A Withdraw is NOT a defeat!!

[Bob the Insane]

If your army withdraws from a sally it is an automatic defeat.

The army that sallies has a clear objective: To break the siege by killing you or chasing you off. As the besiegers it is your duty to kill them all and still be there at the end of the battle, or to take the city in the chaos.

Totally agree...

Note that if you are the one Sallying (spelling?) and you get all you troops back inside the gates and then end the battle (hit escape and choose Exit Battle) it is registered as a Draw...

The AI does not appear to do this and only sallies if it thinks it can defeat you or if the siege time is about to run out...

What happens if the battle timer runs out during a battle where the AI is sallying, but you are still in the fight????

As for the other issue of a withdrawing army disbanding, well it is a bit odd and I don't really understand it yet but I have seen the AI withdraw their full army from the battlemap before any casualties occured, I get a clear victory and the enemy army moves a huge distance away back in the direction of it's own borders...

[Ulstan]

I fought a massive battle vs the gauls (I do not think it was a siege, don't remember there being a town).

Anyway, I was outnumbered by a lot, but since they are gauls they managed to start their chain rout and start fleeing off the field after a long fight.

My archer unit was completely out of ammunition at some point and I had them withdraw because the barbarians were charging my lines and I didn't want the archers caught and killed unnecessarily and figured that it was just best to have such fragile troops out of the way.

Anyway, it came down to one formed unit of the gauls left on the map, with 2k of them dead and maybe 300 of my own men dead. I lost the battle (no problems there) but when I got back to the campaign map my archers were completely gone!! That is quite silly.

[Bob the Insane]

but when I got back to the campaign map my archers were completely gone!! That is quite silly.

You might need to search a little because I have seen defeated armies disappear into nearby towns (yours obviously) or even onto nearby ships if they are accessable...

But there is also this disbanding mechanic that comes into play if a certain percentage of your army is destroyed or something like that... Don't quite understand that one yet...

[Encaitar]

An army that is defeated in non-friendly territory will attempt to withdraw to the nearest fleet or friendly border (or possibly fort as well, I don't recall if it's a valid option). If that distance that it must withdraw is greater than 3 turns worth of movement points, then the army is destroyed.

[Mori Gabriel Syme]

An army that is defeated in non-friendly territory will attempt to withdraw to the nearest fleet or friendly border (or possibly fort as well, I don't recall if it's a valid option). If that distance that it must withdraw is greater than 3 turns worth of movement points, then the army is destroyed.

Thanks, that's good to know. It also helps explain the Greek army that backed all the way from Thermon to Athens, around the bend & back past Corinth to stand just across the water from where he started!

[ToranagaSama]

An army that is defeated in non-friendly territory will attempt to withdraw to the nearest fleet or friendly border (or possibly fort as well, I don't recall if it's a valid option). If that distance that it must withdraw is greater than 3 turns worth of movement points, then the army is destroyed.

WHERE did you get this information?? Please confirm.