Battle Time Length?

[Durango]

Some people enjoy to just skip deployment and not even pause to issue orders, just push it forward in real time from go.

I prefer though the speech, the deployment, then issuing orders and watching it play out. Then I can always hit pause again if need or play the rest in real time.

It's one of the joys of Total War over other RTS, it's turn based and real time :) everyone happy.

The deployment is definately one of the best phases, when you get to arrange the troops in heroic formations. I'm big on formations. They make life better, everything looks more ordered in formations. Even shoes, toothpicks, cars and cats. Formations rule, man

But the AI should have the benefit of being able to issue orders simultaneously, while I must do my best controlling the action. The AI needs to have the advantage here.

[Sir Beane]

The deployment is definately one of the best phases, when you get to arrange the troops in heroic formations. I'm big on formations. They make life better, everything looks more ordered in formations. Even shoes, toothpicks, cars and cats. Formations rule, man

But the AI should have the benefit of being able to issue orders simultaneously, while I must do my best controlling the action. The AI needs to have the advantage here.

The AI does have several advantages over the player in terms of how quickly it can martial its troops and respond to threats. The AI sees all, knows all and can control all simultaneously. This is something the player can only replicate using the pause function.

Sadly the AI uses its omniscience in the worst way possible, because it's as thick as two very short planks.

I too love formations. I often spend several minutes or more in the deployment phase setting up needlessly elaborate formations in order to beat opponents I often outnumber or outclass anway.

It's a shame your nice neat formations always go to pot as soon as you issue any sort of order to your troops. Moving does tend to ruin everything. Mass movement of soldiers and pathfinding are two things that CA haven't managed to nail since Medieval.

[Durango]

The AI does have several advantages over the player in terms of how quickly it can martial its troops and respond to threats. The AI sees all, knows all and can control all simultaneously. This is something the player can only replicate using the pause function.

Sadly the AI uses its omniscience in the worst way possible, because it's as thick as two very short planks.

I've never used the pause button. It's more exciting to have no choice but to squander your horse archers in the heat of battle due to being busy with the knights

But maybe ETW will have an additional difficulty level called Monty Python mode. On this special level, the AI gets air balloons that drop pianos on your general, elephants that explode into smaller elephants and give a -67 morale penalty, and traps on the battlefield that your units fall into randomly. Filled with lava, of course.

I too love formations. I often spend several minutes or more in the deployment phase setting up needlessly elaborate formations in order to beat opponents I often outnumber or outclass anway.

It's a shame your nice neat formations always go to pot as soon as you issue any sort of order to your troops. Moving does tend to ruin everything. Mass movement of soldiers and pathfinding are two things that CA haven't managed to nail since Medieval.

Formations are one of the things that I love most about the 18th century, as well. I hope that ETW will include a multitude of researchable formations that are also very advantageous to use. When bringing up MTW, remember how the wedge was actually useful? And the way you could form units into a single rank (like the Highlanders at the battle of Balaklava 1854).

I want the following:

• Single rank line
• Column (confirmed)
• Square (confirmed)
• Wedge for cavalry
• Pikewall for the pikemen still around
• Skirmish dispersal for light infantry

Plus additional firing drills. I'm glad that individual stats for units has been expanded upon, with naming them a possibility as well.

[Sir Beane]

I've never used the pause button. It's more exciting to have no choice but to squander your horse archers in the heat of battle due to being busy with the knights

But maybe ETW will have an additional difficulty level called Monty Python mode. On this special level, the AI gets air balloons that drop pianos on your general, elephants that explode into smaller elephants and give a -67 morale penalty, and traps on the battlefield that your units fall into randomly. Filled with lava, of course.

I really, REALLY hope someone at CA sees this suggestion and makes it happen. It would be the perfect reward for defeating the campaign. It would be even better if all the unit descriptions and dialogue changed to become rife with Monty Python references .



Formations are one of the things that I love most about the 18th century, as well. I hope that ETW will include a multitude of researchable formations that are also very advantageous to use. When bringing up MTW, remember how the wedge was actually useful? And the way you could form units into a single rank (like the Highlanders at the battle of Balaklava 1854).

I want the following:

• Single rank line
• Column (confirmed)
• Square (confirmed)
• Wedge for cavalry
• Pikewall for the pikemen still around
• Skirmish dispersal for light infantry

Plus additional firing drills. I'm glad that individual stats for units has been expanded upon, with naming them a possibility as well.[/QUOTE]

Single rank has also been confirmed, and skirmish dispersal is almost a certainty. I imagine there's a good chance of wedge formation and pike wall formation being in to.

[Fisherking]

After seeing the last naval battle video, I am wondering about the damage models they used. Sinking 5 or 6 ships in 5 minutes seemed a bit extreme to me.

Okay, so you want it decisive and quick, but that is a bit too quick. You might think that 10 ships going at it would take twenty minutes to half an hour to slug it out in a single pass down the line.

I think I saw 3 hours fighting conducted in a few minutes. One or two broadsides were enough to sink a ship.

It may have changed, but…

I hate to nerff things without a thought but am I alone in this impression?

[Polemists]

Well I don't "know" ships so I can't tell you what types those were. I can say they did not look like very big ships or the so called "Ship of the Line"

So I'd expect smaller ships to solve skirmishes quicker then larger ones. Mainly do to the fact they are smaller and so a few hits and they start to sink.

[Fisherking]

Well I don't "know" ships so I can't tell you what types those were. I can say they did not look like very big ships or the so called "Ship of the Line"

So I'd expect smaller ships to solve skirmishes quicker then larger ones. Mainly do to the fact they are smaller and so a few hits and they start to sink.

The one ship they showed was a three decker. That translates to Big Motha in ‘Mercian and a First Rate or Second Rate for the British.

There was a second large ship that may have been a 74 gun two decker. A couple may have been smaller ships but even at that it was quick and bloody. The American ship listing and getting ready to sink only took one Broadside that I saw…then the damage went from zero to uh oh. I couldn’t tell her class but it may have been a frigate.

[Polemists]

Are we sure this is anywhere near final and not just the CA guys testing out naval combat features such as sinking and collison physics?

[Fisherking]

We could hope that is the case or that things have been beefed up from that point.

But I don’t see us spending hours pouring shot into a gutted hulk in order to sink it being an option if things have remained as they were in that clip.