Valor and routing

[History Geek]

Hello people of deep and immidiate knowledge

Just a quick question: Sometimes I prefer to let my units rout just before they get in serious trouble, instead of just pulling out. This is to prevent them from taking unnessesary losses or being 'stuck' in a melee they cannot win.

Does this cause a loss of valor?

/HG

[macsen rufus]

It doesn't affect the valour, but if you're not carfeul you might end up with "good runner" or "not so bold" vices which will decrease morale and increase the likelihood of routing in the future, especially where the unit in question is a general (his morale V&Vs affect the whole army).

It's better to withdraw (ctrl-W) rather than rout, though they will be a bit slower about it, and may just end up routing anyway

[History Geek]

Can commanders that isn't designated general in the specific battle get the vice "good runner"? I thought it only affected the general?

/HG

[macsen rufus]

It can affect any unit that runs off the battlefield screaming like a cissy, although it seems more likely to hit a general that does it. If you check a stack that has just been routed you will often find a number of units in it have earned the "good runner" trait. I think the main reason you see more of it on generals is that the general is more likely to escape, but with other units, the unit leader seems to have no more chance of escaping capture than other men in the unit, and if the unit leader is captured his replacement will not necessarily get the vice even though the unit routed.

[Agent Miles]

If your unit is getting smashed to the point of routing, it is in serious trouble. To answer your question, yes I have had units perform poorly in combat and lose valour, although this is rare. Analyze your enemies’ forces and know which unit match-ups are to your advantage. Yas Terazawa’s unit comparison tool has helped me a lot. Having a unit hold the line while other units maneuver is a necessary evil. Asking the impossible of a unit isn’t.

[Peasant Phill]

The valour of a unit is the mean valour of all the men in that unit. Valour is, however, calculated per man. So, your units lost valour because the relative high valour men in those units got killed, thus lowering the mean valour.

[Caerfanan]

Hello people of deep and immidiate knowledge

Just a quick question: Sometimes I prefer to let my units rout just before they get in serious trouble, instead of just pulling out. This is to prevent them from taking unnessesary losses or being 'stuck' in a melee they cannot win.

Does this cause a loss of valor?

/HG

Uuuh. I'll have an answer and a question: the answer is that only with getting a vice your unit leader will disminish the valour of his men. I'm backing Peasant Phil: the valour displayed is a per man basis. so if your unit is fighting it's valour usually grows when it loses men (experience gotten + low valour men dying first), however it can go down if your unit is mopped up by the enemy while routing.

But how do you make your unit "rout", is there any specific order for that?

[History Geek]

But how do you make your unit "rout", is there any specific order for that?

ctrl-o (not zero) makes your men run in panic away from the nearest foe. Use with caution...

And thanks Ironside for the captain/general destinction - it confirms my experience with V&V.

I think were a little of topic here though...

/HG

[Martok]

With the exception of the "Captured" trait, I've always only seen the commanding general bestowed with any battle-related vices/virtues. I've yet to see unit leaders be penalized with the "Good Runner" vice just because their regiment routed. Are you sure this is happening to guys besides just your main general?

But how do you make your unit "rout", is there any specific order for that?

Doh! Never mind, HistoryGeek is right.

[History Geek]

I'm afraid that the 'r' key rallies your men, whereas ctrl-o routs them...

/HG

[Great Est.]

How do you withdraw dudes without routing? I usually march them to the edge of the map then click rout. Is there a withdraw command? Does intentional routing cause carry a valor hit?
holler

[scowie]

How do you withdraw dudes without routing?

Right-click on the unit and select withdraw from the menu. There is a key combination to do it too, ctrl+w I think it was.