Best way to slow down battles?

[vastator]

I've noticed that battles tend to be over and done with pretty quickly. It can be a real pain, as units under pressure almost invariably break before reinforcements arrive. My first thought was to increase unit morale, but that would just lead to them fighting to the last man. Would increasing the armour help? If I added, say, 10 to all units it would certainly reduce casualties. It would also be of relatively greater benefit to light units, who tend to have lower morale. Any thoughts on the matter?

[Bwian]

For my 'Terra-War' mod I am tending to do a little of both. Increasing morale a small amount reduces the running away, and increasing the armour does make the battles longer. You need to make the changes in small increments though, You can also try increasing the durability of the units as well.

One thing I want to look at is the impact of the leader. It might work better onthe morale front if the leader gave a bigger boost to morale. That would make killing the general in a batlle have a bigger effect, but increase the 'stand and fight' effect for the rest of hte battle.

It's a tricky one, and really just a question of getting the right balance for ALL the units....

[vastator]

Thanks for the advice. As well as increasing the armour levels I've given all melee units with a morale of less than 6 a 2-point boost. This should benefit spear warbands and militia troops in particular, allowing them to hold out longer. I'll try a short campaign and see if it works.