how do I "lock" my army formation? [help!!]

[||Lz3||]

here's the thing I always deploy my army before the battle (I'm romani , quincux style...) but when I try to move the whole army it messes my formation !!

there's a way "lock" the formation and move it as it is , the thing is, that for me sometimes works but there are some that it doesnt, I havent really identified exactly what to do to lock it, any of you have?

I've tried to have 2 control groups and then merge them but it doesnt work...

[vdpk7]

well what i usually do after i arranged my formation and grouped it, is press G key twice.

that sort of locks the unit blocks to the formation that i made.

[overweightninja]

If you keep a whole army grouped you can move and turn them in a fixed formation as if they were a single unit, handy sometimes.
Also bear in mind that if you try to move/rotate your formation to somewhere it can't go (such as impassable terrain or too close to the red barriers) it'll be reorganised into a single line.
Cheers

[Conqueror]

Some rules to follow, which should keep things working nicely most of the time:

1. Never group units. IMX RTW is pretty bad at handling groups and it can mess up your army.

2. Use ALT-rightclick to move your army when ever you can.

3. Generally you should only issue move-commands to your army when it's entirely at rest (that is, no units are marching and no foot-unit is firing missiles). {Except for rotating - see the next rule.} If there are units that have yet to finish marching from previous orders or a foot-archer/slinger unit is shooting, there's a chance that moving the army will cause the formation to break. Sometimes units get "stuck" in a maching-mode due to individual soldiers in the unit not being able to get to their position. In such a case, order that unit to STOP before you order your army to move again.

4. If you want your army to be facing a different direction once it reaches the destination then rotate the entire army before you command the move (using ALT-rightclick preserves the facing of units no matter where they move). As with moving orders, make sure than no unit is marching and no foot-unit is shooting before you order the rotation.

Note that you don't need to actually wait for the whole army to finish rotating before giving the move command - simply waiting for 1 second so that all units have begun rotating will be enough, and ALT-rightclick in this situation will mean that they will preserve the new (rotated) facing. Always use the ALT-clicking method if you do this.

[Poulp']

To reply to Conqueror, I'd say you can group your unit (to keep your army formation) but don't order them as a group.
Things get messy when you issue orders to a group of units (riders charge the nearest unit, usually spearmen...). To prevent that, single out every unit you want to give an order to.
If you want to give an order to specific units in a mixed group, use ctrl+right click.

[Senshi]

I usually always group my army in groups and only have very very few problems with that.

But I have to say, I use the AI formation mod from Darth and Sinuhet which also add some player formations which are very well predefined. But most of the time my groups work in "Single Line" Mode. I don't have problems with cavalry charging or messed up formations, don't know why you got these problems. Perhaps because I'm using BI.exe?

[konny]

It is always easyer to move block-like groups of units.

In your Roman example you should make:

(1) Velites and missle one group because they are probably wider spread than the rest of the infantry.
(2) Hastati, Principes, Triarii together in one group. Add to this the general, if he is placed behind the Triarii
(3 + 4) Cavalry of each wing a seperate group.

Move the Velites first, move the block with the heavy infantry behind them and arrange the groups with cavalry on the wings. This has the advantage that your blocks can always be placed with the first man in the up right corner (otherwise this position would be where your cavalry would be standing if it would be in the first line, even though it is in the third or fourth line).

It also allows to quickly re-arrange the groups of your army, for example placing all cavalry double quick on the right wing while moving all missle units to the left wing without touching the center block or re-grouping the entire army. Also usefull when your cavalry should be further to the front or more behind depending on the enemy's reaction to your missle units (cavalry charge, own missle fire or attack with spearmen; all would require different behaviour from the cavalry support)

Otherwise the army would go back to your starting formation when you move it again. This again can in fact be disered, for example when you are facing several AI armies as reinforcements. After fighting down the first enemy army your formation will be messed up. So moving the entire army as a group to the position where it has to fight the next enemy will place them in the correct formation again.

[Swordmaster]

Selecting them all with Ctrl + Q really keeps the formation, unless one or more unit can't be placed where it should due to map borders or walls, then it'll reform. But actually, once I'm close enough I move each unit one by one to get a proper engagement where the lines collide properly.

[||Lz3||]

Selecting them all with Ctrl + Q really keeps the formation, unless one or more unit can't be placed where it should due to map borders or walls, then it'll reform. But actually, once I'm close enough I move each unit one by one to get a proper engagement where the lines collide properly.

I think thats what I was looking for, not sure yet , I have to try it

the thing is that even If I grouped my army as 1-skirmishers 2-hastati 3 -princeps ... If I wanted to move their line they would just rearrange in one line , but I would loose the "quincux" feeling (having (gaps in the line)

But I have to say, I use the AI formation mod from Darth and Sinuhet which also add some player formations which are very well predefined. But most of the time my groups work in "Single Line" Mode. I don't have problems with cavalry charging or messed up formations, don't know why you got these problems. Perhaps because I'm using BI.exe?

I'm also using darth's... 2nd version , and I'm using alx.exe , but either way I dont think that makes a difference...

just a question , do your enemy's armies retreat whenever you're trying to attack them? like if they had some sort of skirmish mode? cause thats what is happening to me , as soon as I get close they star running backwards...

[mcantu]

it order to move the whole army in formation, select all the units then use shift + right-click

[Senshi]

No running away here. No matter if I approach with 100 or 2000 soldiers ;)...whats your difficulty setting? I play on H/M...my experience shows the difficulty chosen has a huge impact on AI...

[Conqueror]

just a question , do your enemy's armies retreat whenever you're trying to attack them? like if they had some sort of skirmish mode? cause thats what is happening to me , as soon as I get close they star running backwards...

Seen that happen sometimes. It's the AI trying to be smart by getting it's troops to what it thinks a better position when it sees your line approaching. Kinda annoying but just keep driving them before you. Or if you have long range missile units, try letting them shoot while you send your heavies forward - then the enemy can't continue to retreat without getting shot in the back

[||Lz3||]

Im playing H/M ...

the weird thing its that it happens quite frecuently and interestingly when they decide to attack , they pretty much always aim for my lieutenant (2nd family member... not the general)

[V.T. Marvin]

Hi guys,

there has been a lot of useful suggestion involving several keyboard-moseclick combinations (like shift + right-click, ALT-rightclick, etc.) maybe that it would be useful to write them all down with explanation what each of them actually does.

I play RTW mods since the game was issued and it seems that I still miss some of the more arcane control options

[kemozz]

Hi guys,

there has been a lot of useful suggestion involving several keyboard-moseclick combinations (like shift + right-click, ALT-rightclick, etc.) maybe that it would be useful to write them all down with explanation what each of them actually does.

I play RTW mods since the game was issued and it seems that I still miss some of the more arcane control options

i have to agree, is there a link somewhere to the keyboard commands for rtw?

[overweightninja]

i have to agree, is there a link somewhere to the keyboard commands for rtw?

Without checking, IIRC wouldn't they be listed in the options menu ingame?
Cheers

[V.T. Marvin]

Might be some, but I am pretty sure that these ALT+something and CTRL+something gadgets are not. Otherwise I would/should have known about them...