Strategy map - can rival armies pass in the night?

[econ21]

I am a little curious - suppose you attack the AI in a neighbouring province, can he simultaneously invade the province you attacked from? So you effectively swop provinces?
Something like that happened to me the other day, when I invaded a province from several adjacent ones and at the same time, the AI left that province to occupy one I had attacked from.
Anyone know how this works? eg in some other computer games (not MTW), the "faster" army would have priority and pre-empt a move by a "slower" army.
It is quite important for strategy - eg if I surround a big AI army in one province with 3 provinces of my own; would I need to garrison each province with sufficient force to defeat his big army at the same time as I invade? In such a case, I would need 4x his number. If he can't attack out when I attack in, I would only need 1x his force (if I can out-general him).
Thanks for any advice,
Simon

[Rosacrux]

The AI can do that, but usually (at least from what I've seen) it "pushes back" at the same time the army you have sent, effectively forcing it to fight for the province it left from.

Par example: You own territory A and B and C. In D there is a nifty AI army. You move all three armies (save some garisson) from A, B and C to invade D. AI figures it has to invade itself, so it moves into B. What will happen, is that you get D without a fight, but have to fend off the AI attack from B, with the forces you had in it before moving them to get D.

hope you can find out what I am trying to tell you http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Ktonos]

I believe that if you leave undefendend your "base territory" then it is very possible that the enemy will attack swapin provicenses.But with if you leave a small garisson(even 20-50 men) he will surely not. This is from my experience with Shogun,not Medieval.

[econ21]

Rosacrux - swopping is rare; I've played for a couple of weeks but only seen it once - although I do tend to play fairly non-aggressive building games. What you say is interesting and the implication seems to be, like Ktonos says, that you do not need to leave such a large garrison in the provinces you attack from. The reason being that the garrison will be augmented by the part of the invasion force I send from B to D. This makes offensives on the strategy map more feasible.

Ktonos - yes, I am sure leaving a province empty is asking for trouble, but I am pretty sure I didn't do that (I'm scared of rebellions for one thing). I've been playing on the assumption that you can swop provinces, so I leave what I think are sufficient garrisons although in that instance, it didn't prove to the case :=(

[ToranagaSama]

Quote Originally posted by Ktonos:
I believe that if you leave undefendend your "base territory" then it is very possible that the enemy will attack swapin provicenses.But with if you leave a small garisson(even 20-50 men) he will surely not. This is from my experience with Shogun,not Medieval.[/QUOTE]

This has not been my experience in STW. You ALWAYS have to watch your back! with a "sufficient" defense force or the AI WILL take advantage. Leave a tiny force next to a large AI force, and then go invanding a "third" province and/or the province with the large force, and its a good bet the AI with take the smaller force. Especially, in a "coveted" province, like Shiano! Sometimes, it won't.

Anyone know how this works? eg in some other computer games (not MTW), the "faster" army would have priority and pre-empt a move by a "slower" army.

In STW, this will sometimes happen (though not in the specific way you describe, theres not "faster" element), and other times not, as I've said above. Just gotta watch your back.

This is good, makes sense, and Ups the ante! Waging war is a risky venture.

Tip: When faced with such a situation, its always good to check if the enemy province you plan to attack (or other bordering non-friendly provinces) border a province that is not "friendly" with your enemy and has a large force. This will give the AI pause, as vacating its province can lead to it being invaded by a third party. The AI is more likely to stay home to defend against possibley attacks by you AND the third party.

This is sorta like with Chess, putting your opponent in "check". Freezing his piece so he cannot move it, without "uncovering".


[This message has been edited by ToranagaSama (edited 10-21-2002).]

[This message has been edited by ToranagaSama (edited 10-21-2002).]

[ToranagaSama]

Yes, your right in MTW its seems to be much rarer event than in STW. Buttt....why take the chance? Probably has a lot to do with the value of the province. MTW has a fewer "key" provinces that STW. Maybe the Devs forgot to adjust for this.