Last Man Standing

[Khorak]

I had an idle idea about how generals could be better handled in a game like this.

In MTW there was the problem of generals being like Jedi, with so many hitpoints they simply would not drop dead. This was obviously done so the general wasn't murdered four seconds into a fight. But it sucked, to be honest.

Now in RTW the generals have been toned down, and have this annoying tendency to drop dead at the drop of a hat. Not to mention the bloody inconsistency. I've seen generals die instantly upon impact when charging swordsmen whilst fresh and unhurt. I've seen them furiously stabbing hordes of chosen swordsmen to death.

The problem in both cases was, I think, that the general is treated just like every other man in his unit, and the scales have swung every which way as they try to balance this out. You could be handing the enemy their bottom on a platter, but your general whom you have no real control over in the melee gets killed in a fluke, or you could be losing and your general kills everything. My idea was a 'last man standing' rule. What this would mean is that the general is invulnerable until either his whole unit has been killed, or it routs. He has no special additional stats beyond the rest of his men, he just has a kind of 'character shield' until everything actually goes all wrong.

This would work especially well with factions who would have infantry bodyguards for their generals, like barbarians, and would allow these men to actually battle from the front.

Thoughts?

[nokhor]

i'm guessing something like this is partly impllemented in the game, because it seems that a lot of times, the general is either the first man to die in the bodyguard unit, or more often, the last man to die. i don't remember ever seeing a general die when the unit is half depleted or so.

[Proletariat]

Thoughts?

I like the idea. My only suggestion would be maybe once the unit is down to five or so bodyguards then it could be random again, so that way there is at least some unpredictable element to how your general will survive. God knows if this could be fixed up somehow.

[Ar7]

I like it the way it is, it's realistic. A general is the same as every other man and shouldn't be warded against damage unil his bodygueard dies. If the general is a good warrior ( good virtues, lots of HP, experience ) then he will survive, if not, he dies, it is normal. If you want him alive then keep him out of trouble, that's it, it adds personality to the commander.

[HicRic]

I'm not sure it would work-I don't think your general would ever die, as the unit would most likely rout and leave the battle before the AI cut down every last man in his unit, and the same would go for the AI general. You'd be in the position of the generals in STW/MTW where they stood in combat for a long time and then ran off before they could be killed.

[drone]

In M:TW, some generals died easy, some hard, and I think the same applies in R:TW. The kill speed is just increased in R:TW overall.

It's been a few months since I've played M:TW, does anyone know/remember where the general was positioned in the formation? How does this compare to the position in R:TW (is the general the guy off to the side of the unit)? I'm at work, can't really check right now... Maybe the general's placement just makes him more vulnerable in certain cases, with exposed flanks.

[Ar7]

If I remember correcty the general was on the left front side of the unit both in RTW and MTW.