Am I the only one finding the battles boooooooring?

[Lycan]

those arrogant knights have a will of their own . but other than that they use their lances when I ask them to, and use their swords when I order them to. So no obvious problems with those either.

How is this done? And to what purpose?

[Dutch_guy]

How is this done? And to what purpose?

Just follow the links I gave, and see the screenshots yourself. They are quite telling.
Perhaps that in RTW too not all the men in a unit were fighting, but at least all the ones in the front were, and they were in a much tighter formation, making a mélée looking like a mélée.
Here, they seem to simply wait for their turn, and occupy a HUGE space for nothing, with a front-line made of one man every 5 metres. Ridiculous and killing any excitement the battles could create...

Lycan:

If you meant how you make them couch their lances, it's done by simply clicking once on an enemy. When close enough the knights will use their lances, and charge the enemy. If you double click on a foe, the knights will charge in using their swords.

Akka:

Well, I have seen such 'gaps' occur sporadically during combat. But thus far, only in sieges. And I don't quite see how this detracts from the gameplay. Or from the overall perception of the game. And as mentioned in your other thread, maybe this is the realistic approach ? I wouldn't know, and I don't know if it's for the best. But it doesn't ruin the battle for me, or for that matter the game, when I see this happen.

The initial charge is a bit less..hectic...than in Rome. But I think that's because you see less legionaries perform a jumping attack on an enemy. In M2 the units charge, and try to perform their killing moves. Which seems a lot less frantic then it happened in Rome.

[Kadagar_AV]

PS: I dont get my facts from hollywood movies, TBH I'm a history etacher here in sweden

[Akka]

Well, I have seen such 'gaps' occur sporadically during combat. But thus far, only in sieges. And I don't quite see how this detracts from the gameplay. Or from the overall perception of the game.

I can confirm that such huge spacing happens everywhere. It's simply that it seems that, to fight the "blob" of RTW, they made it so that fighting men need a large space aroung them.
Sure, no more "blob" due to this spacing, but no more mélée, which is quite ridiculous.

How does it detract from the gameplay or the game ?

Hu, well...

No mélée ?
In a medieval setting ?
Seeing basically 5-10 duels while it's supposed to be two formations of hundred of men crashing one into another ?
How can I immerse myself into an epic battle if there is such ridiculous spacing between my men (spearmen with a 5 m spaced formation ? Please !)

And as mentioned in your other thread, maybe this is the realistic approach ? I wouldn't know, and I don't know if it's for the best. But it doesn't ruin the battle for me, or for that matter the game, when I see this happen.

No, it's not realist. Formation of units have staying power partly because of the press and mass of men. Sure, you don't necessarily need the macedonian phalanx, with being men being shoulder-to-shoulder to maximize the "hedgehog effect" of the pike. But even the sword-wielding roman legion, with an admitedly "spaced" formation to allow men to fall back between the lines, weren't having such huge gap between them.
A formation so loose means that any tighter unit can simply trample them and push them off their way. It's not even a "loose" formation, damnit, it's a LACK of formation, they simply advance one by one in the direction of the duel and take their place each in turn. How this can be realist in any way when it comes to UNIT formations, movement and fighting ?

The initial charge is a bit less..hectic...than in Rome. But I think that's because you see less legionaries perform a jumping attack on an enemy. In M2 the units charge, and try to perform their killing moves. Which seems a lot less frantic then it happened in Rome.

Not only that, but the charges are much less powerful too, barely pushing men one step or two. I don't think that a cavalry charge should be absorbed so easily, and I don't think it's realistic for a horseman to have so little kinetic energy...

[adembroski]

Not only that, but the charges are much less powerful too, barely pushing men one step or two. I don't think that a cavalry charge should be absorbed so easily, and I don't think it's realistic for a horseman to have so little kinetic energy...

This has been driving me nuts. It drove me nuts in Rome as well. We've gone from an era when Infantry was dominant and Heavy Cav was an after thought to an era where Heavy Cav is everything and Infantry is a supporting unit, and it seems the developers got each backwards. Apparently stirrups don't count for much to this game.

[IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer]

It's not the *moving* of the units of walls that gets me, it's the *placement* of them on walls. RTW let you make nice neat rows, but M2 throws your guys into these disorganized, hideous, uneven rows of men that leave huge gaps in the formation. Putting units on walls feels like playing a game of Tetris, as I try to get all the neat little purple dots to line up correctly.

[Burns]

Charges seem to work fine for me. I saw a unit of peasants (not the best comparison I admit) vanish in the dust of a General's charge. Strill awesome I say. My biggest compaint right now must be city and castle assaults. Castle assaults are bugged without a doubt. The AI simply does not know how to attack the second and third walls without YOU having to make them. Today I say the damndest thing: The AI destroyed my first wall with 3 units of catapults. They just sat there till the end and came out to take the next set only when I was already reclaiming the first gate. Does it do that on Hard or Very Hard?

[littlebktruck]

I think charges are plenty powerful--I've done custom battles with knights (take your pick) against highland rabble on grassy plains and all but 2 of the rabble destroyed in the charge--the problem is that charges are prohibitively difficult to get right. I think it makes sense that orderly charges do the most damage, but it's just silly when the whole unit pulls up in the face of the enemy because they aren't in immaculate line.