//Pre-Script: Just to clarify, there will be mention of retreating/falling back in the following post. This does not refer to routing. Now that the distinction has been pointed out I'm sure you all will understand it.//
I'm slightly excited.
Ever read about actual battles, and hear about such and such falling back, so and so regrouping, this army or the other being pushed backwards, this contingent or the other disengaging? Then go into Shogun where melee orbits solely around it's initiating point and there is no break from intense and terrible battle until one side or the other is all dead or routed?? Where ordering a charge is the absolute point-of-no-return? Where an attempt to retreat is suicide and should only be attempted to save a particularly singular asset, such as your daimyo or a nice taisho?
I may have found a way to fix this!! Oh boy oh boy!!
Try reducing units' Enemy Engagement Proximity Threshold to 300. It is beautiful! We actually see logical hiatii (hiatuses) in the melee! Opportunities to regroup, retreat, whatever! Just like all of the actual battle accounts talk about! Just like it logically should be!
And all without it doing anything weird like you might expect.
And these hiatii actually are not so frequent as I may make it sound by talking about them, they seem to come at logical intervals (if at all, though in most cases you will have some). In some cases you wouldn't expect one at all, but if a unit has a certain turn of bad fortune (such as the leader dying) they will begin to back off a bit.
With this system, I find even little 1 unit vs. 1 unit test battles truly engrossing, because it gives you a decent number of tactical options on even that small level. You can marshall your troops, trying to effect a hiatus to regroup and reform, ordering them to press harder upon a lagging enemy.. before you pretty much told them to charge and then it was over!
Imagine the options this might provide on a larger scale-- pulling wayward contingents back into line, feigning retreats to entrap or disorganize your foe, all sorts of stuff.
I was even able to effect a decent retreat with my Cav away from spears during testing (took considerable casualties, but got away with a large enough group to have made the maneuver worth it). I have a feeling that with some more thoughtful modification of cavalry maneuverability and the implementation of some form of the Cavalry reforms undertaken by the Mizus, Cavalry could really be equipped for it's frequent historical role of hit-and-run! That would be great.
..
But ho there, don't get too excited yet, this is still in hypothesis stage. I'm just saying it looks good. Please test it out if you like. I'll be doing more testing tomorrow.
Matt
//P.S.: The technique for a fallback/retreat that I've been using is an ALT-doubleleftclick. This is the "move to said location without changing facing" order, and is the only current option for such a maneuver.//
[This message has been edited by Khan7 (edited 11-30-2001).]
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