Micheal Ney Just Suicide Charged Me

Had the set up of a great battle. Small force challenges Ney at a bridge crossing on the path to Paris. Duke of Wellington with a large force coming up the rear for reinforcements. Sounds like an epic match, no?

Well, not so. Get to the battle and I begin to cross some Foot over the river with light infantry just as Wellington comes onto the field on the other side and both forces are getting ready to fight (strategy as you can see was to get the small force to flank their rear). Suddenly, I see a lone cavalry regiment charging towards my men crossing the river. So I stop my Foot and put them in square formation, preparing to defend myself.

Yet what do I see? The esteemed general Micheal Ney, one of Napoleon's greatest generals, suicide charging straight into this square formation. He of course dies in the first volley. Biggest, immersion breaker, ever. That was such a retarded move, and the battle hadn't even begun yet! What's more, my other army wipes out the rest with minimal casualties, no epic fights here! Oh no! Just suicidal generals and fighting what appears to be an army of mentally ill.

Buggers.

Ney never brings supporting infantry.

I wouldn't be surprised if Ney would have died like this in real life.

ney may have lacked many things but intestinal fortitude was not one of them!
and welcome to ca's dumb as a sack of doorknobs a.i.

If you watch the film Waterloo 1970 you will definately find the AI very "historic".

The same happened with me. I attacked Oldenburg though. Their general ran straight at me and died instantly. What happened? Well, seeing as their army primarily consists of Landwehr, they just perished quickly and easily. I lost 100 men where they lost 2500-ish.

Probably the way he would have wanted to go, significantly better than the firing squad that he got at any rate.

almost every general does that, in every match i play in, the a.i. send thier "almighty" general straight into the middle of my army, and my cannons

I never had a suicide general again since using mods using Hedge Knight's beloved UAI. It doesn't make the AI perfect, it'll still be stupid from time to time, but it sure helps in preventing such occurrences.

Originally Posted by Leoben

I never had a suicide general again since using mods using Hedge Knight's beloved UAI. It doesn't make the AI perfect, it'll still be stupid from time to time, but it sure helps in preventing such occurrences.

actually I find the ai tendency to do really bizarre things on occasion perfectly realistic,for as we look back through the annals of warfare we see otherwise reputable Gnerals commiting erros that make the AI look ingenious

They just did it to me whilst they were attacking Brussels with Ney. I killed him, and they still had better morale than me! 20 morale just seems absolutely ridiculous - any way to reduce this?

he thought he was superman

As much as I love playing the TW series, one thing you should have learnt from your gaming experience is that CA couldn't code a functioning AI to save their lives.

In my experience most generals will try and stay back out of harms way. The exception to this is a reinforcing army's general and the rest of the cavalry, if any. They always seem to come straight at me for whatever reason.

Suicidal generals are still a problem in ntw. The AI often uses them as cavalry backup, with predicable results. They also park them near units in combat, presumably to shore up their morale, but they often end up leaving them in a good position to get shot, although they do move them as soon as you start firing at them.

HEHEM!

*Cough* I'm listening *Cough*

Actually in the battle of Waterloo, General Ney did make the decision to take the French cavalry and charge at the British without Napoleon's orders. He wanted to give himself the title of the greatest cavalry commander ever or something like that. Because of that, Napoleon faced devastating losses and that is one of the many reasons he lost the battle of Waterloo. I guess CA may have went a little to historical when it comes to the AI... lol

Originally Posted by Blackwolf

Actually in the battle of Waterloo, General Ney did make the decision to take the French cavalry and charge at the British without Napoleon's orders. He wanted to give himself the title of the greatest cavalry commander ever or something like that. Because of that, Napoleon faced devastating losses and that is one of the many reasons he lost the battle of Waterloo. I guess CA may have went a little to historical when it comes to the AI... lol

The reason Ney launched the charge at waterloo is because he mistook a slight withdrawl by the british for a general retreat. Never one to be renowned for his intelligence.

Originally Posted by [BsA]Dave

The reason Ney launched the charge at waterloo is because he mistook a slight withdrawl by the british for a general retreat. Never one to be renowned for his intelligence.

I have actually heard, and at least partially support, a different theory.

It is pretty much confirmable that during the Waterloo campaign, Ney was suffering from PTSD. As a man who's entire life was his honor, he may very well have felt so dishonored by his 1814 betryal of Napoleon that he eventually decided the only way to overcome it was a glorious battlefield death.

Effectively, with Napoleon ill and unable to tactically run the operations of his troops, Ney was commanding the army. Here's the thing: It appears, from later historical review, that Ney was suicidal; not just very brave and risking death, but actually wanting death. After Quatre Bras he said that he wished a British bullet had killed him; during Waterloo, he famously shouted his greatest quote, "Come see how a Marshal of France shall die!" And, most importantly, Ney had traditionally been calm in the face of death, as shells fell around him at Friedland and he fought alongside his tiny, hopeless rearguard in Russia. At Waterloo, he was angry; furious.

It seems that Ney wanted himself to get killed in a suicidal, doomed to fail cavalry charge, or an ill planned counterattack on Plancenoit (both of which he led, personally being in the front rank). So, just perhaps, the reason Napoleon lost Waterloo: His generals had post traumatic stress disorder.

Originally Posted by Marechal Ney

I have actually heard, and at least partially support, a different theory.

It is pretty much confirmable that during the Waterloo campaign, Ney was suffering from PTSD. As a man who's entire life was his honor, he may very well have felt so dishonored by his 1814 betryal of Napoleon that he eventually decided the only way to overcome it was a glorious battlefield death.

Effectively, with Napoleon ill and unable to tactically run the operations of his troops, Ney was commanding the army. Here's the thing: It appears, from later historical review, that Ney was suicidal; not just very brave and risking death, but actually wanting death. After Quatre Bras he said that he wished a British bullet had killed him; during Waterloo, he famously shouted his greatest quote, "Come see how a Marshal of France shall die!" And, most importantly, Ney had traditionally been calm in the face of death, as shells fell around him at Friedland and he fought alongside his tiny, hopeless rearguard in Russia. At Waterloo, he was angry; furious.

It seems that Ney wanted himself to get killed in a suicidal, doomed to fail cavalry charge, or an ill planned counterattack on Plancenoit (both of which he led, personally being in the front rank). So, just perhaps, the reason Napoleon lost Waterloo: His generals had post traumatic stress disorder.

An interesting Theory but did he really have to take 2000 frenchmen with him. Also if it was a suicide attempt, he didnt make a very good job of it did he. That he had PTSD is im sure very likely (I would imagine many did after the russian campaign) but I dont think you can blame napoleons faliure on any single reason. I would say one of the main reasons for the french defeat is that wellington had a far more realistic idea of his own, his generals and his troops ability than what napoleon did. Also lets face it, Napoleon made a bit of a mess choosing the right officers for the jobs. Ney would probably have been better off chasing the retreating prussians after ligny and where in gods name was davout?