I feel like I am the only person who does not use the grouping feature...

[Septimius Severus]

And I have to ask, why? What is so useful about this formation? I was just reading the succession campaign topic and I noticed the use of unit grouping. I'd imagine it has something to do with organization, but other than that I've got nothing.

I rarely use it because I like to keep my units more spread out, even if that means that I have to sacrifice organization and risk the occasional unit routing because I neglect it. Although I spread the units out it does not mean in any way that I keep them at a distance where they cannot support each other- I just like to control each individual unit. This does mean that I must use the pause button quite a bit, but by now I have become accustomed to doing all that work.

So my questions would be:

1) What is/are the reasons for unit grouping?
2) Are there times when it should/shoudn't be used? (I.E.: Bridge battles, etc.)
3) Is it better to group units of the same type or is it better to group units that will all be used for a specific purpose? (Mixing cavalry/infantry on the flanks to attack the sides of the enemy)

Thanks, this topic may better my battle skills.

[Aetius]

Grouping is for neat freaks (like me)

Seriously though, it's hella useful for controlling units that need to stay in line like phalanx and legions. Especially phalanx. If they aren't in a completely straight formation they can easily be flanked and routed.

How do you command Phalanxes without it?

[Zuwxiv]

I group units of the same type. Generally I use the cavalry wing, infrantry center, skirmisher back form. So one group is my left calv, one group is my center infantry (Sometimes divided into a superior side and an inferior side, let the enemy get sucked in on one side. So the order from left to right is:

Weak cavalry, Strong Infantry, Weak Infantry, Strong Cavalry

The weak inf gets sucked back, good units cut forward, and the enemy are surrounded.) Ehem, back to topic. I just group the units based on their general area, so that I can quickly tell all my infantry to charge, or all my cav to retreat, etc. I can get all my archers to fire, stop, or charge in a very short time. It just saves time on similar commands to similar units.

[Septimius Severus]

How do you command Phalanxes without it?

I don't. In fact, I don't even keep the Phalanx units in a single line when I advance them. Some may go more ahead than others, but they do not get too spread out. It's probably because I like to spread out phalanx groups consisting of 2-3 units after the initial engagement, but I will give the grouping a try with the phalanx. And yes, it is possible to win with phalanx spread out like this, I just have to keep some other infantry behind them to watch their backs.

I can get all my archers to fire, stop, or charge in a very short time. It just saves time on similar commands to similar units.

I can't believe I forgot about that important feature, though I would probably only use the grouping for missile troops. For some reason I like to have my infantry more spread out, or, in the case of infantry with javelins in a single line so that the enemy will have to attack an area while getting peppered with javelins.

But I do like to keep things organized (except for my room, which right now is a mess ), so I may adapt this technique.

[.Socrates]

I'm kind of a neat person.
I just organize everyone before setting out by grouping every type of soldier together, then making a big group.
Yeah, I like to make thins difficult.

[NobleNick]

I have heard (but have not confirmed) that grouping can introduce some hesitation into troop movements. That is: units receiving individual orders react more quickly than groups.

I personally like selecting the whole army, or parts of it, and ALT-clicking to get them where I want, in order. As the distance to the enemy decreases, I devolve into micromanaging individual units. Heavy use of the pause feature, for sure; but I like the control.

[MasterAdnin]

I am a total neat freak. I usually have three groups, the center, right wing, and left wing, and there are groups inside of those.

Adnan

[Sétanta]

I group my lines of soldiers

Like the Velites
then the Hastati
Then Princepes
Then Triarii
Then the Calvary on the Wings
And the Archers
The only ungrouped units are the General(unless he is with some calvary) or a flanking detachment

[Kamos]

I never use grouping it just makes me feel lazy(lord knows i don't need anymore of that)

[Legionary Jezza]

if u dnt use the grouping ur acting like a disordaly mob and that a rubbish army

[Slimshoom]

i use grouping mainly so i can keep track of everyone in a large scale battle, makes it less hectic. Also, when several things are going on at once, such as 3 rams assaulting a city, its easier to command the other troops by grouping them.

[Halie Satanus]

i dont use grouping and i never ever use pau.......se :original:,

[Flavius Silvanus]

Usually I have a Center and Wing, so I start of in two groups.

If I am fighting defensively, I put my archers or spearchuckers into seperate groups to make toggling Fire at Will easier.

[Tacticalwithdrawal]

The only time I ever use grouping is playing SPQR where grouping units together and selecting the 3rd formation puts them all in a line with no gaps between units (very useful for phalanxes and roman infantry using shieldwalls).

Apart from that I never group as it tends to do weird things to commands (eg. cavalry often ignore orders when given to a group, archers usually ignore orders to change targets)

[dashizller]

I use it for each line of battle and my flank guards. This just lets me choose find the units I want to use easier, especially with the lag I get in those massive SPQR battles.

[Last Roman]

I've never used it once and I manage fine

[dashizller]

I get lagged a lot because I'm on a laptop. My mouse jumps around so every mouse movement counts.

[Publius]

I have never used grouping (except on very rare occassions) and really dont want to. The formations you can select from are very inefficient I find, and also I think it detracts from the gameplay. Believe it or not, I like to lose every once in a while - keeps things interesting. I also dont use the pause button. Honestly, I have spent countless hours selecting realistic units from various mods and importing them (by hand) into my game, am I going to blow all that work away by stopping time in the middle of a battle? This of course, is just me

[Legionary Jezza]

well i use mi own formation if i no wat im doin but if im totaly outnumbered then i would use grouping

[Severous]

I usually forget to group units.

I micromanage and give units individual orders making use of pause to give me the time needed.

I will on occassion group cavalry or infantry. Its to group the unit cards together rather than ordering units with one command. Units will still be commanded individually especially as the battle hots up.