I have been away from total war

[myz]

thanks for you guys' posts, another question I have, is a technicality really. In RTW, I know in battle mode, on the battle map, units can engage in hit and run techniques like the horse archers, but once on the campaign map, an army cannot use the hit and run technique. For example, if I have an army made of horsearchers, and I square off against legionary cohorts, I would like to wear them down across several battles. But this cannot be done in RTW, since I have to first engage them in A battle, once I am engaged, I pretty much have to kill/rout them or be killed/routed, I can't just decide to withdraw with all my forces in tact, like sometimes even when I DO withdraw, my army will just disappear. Is this issue resolved in MTW2, for example, if I want to lead an army across a few turns into some favorable terrain to wear them down and finish them off, can I do that?

Also, in RTW, even if I successfully retreat, I will still take on random losses (ones that I did not incur personally) to units, I guess that is from the computer calculating "random losses." And even if my general is smart and tactical in trying to slowly wear down the enemy in multiple engagements, the moment he withdraws, he gains negative traits like cowardice, etc, even though his tactics are sound. I guess computer treats any retreat as a sign of weakness?