Can a Mage be Both Communion Slave *and* Master?

[AlgaeNymph]

Jazzepi said:
If your combat order looks like this

SLAVE A
SLAVE B
MASTER C
SLAVE D

Then slave A/B will be able to freely cast spells each round. Master C will then cast a spell. And slave D will sit around soaking up fatigue and looking stupid.

What happens if slave A is also a master?

[otthegreat]

How do you set up a combat order? I mean I always thought that the order different mages cast spells in is random, is there a way to customize it?

[Jazzepi]

The order that your commanders (mages) act is determined by a hidden number called their Unit ID. This is a unique number that each unit has to keep track of them in the game. Apparently they're also recycled after a unit dies.

What's more important is that you can not see this ID number, so the only way to tell which units will act first in combat is to have all those units in a single province, go to army setup, and look at the order in which they appear. This is the order they will act during a battle.

The problem with this is that if you have two armies that you want to merge in a large fight, both with communion masters/slaves in them, it's impossible to tell which order they'll act in. In that case, you can not rely on your communion slaves for combat casting as the order that they act in is unpredictable.

Jazzepi

[Agrajag]

Jazzepi said:
The problem with this is that if you have two armies that you want to merge in a large fight, both with communion masters/slaves in them, it's impossible to tell which order they'll act in. In that case, you can not rely on your communion slaves for combat casting as the order that they act in is unpredictable.

1) Switch to the province you are planning a combined attack on.
2) Click 'y'.
3) ???
4) Profit!

[capnq]

Agrajag said:

1) Switch to the province you are planning a combined attack on.
2) Click 'y'.

Behold the power of reading the manual!

I had to check the hotkeys list to find out what 'y' does. I had no idea that command was available.

[Jazzepi]

Agrajag said:

1) Switch to the province you are planning a combined attack on.
2) Click 'y'.
3) ???
4) Profit!

Nice, I never thought of that. It works well if you've got both armies moving into the same place. I don't think that Y accounts for teleported commanders though =\

Jazzepi

[vfb]

In some cases you can fake it by ordering all armies to move into a province that is not really the province you are attacking, use 'Y' to sort out battle scripts and commands, then give the orders for the real move (or teleport). If the armies are all coming together from all over the map, then you're out of luck.

[Jazzepi]

DryaUnda said:

What happens if slave A is also a master?

If A is a master then B/D will be unable to cast spells, but C will be just fine. Masters never interfere with each other.

Jazzepi

[Sombre]

What if you set A and B to hold for one turn, then cast slave?

Will they still cast spells each round because they are before the master, or not?

[Jazzepi]

Sombre said:
What if you set A and B to hold for one turn, then cast slave?

Will they still cast spells each round because they are before the master, or not?

AFAIK the only thing that matters is not /when/ a particular unit becomes a master or a slave, only that ~in a given turn~ if a slave comes before a master in turn order, he will be able to cast.

So I'm 99% certain that a slave that becomes a slave from a matrix before the battle, or one becoming a slave on turn one, or on turn 20, will all be the same way. The next turn after they become a slave, and every turn after that, all that matters is that they come before whatever communion masters you might have.

Jazzepi