Guard Mode

[NeoSpartan]

Sometimes I think guard mode gets my men killed because they don't turn around to fight when hit in the flanks.

Which is why you want to keep an eye on units in guard mode, for some reason they sometimes end up facing the wrong way. So u have to manually set them to face the right way.

[Cyclops]

Helpful tips here.

I use guard mode to hold the line and to make use of the Good or Very Good Stamina on line inf. Its a way of preserving them in a toe-to-toe fight until the enemy gest tired. Then Guard mode off, smash them to pieces.

There's a horror in that moment when you men break ranks and swarm all over a wavering enemy, only exceeded by the stumbling retreat of exhausted inf being ridden down by vindictive light cavalry.

I noticed some of the problems mentioned above (eg the "frittered charge", the "hoplite square dance") and I hadn't realised it was all down to the guard mode. It's good to know more of the nuts and bolts: I'll be more selective in tailoring my unit set up in future.

The only time I've used guard for cavalry was for cataphracts in vanilla. I tried running them pretty much like a phalanx (trot up to the battle line and prod away), and it seemed to work, but it was sooo expensive. I doubt it would be a viable strategy in EB.

I have to say G/VG Stamina is my preffered characteristic. It lets your cav and light inf jog all over the map. It lets your footsloggers go the distance over 12 gruelling rounds, and be fit to face that second full stack of Romans that reinforced on your right flank.

If I don't have great stamina in my army, I'm looking to smash and break the enemy fairly quickly. High stamina inf on guard mode is a real "set-and-forget" battle line for when you want to concentrate on dinky little flank actions.

Is this the place to ask about the relative merits of "tight" and "loose" formations for cav pursuits?

[Kurulham]

TWFanatic, with regards to the short_pike attribute, if I read that correctly you gave it to classic hoplitai. I though the unit had to have the phalanx attribute to have long_pike or short_pike? I know it's true for long_pike (tried to give it to Gaizaharjoz without giving them phalanx once)... if it's true for short_pike, did you turn the classic phalanx into a Makedonian one, or did you give your hoplitai schiltrom to enable that option?

Cheers,
K

[bovi]

Missile units may be useful in guard mode, as you can then attack a specific unit and forget about them for a while without worrying that they'll start running after their target (into some other enemy) if it moves away.