Losing multistack battles..

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I have never lost a battle where I had more than one army on the battlefield ..
So I was thinking what happens if in a battle where you have AI led ally armys your army will be crushed and all your units will rout ..
does this mean that you lose the battle?? even when your ally's could easely destroy what is left of the enemy??

[Celt Centurion]

I have never lost a battle where I had more than one army on the battlefieald ..
So I was thinking what happens if in a battle where you have AI led ally armys your army will be crushed and all your units will rout ..
does this mean that you lose the battle?? even when your ally's could easely destroy what is left of the enemy??

My experience is that would depend upon whether the ally even arrives on time.

If you are the only army on your side and you are beaten before your ally arrives, then you lose.

If you are still in action and your ally arrives, you will see what takes place but will not have any control over it. How you fare after their arrival will depend upon whether the enemy decides to finish you off before confronting the new threat.

Rarely has an allied army been any good to me. Usually they are severely understrength if they arrive at all. If I go near the scene of a siege involving an allied army, I am careful to have adequate strength to prevail with or without them. I remember one battle where I sent a token force to support my ally, the Scythians who had a full stack. The enemy Thrace also had a full stack. My small army actually held better against Thrace but was overwhelmed by superior numbers. My ally did not have equipment upgrades at all, only the numbers of a full stack. He got both of our arses fully kicked!

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[The Wandering Scholar]

Aid with cavalry, then you can quickly retreat if things go wrong.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

If you are still in action and your ally arrives, you will see what takes place but will not have any control over it. How you fare after their arrival will depend upon whether the enemy decides to finish you off before confronting the new threat.

Yeah .. this happened ..
I saw the battle but because my units were routing I couldn't do anything ..
But it was fun to see how 2 stupid AI's fought against each other :wall:
(if I only would of had proper army there:wall: :wall: :wall: )

[Spartan198]

I've also noticed that the auto_win attacker / defender cheat (which I use mostly for sieges) works in reverse when a second army is on the battlefield.

[Celt Centurion]

Aid with cavalry, then you can quickly retreat if things go wrong.

Good point.

You don't really even have to retreat. If you can just get your cavalry out of the enemy's reach you can run out the timer and win by surviving.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

That's actually an annoying and frequently used AI tactic Celt Centurion. They simply run their suviving units around the field to stop you from catching them. In the end you either have to try a tactical solution (such as hiding in trees and chacing the foes in that direction) or you simply have to quit the battle/wait for the timer to run out.

The problems is that they also cheat like this when the battle timer is switched off. This results in an endless and terribly long battle in which the enemy simply gives you the run around.

This is especially annoying if your armies are infantry based. You can be sat there for ages trying to find methods of catching them. The same is also true of one unit armies - in that case tactical methods of capture are not an option.

~:)

[Celt Centurion]

That's actually an annoying and frequently used AI tactic Celt Centurion. They simply run their suviving units around the field to stop you from catching them.
~:)

Yeah, I learned it from them.

As I normally have the timer on, it usually works to my advantage.

Perhaps, with the timer turned off, but increasing battle speed (if that can be done then), both parties can rest so to speak, and finally clash to where one or the other routs.

Some battles just go on for far too long.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Brave]

Battles can go on far too long? I thought they were too quick!

[Quirinus]

Mostly it's so that you don't lose the battle in a scenario when an enemy soldier is stuck on a section of the wall with the adjacent bits destroyed (so that he cannot go down) and you don't have missile troops. Or when the AI stays resolutely inside the town/city during a sally.

[Celt Centurion]

That's actually an annoying and frequently used AI tactic Celt Centurion.
~:)

I have thought about this more Omanes Alexandrapolites. If, for instance you have an outnumbered enemy on the run, you could use one or two units to chase them while the remainder of your army sets an ambush on the other side of the field.

Whether your units can "hide" in waiting would depend upon the terrain, but if there is plenty of vegetation an ambush would work very well. A formation which may help would be an "L" at 45 degrees with the longer branch toward the inside of the battle map with the shorter branch at the perimeter. It would work much like a net.

They could run right into the arms of your waiting infantry.

When their 3,000 infantry are chasing my 80 or less cavalry, common sense says put distance between the two of them. Since I cannot leave the field, (retreat not an option) my only option is to run until they quit chasing me, just as if you were riding your horse along the road and about 40 bandits started chasing you. You would not ride your horse into the center of them and get your throat cut, you would ride as far and as fast as you could. If the only way to allow my cavalry to outrun the bandits on foot is to run along the perimeter, then I'm going to do it.

If, on the other hand, the AI has the good sense to deploy an ambush on the other side of the battle map and I don't notice them doing it, I'm going to run right into them. If I do notice an ambush being set, I detour around it. That is why when I am circling the perimeter, I am also watching the triangles of those rascals.

Strength and Honor~:cheers:

Celt Centurion