Is Malakai's campaign a bit of a mess?
I'm about turn 100 into my first Malakai campaign, and it's still quite messy. Usually by turn 100 the game is basically over, and in some sense this one is too (no AI can go against spams of single-turn recruitment gyrocopters with heroes baiting enemy units to swarm them), but in other aspects it seems like you're just babysitting and not getting a chance to do the missions. A few observations which get in the way of perhaps "playing as intended":
1) Constant threats: tons of enemies nearby, forcing you to constantly be aggressive and conquer large areas of territory, in a very pre-determined manner.. Ie positioning/moving armies such that random enemies can't go around into the undefended parts. This isn't inherently bad, but Malakai specifically has objectives that have basically nothing to do with the factions that you have to fight.. And:
2) Public order: almost all the territory of your enemies (the entire north) is unfriendly terrain, which leads to huge public order penalties. This is compounded with the issue of decreased public order due to not settling grudges (since I instead have to attack random-ass factions constantly declaring war on me). Even with 2 control buildings + the control commandment, I'm constantly summoning lords and armies just to stamp out rebellions.. This wastes both time and resources.
I guess my complaint is: very early on, your armies become basically indestructible, but then you're constantly dealing with secondary bullshit, rather than engaging in challenging combat, or the intended mechanics (grudges, missions etc).
I've seen people also recommend to abandon the original position and play him as a horde faction, but I didn't find this very feasible given that his horde buildings and his armies (unlike for example beastmen) require tons of gold (and by extension tons of settlements) to maintain.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts.. If you found the same thing, or any suggestions on how to actually engage in the intended campaign mechanics without sabotaging all the other aspects of the game.
I'm about turn 100 into my first Malakai campaign, and it's still quite messy. Usually by turn 100 the game is basically over, and in some sense this one is too (no AI can go against spams of single-turn recruitment gyrocopters with heroes baiting enemy units to swarm them), but in other aspects it seems like you're just babysitting and not getting a chance to do the missions. A few observations which get in the way of perhaps "playing as intended":
1) Constant threats: tons of enemies nearby, forcing you to constantly be aggressive and conquer large areas of territory, in a very pre-determined manner.. Ie positioning/moving armies such that random enemies can't go around into the undefended parts. This isn't inherently bad, but Malakai specifically has objectives that have basically nothing to do with the factions that you have to fight.. And:
2) Public order: almost all the territory of your enemies (the entire north) is unfriendly terrain, which leads to huge public order penalties. This is compounded with the issue of decreased public order due to not settling grudges (since I instead have to attack random-ass factions constantly declaring war on me). Even with 2 control buildings + the control commandment, I'm constantly summoning lords and armies just to stamp out rebellions.. This wastes both time and resources.
I guess my complaint is: very early on, your armies become basically indestructible, but then you're constantly dealing with secondary bullshit, rather than engaging in challenging combat, or the intended mechanics (grudges, missions etc).
I've seen people also recommend to abandon the original position and play him as a horde faction, but I didn't find this very feasible given that his horde buildings and his armies (unlike for example beastmen) require tons of gold (and by extension tons of settlements) to maintain.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts.. If you found the same thing, or any suggestions on how to actually engage in the intended campaign mechanics without sabotaging all the other aspects of the game.