Decimation

[Zild]

One thing that I would like to see added to RTW is the concept of "decimation". This could add an interesting aspect to Roman armies, which could also serve to make the game a little harder as Roman factions - something it apparently needs.

If I remember right, the term "decimation" which we use today comes from the Latin "Decimae". This was a procedure that generals would undertake after a defeat. The procedure went thus:

1. Lose a battle
2. Form up the defeated Roman soldiers in a line
3. Kill every tenth soldier

The plan was to make sure the surviving soldiers didn't run away again next battle...

Of course, this would only have an effect if the Romans lost battles - something which doesn't happen very often when the player is controlling them!

[bmolsson]

Eh.... Seems a bit harsh... If you want to get rid of them, wouldn't it be more "pleasant" just to let them be sick and die when they are far away from home. Some kind of attrition based on the distance to their "home town".....

[Zild]

Harsh, but apparently realistic :)

The thing is, I figure something like attrition would exist for all factions. So the Romans would have decimation AND attrition! :D And as I said, it only seems to come into play when they lose, so it's not going to happen all the time. Although I might be wrong - it might be when they run away (it's possible for a unit to run away but the battle still be won, of course)

[Ulug Beg]

I believe it was optional and inflicted upon units that the army commander, rightly or wrongly, considered to have committed a particularly heinous crime, such as cowardice in battle. It could be quite satisfying to push the ‘decimation’ button after loosing a battle. I wonder what the effect on moral should be!

[troymclure]

it was a practise, but it WASN'T commonly practised if you know what i mean. It was entirely up to the generals discretion and could be for any offense as far as i'm aware not just an army who ran from the field. It was i believe fairly controversial even back then, not that anyone would gainsay a general who wished to do it but it wasn't considered the ideal way to deal with a deserting army.
I think Crassus was famous for doing it to the legions he received to fight spartacus. The legions in question had actually broken a couple of times when facing spartacus's armies and crassus decimated them as one of his first orders of buisness when he took charge.
I think it wouldn't be bad as an option, perhaps available to do anytime rather than alwasy after a defeat. It could give like plus 2 morale for the next battle or something. Though i think it wasn't a common enough practise for me to be overly concerned if it's not included.

[Akka]

I often thought about decimation during a game ^^

I think that it could be added into the game. It could be applied to any unit, and would have as effect :

- If the unit had fled while not enduring more than 25 % losses in the previous battle, it would raise its morale by +2 for the next battle, and the morale of the whole army by +1 for 2 years.
- If the unit had fled while enduring between 25 % and 50 % losses in the previous battle, it would raise its morale by +1 for the next battle.
- If the unit had fled while enduring more than 50 % losses in the previous battle, it would have a -1 morale penalty for the next battle.
- If the unit had not fled, it would cause a -2 morale and discipline penalty in the whole army for 5 years (cumulative).

So decimation would be a tool usable to punish a cowardly unit, but it would backfire if used inconsiderately.

[Vlad Tzepes]

Errr...decimate yourself, buddies- it's not the poor soldiers that lost the battle - you were in charge

[soibean]

I think Crassus was famous for doing it to the legions he received to fight spartacus. The legions in question had actually broken a couple of times when facing spartacus's armies and crassus decimated them as one of his first orders of buisness when he took charge.

Speaking of Spartacus, he had a movie on the history channel yesterday so thats the only reason I understand about Crassus... good film by the way, just too many commercials about alexander the great

[markpoll]

didn't the French do something like this (not 1 in 10 of course) during WW1 when a section of the front mutinied? The point being its not that bizarre or ancient. I'd prefer to leave this out of RTW though.