Victory or death!

[Kommodus]

We've all been in those situations when it's apparent that a battle on the tactical map is lost. (I am referring to battles in which you actually intended to win, not just wear down the enemy.) What do you do in these situations? Do you attempt to withdraw and save as many troops as possible? Do you order one last suicide charge at the enemy?

I have fought some battles in which my men fled the field much too quickly for my taste, or something else happened that I feel shouldn't have happened. Sometimes, out of frustration with this, I'll forbid my general to retreat, and order him to either win the battle or die in the attempt. (Of course, I wouldn't do this with a really good general.) I'm also much less likely to ransom back captured troops.

What do you guys do? If you retreat, how do you do it effectively?

[eds]

Well if the men gave a good accounting of themselves but were clearly overmatched, I'll withdraw them. I usually use a cavalry screen to do this and when the infantry disengages and is far enough away I'll attempt to withdraw the cavalry. Sometimes I just rout the cavalry screen (as long as there is an escape route for them) if I can't otherwise withdraw them. I find routing your own troops can help when they're engaged with other cavalry, but if they're fighting cav faster than themselves, then I just leave them to die a noble death.

If the men gave a poor accounting of themselves (and I have no problems admitting that whether they do or don't is arbitrary and depends more on my mood at the time http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif ) I order them to take up a defensive position somewhere and fight to the last man. No mercy for cowards and traitors - I've seen Enemy at the Gates - I know how to lead my men now ;).

[Blodrast]

most of the time I have decent or even good units in my front lines, so I try to preserve them. Don't let them die, retreat and I'll be back later to slaughter your entire family ;P

[pyhhricvictory]

As soon as the all hope is lost feeling sets in, I give one last charge into the lines with everything I have. About half the time, the additional units charging in will cause a chain route in the enemy and I can pull out a win. If it is a great general, I will withdraw him from battle and bring up another unit in his place.

[ah_dut]

i will always evaluate the situation. if i think i can win, chaaaaarge, but generally, i retreat and then come back to butcher the opposing nation, as i say 'meet the Jedi' http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[{TL}Lord_Krutz]

hmmm....i always fight. infact, in the new english campaign that i just started, i fought about 3 battles in a row against both rebels (strong, rebelled in Wales w/ a full force of strong units..:-() and French (i'm at war w/ them), where i was outnumbered at least 4 to 1, yet i won. i find that if i can kill the general, the enemy units have lost to me too many times to have enough valor to stay and fight, in 1 battle, i didn't even have enough units to chase every1 off and i just did all i could, lol. anyways, i say fight. Honor above all, just check the sig..

[Leodegar]

i first withdraw to a good position and wait if they counterattack and perhaps there is an opportunity to make some good kills. but i don't throw my soldiers in a desperate charge without any chance to succeed. it's better to leave for now, but come back next year...

but i don't pay ransom for my men, if they rooted too early. in fact every moment is to early for rooting...

[Lord Godfrey]

Step 1: Charge the enemy general and try to kill him
Step 2: If Step 1 fails, withdrawl troops in an orderly fashion
Step 3: If Step 2 fails, kill all prisoners and do not ransom my troops

[Sarnaen]

I usually evaluate the situation - My position on the map, surviving troops, mix of troops.
I tend to dig in on a hill in most cases, and fitht 'till death or glory. Sometimes I can pull off a win, even if I won't have enough troops to defend the province. I just pick up the money for capturing the province, burn everything, and pull back. It has the result of destroying or badly mauling on of their armies, and turning their province into a parking lot. Spite tactics.

[Cazbol]

I can hardly ever get myself to retreat and usually fight to the bitter end. There's just some never-give-in attitude that seems to prohibit it. I may retreat high value generals but the troops almost always have to fight until the last man has routed.

While this may occasionally lead me to win a battle against the odds, it more often results in the enemy taking more prisoners than necessary and I always ransom prisoners back, even when they have no value. It's really a role playing element where I consider it my duty to men to bring them back, even depleted mercenary units get ransomed back only to be disbanded the next turn.

[{TL}Lord_Krutz]

that's another thing, i never ransom. i figure, if u don't want to be captured, fight harder and win me the dang battle u little soldiers. and my gen will always fight to die if the entire army is routing. the only exception is my king. the king is the example to the men to die w/ honor in a glorious charge. idk, i probably play the n00b style of mtw cause i don't understand the sp part that much, but if i can conquer france as england in the beginning parts of the campaign (in early era), it's all good.

[{TL}Lord_Krutz]

sry about the double post. where i said the king is the examply that should be, the General is the example.

[foop]

Generally speaking, I'll try and organise an orderly retreat. It's easier if I'm defending, of course, because I tend to try to defend from a hill at the edge of the map anyway. Of course, this presupposes that I have somewhere to retreat to and that I'm going to be able to do something with the troops once they've retreated.

Occasionally I get fed up and try mad, heroic, all-out charges at the enemy. A couple of times this has worked, much to my surprise. Usually this is because I've forgotten to check details and failed to notice that most of the enemy's valour comes from their uber general. A lucky kill and a chain rout later, and all that's left is the tattered remains of my units, wandering around unable to believe their luck.