Stupid questions from a stupid person

[ThePeach]

I'm lookin to get better at M:TW, but I'm havin some trouble. I know which types of troops match up well with others. my main problem is getting my whole army to move in formation. i can order a single unit around well - into a thin line or thick column or wedge or whatever ,but when I click on the map to move my infantry line forward, they rarely keep the shape i've positioned them in; usually they 'skew' sideways, opening huge gaps. another difficulty is how to 'order' my main battle line, which i ususally make up of spears and swords. first i select the various units, then i 'drag and drop' them into a line. is there any way to control the order of this line?

yeah, i know, im a n00b.

[katank]

have you tried the number keys? which are predetermined sorted formations.

you can also alt left click after selecting the battle line to the new location and they would all move at same speed and restore orignal formation and facing at destination.

use alt right click to quickly rotate a unit in place.

[Bhruic]

Also, grouping your army can help a lot. If they are grouped (and selected as a group), when you issue them orders, they will perform them in formation. So you can do things like rotate the whole army, click once to move them, etc. I generally group my army at the start, then ungroup when we are close enough to engage the enemy.

Bh

[motorhead]

if there's any overlap one of the units will march away to another place, royally screwing your setup. just make sure you leave a small gap between units, don't set them up to be airtight. also, are u using the spacebar so you can see the "ghosts" of where all your units will end up, once they finish their moves?

[ichi]

Register for MP and ask for help in the lobby. The stuff you ask for is fairly difficult to explain beyond the simplest concepts, and easy to show in a training 1v1. There are veteran players online who will help.

Alt-left click will help with the problem you stated. But there is so much more, combos of Alt and Ctrl and left and right and numbers and letters and groupings and formations and GAH

look for me online mate. I can show you some things there easier.

ichi

[ichi]

ps

there's no such thing as a stupid question.

ichi

[Bezalel]

On the same note as ichi, think positively, trust me, it's a lot better than negativity (coming from someone who knows).

[ThePeach]

hey, thanks, i'll try the tips

i must confess, i've been too chicken to try online as of yet. i figure the TW community is pretty experianced at this point and i'd get the ever-loving crap kicked out of me... but hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?

anyways, thanks again for the tips and, more importantly, the friendly atmosphere its good to see a game community thats not totally juvenille and hostile to newcomers. i think its something to do with the more intellectual and historical nature of the total war series verus most other games (like UT2k4).

[solypsist]

the Org has several online guides and table of contents that are a good source of info.