How to get a good charge

**Flavius Gonzo** · 11-20-2006, 22:31

Very helpful, thanks.

**Dr_Who_Regen#4** · 11-20-2006, 22:35

Great Post...I think we all just were not used to the new method...I have been trying the same approach of one click to engage and it seems to work well...Just means you can't double click from far away and still get a charge. Regardless of realism just something to get used to doing.

**Napoleon Blownapart** · 11-20-2006, 22:42

So that's what I was doing wrong! Very useful post. I'm going to practice now.

**Vladimir** · 11-20-2006, 22:49

Good post. I'm trying to think of situations where it's more benneficial to charge with the sword than lance.

**Marquis of Roland** · 11-20-2006, 22:59

Thank you very much for the analysis, it was very helpful.

**Flavius Gonzo** · 11-20-2006, 23:01

So, question then. Sometimes, it's advantageous to have a unit of cavalry rush to a target but you'd still like it to charge properly say if you want to destroy an out of position unit on the battle field. (An easy example: the enemy has a single unit of town militia marching in as re-enforcements, you want to take them out before they join the entire army.)

Is the only way to do this to double-click to near the target so they run there, then as you get close, to single click, and wait for the charge to happen? And if this is the case, how close can the enemy be for a charge to work?

Again this thread is super helpful. I lost a general the other night "charging" into a unit of peasants of all things. Except, I think I had done the double click thing, meaning, they didn't really charge. Lesson learned.

**Slaists** · 11-20-2006, 23:14

A very good post. Corresponds to my experiences as well. Last night annihilated an enemy general unit in seconds using similar single click charge.

The only problem with the single-click charge: it does not seem to work with skirmishing enemy missile units. I guess, against those, you still want to use double-click attack which won't be a "proper charge" though.

**Xy1on** · 11-20-2006, 23:38

Ok, this is logical and I agree. The problem is double clicking them to just outside their charge radius, then single clicking for the charge. There is too much going on, and a general should be able to say to his cav, "run to your charge radius and then charge", with one simple command. I have other units to command and any general would expect his "well trained" heavy cav units to know how to set up a proper charge on their own!

**gardibolt** · 11-21-2006, 00:10

Double right clicking (irrespective of charge) is buggy; it has been this way for me since Alexander, though it worked fine in RTW and BI. Basically, double right clicking just results in walking, not running. I have to manually press R to get them to move fast. Very annoying.

**Whacker** · 11-21-2006, 00:20

Originally Posted by Xy1on

Ok, this is logical and I agree. The problem is double clicking them to just outside their charge radius, then single clicking for the charge. There is too much going on, and a general should be able to say to his cav, "run to your charge radius and then charge", with one simple command. I have other units to command and any general would expect his "well trained" heavy cav units to know how to set up a proper charge on their own!

First off, thanks Hash for the great write-up, I tried it for a bit and it helped.

However, I'm inclined to agree with Xy1on's statement. Doubleclicking to run, having to keep track of the unit and have it's charge distance memorized, THEN single clicking to charge (which imo is counter-intuitive) is far too much micromanagement, even for single player where pause is an option.

If this functionality is what CA intended, then I would offer that we should stick this in the patch wishlist thread as this is just not a good idea.

Cheers!

**grinningman** · 11-21-2006, 11:25

Originally Posted by Xy1on

Ok, this is logical and I agree. The problem is double clicking them to just outside their charge radius, then single clicking for the charge. There is too much going on, and a general should be able to say to his cav, "run to your charge radius and then charge", with one simple command. I have other units to command and any general would expect his "well trained" heavy cav units to know how to set up a proper charge on their own!

Just use the shift key to queue up a double click command that runs the unit to where you want the charge to begin, followed by a single click charge command. It's barely more work than double clicking where you want to charge.

Thanks for the great post Hashashiyyin!

I love the overall way charging works now, as opposed to the RTW system, but it does seem a little buggy at the moment. More testing is needed to show exactly what needs changing, though. I might try to do some if I get time.

**Lochar** · 11-20-2006, 23:05

Good info, still having some issues with it but it might be the radius issue.

Single clicking sometimes will have my troops form up and then charge but sometimes they dont wait for all or some charge at different speeds and dont hit as a unit.

This clould be unit experience tho and will continue to test.

The one thing I would have liked to see was the shift click allowed for charges so we cld shift click an enemy and then double shift click behind them to cause a charge and withdrawal. I love charges but still not a fan of always having to babysit them.

**Hashashiyyin** · 11-20-2006, 23:24

A couple things to help clear up some questions.

First: charging is still buggy and needs work by CA. Some things like only your first line in formation charging are (I hope) bugs. So you will not always get a clean/useful charge even if you do the right things. But still if you take time to setup and single click you'll get 80%-95% success rate vs. a 5-10% success rate by just wildly and chaotically charging your Calvary around the field.

Second: if your unit's are already inside the charge radius and you single click, they will begin the charge immediately. so if you run (double click) them inside the charge radius, and they are still out of formation when you single click, the charge will still probably be crap even if they lower their lances. Try giving a facing command with your moves so when the reach that point they should line up quick and be ready for a good charge.

Third: The only time a unit will stop before the charge is if they have been given the single-click "engage" order outside of the charge radius. Once they reach the charge radius they form up quick and then charge. Again, if they are already inside the charge radius when you single click they will try to immediately charge w/o forming up. so if you're moving a unit from one place to another and want them to be able to get a good charge I'd recommend giving them a facing order with their movement and trying to get them to line up just outside the charge radius.