Should I Always Leave My Spearmen in Guard Mode

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Case in point: is it better to use units like Uisuparoi Kingetoi, Hoplitai, Druhtiz, Uassoi and their like in or out of Guard Mode? I think Hoplites might be a special case in point, but I'm not so sure about the others. Do you get a better performance either way? Tell me.

[LusitanianWolf]

Depend on the situation, I usually use guard mode when holding ground, playing defensively, or if I want a overwhelmed unit to survive longer. For offensive purposes I turn guard mode off.

[Cryoshakespeare]

In my experience, units almost always fight worse in guard mode. From what I've tested at least they seem tire out more slowly, but take more casualties and inflict fewer.

[Lusitanio]

Only use it if you want your units to hold their ground to buy you time or if you're trying to flank them. That's because they will kill fewer enemies, won't advance very much and won't pursue enemies. Additionally, you can use guard mode if you don't want your units to pursue the enemy in order to have your battle line in a more orderly manner. I do it sometimes when for example, I have other army attacking me and want to preserve my units and to keep my army together.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

Great tips, thanks.

[QuintusSertorius]

Guard Mode is good for when you want a unit to simply hold, rather than kill lots of the enemy. If you have a battle plan in multiple parts, where they need to pin the enemy while other things happen, this can be useful. Especially because they tire slower, so can perform flanking or other maneuvers later on (without being too exhausted to be of use).

[Domaje]

Guard mode is also valuable when micromanaging cav charge. Because when you put your units in guard mode, their primary objective is to maintain their cohesion, you can use this to your advantage when ordering a charge. You just need to use it before the unit reach its charge distance, then disable it for delivering a proper blow.

Other than that i don't use guard mode, apart for phalanx obviously and also levy spearmen sometimes.
Also, there was a rumour that your units would not get tired when using guard mode in M2TW, this is false. In fact, as pointed before, they only get tired more slowly.

[tentaku]

Guard mode is also valuable when micromanaging cav charge. Because when you put your units in guard mode, their primary objective is to maintain their cohesion, you can use this to your advantage when ordering a charge. You just need to use it before the unit reach its charge distance, then disable it for delivering a proper blow.

when cavs charge in guard mode, does that mean they are less likely to get stuck inside the enemy unit, and when I pull it out of the enemy for a second charge, the cav unit would suffer less casualties because less stragglers are stuck inside the enemy unit?

[OJ33DA]

Is the way Guard mode is “calculated” different in MTW2 vs RTW? In Rome it has always been Guard mode on all the time, unless your unit has high lethality and fighting against vastly weaker/weakened opponent, this is pretty much the only time Guard mode should be off. I know that MTW2 doesn’t have lethality so that could drastically change tactics.

[QuintusSertorius]

M2TW does have lethality, but it's as good as useless since it's a global setting for all units, not done individually like in RTW. It's also bizarrely tied to cohesion.

It's one of those ways in which RTW's battle engine was better than M2TW's.

[Domaje]

when cavs charge in guard mode, does that mean they are less likely to get stuck inside the enemy unit, and when I pull it out of the enemy for a second charge, the cav unit would suffer less casualties because less stragglers are stuck inside the enemy unit?

I don't think so. In a way, guard mode slow down your unit as the men wait for the latecomers. So you don't want that if you're trying to escape.
For that particular problem, I'd recommend matching your unit width with the enemy one, and make sure the place your unit is retreating, from there they'll face the enemy unit and not turning their backs. That way you avoid the guys on the left side trying to cross the enemy lines to reach the right side and vice-versa.

[tentaku]

I don't think so. In a way, guard mode slow down your unit as the men wait for the latecomers. So you don't want that if you're trying to escape.
For that particular problem, I'd recommend matching your unit width with the enemy one, and make sure the place your unit is retreating, from there they'll face the enemy unit and not turning their backs. That way you avoid the guys on the left side trying to cross the enemy lines to reach the right side and vice-versa.

matching width is a good idea