Investigation of unit attributes

[Sinner]

I think what Jerome is refering to there is the Command ability of generals, whereas I believe that Duke John is referring to the command attribute posessed by First Cohorts.

My best guesses/deductions regarding the other possible unit attributes are as follows:

can_run_amok: If unit suffers enough casualties and fatigue then it can become uncontrollable, potentially attacking even friendly units
can_sap: Unit can sap during sieges (Probably only available to foot units)
cantabrian_circle: Unit can use Cantabrian Circle manoeuver (Mounted only)
command: Unit inspires nearby friendly troops, giving them a morale bonus (Note that simple proximity is all that's required, no other action need be taken)
druid: Unit can inspire nearby friendly troops by chanting, giving them a morale bonus
frighten_foot: Unit frightens nearby enemy infantry, giving them a morale penalty (Note that simple proximity is all that's required, no other action need be taken)
frighten_mounted: Unit frightens nearby enemy cavalry, giving them a morale penalty (Note that simple proximity is all that's required, no other action need be taken)
general_unit: Unit is a general's bodyguard
hardy: Unit suffers reduced fatigue effects
hide_anywhere: Unit can hide in any territory (This might just cover non-forest/non-long grass territory since it always seems to be assigned in addition to those hiding attributes)
hide_forest: Unit can hide in forest
hide_improved_forest: Unit has superior ability to hide in forest (Not sure if this means that they need fewer trees to be able to hide or if they're harder to spot instead)
hide_long_grass: Unit can hide in long grass
no_custom: Unit cannot be selected for custom battles
screeching_women: Unit can frighten nearby enemy troops by screeching, giving them a morale penalty
sea_faring: Unit can board ships (The crew of ships have this attribute, so it's the ship itself that has the ability to move on water, not the naval units themselves)
very hardy: Superior version of hardy attribute

[therother]

I think what Jerome is refering to there is the Command ability of generals, whereas I believe that Duke John is referring to the command attribute posessed by First Cohorts.

You are right, but I suspect (although I have no evidence as yet) that the two are related, i.e. that First Cohorts will give a melee as well as a morale bonus. At what level, I do not know, although it should be testable.

[therother]

Well, I did a few quick tests. As Duke John points out, there is definitely a morale bonus from units with the "command" attribute. Working out if there is a bonus to attack is a little more complicated.

One way to test at what level of bonus, in comparison to the General command stars, the "command" attribution gives would be to measure the radius-of-effect of the unit. But that would require the ability to measure distances accurately on the battlefield.

Does anyone know of a reliable way to measure distances on the battle map? There is a RomeShell command -- output_unit_positions -- but AFAIK that is not activated in 1.2.

Anyway, for comparison, I setup a test battle between two groups of peasants, with either a command unit or a general. To be honest, I didn't see much improvement in combat ability with the general on the field. From Jerome's rules of thumb, my 10 star general should have given my peasants +10 to attack. With that advantage, I would have expected them to mow through their counterparts. But the test battles were usually close, although my peasants usually won (although not always) with 75-80% losses, or thereabouts.

So I modded my peasant's attack to 11, and retested. The battles now went more as expected. The opposing peasants were all killed for the loss of only ~20-25% of my men, and there never seemed to be any doubt on the outcome. So there may be a problem with the General's melee bonus. Either that, or they've changed it for 1.2.

[Epistolary Richard]

There's also the mercenary_unit attribute. As well as making the unit able to be used in mercenary recruitment pools, is there any other impact? Don't mercenaries disband in a different way to regular units?

Also, Monkwarrior has discovered that this attribute is what the game uses to refer to the Mercenary folder for unit cards. Not very interesting for you game researchers, but maybe useful for us modders!
.

[Cesare diBorja]

There is also

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

power_charge

which allowsa unit extra benefits during the initial inpact of a charge, usually cavalry only

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

shield_wall

units get and extra protection bonus in formation. These are in 1.5, 1.6

diBorgia

[Ludens]

There is also power_charge which allowsa unit extra benefits during the initial inpact of a charge, usually cavalry only

What is the exact nature of these benefits? Because AFAIK several cavalry units lack this attribute despite being good chargers. So perhaps it does something other than increasing charge bonus.

[Cesare diBorja]

power_charge seems to add extra shock value to charging units. Probably only meant for cavalry, medium to heavy, at that. At least thats what I use it for.

diBorgia