Questions (do you use time limits)

[Test112345]

When you use the staked archers command, do the archers still shoot arrows?

Do you guys use time limits on battles or not? any reasons?

thanks

[PaulTa]

Sure, the archers still shoot arrows. The command to use stakes is really handy because the archers can shoot arrows over the stakes and still be relatively safe from frontal attacks.

I personally use time limits because the AI will sometimes get stuck on sieges and you'll just have to wait it out. It also helps on defensive battles where you don't want to forsake your nice position and the AI doesn't want to attack you.

[Shahed]

My reasons for not using time limits are:

I don't use time limits as I like to play the battle out to the end.

In the field as I use mostly all cavalry armies, one good spot can quickly be substituted with another. Also playing defensive with an all cav army is not the same as playing defensive with a balanced or mostly infantry army. You move anyway, and almost never stop, except to shoot, then you move again. Usually you don't hold a single position but many and force the enemy to react. Sometimes you do get nice cliffs, so you go up there shoot as much as you can and then move. Point is you're not stationary long.

I also feel that I can win otherwise unwinnable battles with the time limit. I can just run around the map as defender until the time runs out. Though I actually don't do that, but I feel tempted to .. lol.

I rarely let an enemy siege a city, I always catch the enemy army outside and cut it downm before it gets to it's target.

If, on rare, occasion, an enemy sieges a city it's usually met by a relieving army from outside the city. If, on even rarer occasion, an enemy assualts the city, I have'nt seen the AI loop bug, or just standing there, I usually end up attacking anyway.

Lastly I like to take my time and I don't want to be looking at the time.

For me the time limit is a negative. I don't like it, never use it.

[econ21]

I couldn't imagine not using time limits. I often fight very outnumbered and sometimes it is great fun, desperately trying to survive until the counter runs down. I feel like Wellington at Waterloo "Give me night or give me Blucher".

[John Johnston]

I always use time limits. It feels more realistic, to me, that there should be some time pressure on. It also offers the possibility of more "even" outcomes to battles.

That being said, I rarely find that field battles take a long time to resolve - the only occasions when the time limit actually expires are in siege battles.

[Dave1984]

I never used to use time limits in MTW and RTW because as far as I was concerned a lot of battles used to take all day, certainly not 45 minutes max.

But then sometimes on Rome I'd notice something which have become much more prevalant with M2TW- passive ai.

So now I do have them on just because when I'm on the defensive it forces the ai into action.

Although sometimes it winds me up because I've got at fantastic defensive position and the ai just doesn't bother to try and assault me at all.

[Hashashiyyin]

I used time limits until the AI sieged a city of mine and didn't budge. I couldn't win if I sallied forth but would easily win if they assaulted. They didn't budge and I ended up exiting the battle which killed all of my troops and lost me the city, even though they wouldn't move.

since then I have used a time limit.

[Lord Condormanius]

The stakes archers shoot and the stakes pulverize cavalry chrges.

I use the timer on when I'm being attacked, timer off when I am attacking.
My reason is that I sometimes find that the AI does not attack is the timer is not on, which can be somewhat frustrating when they are assaulting a settlement and decide not to move.

[Shahed]

Hmm well I guess because I play all cav, I'm always attacking, hence I have very rarely seen the passive AI. In a siege defintely not, I have'nt seen it.

On field I've seen it, when it's completely screwed it just stands there (lol). In a siege, horses are (mostly) useless in the confines of the city and the cruddy garrison militia is (more useful but) useless too, so I sally out and do my thing.

That's only IF I ever get into a (defensive) siege situation. That has happened a total of about 2-3 times out of a total of 165 battles fought in current campaign.

There have been some huge battles, 1500 vs 2500, 700 vs 4000. For these battles I really get nervous with the timer one. It happened to me in MTW that I lost battles pointlessly, because of that timer. I was winning big time but there were too many enemy to kill in allocated time span.

Taught me another lesson too, quicksave at end of each turn.