Debate and Duel (D&D)

[Osium]

I agree. If a unit cannot retreat and live they should not retreat period scripted or otherwise, and if they are scripted they ignore the order much like they will ignore the order to cast a specific spell if the target is out of range. I mean if you're encircled or trapped you're not gonna try and run away. Maybe a feature we can wish for in the future?

[Arryn]

The no-retreat on assassinations is deliberate. I seriously doubt that it will be changed. Nor should it be, IMO, since it's also realistic. Lastly, and most importantly, being allowed to retreat would significantly disbalance this aspect of the game.

I don't know if it would unbalance the game, but it would make assassins much more survivable. Unless of course they give the Move and Patrol order to armies moving into opponents terrain. Thus nulling the effect of the retreat.

I'm torn on that particular debate because I like assassins, but I don't want them to be a standard fare and make the nations with them suddenly much more powerful while the ones without, would have a significant disadvantage.

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Osium:
I agree. If a unit cannot retreat and live they should not retreat period scripted or otherwise, and if they are scripted they ignore the order much like they will ignore the order to cast a specific spell if the target is out of range. I mean if you're encircled or trapped you're not gonna try and run away. Maybe a feature we can wish for in the future?

That'd make for a very interesting motivational feature, if units that cannot retreat and live become unbreakable. It'd also make for an interesting application of the Art of War, where it states that when you surround an army, that you should leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

Nothing would drive this point in harder than discovering that your opponent will no longer break when he has nowhere to run. And you could then apply the Cortez strategy: When Cortez arrived in the Americas, he burned the boats so that they couldn't retreat: The men were thus more motivated.

[cihset]

Originally posted by Argitoth:
Graeme Won... damn... The battle took around 8 hours to finish. I gave up by turn 66 after my pretender died from an unknown cause casting Stygian Paths. (He didn't die from the spell)

Exactly that has happened to my pretender also, I was playing C'tis, war of Orania scenario. Had a Lord of the Gates pretender, ridiculously powerful with All paths around tenish and Death at 15 (due to some wishing). I was happily moving around with stygian paths or so I thought. The second throw my Pretender went missing, just like yours. In the message it said that noone got missing in the stygian path spell, but my pretender didn't arrive at the destination and the Icon in the message list (next to the message 'Osiris has cast Stygian Path') there was a question mark, not the picture of my pretender.
Which concurs that he has somehow died that turn.

I first thought I was just terribly unlucky to have my pretender the only one vanishing in a 400+ army that moved in the spell, but now when I see that it has happened to Argitoth too, I'm beginning to suspect that something is fishy about this.
Especially since the spell says that everything went fine, noone has been lost.

The spell needs a lookover since I sure as h-ck wont use it if the casting mage has an insane increased risk of getting killed in the casting of the spell.

[Targa]

Let me see if I understand this correctly. Let's say I send my prophet to my southern borders to preach, because an enemy dominion is creeping in. My main army is "up north", fighting Nation X, so I set my prophet to "retreat" on the off chance that my southern neighbor decides to invade. That way he'll retreat into one of my provinces, and I can march him back north while turning my army south. He's preaching away, when suddenly an assassin jumps out from behind a tree. Naturally, he follows his scripted orders to retreat, which he does, and apparently escapes without a scratch. But since "retreating during an assassination attempt" is "illegal" according to the game code, he will then be summarily executed off-screen?

If that's the case, then that makes absolutely no sense. I agree that scripted retreat orders should be ignored by the game code during assassination attempts.

[Argitoth]

Originally posted by cihset:
The spell needs a lookover since I sure as h-ck wont use it if the casting mage has an insane increased risk of getting killed in the casting of the spell.

The mage should be the LEAST likely to die.

#1. He has the knowledge of the underworld
#2. He's the only one leading the army
#3. whatever...