Quote Originally Posted by ichi
If you haven't tried MP, I still highly recommend it. The AI can throw some things at you, but a human can really make things tough.

I know. That's what I'm worried about.
I frequently win against the AI but sometimes it's a real struggle. Whatever the 'grand plan' was, it usually ends up as a firefighting exercise, shifting attention from one crisis to the next and just ordering (to engage) whichever unit is closest to the one most in need of help rather than sending the correct troop types against their best target.

When I do win, even then it's mostly down to making sure I outnumber or out-quality the opposing side before the off, which is a very conservative approach and doesn't speak particularly well for my abilities. I just bank on half my army routing at a critical point so always bring plenty of excess.

I actually don't mind getting beaten by the AI, since it's generally a case of me under-garrisoning a province and getting steam-rollered off whatever hill I've perched myself on. If I lose when attacking then I only have myself to blame for stuffing it up.

Now, losing to another person is a completely different matter.

Slap the 'pride' vice on my parchment!

Quote Originally Posted by ichi
And, it will help improve your ability to organize.
Aye, 's true.

On the other hand, part of the chaos is down to troops not behaving as expected. On defence, I set the to hold position but there comes a time when something comes within reach and it's worth a quick charge to take advantage of the downslope. Only trouble being if the attackers run away, they then give chase. Sometimes they could be beyond the halfway line before they properly disengage and start trudging back to their 'hold' point and after all the running, they're knackered. All the while, I have a gap in my line which needs to be filled. Straightforward stuff, I know, but when my attention is held by action elsewhere, I sometimes don't see this chase going on and more than likely my runaway unit is being eaten up or captured by the incoming enemy reinforcements line.

So, in a no-pause battle and when I'm on the ball, I'm as often hitting the 'halt' button as all other orders combined and then ordering troops back into proper position when I should be focusing on various ongoing meleés. Sometimes the halt button greys-out for a unit, even when they are attacking, or chasing routers off the field and I want them to come back!

Of course unit impetuousness (either inherent in the unit type or affected by the situation or the 'general's reputation' thing) is written into the game and it's a factor which may have scuppered many a real-life general's battle plans...

I don't know if using 'engage at will' would improve things or make them disengage from a chase any more quickly. There are times when I see a unit 2 seconds' walk away from another which is in trouble and are in a position to flank the attackers with less than a quarter turn and they just sit there and watch. One would like to be able to leave the local commander to decide on the best course of action but they usually have to be told. Grrr