Cathay vs Empire

[Eldrin]

Now that both have got major unit updates who do you think is stronger?

Who do you enjoy playing more?

I compare these as they feel the most down to earth realistic "human factions", there is also bretonnia but in its current state it is a joke.

[Adamsevs]

The strongest is the one who ends up in your hands

[cernodan]

My heart says Empire.
My social score says Cathay.

[CrUsHeR]

Cathay just seems so much stronger.


First off, their unit roster is perfectly well-rounded for conventional gameplay. New units added by SoC allowing for some extra flexibility (Crowmen, Lions, etc).


All their casters have Elemental Mastery. But the Jade Lion and the War Compass have it too (so does the RoR War Drum).
Meaning that you can have 200% spell intensity with every army. Though even 160% would be a decisive advantage already.


With Zhao Ming, you start with a Fire Rain Rocket Battery. While you can't replenish its ammo and it doesn't have AP damage like the Helstorms, it is much more accurate and can usually decimate a squad of low-armor units in 1-2 hits. So one of these works about the same as 4 Helstorms in the same time frame.


All three of their legendary lords are "one-man-army" lords in their human form.
Meaning you can actually kung-fu an entire army with just your lord. This is an insane advantage especially early on.
Zhao Ming is best at this with built-in regeneration. The other two can at least get the Von Carstein blade from a convoy to Sylvania.


Harmony. The yin-yang buffs to units in battles is pretty sick. But you also get great bonuses on the campaign map, like -25% upkeep or bonus research / recruitment.


Things where Cathay isn't great:

1) Growth - this is severely lacking now

2) Expansion - for Western / Northern provinces, you need to deal with the Bastion Threat through the entire game. But parts of Cathay are already "orange". Virtually all adjacent areas are same or worse. Yuan Bo has it much easier with all of Lustria being "green" and the Bastion Threat doesn't exist for him.

[CrUsHeR]

Originally posted by Pookie101:

Steamtanks that rumble around the battle field with a speed of 80+ Yeah Elspeth Empire will definitely win haha

Yeah but these are cheese / doomstack exceptions. Also looking at the price tag of these armies.

[tOpSy]

Honestly wish they would buff Britannia and Vampire Coast a little their units are terribly lacking....

[Barry Cabbage]

Originally posted by Adamsevs:

The strongest is the one who ends up in your hands

Mans said it best.


However.

I don't have much experience as Cathay so keep that in mind, I'd vote empire especially under Elspeth the Empires Gunpowder & Artillery just take the cake, what cant be solved by a Hand-gunner can be solved by a Cannon, what cant be solved by a cannon can be solved by a Hand-Gunner.... six hellstorms for fun.

[AkumulatoR]

Cathay is as human as Norsca. There are only 2 pure human factions, Empire and Bretonnia.

[Eldrin]

Originally posted by AkumulatoR:

Cathay is as human as Norsca. There are only 2 pure human factions, Empire and Bretonnia.

Norcsa is even worse then bretonnia

[AkumulatoR]

Norsca suffers from zero lord choice, horribad start positions, bugged hunts and extremely grindy devotion mechanic (unless you want to settle with poor economy for no grind). They need dlc the most.

[jonoliveira12]

Empire is strongest, by far. All cathay has, is strong LLs, really. Their troops are a lot less flexible, and they have a lot less powerhouse units, for example.

[jonoliveira12]

Cathay also has way less magic options, and the ones they do have, are generally inferior to what the Empire brings.

[jonoliveira12]

Originally posted by AkumulatoR:

Norsca suffers from zero lord choice, horribad start positions, bugged hunts and extremely grindy devotion mechanic (unless you want to settle with poor economy for no grind). They need dlc the most.

I keep saying Norsca needs Fimir Matriarchs as Caster Lords.

[Fryskar]

Originally posted by AkumulatoR:

Norsca suffers from zero lord choice, horribad start positions, bugged hunts and extremely grindy devotion mechanic (unless you want to settle with poor economy for no grind). They need dlc the most.

Norsca can pick up a huge amout of power. They get plenty of nice buffs from tech and ressource buildings, but it takes ages to gain a significant amout.
Getting ~2k from a single t3 harbour is nice.

[JODEGAFUN]

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

Cathay just seems so much stronger.


First off, their unit roster is perfectly well-rounded for conventional gameplay. New units added by SoC allowing for some extra flexibility (Crowmen, Lions, etc).


All their casters have Elemental Mastery. But the Jade Lion and the War Compass have it too (so does the RoR War Drum).
Meaning that you can have 200% spell intensity with every army. Though even 160% would be a decisive advantage already.


With Zhao Ming, you start with a Fire Rain Rocket Battery. While you can't replenish its ammo and it doesn't have AP damage like the Helstorms, it is much more accurate and can usually decimate a squad of low-armor units in 1-2 hits. So one of these works about the same as 4 Helstorms in the same time frame.


All three of their legendary lords are "one-man-army" lords in their human form.
Meaning you can actually kung-fu an entire army with just your lord. This is an insane advantage especially early on.
Zhao Ming is best at this with built-in regeneration. The other two can at least get the Von Carstein blade from a convoy to Sylvania.


Harmony. The yin-yang buffs to units in battles is pretty sick. But you also get great bonuses on the campaign map, like -25% upkeep or bonus research / recruitment.


Things where Cathay isn't great:

1) Growth - this is severely lacking now

2) Expansion - for Western / Northern provinces, you need to deal with the Bastion Threat through the entire game. But parts of Cathay are already "orange". Virtually all adjacent areas are same or worse. Yuan Bo has it much easier with all of Lustria being "green" and the Bastion Threat doesn't exist for him.

Cathay seem much stronger in the part of making money, i allways swimm in money if playing Cathay.