MTW Morale
Contents
Introduction
Morale plays a pivotal role on the battle map. Maintaining your units' morale in the thick of a battle is very important, and knowing how to quickly rout the enemy units will cut down on the attrition taken by your troops. There is also financial gain, as men from routing units can be captured for ransom, including nobles and royalty.
Morale States
Each unit has a base morale value defined in the UNIT_PROD.txt file. This base value is then modified by various battlefield conditions to determine the unit's morale value. This value will fall within one of five states: Impetuous, Steady, Uncertain, Wavering, and Routing. This value changes throughout the battle, being computed on a regular basis on the combat cycle, and can affect the unit's willingness to perform commands.
| Morale State | Morale Values |
| Impetuous | 10+ |
| Steady | 2 to 14 |
| Uncertain | -5 to 5 |
| Wavering | -14 to -5 |
| Routing | -6 or less |
These ranges overlap because a transition between states requires the upper (if morale is improving) or lower (if failing) value to switch. This prevents thrashing between states.
Impetuous
Units that are "Uncontrollable", while in the impetuous state, may engage the enemy without orders.
Wavering
Wavering units may balk when told to charge.
Routing
A routing unit cannot be given orders, and is pretty much out of the general's control. The unit will begin running towards the (closest?) map edge away from the enemy, until conditions shift it's morale back to Wavering. If it is chased, it will usually continue running until it is destroyed or runs off the map unless it gets support from friendly units. The general may attempt to rally the unit, which requires him to be within X meters. This will give the unit an infusion of +8 morale. Units that recover from routing should be kept out of the fight for a little while, to allow their morale state to improve, otherwise they will run again when they get back into combat (or maybe even before). The Unit commander can receive vices.
Morale Modifiers
Battlefield Positioning
A unit's position and vulnerability on the battlefield have a great effect on it's morale value. Units with a low base morale should be positioned advantageously to keep it in the fight.
- Units are happier when their flanks and backs are covered. If both flanks, or one flank and the rear, are protected by friendly units, the unit gains +4 to morale. If one flank is threatened (or just not covered?) a unit suffers a -2 morale penalty. If both flanks, or a flank and the rear, are threatened, this becomes a -6 penalty (they don't stack, correct?).
- If a unit is charged in the flank or rear, they suffer a -4 penalty to morale. If an infantry unit is charged by cavalry in the flank or rear, this becomes a -6 penalty (don't stack?). A unit that gets ambushed by a hidden unit takes a -8 hit to morale.
- If no enemy troops are in the vicinity, a unit adds +4 to it's morale. If uphill from all nearby enemies, a unit gets a +2 bonus to morale. If enemy in the vicinity are outnumbered and outclassed by 3:1, a unit gets +4 to morale (need range, is this a total summed with other friendly units?).
- Units in the Loose formation, or are disordered because they are in trees (or spread out from engage-at-will combat?), suffer a -2 morale penalty. Units (infantry only?) charged (by cav only?) while in this disordered state suffer a -6 morale penalty. Units performing a impetuous charge (Uncontrollable units charging without orders) gain a +4 morale bonus for their efforts.
Combat Results
- As the fight rages, a unit will lose morale as the casualties mount up within the unit. When 10% of the unit is killed, it suffers a -2 to morale. Once 50% casualties are reached, this penalty becomes -8, and goes to -12 for 80% of the unit. These penalties are based on the unit's size at the start of the battle.
- A unit under fire (actually taking casualties?) from missile weapons takes a -2 morale penalty, an additional -4 is suffered if the missile weapon causes fear like guns or artillery. This is cumulative with the casualty penalties being suffered.
- If a unit is losing in combat, it can suffer up to a -8 penalty depending on the beating it's taking. If the unit is an infantry losing to cavalry, an additional -6 penalty is added. A unit that is winning it's fight can gain up to +6 morale. These bonuses and penalties are based on the results of the previous combat cycle, so they can swing greatly from second to second.
