Stupid AI/own troops (a.k.a how to keep the formation)

**Janezki** · July 02, 2007, 07:36 AM

I have to say that i hate AI (well can i say my own troops AI after i have tell them what to do ?) !!!!

I want to tell some of my battles...

1. "Battle with the seleucids"

I had really good army (egypt, campaign) desert axe mens, few pharaos guards, many archers, two general... Enemy had phalanxes and bad cavalary, one elephant and 1 archer

Battle starts: I attacked so i have to move to them luckily they were quite near me so i putted soldiers to front, archers to behind then cavalary to the flank (generals= chariot archers) I start moving my troops to close enough them then i noticed that my archers need to get closer so i put everybody go to near of them... This is where "fun" begins they all tried to turn 180* and stay in the formation so i realize what is happenig and hitted stop button and then my guards was looking to wrong direction and archers was showing their backs to the enemy cavalry... Oh yea cavalry liked that without a second waisting i noticed that all my archers was running around the battle field and elephants charging to axemans -.- okay i got generals and 2 pharaos guards fighting with phalanxes and archers... Got my ass kicked bad timly

Question: Why did they tried to turn 180' ?

2. "Sieging gauls"

This is positive to me but still AI is stupid... Had a full stack and 3 archers... Gauls had General and 2 warbands.

Okay i put the wall to ground with ballistas and gaul moved his 2 warbands to the gate... Well done! My archers eat them soldiers and then he just was running to gate then back few meters back to gate etc. They didn't even run to the central they was just dancing at the gate and there goed his warbands... Easy win. They killed 4 of my soldiers and those was general bodyguards

3. "Sieging the spain"

Had full stack of archers ballistas principes etc. enemy had 1 peasant, naked fanatics, general and skirmishers...

First battle was when my general was my reinforcment (AI controlled him it was accident) and he waited that i shoot the gate and runned to the enemy general and died>>> Load Game

Okay new try now i just leaved my general to stand alone... shooted the gates and the towers and o' ! skirmishers come they were doing same dance what the gauls did in gate... They died...

Okay moved 3 archers 5 principes to near enemy center... Principes to the front and 2 of archers to behind them i leaved 1 archer alone near gates

__________________________ P=Principe A=archer Box= House
__P__P__P__P__P_____|***|
____________________|***|_ This is what i wanted
____A_______A_____________

So i wanted them to that formation well other archer was good boy and did so other one... well... he runned through principes to the front of enemy general O_O nice... Well the enemy chased the archer from right flank of that house and chased them to the gate every1 died... And what is best ? there was my third archer group also -.- died also well before the general killed all of my troops from back i send my cavalry to finnish him.

Well i won the battle and losed good archers -.-

So i want to ask to the end that how i can keep my big armys in formation... i mean that they dont try to make some turning etc...

**Nitemare16** · July 02, 2007, 08:09 AM

Put them on guard mode and they will no longer charge at the enemy or move from formation though they may move a foot after being attacked.

**Janezki** · July 02, 2007, 08:20 AM

Sry u bit misunderstood me... My problem is not how to keep them where they are but when i move them they are like thiss

###############
###############
================
###############
###############

Then i put them to move

#############//
############//#
###########//##
##########//###
#########//####

That is my problem!

**The Potty 1** · July 02, 2007, 08:34 AM

Do you create your formation manually or use the fomation button?

If you use the button, then select the whole group and hold down ALT when you give them move instructions, they should hold the formation.

**Gleemonex** · July 02, 2007, 12:23 PM

I seldom trust the AI paths -- I create a new formation block (right-click and drag) almost every time, and/or I double-check with the spacebar preview.

-Glee

**Paul d** · July 02, 2007, 02:17 PM

i see what he means. like when you use a phalanx and tell them to move at an angle, they trail off and there are gaps in hte line. not much you Can do about it, except for rerforming alot!