Is it just me, or does the enemy withdraw that often?

[Argeus the Paladin]

In EB I realized that the enemies tend to withdraw from battle very quickly if the odds are even the slightest against them, while vanilla AI are much more suicidal.

Does anyone realize this?

[ISA Gunner]

Yes. Why are you complaining? It is much more realistic and historically accurate. The enemy will put up a fight but if it starts losing it will often call a retreat which makes perfect sense to me. Historically, armies wouldn't fight to the death. They would retreat if they lost a certain amount of men/gave up too much ground/were on the back foot/were too tired etc. Because there was so much disorder and confusion when a retreat was ordered, that is why so many more casualties were taken at this point than during actual fighting. Cavalry could mop up stragglers. Some forces would not hear the call to retreat and would be cut off from the main body, flanked and cut down. So yeah. It's a good thing.

[TITANAS84]

if some units retreats but fight again later is good against heavy infantry.they follow the running unit and you flank them easily.you need also some discipline units and cavalry.i play koinon ellinon and put my light infantry in middle then retreat easily from phalangitai and my hoplites flank them(marathon battle,nenikikamen,and return to athens for wine and orgies)

[athanaric]

In EB I realized that the enemies tend to withdraw from battle very quickly if the odds are even the slightest against them, while vanilla AI are much more suicidal.

Does anyone realize this?

Phalanxes are ridiculously overpowered in autoresolve, which makes Hellenistic factions attack you with understrength armies. They only "realize" the actual balance on the battlefield and decide to withdraw.

Make sure you always have some light missile cavalry. That way, you can at least harrass them when they withdraw, and probably catch their general.

[torongill]

It's in a way a more competitive AI. They would attack just to lay siege and weaken your finances. Still, athanaric must be correct.

[Argeus the Paladin]

Actually I was not complaining. I was trying to ask and see whether it is an established fact.

Looks like it is.

Fun fact time: The Romani I fight tend to retreat far more than the Hellenon.

[athanaric]

Fun fact time: The Romani I fight tend to retreat far more than the Hellenon.

I was referring to the other Hellenistic factions, not the KH, which doesn't dabble that much in Makedonian syntagma warfare.
I'm okay fighting the KH (they don't have cowardly mounted FMs), but the other Hellenistic factions are downright unpleasant to face bacause their generals are the first to flee the battlefield, which means I usually can't catch them. Now if the general escapes, that means that the army isn't destroyed and that he will return with a full stack of mercs two turns later. RTW engine...

[Drewski]

I was referring to the other Hellenistic factions, not the KH, which doesn't dabble that much in Makedonian syntagma warfare.
I'm okay fighting the KH (they don't have cowardly mounted FMs), but the other Hellenistic factions are downright unpleasant to face bacause their generals are the first to flee the battlefield, which means I usually can't catch them. Now if the general escapes, that means that the army isn't destroyed and that he will return with a full stack of mercs two turns later. RTW engine...

Medium/Medium Battles my friend....that way lies sanity.

If you aren't blitzing, it's completely a more balanced map. It also means that you actually face armies of the nation that you are combatting, and not just a stack of mercenaries from said region, plus a general.

You don't feel that compulsion to kill the general as fast as possible (knowing he'll return as you said above), which leads to better battles..i.e. kill the general early, and you generally face a quick rout.

With a decent full stack of your own, you can easily kill the stack of mercs you face on hard/VH campaign, then another, then whatever is left, so why bother imo?

The ai is also seemingly a little more sane on the campaign map....

I rest my case

[torongill]

Well, I don't know about H/VH battles, but on medium the enemy general does not flee that early. Usually he charges in the melee, but even if he does not, he has to be caught. Surround the bodyguards and usually the general dies. Or if you're fighting General vs General, attack from his left, that way the enemy general is usually surrounded and can die quickly.
I'm currently involved in a Romani campaign, where I'm embroiled in combat against AS for Thrace. My army in Tylis is besieged almost every turn and often the AS send FMs. So far the only way for the Seleucid royalties to escape with their life has been to retreat when I sally forth.