Capturing Central Square - Walk or charge??

[warlordmb]

In a number of city assaults where I have only troops defending the City centre Square to defeat I have sometimes noticed that units given charge orders break their nice orderly unit formations and pass onto the square through a single point as if going through a gateway. Or they simply don't charge the enemy unit but walk slowly into contact. The downside of this is that the enemy inevitably charge me and I suffer extra casualties due to the enemy getting the charge bonus.

Has anybody else noticed thic anomaly??

[Bob the Insane]

Yes and I have no idea how to consistantly make it happen...

Personally I often bring in the missile troops for the last act at finish of the city square defenders, but I always ensure the timer is disabled for my campaigns....

[praetorians cavalry]

No,no.Never happened to me before.Units charged properly.

[warlordmb]

I always have my timer switched off in my games. This is particularly so important when assaulting large cities with a number of defenders, oh pointy-headed one.

I also try and use missile troops to kill off any defenders in the square. But, this can be pretty ineffective if the defenders are Warlord Cav, so sending in the ol' infantry is usually what I end up trying.

That is when this strange anomaly seems to cost me more casualties than I should have suffered. I simply can't get my troops to charge onto the square where the charge bonus can be very useful.

[Sin Qua Non]

I try to sneak my units at least partially into the square before giving the attack order, that seems to help them charge properly. And I always try to bring missile units to the square, but I never tell them to attack anything specific. Every time I do that (especially mounted missile) they fire a volley then go into melee!

[Slaists]

I usually leave the timer on. Broken as it is, it still presents an extras suspense element without which seiges would become a boring "wipe-it-clean" chore so similar to MTW seiges. With the timer, I have to plan my entry points better too: i.e., close to a street that leads to the central square since there is no time to waste wandering around the city while being shot at from the towers.

[RZST]

sometimes this charging works and sometimes they go to that single entry point. i dont know, i guess its just random...pathfinding sucks XD

[Bob the Insane]

Everyone must notice that the last defending unit will guard the flag and will not do anything, even ignoring missile troops firing at them, until a unit breeches the square of little flags???

[Quillan]

I've had it where you order a unit (usually a cav unit) to run across the square in an effort to get behind the defenders, then charge them in the rear, instead of going straight across they run to the flag (at an angle) then go on to the point I told them to move to. The trouble is, taking that path usually puts them on the pointy end of the militia hoplite unit defending.

[Lord of the Isles]

I've noticed this behaviour and other strange stuff too. Last night I had a new one. Egyptians have two units under the flag, Light Cavalry and Axemen. I bring up two units on one approach road and one unit on another one, two of them Persian HA and one mercenary Camel Archers. All three halt just outside the square (this was a 12,000 - 24,000 city so lots of room) and pour arrows into the Light Cavalry. Yes, I know, it's cheesy.

The last LC dies but my HA aren't on fire-at-will so I select them, one after another, and right click on the Axemen (who are in range). Nothing happens! All three units sit there, no firing animation nor change on their unit cards. Wierd. So I decide to move them closer. I cannot. All three units ignore all orders, even when I try to retreat them back down the approach road. The animations are still milling around as usual, blowing their noses, sneezing or whatever but they refuse to carry out any orders.

Eventually I hit upon moving other units into the square. Around the time they pass through the "frozen" three units, I decide to Ctrl-A (select all) and charge the axemen. The frozen units obey along with the others. Wierd.

[Empedocles]

The other day I (brutii) was assaulting Pontus capital (north of Asi Minor) which was held by an equal number of enemies. I first tried to bring batterin ram and towers to assault the gates but they were all destroye, then my sappers breached the wall and I could enter (not without many losees) and I fought my way trhough the city for an eternity.
It was harder because my units charged in a nonsense way when I order them to.
Example: I grouped 4 legionary cohorts and I ordered them to walk to a point in a distant street, they where in the gate inside the city, what did they do??? They charged outside the city!
Don't know why but this happens to me all the time and I have to give orders to each unit in the game what makes it much more difficult unless I use pause.
Is this happening to everyone?

Diego, from Argentina

PS: Bush again???

[Doug-Thompson]

Everyone must notice that the last defending unit will guard the flag and will not do anything, even ignoring missile troops firing at them, until a unit breeches the square of little flags???

Absolutely -- had two units of slingers completely wipe out a unit of Eqyptian desert cavalry unit that just sat there and took it.

[soibean]

sometimes this charging works and sometimes they go to that single entry point. i dont know, i guess its just random...pathfinding sucks XD

I agree, at times I'll have cavalry going at a full charge while chasing some routers down and then out of nowhere they'll decide to slow motion things for me and let the guys have a nice 3 second break before they decide to go at a trot yet again

and its terrible in towns like this as you said

[Siris]

I typically hit them with missiles of any type, just whatever I have avaliable, while I charge them with my calvery, light or heavy, as they fight, my slow arse Hoplites make their way in there, and then finish them off unless its not already won. Never had that issue of slowing down, they always run in there & get it over with.

[Nestor]

From what I've seen, if a unit reaches the square while running, usually some poor guys are still trying to find their way in the streets of the city. For whatever reason, the unit has to wait for them before they can obbey orders properly!

When they walk, they behave much better. When they run they seem to follow waypoints in the middle of the streets - if they can find the street in the first place! In the centre square the waypoints seem to be halfway through the side roads of the square!

If you order them to run to the central flag when they are still at the gates of the city they are lost! (Makes sense to me: they are in an uknown city! )

What I don't like is that they have to go through the middle of the streets, almost one man at a time!

Also, their pathfinding when they manage to reach the square is awful, doesn't make any sense and doesn't give me any confidense that my units are going to do what I've told them

[Death or Glory]

I have this same problem, and it's a pain in the you-know-what when you smash the defenders at the gates no problem, but suffer nasty losses when you reach the center square because your troops cannot figure out which way they're going and trickle one at a time into that last phalanx.

Maybe it has to do with unit sizes? Do you all play on huge? I do, and have never tried any of the smaller sizes. Maybe on normal sizes your units are better able cope with the streets and actually follow orders properly.