Help me with combat orders, please
 

Can somebody give me a good explain of battle orders for troops? Is there possible to cast one spell and then engage in combat? My commanders used to cast spells all the time or none.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

There is a command called "Cast a Specific Spell" or "Hold or Cast Spell" that if you select it once it will allow you eo choose a spell, or have it cast one at random, then you can choose another order from the top selection (Including Attack Once) or a Behavior (the bottom one) incluind Attack (type).

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

yes, but I think only for commanders http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif it will be great to just order your archer to fire 3 rounds of arrows and the retreat ... but as far as i know that is not possible

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

That is why you have fire and retreat order for archers. They fire for 3 rounds then run.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

Commanders get more stackability than troops. With a command you can stack 5 specific orders (from the top group of instructions) and then a general one (bottom group).

For some things you want to do with troops you can attach them to a commander. Such as, if you want troops to wait around for a blessing before attacking then have a commander hold-one, then attack. Have the troops assigned to "guard commmander" so they will wait for him then go.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

I would love to have a fire + attack order option.

It would make light infantry & light cavalry much more usable on the battlefield.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

Ahhh http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif orders can be queued! This changes everything http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Only 2 rounds. For XBows, that's 1 shot at max range... I'd prefer a "Shoot til the enemy is under 2 rounds of movement away, then run". Of course, that still makes you vulnerable to javelins. A variable or queueable setting would be best, though.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

Daynarr and Saber,

Can you help me out with the fire two shots then run option? Is this the fire and flee option? I thought it has the archers fire until someone gets close, then they run. My understanding, which I will have to check tonight at home, is quite different than yours.

Also, when they flee, do they go to neighboring provinces, even if you win the battle?

Linked to this, any good suggestions on how to target those pesky enemy magic Users at the back?

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Fire and flee is fire for two rounds, then flee. To make them fire more... and this is VERY RISKY... have them fire closest. Have only one commander. Tell him to hold-hold-hold-retreat. Then the archers will fire 3 or 4 rounds, and autorout when the commander leaves.

With fire and flee, yes, they go to random places even on a win. I understand this will be patched soon.

Pesky mages... I have not found a solution yet. Try putting cheap archers near the front, with orders to "fire" with no specific target. Tramplers can get to them, cavalry get mobbed part way there.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

The Fire and Flee Behavior (for Units only) is near the bottom of the Battle Orders menu. It fires for 2 rounds then runs to the back of the battlefield, when they get off the field they retreat to a friendly province (without their commander).

Another way to fire and flee is to set a group of archers with 1 particular commander. Set them to fire and the commander to "Hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, Retreat". They will fire 5 or 6 rounds (sometimes the archers fire even when the commander is in the act of retreating) when the commander is retreating or off the field his units will retreat. If both the commander and units mak it off the field, they will appear together in a nearby friendly province.

Edit: Ignore above; Cherrypie already answered it.

Try splitting your archers into Groups of 10, have the squads all "Fire Rearmost" if that is where your enemy places their mages. Each squad has a chance every time they fire to actually target the rearmost. So multiple squads (4 or 5) have more and more often a chance to target the actual rear instead of 'near' the rear.

I don't have hard numbers; but usually 1 out of 5 squads will actually fire on the rearmost.

[ December 11, 2003, 08:17: Message edited by: Zen ]

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">This works (partly) with Light Inf using Javelins. Set them to "fire nearest".
They'll charge forward and fire until

A) their ammo (3 rounds) is expended
b) the nearing enemy forces them into close combat

Using a different target may result in very unfavourable results.

A.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

Some great troop-scripting options for me would be:

Skirmish (fire/attack nearest, depending on how near; the goal being to keep enemies in one place).

Fire and Draw (retreat when engaged in combat; fire when not engaged in combat. This still works like Flee once the troop is up against the exit zone).

Guard Zone (attack anything that gets relatively close, maybe within 3 grids; otherwise, just stand there, fire if possible).

I think this might go a long way to mitigate some of the issues with light inf/cav archers.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

Cherry and Zen,

Thanks for the advice, this is going to add a much more useful dimension to the archers. It will make them less harmful to my own troops (my main concern) as well as more potentially dangerous to my mage foes. I was starting to despair with about getting anywhere useful with the bird race, now I can see some good options.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

I WANT THERE TO BE HOLD AND FIRE COMMAND FOR TROOPS!!

FOR GOODNESS SAKES, I HATE MY ARCHERS RUNNING UP TO THE ENEMY!!

I HATE MY LIGHT INFANTRY RUNNING UP TO THE ENEMY TOO. I WANT THEM TO JUST WAIT FOR THE ENEMY.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">One nice thing about using this tactic is that if the fight is over before the flee, then they dont flee.

I often use flee as the final action on important people such as my prophet or my god since it will only happen IF the fight goes long. If the fight goes for more than 5 rounds then I think they SHOULD start considering pulling back into a neighboring safe province. Leave the rest of the army fighting to the end.

Re: Help me with combat orders, please
 

Don't use slingers Arigtoth, also don't use caps lock.