Where do routing enemies go?

Halfway through my first campaign, playing GB. I've noticed that after every battle that i win, the enemy army has been completely destroyed, regardless of the proportion of them i've actually killed during the battle.

This is particularly noticable when fighting some large native american stacks early on, where it's possible to get large numbers of them to chain-rout once youve taken out a few units, and where i havent got much in the way of cavalry to chase those routers down. I'm guessing that in many cases >50% of the enemy army has run away unharmed, yet after the battle the entire stack dies, every single time (whereas in M2TW and RTW the remainder of the losing stack beats a hasty retreat back toward safer territory).

Am i missing something here? Is this actually a new feature (losing armies always get disbanded regardless of losses)? Or are the losing armies actually teleporting to the nearest friendly city? Or is it a bug, or what? Anyone got any idea?

It depends on the proportions of the losses. Most of the time the enemy will be able to retreat. But if you've killed a large amount, the enemy army is completely destroyed. You'll see the retreat or death animation on the campaign map.

Conversely, the same happens to your armies. You might end up losing an entire army, even if some troops successfully escaped the battlefield.

Well, that's what i thought - but i dont think i've ever seen an enemy retreat - even after battles with mass routing of a large number of troops that i havent chased down.

Hmmm. Maybe i've just not been paying attention properly.

They probably got tired of all the CTD and just went back home to their loghouse :laugh4:

I don't know if that's a bug or a feature but back then when units routed, the soldiers usually deserted and went home. Maybe it has something to do with whether or not the officer has been killed? If that's a feature then I'm impressed. :yes:

I remember an early post whether here or another forum that it is a feature. I think it may have been Jack Lusted or a Dev who said it iirc.

Whether you role-play it as either butchery or "Screw you guys I'm going home" it makes sense either way.

HAAKKAA PÄÄLLE!!!

:charge::charge::charge:

I've had a few enemy armies successfully flee the battlefield. The Danes and the Swedes managed to pull some units out of battle a couple of times. I figured at the time that it might depend on how intact a unit was when it fled. Perhaps there's a dice roll chance that each unit gets to actually remain intact after a rout, depending on how many men survived initially.

It seemed to depend on whether or not your general survived and the overall numbers of survivors otherwise. I remember routing a Danish army in Iceland (their only army in the whole game!) a quarter of which made it back to Reykjavik, so it may also be factoring in how close a friendly city or fort is.

There is something odd about the whole thing.

I know that I have tried to retreat from battle only to have my whole army die.:embarassed:

What the heck was that? It wasn’t like I was cut off or anything. There is something that needs to be looked at.

I suppose in that particular case they wouldn’t retreat through France, even though I had military access. Still it needs looked at…

Might it have to do with whether the retreating stack has any movement points?

Second Spencer's point - for the player, if you don't get the option to retreat before the battle, ie you're surrounded or have run out of mp, then you won't have any survivors after the battle. Definitely applies to naval battles - if you can't retreat, and then just run away on the battle map without ever taking a shot, you'll still lose your fleet.

Btw, has anyone seen the AI retreat from a battle, ever? Not once the fight has started, but when you first attack them on the campaign map? Certainly did in Rome and Medi... 'nother bug?

Although there's something to the idea of fleeing units losing men to desertion, disease, wounds, and such, I find this aspect of the game rather annoying. It makes cleaning up enemy armies much easier than before, sure, but it takes out the possibility of a tactical retreat. I'd like to see a distinction, or more of one if it exists, between units that withdraw(via the withdraw button) and units that route. Units that withdraw in good order shouldn't be subject to total destruction unless they are very badly mangled.

Movement really doesn’t need to play a part in retreats. The movement is just a game mechanic. In 6 months time an army could move a lot more than they do in the game and ships could be halfway around the world.

Retreat should always be an option. The AI always knows where you are and can see things you can not. You should not loose fleets and armies to technicalities. It is not Law, it’s a Game!

That makes it an AI Exploit.

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Originally Posted by Daveybaby

Well, that's what i thought - but i dont think i've ever seen an enemy retreat - even after battles with mass routing of a large number of troops that i havent chased down.

Hmmm. Maybe i've just not been paying attention properly.

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I usually wont see an enemy be able to retreat after the end of a battle unless I auto calc it. Probably fifty percent of the time I auto calc I have to go and fight again to 'finish' off an enemy unit. When I fight the battle personally, I dont think I have ever really seen the enemy be able to retreat.