The two most needed commands

[TexRoadkill]

It seems like the two most basic and useful commands that would be used in battle have always been missing from TW games. Where is Advance and Pull Back?

I can't say how many times I've setup a perfect large formation and would like them to simply advance a few hundred feet. It was possible using the CTRL and ALT click movements to keep the formations intact while moving but it was very easy to screw it up. (Is it just me or are Alt/Ctrl movements not working in RTW?)

Not being able to simply Pull Back while maintaing a forward facing makes it almost impossible to do some often used tactics. How many times have you wanted to suck the attackers into a trap so you could easily flank them but without being able to Pull Back your frontal units you are forced to move up the flankers and possibly expose their flanks or lose your height advantage.

I would love to play with the new General view but not being able to use those two commands makes it extremely difficult.

[Red Harvest]

I agree. That's Sid Meier's Gettysburg style command and I liked the way it was implemented. It is something I've missed in all the TW series.

[Thoros of Myr]

I've noticed that in group formations RTW does a bit better job of preserving the formation while advancing, what I dont like is that I have to make my entire army a group to use the formations. And yes pull back needs to be added. I don't think these will see the light of day though unless in an expansion pack or CA bestow upon us a really great patch.

[GFX707]

THE most essential command is a "do not pursue enemies" command

[Gregoshi]

Yes, "advance" and "pull back" would be very nice to have. They were among my favourites in SM Gettysburg.Speaking of groups, I do like the way the cursor changes to include a "+" sign when you hold down the CTRL key to add units to a group. It is a nice little confirmation that you have the right key. In STW/MTW, I'd often mentally stumble over which key (is it ctrl, shift or alt?) to use to group units.

[Nerouin]

Sid Meier's Gettysburg was bloody incredible!!

The AI from that game STILL impresses me, and it's over 6 years old!!

[Red Harvest]

THE most essential command is a "do not pursue enemies" command

Yep, make that three most needed commands. Try out one of the mods with a full Roman army. It disintegrates rapidly chasing routers. It is not that it loses, but it scatters to the winds. I was clicking and moving as fast as I could just trying to hold it together, but I would have had better luck herding cats in a field of catnip while riding a greased pig with its tail on fire.

My vote for a 4th command is an order specific to the General's unit: "don't commit suicide." My first mod was to test normal level phalanx vs. various Roman units. It was spoiled by the Roman cavalry general doing a suicide head-on charge into my left phalanx. He did get the distinction of being the first casualty, and I am nominating him for the 2004 Darwin Award in the computer animation category. Who wrote the AI routine that said the general and his cavalry unit should impale themselves on spears?

[Sinner]

Try out one of the mods with a full Roman army. It disintegrates rapidly chasing routers. It is not that it loses, but it scatters to the winds. I was clicking and moving as fast as I could just trying to hold it together, but I would have had better luck herding cats in a field of catnip while riding a greased pig with its tail on fire.

The problem with some of the mods to allow you to play as the Romans is that the modder has simply switched the playable factions, however they've left in all the battle scripting that would normally tell the AI how to manoeuver the Roman army against the player's Carthaginians. The script is full of commands directing certain units to attack specific targets, or to run forward - often in unit type groups, so that all the hastati run forward after X seconds, the princeps after Y, the triarii after Z, etc - or to attack the nearest enemy unit within a certain range.

There are a couple of really irritating scripted commands if you're playing the Romans and they've been left in: the velites will rout once they reach a certain number of casualties or have used most of their javelins, even if they otherwise still have good morale; and after a certain amount of time the Roman general will automatically try to attack Hannibal if he's still alive, no matter where he is on the field - which can send him straight into a deathtrap.

[Lucius Lucullus]

THE most essential command is a "do not pursue enemies" command

I disagree

To have a "do not pursue enemies" command would be a dummies way out. Any natural instinct for troops in combat when the enemy is running away is to pursue. In many battles of the ancient times and later, we see batles won or lost because the commander was able to either rein in his troops pursuing routing enemies, ie Cannae, and battles was lost because generals couldnt control his troops pursuing routing enemies, ie Raphia.
Hell I even wish that once troops is pursuing enemies it ought to be around a 50% chance that they will even ignore your commands as they are to wrapped up in killing the enemies.
It is more realistic that you have to rein in your troops when they pursue the enemies, if you forget to, they chase the enemy to the end of the world, hihgly realistic.

Well done CA not to fall for a dummies move to include an option that troops follow your orders blindly, and at least follow their instincts a bit better.

[Catiline]

The idea of a fall back command is nonsense. We had a long discussion about this before. It didn't happen historically in this period. Armies that go backwards are defeated ones. It's not possible to move the formations backward facing forward, unless they're being forced backwards by an enemy force.

if you want this as a feature then you're going after mafde up tactics. You might as well wish to give your army wings. That'd be useful too. Ancient armies, which this game is designed to model, were designed to go forward, especially the Romans. They were a meat grinder - you pointed them and pressed go. Good generals could do more with them, but it will always involve changing direction and formation, never dropping back in formation.

If you want to go backwards you deserve everything you get :)

Before anybody cites Cannae or Zama go and read Polybius properly.