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TwoBits said:
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quantum_mechani said:
*Use decoys - 1 unit far in front and to the side of your main force, to draw arrows and enemies.
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Does this generally work? I like using decoy units myself, by I often find the battle AI ignores groups of less than five (meaning, they don't seem to shoot at that lone infantryman out in front, but at the big group further back).
Any opinions on the optimum use of decoys?
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Well, it's worth knowing that according to the manual pg. 61, target orders (Fire Archers, Attack Cavalry, etc.) except for Closest pick a random enemy and its squad. This means that a large squad will be picked most of the time, so one little archer decoy is almost never going to be selected by a "Target Archers" order. This has two implications:
1.) You can, if you wish, split a targetted group up instead of decoying. 1 decoy and 39 archers won't work, but 5 groups of 8 mean that if there's just one huge squad of enemy archers they'll keep firing at their chosen group until all 8 are dead, thus keeping your casualties down to 20% at most. I haven't tried this and I don't have time to test it right now, but it follows from the mechanics.
2.) Decoys work against "Attack/Fire Closest" because it is the closest squad which is attacked, not some random close unit and its squad. They might potentially work against Attack Rearmost except that the rearmost unit isn't reliably detected anyway (by design) so your decoy can get overlooked.
Against indies I have found that a single decoy five squares ahead of my main force often diverts fire. Seems like it's always worth at least trying a decoy if you know there will be missile troops, in case they *are* set to "Fire Closest."
-Max