auto-solve battles

[The excited one]

when i play MTW2 and what ever mod associated with it when i fight against an enemy faction if the ratio is like 2:1 or even 3: 1 i will auto -resolve the battle since i out numbered them easily and also save time from playing battle since large battles tend to lag a-bit, but when i got spare time i actually play the game but one day when i finish the battle the computer got stuck and i had to restart the damn thing, frustrated i chose auto-resolve but something happen, the casualties from auto-resolve battles are lower than what i had played? how does auto-solve battles work i've been wondering for some while...... and how does the computer calculate the chances of winning the the ratio strength of the battle as well as casualties of both sides.....

btw i was playing H/H

[AJStoner]

General's command, number of troops, types of troops relative to the other force, and terrain are the major factors in setting odds. Not really sure how the casualty figures are arrived at but its likely a simple algorithm based on the calculated win-ratio.

It has been my impression also that the game sticks it to you a bit if you auto-resolve a lot of battles--but that is purely anecdotal.

[Delvecchio1975]

Apart from that some troop types disproportionally influence battles: the first rule is that heavy troop types have more 'input' than light troops, and larger units (amount of men) have a bigger impact as well. Basically if you have a full stack of heavy infantry, it will always beat a full stack of horse archers. When you'd fight that battle yourself, there would be many ways to beat the heavy infantry stack. Even the AI fighting by itself gets very different results compared to auto-resolve.

[The excited one]

no wonder auto-solve had lower casualties than i actually play that damn battle

[Ishan]

When auto resolving make sure your troops are arranged in order to suffer less casualties that is weak melee units like horse archers at last.

[Delvecchio1975]

When auto resolving make sure your troops are arranged in order to suffer less casualties that is weak melee units like horse archers at last.

heavy infantry -> light infantry -> heavy cavalry -> light cavalry -> javelins -> javelin cavalry -> crossbows -> archers -> archer cavalry -> artillery!

[The excited one]

ohhhhhhh now this is interesting thanks guy now i m too lazy to play battles anymore to save time and units !!!

[StealthFox]

When auto resolving make sure your troops are arranged in order to suffer less casualties that is weak melee units like horse archers at last.

heavy infantry -> light infantry -> heavy cavalry -> light cavalry -> javelins -> javelin cavalry -> crossbows -> archers -> archer cavalry -> artillery!

The order you have your troops in on the campaign map actually has an affect on autoresolve? Hmm, I'll have to try that.

[Delvecchio1975]

The order you have your troops in on the campaign map actually has an affect on autoresolve? Hmm, I'll have to try that.

the system skips the first unit (usually a general or family member, so they don't die every time), and then places the second one against the AI's second one, the third against the third, and so on. This is why the first units in line always get the heaviest hit, and this is why you need to put your heavy infantry there. If your weaker units take that hit, it could annihilate them (or rout them, which would leave only a few men), and then your heavier units at the back would STILL have to do the heavy work ...

[Ishan]

Yes it does and elephants having the most drastic effect on auto resolves so not worth doing it against Timurids rather better off doing it on battle map. Because the hit points of elephants are taken into account that is 6 (that's insane) as normally for other animals\mounts it's zero. Only Generals have greater than 1 hit points and misc units like Canons of Holy Sepulchre.

[StealthFox]

Isn't that actually a military tactic?
Let the light infantry weaken the enemy and then let the heavy infantry mop up. Financially it would also be better to let the light infantry take the casualties since they are cheaper to train.

[Bringer Of Storms]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=484603

People did tests on battle and campaign difficulty and how they affect Auto-Resolve.

[The excited one]

ohhhhh nice thanks for this man

[Domen123]

When auto resolving make sure your troops are arranged in order to suffer less casualties that is weak melee units like horse archers at last
heavy infantry -> light infantry -> heavy cavalry -> light cavalry -> javelins -> javelin cavalry -> crossbows -> archers -> archer cavalry -> artillery!

the system skips the first unit (usually a general or family member, so they don't die every time), and then places the second one against the AI's second one, the third against the third, and so on. This is why the first units in line always get the heaviest hit, and this is why you need to put your heavy infantry there. If your weaker units take that hit, it could annihilate them (or rout them, which would leave only a few men), and then your heavier units at the back would STILL have to do the heavy work ...

And what if there is going to be a city defence in auto-resolve mod?

Does auto-resolving for city defence work differently than in open-field battles (maybe missile units perform better in defence of cities / castles?).