- Unit morale is affected by fleeing units from both sides. Unit discipline levels come into play here, since disciplined units care little for routing peasants. For these calculations, Elite units count other Elite units as one, all others are considered half a unit. Disciplined units count Elite and Disciplined units as one, all others count as a half. Units with normal discipline treat all units as one. If friendly units in the vicinity (range X?) are routing, a unit can suffer up to a -12 penalty to morale, for two total fleeing units (-3 for a half, -6 for one, -9 for one and a half?). If enemy units are routing, a unit can gain up to +8 morale for two total fleeing units (+2 for a half, +4 for one, +6 for one and a half?). This is the main factor in how chain routings occur, which is why it is a good idea to hammer the end of a flank, start a rout, and just roll up the enemy line.
Effects of the General
An inspiring general can hold an army together when times get tough, while a useless on can remind troops of pressing business back home.
- On the battlefield, units within 50 meters of the general receive +1 morale for each command star the general has. Units beyond 50 meters receive +1 morale for every two command stars. The general's unit itself receives +2 to it's morale (cumulative to the +1 per star?). Various vices and virtues can also affect the army's morale.
- A general can attempt to rally fleeing a fleeing unit. He must be within X meters to do so, and the rally button for the unit must be highlit. Using the rally command gives a unit +8 to it's morale.
- If the general is killed (or captured?), the army suffers -8 to it's morale for a few seconds, and a permanent -2 morale penalty for the rest of the battle. The army also loses the morale bonuses due to command stars when this happens, the combined effect can easily cause a wholesale rout in an army.
Miscellaneous
- Being outnumbered and outclassed on the battlefield will reduce unit morale. This can be a -4 penalty for a 2:1 disadvantage, up to -12 for a 10:1 disadvantage. Is this a local area thing, or over the whole battlefield? Does this include reinforcements not on the field? Assume "outclassed" refers to unit strength values in UNIT_PROD.TXT?
- If an army is cornered in the province, with no way out by land or sea and no castle to retreat to, or the army are defenders in a siege battle, the army gains a +8 bonus to morale overall. Burning your boats, cornered animals, use whatever analogy you think appropriate here. One of Sun Tzu rules, always leave the enemy a glimmer of an exit, or they will fight to the death.
- Unit fatigue levels will affect morale. Units that are Very Tired take a -3 penalty to morale, if they are Exhausted the penalty becomes -6, and if they are Completely Exhausted the penalty becomes a -8 to morale.
- Each level of base valour a unit has adds +2 to the units morale. This does not include valour added by the general's stars, this is handled by the proximity bonuses. This bonus is based on the average valour for the unit, individual valour does not come into play for unit morale.
- Skirmishing units will suffer a -6 penalty to morale if they are being pursued (i.e. forced to move away). If a skirmishing unit is out of missile ammunition, it will take an additional -6 penalty, so "empty" units should be transitioned out of skirmish mode as soon as possible. Skirmishers (especially horse archers) need to be careful about running away from enemy units on a constant basis. Too many times (without moving towards an enemy?) causes the "Benny Hill" rout. This is coded into the game to prevent players from being able to lead enemy units on merry chases around the map to run out the clock. A counter is kept on retreats from the enemy, once this counter exceeds the limit, the "Benny Hill" rout begins and it is unrecoverable.
- The game settings also affect morale. On Easy difficulty, the human player's units get a +4 morale bonus across the board. On the Expert setting, the AI units get a +4 morale bonus. Some speculate that this actually hurts the AI, the human player's units can gain valour faster when enemy units don't rout (at the cost of more casualties) and the AI's armies get decimated faster than usual if they don't run from helpless situations. In the realism options, if morale is unchecked, all units in the game get a+12 bonus to morale.
Improving Morale
There are several ways to upgrade unit morale and prevent them from wetting themselves in the face of the enemy. In unit production provinces, religious buildings add to the base morale of units built or retrained there. The higher the building level, the higher the morale bonus. Increasing unit valour, either through combat, provincial bonuses, or master level buildings, will add +2 morale to the unit per level. In combat, low morale units should be placed near the general, and should have their flanks and rear protected. Use the higher morale units for flanking and forays into dangerous territory. Units that are extremely fatigued should be allowed to rest if possible (preferably placed in a location that protects the flank/rear of a fighting unit).
References
BradyGames' Medieval Total War: Official Strategy Guide (ISBN 0-7440-0182-X)
CA developers' posts from the TotalWar.com numerology thread.
TBD - need more verification on Benny Hill rout
distances needed for other units routing and other area affects.
need details on stacking of flank/rear threats
