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Elite Knights: Warhammer III

This is an updated version of my Elite Knights mod that was originally made for Warhammer II. The purpose of this mod is to make it so that truly elite mounted units feel more rare and powerful on an individual basis, befitting their representation in the Warhammer lore, while retaining the overall balance of the game. This is accomplished by reducing the unit size of these units while buffing their stats to compensate.

It is recommended to use this mod alongside my other cavalry-focused mod, Balanced Cavalry Speeds: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2853473442


There are two tiers of adjustments made by this mod:

Tier 1, aka "Elite":

• Includes all Dragon Princes (includes Fireborn RoR) and Chaos Knights (includes all marked variants, with and without lances).
  
• Unit size is reduced by 20% (to 36 on large and 48 on ultra)
  
• Per-model HP is increased by 12%
  
• Weapon strength is increased by 12%
  
• Melee combat stats modestly improved (see notes below)

Tier 2, aka "Rare Elite":

• Includes all Grail Knights (including Grail Guardians) and Blood Knights.
  
• Unit size is reduced by 46.67% (to 24 on large and 32 on ultra)
  
• Per-model HP is increased by 50%
  
• Weapon strength is increased by 50% (40% for Grail Guardians, see notes below)
  
• Melee combat stats substantially improved (see notes below)

(Bretonnian Royal Pegasus Knights have also been adjusted to better differentiate them from standard Pegasus Knights, but they don't fit neatly into either tier above; see notes below for details)

Unlike the original version of this mod, the Warhammer III version of Elite Knights does not aim to keep the overall HP of these units the same. Elite units have had their unit size cut to 80%, but their per-model HP is only boosted 12%, leaving them with 90% of their overall vanilla HP. For Rare Elite units, this difference is even starker: At only 53.33% of their original unit size, their 50% per-model HP boost leaves them with only 80% of the overall HP they had in vanilla. Weapon strength numbers were dealt with similarly, which means that from a pure durability and power standpoint, this mod makes these units weaker -- that is, until you consider the melee combat stat changes.

Whereas the Warhammer II version of this mod made no changes to melee combat stats, this version makes significant changes that are intended to make up for the reductions in overall HP and strength described above. Though the numbers vary somewhat between units, in general Elite units had their Melee Attack and Melee Defense stats both increased by 15%, and Rare Elite units have had their Melee Attack and Melee Defense stats increased by a combined total of 80% (divided between attack and defense boosts). Rare Elite shock cavalry (Grail Knights, Blood Knights) were also provided with splash attacks against infantry so as not to waste their very high individual weapon strength values, and Grail Guardians were provided with the Encourage attribute to increase their support utility.

The essential effect of this mod is to make these units -- particularly the Rare Elite units -- absolute monsters in melee combat. They become far better at both attack and defense, and while their overall strength is reduced somewhat, they are able to maintain full strength for longer because they lose models in combat more slowly and can heal more efficiently. Fewer models doing all of the damage also makes these units much better at taking on single-entity heroes and monsters: In vanilla, much of a full-size cavalry unit's damage is wasted against these targets as units in the back can't get hits in, but smaller unit sizes alleviate this problem. On the other hand, these units are now even more susceptible to massed missile damage and certain spells, which means they must be employed with added care to maximize their effectiveness.

Blood Knights

• Unit Size: Reduced to 24 models on large (32 on ultra)
  
• HP Per Model: increased by 50%
  
• Weapon Strength: increased by 40% (base-to-AP changed to favor AP)
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 50%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 30% (20% for Sword + Shield variant)
  
• Splash attacks added against small (infantry) targets (maximum of 2)

Grail Knights

• Unit Size: Reduced to 24 models on large (32 on ultra)
  
• HP Per Model: increased by 50%
  
• Weapon Strength: increased by 50% (base-to-AP ratio the same)
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 40%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 40%
  
• Splash attacks added against small (infantry) targets (maximum of 2)

Grail Guardians

• Unit Size: Reduced to 24 models on large (32 on ultra)
  
• HP Per Model: increased by 50%
  
• Weapon Strength: increased by 40% (base-to-AP ratio the same)
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 40%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 20%
  
• Guardian passive ability gained (provides physical resistance for nearby lords and heroes)

Royal Pegasus Knights

• Unit Size: Reduced to 12 models on large (16 on ultra)
  
• HP Per Model: increased by 28%
  
• Weapon Strength: increased by 28% (base-to-AP ratio the same)
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 25%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 25%

Chaos Knights (all varieties and marks)

• Unit Size: Reduced to 36 models on large (48 on ultra)
  
• HP Per Model: increased by 12%
  
• Weapon Strength: increased by 15% (base-to-AP ratio the same)
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 12%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 12%

Swords of Chaos (Chaos Knights RoR)

• HP Per Model: decreased by 10%
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 12%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 12%

Dragon Princes (including Fireborn RoR)

• Unit Size: Reduced to 36 models on large (48 on ultra)
  
• HP Per Model: increased by 12%
  
• Weapon Strength: increased by 12% (base-to-AP ratio the same)
  
• Melee Attack: increased by 15%
  
• Melee Defense: increased by 15%