Dionysus9
05-01-2002, 02:51
My question/comment is this:
What orders are safe to issue to a troop that is engaged in combat? Change formation? Change facing? etc...
Telling units to fall back while engaged is almost always suicide unless they are clearly winning or the enemy is disengaging also (or at least results in a route which can start a domino)...Makes sense, because they have to turn their back to the enemy they are fighting to fall back....
When I first starting playing STW, I would order troops around constantly, even when they were fighting in a close battle, I might tell them to fall back--or wait, forget the yari-cav, attack the taisho, no, the muskets. Of course, the usual result is that they route or get torn to shreds while attempting to move away from the unit they are fighting.
So, I stopped issuing orders while a unit was engaged and I started to do much better. I would just send them in w/ orders and forget about them.
Now Im finding myself issuing SOME orders to fighting units...for example, if I send some dachi to attack some YS I might charge them in a wedge. They are winning--great. Then some enemy monks show up and my dachi start to lose (or will shortly)... I will tell them to halt, and then order them into close formation, hold the line.
I've seen this order stop troops from wavering, and it has saved my ass more than once.
Once in a rare while I will have to tell a unit that is standing (but fighting) to face a new direction because a new, more powerful, threat is coming. This is risky, but if my unit can make the turn to face the new threat without losing too many men (to the existing threat) then it is usually better than routing when the new threat charges into their rear.
Anyway, has anyone had similar experiences or have any tips on what orders (and when) are safe to issue to engaged troops?
What orders are safe to issue to a troop that is engaged in combat? Change formation? Change facing? etc...
Telling units to fall back while engaged is almost always suicide unless they are clearly winning or the enemy is disengaging also (or at least results in a route which can start a domino)...Makes sense, because they have to turn their back to the enemy they are fighting to fall back....
When I first starting playing STW, I would order troops around constantly, even when they were fighting in a close battle, I might tell them to fall back--or wait, forget the yari-cav, attack the taisho, no, the muskets. Of course, the usual result is that they route or get torn to shreds while attempting to move away from the unit they are fighting.
So, I stopped issuing orders while a unit was engaged and I started to do much better. I would just send them in w/ orders and forget about them.
Now Im finding myself issuing SOME orders to fighting units...for example, if I send some dachi to attack some YS I might charge them in a wedge. They are winning--great. Then some enemy monks show up and my dachi start to lose (or will shortly)... I will tell them to halt, and then order them into close formation, hold the line.
I've seen this order stop troops from wavering, and it has saved my ass more than once.
Once in a rare while I will have to tell a unit that is standing (but fighting) to face a new direction because a new, more powerful, threat is coming. This is risky, but if my unit can make the turn to face the new threat without losing too many men (to the existing threat) then it is usually better than routing when the new threat charges into their rear.
Anyway, has anyone had similar experiences or have any tips on what orders (and when) are safe to issue to engaged troops?