Chasing the enemy

[Klaatu]

In order to win a battle must I chase the enemy until I see the victory screen? The reason I ask is, I recently had a battle where I had killed the enemy general and got a message saying the enemy was running. They left the map and I was alone waiting for my victory screen when the time expired and I was pronounced "defeated". I am new to the game and was wondering was I suppose to do something else? There was plenty of time for them to leave the map before the time expired so I'm certain I should have won. Thanks

[Shadelord]

they hide one unit and you don't find it you lose so you have to make sure every thing is gone

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[Anssi Hakkinen]

If the enemy army starts to flee, pursue them. Order all your units to charge the routing enemies, this way they get more kills & experience. Once you have chased them all the way to the map edge and about 2/3rds of them have crossed the edge and vanished, the battle should end. If not, immediately start combing through the forests and similar terrain that may hide more enemy units - you only win if you rout *all* enemies.

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"Crystal clear, / Sharp and bright, / The sacred sword / Allows no opening / For evil to roost."
- Ueshiba Morihei O-Sensei

[Soapyface]

Scour the woods for the hiding enemy.

I agree with Anssi you want to chase a fleeing army to get more kills and experience, but I wouldn't order all my units to charge after the routing enemy, only the faster units: horses, YA, no-dachi. Slower units won't catch the enemy and will only become tired.

In an Oda campaign where I took Shinano early I had to defend it many times from Hojo, usually outnumbered. Then its best to hold some guys back, only marching regular speed to follow the enemy. When Hojo's reinforcements arrive my guys still had some energy left to fight on. I know some players assume you can route the first 16 enemy units off the map in one go, but I find this can't always be done, especially where you're heavily outnumbered and the enemy can stall you with a fighting withdrawal.

There's nothing worse than running all the way to the end of the map making your guys "very tired" only to find a stream of fresh SA coming over the hill towards you. Better to walk up to a new hill and get ready make the second wave route, just like you did to the first.

[Klaatu]

They must have been hiding on me, I assumed once the general died and they started fleeing that they would'nt regroup and all I had to do was wait for them to leave the map for me to win. I'll make sure and chase them, thanks for the help.

[BanzaiZAP]

First off, they're right about needing to rout ALL of the enemy units. One big ugly tactic was to have one unit of cavalry archers run around as a delaying tactic. That's one reason why many people play with the timer turned OFF. Fewer things are more annoying than having the enemy fleeing, being chopped to pieces by your men, then having the time run out and you don't get the victory.

Whether or not you want to chase them all away... I've lost battles by having the retreating army suddenly turn and attack. Because my men were strung out in chasing actions, they got butchered. On the other hand, if you can chase off his army, then he will lose before he gets reinforcements! In SP, this means that a well run small army (12 units) can chase off an army of 20+ units! If you fell back, then the enemy would get fresh reinforcements, and then smash your tired troops. In any case, cavalry and lightly armored troops (like ashigaru and monks) are best as chasers because of their speed and maneuverability. You would have to decide in that battle - are his men scared enough to be fully chased away, or is it better to hold on to a good defensive position?

-- B)

[Slyspy]

Its still worth pursuing with slower units and missile troops (even gunners) if especially if you have no fast troops available. The proximity of your troops will prevent the enemy from rallying. Plus, if its a trap or if the enemy has reinforcements approaching then you have a better selection of troops to face the new threat.

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"Put 'em in blue coats, put 'em in red coats, the bastards will run all the same!"

[solypsist]

You must chase all the enemy survivors off the map for the game to be over if you are playing a campaign battle.
In multiplayer or custom battles, the game ends when either all the enemy troops are dead or routed, or there is no chance for the enemy to rally. My guess is that you practiced a few times on custom battles and got used to winning the second way, and then when campaign came around things didn't end so quickly. I certainly made that mistake my first campaign battle!
It's also a good idea to chase the enemy just keep him from coming back the next turn with those same soldiers, the more you kill, the less there is to return and bedevil you next time.

[theforce]

Is very nice when the enemy has a cav uni and you can reach it

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Enter the Darkside...

[Che]

Are there specific rules about when a unit will regroup from a rout? Many wargames give units random chances each "turn" if they're not below 50% starting size, with bonuses for nearby steady troops. Does shogun work anything like that?
It's certainly painful when the enemy you're chasing regroups en masse right before it goes off the screen, when it's uphill...

[Anssi Hakkinen]

Such rules exist, but Creative Assemble hasn't seen fit to disclose them to us. Like we haven't heard that before...

In any case, the presence (or lack thereof) of the taishô is extremely important, if you wish to rally other units. If your entire army is fleeing, rally the taishô first: if they get their act toghether, the surronding units usually will, too. If your taishô hasn't routed, close him to the routing units as fast as possible and keep pounding on that "R" key.

The major (= only viable) method of preventing your enemies from rallying is pursuing them. Keep on their heels, and their rallies succeed very rarely; even if they do succeed, one of your units immediately slams into their rear and bam, they rout again. As the previous paragraph suggests, the enemy taishô is the premier target of any pursuit.

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"Crystal clear, / Sharp and bright, / The sacred sword / Allows no opening / For evil to roost."
- Ueshiba Morihei O-Sensei

[solypsist]

From time to time I get a unit with less than 50% rally and reform, but usually it's at the point where it won't make a difference. What can you do with 3 No-Dachi?