couple questions

**Test112345** · 05-30-2007, 05:40

1)that little blue bar under missile units is their ammo right?

2)what does waiting before a battle actually do?

**Yun Dog** · 05-30-2007, 07:13

1. yes
2. might change the weather

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 05-30-2007, 14:15

....Oh, you meant couple OF questions...

Cruised in looking for marital advice and imagine my surprise....

Welcome Tester#s!

**Test112345** · 05-31-2007, 18:45

do your own arrows hurt you? when should you not use them? how can you tell if they are hitting you?

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 05-31-2007, 19:44

Originally Posted by Test112345

do your own arrows hurt you? when should you not use them? how can you tell if they are hitting you?

In Vanilla (Base) R:TW the answer is a big YES. All of your missile troops can hurt themselves and their friends. Some units (slingers) often seem to be far deadlier to your own guys than to the enemy on a shot per shot basis. This is, of course, because most of your folks are showing them their derrieres when the fratricide begins.

Things to avoid:

1. Positioning a shooter unit too close to another unit or intermingling units. The other unit will take casualties. The separation needn't be a big one, but must be there.

2. Shooting sideways/diagonally from a more-or-less rectangularly formed shooter unit. Some of the ones in the front corner can get hit in the head by shots from their own unit.

3. Slingers positioned behind your line. Sling shots are low trajectory, at all but a perfect range (your troops about 45 in front of the slingers and the enemy at 100-120) the slingers will hit your troops in the back with most of their shots. Slingers should never be directly behind your battle line except when there is a steep hill and you can place them well above the line. Still have to exercise caution (as with #4 below) even so.

4. Archers/javelins on auto fire behind your lines as the range closes. They will always aim for the closest enemy. At close ranges this means flat trajectory shots through the back of your line -- ouch. Later versions/mods often prevent the archer from shooting at enemy units meleeing with your own troops, but you can still have this problem with an unengaged enemy 2nd line that is too close to the melee. Answer: disable auto-fire. You have to pause and pick targets, but you'll keep the fratricide to a minimum.

5. Shooting onagers with ANY of your troops down range and not immediately in front of the engines. If you position a covering force almost on top of the onagers, they'll fire safely over them. Anywhere else -- even inside the minimum range -- and you will hit your own troops as least as often as the enemy. The artillery needs clear fire zones -- or you need to be really callous about casualties.

In practice, this makes rhodian and balearic slingers a great wall defender unit, but surprisingly weak on the field of battle. Since you can't get them directly behind your line without stopping their shooting (and what's the point of a missile unit that takes two shots, runs behind the line and ceases to fight?!?), the end up in front or on the flanks -- and they draw enemy cavalry and generals like nothing else. This is especially true of expensive Rhodians. They make good bait -- I've killed many a general who couldn't resist them and got flanked in turn -- but they'll take heavy casualties every time. Generic slingers are almost useless. I use them for early campaign efforts against rebels, as wall runners (speed and some fire down from wall), and (with skirm off and guard on) as a buffer in front of my spears to slow the speed of the enemy charge -- human shields anyone?