I dont understand Serpent Cataphracts

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Pocus:
Ok, so your crappy cataphracts saved your day because they were size 3 and not 2. Does it proves that they are not subpar?

They are subpar when compared to other nation's knights - and I've already said or implied this 3 times in this thread, so I'm not trying to prove the contrary - ou alors je serais vraiment de mauvaise foi.

Your point was:

they are underpowered enough to never be built, at least if you play MP.

I proved this to be wrong.

So by definition they are useless.

Saving one player's butt doen't match my own definition of 'useless', and I - and others - have given other examples of their (limited, I agree) usefulness.

Either trash the unit, or bring it to average level (swamp survival, why not)

I wouldn't mind about them getting Swamp Survival. Otherwise, as it's been said several times, Serpent Cataphracts don't need to be improved further, just because Pythium doesn't need another rope to its bow - it has plenty already.

That they find a use in 0.1% of the situation is rather the proof they have a very small window of opportunity.

I estimate the probability for Pythium to start close to Pangaea to be more than that.

Anyway I'm not going to beat this dead horse - or should I say dead serpent? - any longer.

btw, what are the exact damages of a light lance, the description says 'dependant charge bonus' ???

It's dependent on the distance your charger moved in the round. I don't know the exact formula, I guess it must be something like +1 damage/square.

[Jasper]

Originally posted by Nagot Gick Fel:
It's dependent on the distance your charger moved in the round. I don't know the exact formula, I guess it must be something like +1 damage/square.

IIRC it's +AP/3, or about +5 for Cataphracts.

[tinkthank]

I still dont think that SerpCats should be more powerful, but I also still do not understand them. I still feel that they should be less expensive (not: more powerful). Even: Less expensive and less powerful. Not: A new rope, simply give the Pythium player an incentive to purchase his or her own national national troops instead of independent ersatz. Being an inferior unit is perfectly fine, for many reasons outlined here and in other threads; but being inferior and more expensive makes reduces the unit in question to a bizarre "emergency break" you pull only when your train is already starting to derail, not part of any normal plan. Don't: make the SerpCat more like a viable Indy heavy cav; Rather: just make it a viable, interesting unit.

[Pocus]

Originally posted by Jasper:

quote:

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Originally posted by Nagot Gick Fel:
It's dependent on the distance your charger moved in the round. I don't know the exact formula, I guess it must be something like +1 damage/square.

IIRC it's +AP/3, or about +5 for Cataphracts.

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restricted to the first round of attack in a battle?

[E. Albright]

Originally posted by Nagot Gick Fel:

quote:

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Originally posted by magnate:
Devil's advocate?

Not quite. You can play the Devil's advocate and still admit it - then 'avocat du diable' would be used in French, which is a litteral translation without any pejorative meaning. When you say about someone, he is 'de mauvaise foi', it's a rather negative judgement: you mean he acts insincerely, and is trying to misguide others (as well as himself, sometimes). Eg, usenet trolls are often 'de mauvaise foi'.

Or could it be that 'Devils' advocate' is used in both cases in English?

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No, your first analysis of 'Devil's advocate' was quite accurate. In fact, this phrase generally implies admission of one's status thereas. But 'de mauvaise foi' really is best translated as 'in bad faith'. We're talking about the 'mauvaise foi' that Sartre was so fond of invoking, n'est-ce pas? The term formally used in philosophy to describe this attitude is 'bad faith'. And its sense is exactly that which was being invoked below. But as I said, that's formal and technical (or at the very least erudite) terminology. Most folk wouldn't recognise it.

[Edit: it seems Babelfish translates 'de mauvaise foi' as 'insincerely']

For quotidian English, I would have to agree with Babelfish... même si les resultats donné par la traduction automatique des expressions sont typiquement atroces...

[ April 30, 2004, 14:43: Message edited by: E. Albright ]

[Leif_-]

Originally posted by E. Albright:
No, your first analysis of 'Devil's advocate' was quite accurate. In fact, this phrase generally implies admission of one's status thereas.

The phrase "devil's advocate" actually comes from a Catholic institution (or function) Advocatus Diaboli whose function is to argue against the beatification or canonization of any person put forth for that. I.e. he's to take the "devil's side" and try to explain why someone shouldn't become a saint, arguing all the negative points about the person.

Now, to me this is mainly interesting because of the religios connection, and the question then becomes: When will Illwinter create a unit based on the devil's advocate? :-P

[Jasper]

Originally posted by Pocus:

quote:

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Originally posted by Jasper:

quote:

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Originally posted by Nagot Gick Fel:
It's dependent on the distance your charger moved in the round. I don't know the exact formula, I guess it must be something like +1 damage/square.

IIRC it's +AP/3, or about +5 for Cataphracts.

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restricted to the first round of attack in a battle?

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Yes.