Micromanaging armies and commanders

[Elmo]

Thanks Zen. I did have my flankers about as far out as they could go althoug not toward the back as your pic implies (if I follow you). If they do end up attacking the "rear" of the closest group is there a morale hit to the defenders or bonus to the attakcers? IOW does facing make any difference in the game?

[ November 30, 2003, 22:56: Message edited by: Elmo ]

[johan osterman]

Attack rearmost does not automatrically attack the rearmost, intentionally so. There is a chance that a unit with "attack rearmost" will try to attack the very rearmost, if that chance 'fails' it will try for the second rearmost and so on. This means that if the opponent only has a single unit in the rear and all the rest in the front there is a very real possibility that he will be ignored. On the other hand if they do choose the single unit hiding in the rear he will be without bodyguard or other units helping him out. This means that it might also be a good idea to put a few units on hold behind important commanders as a sort of rearguard.

[ November 30, 2003, 23:00: Message edited by: johan osterman ]

The board doesn't put in spaces. It was supposed to be near the front The diagram is slightly askew. But as Johan said it's good that you can't always have something attack the rearmost. And a common tactic is to put a reserve slightly behind, atop or in front of your Commander pile to distract any squads/fliers from killing your commanders and causing an automatic rout.

I consider it being akin to an actual General. You can tell your soliders where you want them and what they are to do; but how they react is based on the men (Or in this case the AI). You just have to learn the ins and outs.

I don't know if having a unit rear or flank a squad causes a morale check; but I know it does allow more attacks vs a squad thus more attrition thus more morale failure. It also doesn't allow a larger squad to sweep around the ends and engulf a smaller squad, as the computer will have extra units that are not allowed an attack to go around the edges to try to get in the mix.

[Elmo]

Thanks johan. Sorry if my earlier post made it sound like there was a bug. The docs for the demo are pretty sparse so it looked like a problem since I have yet to see my flankers go after the rear most unit(s).

[Elmo]

Thanks Zen. I also need to learn how to use the Hold command. Right now I end up getting my forward troops hit with too many arrows/javelins from the guys in the second rank.

PS - What happens if both sides have multiple Hold orders? Will one side or both attack after those set orders expire?

[ November 30, 2003, 23:25: Message edited by: Elmo ]

Units (not commanders) Only have a Hold and Attack command and then a type you want them ato attack after they hold (Closest, rearmost, etc.).

Both will perform their orders and hold. Something you may be trying that isn't working for you is using Hold and Attack with a unit with a Javalin, because an Attack comand with someone with a javalin means they will not use it.

Friendly fire is a part of Dom2 Unfortunately a large part expecially if you arn't spacing and setting your units correctly. Try using default commands and not spacing your troops very far apart to get better results with Javalins. More often than not they will get 1 or 2 volley's of Javalins before they are able to engage, unless they are going up against other Javalin units with the same orders, or Archers, which will mow them down unless you are using the decent Pithium ranks.

[HJ]

Originally posted by Zen:
Friendly fire is a part of Dom2 Unfortunately a large part expecially if you arn't spacing and setting your units correctly.

The more I play, the more I find this to be a really big problem. Right now, I am starting to become too terrified to use any missile troops in my armies, because of the butchering of the pursuers they might do when the fight is nearing an end. I equiped one of my commanders with Bow of War, and right now I think he killed more of my fliers and demons than he killed enemy troops by far.

Something like "Fire and attack" and "Fire and hold" orders would go a long way to improve the usability of missile troops and combo troops (such as Tien Chi cavalry and legionaires) in the game. "Fire and attack" would be great for strong troops who are good at both roles, or good at melee and just happen to have a missile weapon as well. "Fire and hold" would be great for everybody else, since you don't really want them firing in the crowd once the lines crash anyway, unless you're using wards (which are not that easy to come by for just any army). You would get the most out of your missiles, as they tend to count when the field is open to soften up opposition, and reduce friendly fire significantly. All the components for the orders are already there, so I guess it wouldn't be too hard to code either.

As it is now, friendly fire, along with the AI not building any forts and hence not fielding any national troops, are two of my biggest gripes, to a point that they hamper my enjoyment of the game. I am seriously considering composing missile-only and missile-free armies, as this is the only way I can make sure nobody gets killed who wasn't intended to be. This also renders spells like Flaming arrows useless, since I know who will be on the receiving end of them. In short, it's limiting diversity of the game options for me, and I'm beginning to think that waiting for a patch to continue playing might be a good idea - something I don't like.

[ December 01, 2003, 10:34: Message edited by: HJ ]