Heroic Victories?

[feelotraveller]

Just how do you get a heroic victory?

1) I've been winning some battles with say 40 losses to the enemies 400 (say) or capturing two bow kobaya with a single one but all I ever get are decisive victories.

I seem to remember that in RTW(?) there was a balance of forces requirement but I have seen no mention of this for S2TW. I'm assuming there must be one but (assuming this is indeed correct) what is it based on? Sheer numbers of men? Numbers of units? A more complicated calculation of 'force'? None of the preceding?

2) Probably don't need to ask this (because I'll find out for myself once I manage it) but since I've got your attention - when you promote a general from your ranks does the general stay attached to the unit he is promoted from or magically appear with a new unit of mounted samurai (sorry I just can't bring myself to call them 'cavalry') in the capital?

p.s I'm just starting out on this game.

[Peasant Phill]

1) I don't have a source on this but I believe that you can only get heroic victories with bigger battles. I'm not sure if it's the number of men or the number of units on the field but I find the number of men more logical somehow.

2) Your general will become a new unit with mounted bodyguards.

Enjoy the game and welcome to the .Org.

[EmperorofEurope]

Is getting Heroic victories a hard thing to do?

[andrewt]

I got one on a one on one battle. I split a general from his stack to attack a bow samurai reinforcement. I had another one with the black ship against around 7-8 enemy ships (medium/sengoku bunes and bow/bomb kobayas). I wouldn't exactly call those victories heroic.

[feelotraveller]

I did a bit of research and the consensus of a thread across at TWC was that:
a) it's all a bit random
b) being outnumbered and having low casualties helps a lot
Of course if anyone has anything more exacting to add that would be appreciated.
p.s. The chance of heroic victories was severely reduced by one of the patches.

[Vladimir]

I had one last night.

My eight man general unit was ambushed by a depleted half stack. I ran the general around the battle map until the time ran out. Heroic victory.

[feelotraveller]

Yeah, that works!

You were heavily outnumbered and won the battle with minimal casualties.

[Forward Observer]

I did a bit of research and the consensus of a thread across at TWC was that:
Of course if anyone has anything more exacting to add that would be appreciated.
p.s. The chance of heroic victories was severely reduced by one of the patches.

This was actually mentioned in the patch notes (last big patch, I think)

Prior to that patch, I usually got a heroic victory at least 50%, if not more, of the time---now, it's maybe 1 out 10. Obviously, it was a bit too easy to get in the beginning and sort of meaningless.

Cheers

[maestro]

It went from being rediculously easy (like HV every battle) to reiculously hard. I don't think I've had a HV since they patched it!

[Nelson]

I got my first monument two nights ago.

I had a full stack army with 2 generals, 1 yari samurai, 2 katana samurai, 7 yari ashigaru, 7 yumi ashigaru and 1 teppo ashigaru. The AI had 12 units: a general, 7 katana samurai and 4 light cavalry. The strength meter had us about even. (this was on normal difficulty)

I had 3,480 men and the AI had 1,530. I lost less than 700 and the AI had only 9 men left in the general unit. Despite having more than twice as many men , the total destruction of the enemy army while losing only a sixth of my own was apparently enough to be heroic. The AI army was 100% samurai while mine was 80% ashigaru so that might have factored in also.

[Azi Tohak]

I tend to smack the AI pretty good in battles on hard, but the only heroic victory I've achieved since the patch was playing as Date when I sent a ~10 - 12 high quality units to invade Sato. I had 900 high quality (katana and no-dachi and bow samurai with some leavening from yari ashis) with a pair of generals against 1700 ashis with 3 or four generals. I sat on a hill because I was attacked after disembarking, and then launched a downhill charge that gutted the Sato army like a fish (it helped the daft AI kept half of their yari ashis sitting uselessly a few hundred meters behind the action), killed their generals and the route was on. I lost ~150 and killed >1500 of the AI army (I needed more cav!).

Immediately after that battle Sato threw their 1200 man army that had been sitting in the capital at my now ~750 man army, and I did the same thing, but no heroic victory.

They're tough to get and I think it has most to do with the balance of power initially.

[Gregoshi]

I got one of these neat little monuments three years into my first campaign. It is the only one I've got too. I just wish I'd have remembered more about such a significant battle. I do remember the war though - it was my first and it see-sawed back and forth for several years. It was awesome. So I guess it is fitting that my first great war yielded such a remembrance.

[Jakkal]

Didn't have a heroic victory, but a pyrric victory. When looking at the remnants of my army sure look like it :(

[frogbeastegg]

At the end of my last campaign I got loads of heroic victories, fighting alongside my vassal. They sent a tiny little stack to support my army as it fought battle after battle against fearsome enemies. At first I was pleased that my little pet Hattori wanted to help me. What a nice idea, what a display of functional vassal-AI, what a lovely bit of flavour for my campaign! I did all of the killing, and my vassal's army never engaged the enemy. After the battle they get a monument commemorating their heroic victory; I got nothing. The same thing happened after the next battle. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next ...

I found it quite funny.

[Madae]

I don't get heroic victories that often - at least not at the rate everyone else is saying they get theirs. I think the last heroic victory I got was a relatively even match in terms of numbers, but the enemy had far more experienced troops. The battle itself was almost deadlocked, and I believe the only deciding factor in my favor was the monk I had for a morale bonus. I'm pretty sure without that monk, I would have lost the fight - it was really that close. We were both down to just a handful, some 100-300 men, before the rest of his troops routed. I'm still rather surprised I won that. It was a very tough fight.

So aside from the differences in experience, I think the only other thing that made it qualify as a heroic victory, aside from the fact that I killed all of his units (regardless of the fact that he almost killed all of mine), was that his Daimyo was present and fell in battle too.

[Marshall Louis-Nicolas Davout]

At the end of my last campaign I got loads of heroic victories, fighting alongside my vassal. They sent a tiny little stack to support my army as it fought battle after battle against fearsome enemies. At first I was pleased that my little pet Hattori wanted to help me. What a nice idea, what a display of functional vassal-AI, what a lovely bit of flavour for my campaign! I did all of the killing, and my vassal's army never engaged the enemy. After the battle they get a monument commemorating their heroic victory; I got nothing. The same thing happened after the next battle. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next ...

I found it quite funny.

Learn from her!:)

[Eviltomatoez]

I usually only get heroic victories by putting 3 shogitai against as many spear levies as possible, which is around a 1-13 ratio.