MTW Deployment Screen

The Battle Deployment Screen was added with the Viking Invasion expansion, and gives the player a chance to see what the opposing forces will be, what the terrain will be like, and several options about how to proceed with the battle.

Pre-Battle Save/Load

The Save/Load features allow the player to save the campaign prior to the battle. This is handy in the case of unexpected large battles, or multiple battles in a turn that would require more time than the player has in real life. However, the consensus is that saved games from this method have a good chance of getting corrupted. Caveat emptor.

Battle options

These options, when one is selected, will cause the game to leave the Battle Deployment screen and move on. The options, if the player is attacking, can be:

• Command the Attack Personally - This option is given when attacking a province or sallying from a fortification. This will take the player to the troop deployment on the battlefield.
• Automatically Resolve the Attack - This option will auto-resolve the attack or sally attempt. The game will determine the outcome based on unit strengths and command ratings.
• Call Off The Attack - This option appears when attacking a province. If chosen, units will retreat to an adjacent friendly province. If none exists, or the invasion was across water, the troops will be lost.
• Command the Assault Personally - This option appears when assaulting a fortification currently under siege. This will take the player to the troop deployment on the castle battlefield map.
• Automatically Resolve the Assault - This option will auto-resolve the castle assualt. The game will determine the outcome based on unit strengths and command ratings.
• Abandon the Province - This option appears when assaulting a fortification. If chosen, units will retreat to an adjacent friendly province. If none exists, or the invasion was across water, the troops will be lost.
• Call Off The Assault - This option appears when assaulting a fortification. If chosen, the assault will be aborted, but the fortification will remain under siege.
• Abandon the Castle - This option appears when sallying from a fortification. This is an attempt to abandon the fortification and save as many troops as possible. If there is no friendly province adjacent, the troops will be lost.

When defending, the options can be:

• Command the Defence Personally - This option is given when defending a province or fortification. This will take the player to the troop deployment on the battlefield.
• Automatically Resolve the Defence - This option will auto-resolve the defence. The game will determine the outcome based on unit strengths and command ratings.
• Abandon the Province - This option appears when defending a province. If chosen, units will retreat to an adjacent friendly province. If none exists, the troops will be lost.
• Retreat to the Castle - This option is given when defending a province that has a fortification. As many troops that will fit will go into the fortification, the rest will retreat to a friendly adjacent province, or be lost if none exists.

Battlefield Camera

This lets the player see what sort of climate and terrain the battle will be fought on. This will give the player clues about which troop deployment and tactics will be effective on the map.

Factions Involved

For both the allied (left side) and enemy (right side) factions involved in the battle, a shield icon will be present. Usually this is just one per side, but more will appear for multi-faction (and rebel) battles. Clicking on the shield will switch the general and troop displays to show for that faction.

Generals

The generals' portraits will name the general in charge of the faction's troops, and has his command rating stars that will be applied for this battle.

Troops

The troop and reinforcement boxes allow the player to modify which units will appear on the battlefield at the start, and set a reinforcement order for calling units onto the field during the battle. This allows the player to reorder troops in multistack (more than 16 units) battles, and to change out units that the player deems less effective given the battlefield and opposing forces.

To some extent, this option is an advantage to the player, as the screen shows which enemy troops will start on the battlefield, and the AI cannot change unit composition in a like manner.

TBD - need to get an screenshot image uploaded for this