
Still, I find myself fighting the stupidity of my dwarves just as much (can't order to stand ground, they charge anything that comes into sight, charge through intended tactical chokepoints, can't disengage/retreat, marksmen rushing to club enemies with their crossbows, etc.). I can't blame the mod for any of that though.
I need to know if any enemies that should be using equipment (Pandashi, Badgermen) are coming naked instead. From the sound of it, it seems the War Elephant Full Plate is doing its job
I inspected the save backups made before each battle, here's my observations:
Pandashis:
Naked, no weapon, no armor in both sieges, they can still punch hard though
Naga: Equipped (weapon + shield + shirt + helm), they like bismuth bronze
Dingo men: Equipped (weapon + shield + shirt + helm), they like bronze and iron
Ruthertaurs: Equipped (weapon + shield + shirt + helm), they like bismuth bronze
Beak Wolves: No equipment, as intended I assume
Giant Fiend Spiders: No equipment, as intended I assume, they are incredibly dangerous
Jotunar: Equipped (weapon + shield + shirt + helm), they like steel and bronze. These guys burned down the whole map! Along with 8-10 dwarves. And one of them somehow "teleported" through the wall next to my marksmen (there was a roof, he couldn't have climbed over).
War Elephants: Equipped in full plate. They are terrifying.
I have never fought badgermen, they seem rather friendly and prefer to flood my tavern instead. The ones at the tavern have no equipment.
Perhaps the shoddy dwarf combat AI can be made up for by the waves of mercenary cannon fodder willing to die for the free drinks at the tavern?
Eh, I'm counting on regular immigration waves to replace lost dwarves...
A frontal fight against War Elephants or Giant Fiend Spiders can wipe out 60 dwarves easily. Only perfect execution of tactics with chokepoints can get that number down to 10 or so. It is brutal.