Retreating Generals

[Naughtius Maximus]

I have noticed one thing - not sure if this belongs in the "bug report" section or not.

When my generals retreat from a lost battle, they ALWAYS retreat deeper into enemy territory or AWAY from the logical line of retreat (your own territory). Because of this I'm saving before major battles where I think the odds are not significantly in my favor.

[Splitpersonality]

I had one incident where my retreating general, and his army of course, ran backwards into an enclosed space, so that the only way out was back through the enemy that had just routed him.

Despite the fact I could have easily made it back into my own territory.

I was pretty frustrated to say the least.

[Naughtius Maximus]

Yes, exactly. Don't understand why this is at is. Something for the first patch, I hope

[Liberator]

My generals don't know retreat; they know only victory or death.

And I have a question concerning the latter:
How can I have more generals?

I recently had the realm divide event, hold 19 provinces right now, but I have only 4 generals (Including my Daimyo and 2 of his brothers; no general died in the last decade).
Sometimes there are events that let you enlist a general for 1000 money units.
Is there a way to trigger such an event? Or is it just a random event, not effected by the players actions/ number of provinces???

[Gregoshi]

Based on very little data/experience, getting a new general may be part random event and part player action. I got a new general event right after a big victory by one of my general-less armies. The text on the general event led me to believe it was for the guy who lead the general-less army - basically saying "he's got what it takes and we need men like him". I got second new general event that I couldn't associate with any battle action. The text said something about the son of a (disgruntled?) vassal (not a vassal clan) wants to be a general. That sounded more like a random event. It's not much, but I did say it was based on very little data.

[ichi]

And I have a question concerning the latter:
How can I have more generals?

Fighting with armies that have no General unit has led to many offers to promote the guy who was the de facto leader of the stack after the win.

So now when I need another General I purposefully pick fights using general-free armies, and pay the 1000 cost to promote.

[crpcarrot]

i wonder if getting you generals married off early will help?

also in my campaign i offerd Date marriage proposal for one of their daughters and they accepted. at the time i did not have any unmarried sons and presumed she would marry my unmarried general. but after the even my general is still unmarried and my relations with Date has goen up to very friendly. bug or is the AI waiting for my next son? hmm makes me wonder if i adopt a general will he get married off? i want more grandchildren!

[Dead Guy]

I think the worst consequence of this is that hostile armies in your territory get to conveniently retreat around on your land. Sometimes I attack a small stack to drive them off, and suddenly they're standing out of my reach, right next to a completely undefended castle town behind my lines. This really, really needs to change. As it is I basically have to match weaker stacks to get to fight them so they don't just run off to somewhere else in my territory. The whole situation is aggravated by the fact that retreating armies get to move in their turn immediately after you forced them to withdraw!

[Zarky]

I think the worst consequence of this is that hostile armies in your territory get to conveniently retreat around on your land. Sometimes I attack a small stack to drive them off, and suddenly they're standing out of my reach, right next to a completely undefended castle town behind my lines. This really, really needs to change. As it is I basically have to match weaker stacks to get to fight them so they don't just run off to somewhere else in my territory. The whole situation is aggravated by the fact that retreating armies get to move in their turn immediately after you forced them to withdraw!

I've had that problem occasionally, more so in Empire than in Shogun 2, usually it helps if you attack from the right direction.

[Dead Guy]

Yeah, that's a lot harder to pull off now though, when you can no longer move inside an armys zone of control without attacking. Consumes a lot of movement to circle around, but might be worth it in some circumstances.

Maybe it's ok if the enemy can withdraw a short distance in hostile lands, but if defeated in battle, they should be forced to regroup in friendly territory. Chasing small armies out of your territory isn't something I'd miss.

[Zarky]

Or possibly that they retreat towards closest friendly territory, closest being whichever has the shortest travel distance (so that if you block their retreat, they would retreat towards your territory).

[therother]

How can I have more generals?

As others have said, best way is to fight a few battles without a general and hope that you get the "enlist general" event. You can also bribe generals from other clans or even rebels, although they will, in general, have lower loyalty.

[Naughtius Maximus]

When one is running away, one tries to run in the direction of safety. Deeper into enemy territory is NOT safer.

[Daveybaby]

Same thing seems to apply to fleets as well. Can be really annoying when trying to intercept enemy fleets full of troops, attacking makes them retreat further into your territory, so that next turn theyre ready to deploy way behind your lines. It's worse than if you hadnt attacked.

Golden rule: retreat back the way you came, regardless of whose territory it is.

[Gregoshi]

When one is running away, one tries to run in the direction of safety. Deeper into enemy territory is NOT safer.

Unless you sneeze...

[quadalpha]

1. The defeated army should be forced to withdraw at the usual rate of movement points until it reached friendly territory.

2. I played around with trying to channel a small stack that would normally retreat by surrounding it with small, reinforcing stacks. In some positions, it would retreat and squirm past whatever stacks are around it, but in other positions, you can actually bring it to battle. I've not figured out how to do this reliably.

[Naughtius Maximus]

OK; my Daimyo just retreated PAST his castle, the bad guys followed up and killed him that turn.

THIS HAS GOT TO BE FIXED!!

Sorry for raising my voice.

[quadalpha]

OK; my Daimyo just retreated PAST his castle, the bad guys followed up and killed him that turn.

THIS HAS GOT TO BE FIXED!!

Sorry for raising my voice.

INT: Daimyo's field camp.


UNDERLING (haggard and bloodied):

My lord, the day is lost! We must retreat!


DAIMYO (anguished):

NOOOOO! (calms down a little) Well okay then.


UNDERLING:

My lord, our castle is just down the road. Let's hole up in there.


DAIMYO (stroking moustache):

No. The castle is too close. If we hole up there, the enemy is sure to surround us and we'll be trapped. Better to take our chances and run away.


UNDERLING:

My lord is wise!

[Naughtius Maximus]

Except that he was caught away from the castle where he had more troops and probably could have held off the bad guys.

[Monk]

INT: Daimyo's field camp.


UNDERLING (haggard and bloodied):

My lord, the day is lost! We must retreat!


DAIMYO (anguished):

NOOOOO! (calms down a little) Well okay then.


UNDERLING:

My lord, our castle is just down the road. Let's hole up in there.


DAIMYO (stroking moustache):

No. The castle is too close. If we hole up there, the enemy is sure to surround us and we'll be trapped. Better to take our chances and run away.


UNDERLING:

My lord is wise!

Of course. Because retreating to the castle would be a...



Shameful display.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[quadalpha]

Of course. Because retreating to the castle would be a...



Shameful display.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You must always type it in all caps!

It's a pity TW is not mainstream enough to make that a meme.