Special formations

**sanguin** · May 20, 2011, 10:00 AM

Hi!

I know there were a few topics on this but i read them and didnt find the infos i wanted to know (Readme neither) so i'll ask anyway.

So, i'd like to know what exact effect does shield wall. I know how to use it (hold off Hannibal with heroic victory lol).

Is cantabrian circle (or whatever its called, the thingie that missile cavalry do) any good? seem to me running in circles and shooting 1 arrow at a time is not veary effective (at least it wasnt in vanilla rome). is it in this mod?

thx

**czePowerslave** · May 20, 2011, 01:52 PM

Shield wall is awesome against barbarian troopers and to degree against any infantry but vulnerable to missile fire and cavalry charges but VERY effective early game against Gauls.

Circle is great and helps alot, maybe they do not fire that much, but can take the fire quite effectively for nearly no losses and are awesome to tackle enemy missile troops. Its cavalry afterall, it can haz charge.

**Zel408** · May 20, 2011, 06:00 PM

Shield wall less effective against cavalry? Really? I always put my spearmen in shield wall before a charge.

**czePowerslave** · May 21, 2011, 07:24 AM

I am talking about regular cohorts, spearmen by default are kind of supposed to be anti-cavalry.

**Zel408** · May 23, 2011, 06:45 PM

So loose formation against cavalry? I'll have to test this.

**sanguin** · May 24, 2011, 04:53 AM

well, they prob dont hit as many men when they charge in. but you should close up after the charge

**czePowerslave** · May 27, 2011, 01:44 AM

I rather have normal formation since when barbarians charge combined, there aint better way.

**tanglebones** · May 29, 2011, 10:03 AM

What i would really like to see in SPQR is the ability to create/save custom formations. I never fight the Gauls using the same formation and units that i would with say Carthage or Greece, so basically my legion unit loadout is always the same depending on which faction that legion is engaged with, so having the ability to select say 'Carthage Formation' or 'Gaul Formation' from a custom menu would help a great deal during the Prepare for Battle period.

**sanguin** · May 29, 2011, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by tanglebones

What i would really like to see in SPQR is the ability to create/save custom formations. I never fight the Gauls using the same formation and units that i would with say Carthage or Greece, so basically my legion unit loadout is always the same depending on which faction that legion is engaged with, so having the ability to select say 'Carthage Formation' or 'Gaul Formation' from a custom menu would help a great deal during the Prepare for Battle period.

don't think its possible to make

**Athenogoras** · May 29, 2011, 01:28 PM

Tanglebones: It is possible. The relevant file is descr_formations.txt. Instead of the vanilla playerformations(shown on the battle-interface) you can make your own.

**tanglebones** · May 30, 2011, 09:18 AM

Thanks for the info Athenogoras. I've found the file, i guess i could give it a try but i'm no whizz at editing this stuff and would probably make a complete arse of it if i'm honest.

I'm glad you see my point though, i mean at the moment i'm fighting 2 or 3 battles per turn, and repeating my same personal preferences such as shield wall, fire at will and skirmish modes, organising Inf lines, skirmish and cavalry positions ect, does get a little tiring - all that with just one mouse click would be like a dream come true for me.

So basically i should start by renaming say "begin_formation simple_line" with "begin_formation simple_gaul" and then edit the values within that formation to craft my own unique formation to be used in-game when fighting Gauls, something like that?

Apologies if i've deviated off topic slightly,...