For example I have the following situation in a "Kingdoms: Crusades" hotseat campaign with auito-resolved battles - Turks are going to attack my city next turn. I have the following units to deploy to defend that city (inside and outside just next to the city - so that these armies will join the battle as reinforcements when the Turks will assault the city):

Infantry:

- 1 x Canons of the Holy Sepulcher
- 11 x Dismounted Knights of Antioch
- 14 x Edessan squires
- 6 x Hospitaller Sergeants / Crusader Sergeants
- 1 x Hospitaller Crossbowmen
- 4 x Sodeer Archers
- 6 x Antioch Militia
- 5 x Syrian Militia (4 of them get free upkeep when inside Antioch)
- 4 x Pilgrims

Cavalry:

- 6 x Knights of Antioch
- 1 x Turkopoles

Artillery:

- 1 x Ballista

And 5 generals in the neighbourhood, including only 1 night fighter (so I will deploy him outside the city - Turks can storm the city only from one side, so they won't attack him - but when they attack the city, he will join the battle, even if they choose to fight a night battle).

Now question is - which of these units should I put inside the city and which outside the city to be most efficient?

If I was going to fight this battle personally (instead of auto-resolving) I would put all archers and crossbowmen inside the city, while for example all cavalry outside the city - to the reinforcements. But is this also the best choice in auto-resolve battle?

And what should be the order in which units inside the city are arranged - the same as that given above for open field battles?

[Delvecchio1975]

Can't answer that entirely, especially when it comes to dividing units over two stacks. What I DO know is that you should arrange your units inside the city in the same way as mentioned before, from heavy to light. This can get annoying inside cities as the free upkeep units move all the way to the back automatically ...

If you leave all your cavalry outside they'll take heavy (and expensive) losses as their numbers are so low. I think (read: think) the best way is to have two balanced stacks - inside and outside your city - so you both can take losses while still inflicting serious damage.

[Domen123]

Ok, thanks for advice Delvecchio.

[Sitalkes]

Well that's all very interesting, it always amazed me how accurate the casualty figures can be for an auto-resolve where some terrain or other stratagem can't be used - I sometimes save the game, do the auto-resolve, and look to see if the game thinks I will win or lose, then reload the game and decide to commit to battle or not and the predicted casualties can be phenomonally accurate. You guys forgot to mention how a general with a lot of stars is worth a bucket load of troops in an auto-resolve, the general's star rating alone is often what decides those battles.

[Delvecchio1975]

You guys forgot to mention how a general with a lot of stars is worth a bucket load of troops in an auto-resolve, the general's star rating alone is often what decides those battles.

Very very very true - forgot to mention that

[Domen123]

BTW:

heavy infantry -> light infantry -> heavy cavalry -> light cavalry -> javelins -> javelin cavalry -> crossbows -> archers -> archer cavalry -> artillery!

Does this order also apply to Kingdoms: Americas campaign, Indian factions?

Except of crossbows, heavy cavalry and artillery of course (because Indians don't have them).

[Domen123]

I sometimes save the game, do the auto-resolve, and look to see if the game thinks I will win or lose, then reload the game and decide to commit to battle or not and the predicted casualties can be phenomonally accurate.

If you get the same (or very similar) number of casualties all the time, that's because you do the save / load operation wrongly.

To get a different result (= different number of casualties and / or different scale of defeat / victory), you should save the game before the battle, auto-resolve it, then load the saved game - then SAVE IT AGAIN (this is crucial) - and only then load the (once again saved) game - and then auto-resolve it for the 2nd time.

You will usually get a different result by doing this.

But of course there are 20 or 30 possible different results for a particular battle (it also depends on force ratio and other factors - for a particular battle) - and if you will save / load enough number of times, you will start to get the same results as in your first attempts.

I noticed that when you save / load & auto-resolve the same battle for numerous times, the results are either gradually better or gradually worse - and after certain number of save / load operations, you start to get the initial results again (so I think that there is a limited number of possible results for a particular battle).

And also another hint - results of sea battles are generally much more unpredictable than results of land battles.

For example you can get a victory (but usually after many attempts) in a sea battle even with 1 : 3 force ratio.

On the other hand in land battles it is hard to get victory even with 2 : 3 force ratio (unless you have a much better general or much more troops - because number of troops also count, if you have 6000 troops of very poor type vs 2500 soldiers of very good type, you can still win, even if the game shows that force ratio is unfavourable for you - but of course you will win under heavy casualties).