Hey, look! It's another reason why I hate ROTS!

[The Useless Member]

So, my naginta attendants had a morale of 8 (due to general traits)

So my enemy had about 5 or 6 sword attendants.

For some reason, when my nagintas saw those sword attendants, they pussied out and ran. The thing that pissed me off was that due to where they were recruited, they had a BETTER melee attack than the sword attendants. But somehow, the enemy had a unit of levy that had 53 men, and they didn't route.

I just don't see how and why it happened, it really pissed me off due to the fact that they're "supposed" to be "trained" soldiers.

It all started when one unit got down to 73. So, the lowest unit I could find of the enemy on the battlefield was (enemy) 53-levy, (me) 73-attendants.

Would anyone have any theories as to why this happened? Have you encountered it yourself?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[daniu]

You got yourself get wrapped around the flank - which has a huge impact on morale - and left your general so far away that he couldn't encourage your units; they were out of his area of influence.
His Naginata Levys did have one of his generals nearby.
Once your units break, the others will get a morale impact too ("friends fleeing") = chain rout.

Fighting stats don't go into morale.

[The Useless Member]

You got yourself get wrapped around the flank - which has a huge impact on morale - and left your general so far away that he couldn't encourage your units; they were out of his area of influence.
His Naginata Levys did have one of his generals nearby.
Once your units break, the others will get a morale impact too ("friends fleeing") = chain rout.

Fighting stats don't go into morale.

Yeah, but they all didn't get flanked. I've never seen a unit with that many men run because they got flanked. Or in any situation a matter of fact.

[daniu]

Yeah, but they all didn't get flanked.

That was what I was saying in the second part. After the ones that did get flanked started to break, they take the others with them.

I've never seen a unit with that many men run because they got flanked. Or in any situation a matter of fact.

I've seen Bow Ashigaru (original Shogun 2) break with 120 men without ever getting into contact, just because they didn't have anyone near and having their flanks exposed.
I always saw the Attendents from RotS as being worse than Ashigaru, but tbh haven't played that too much. I don't like it too much either, but the morale system seems to work fine for the most part across all games.

It can be frustrating at time of course

[The Useless Member]

That was what I was saying in the second part. After the ones that did get flanked started to break, they take the others with them.

I've seen Bow Ashigaru (original Shogun 2) break with 120 men without ever getting into contact, just because they didn't have anyone near and having their flanks exposed.
I always saw the Attendents from RotS as being worse than Ashigaru, but tbh haven't played that too much. I don't like it too much either, but the morale system seems to work fine for the most part across all games.

It can be frustrating at time of course

I would've rather had the invasion of korea.

Kind of like a Penisula camapign, Japanese style.

[BeastG33]

Why did you have your general on the hill a thousand miles from the battle? If you don't want to risk him, you can at least keep him close to the main line so he encourages your men. Archers might get a few of his bodyguards if they even focus their fire on him, but they won't take out your general himself.

I'm getting towards the end of a Hattori campaign now in Shogun 2 and my daiymo is fully vetted w/ bodyguard expanded in size due to traits and two chevrons + circle veterancy (haha, don't know how else to describe XP). I pretty much have him rallying and inspiring troops non-stop throughout battles, crashing into the flanks of the main melee line and bulldozing enemy skirmishers. helps that he "instills fear" in their units as well.

[Humble Warrior]

You got yourself get wrapped around the flank - which has a huge impact on morale - and left your general so far away that he couldn't encourage your units; they were out of his area of influence.
His Naginata Levys did have one of his generals nearby.
Once your units break, the others will get a morale impact too ("friends fleeing") = chain rout.

Fighting stats don't go into morale.

Pretty much what he said.

[Alkaline Earth]

That's a darn shame,

[Noif de Bodemloze]

Yep, your general won't stand and watch his comrades morales drops and soon retreating. That's important in Shogun 2 that you have general in your army who give morale to fight longer until dead. Agree with daniu

[crunchyfrog]

pwned.

[Condottiere 40K]

To do them justice, in multiplayer the Naginata Attendants make respectable cannon fodder.

[General Maximus]

To do them justice, in multiplayer the Naginata Attendants make respectable cannon fodder.

Yes, they are great at holding off the enemy line for enough time for you to go behind and poke them.

Even Naginata Levy can hold the enemy line for some time. Good thing to say about them that "the dead cost nothing".

[Humble Warrior]

You have to keep the General close as said. I tend to keep him safely behind, but move him to any dangerous or panicky areas. At the same time, the enemy will want to kill him too, so you must manage him. It might be annoying, but it makes a lot of sense. the General, for the battle, is YOU. You can`t keep him miles away, because everyone will rout as soon as something goes wrong, yet you have to make him keep out of the way of getting killed.

Just like in the real wars with real Generals. Now you`ve learned something.

The only time an army will not instantly rout if your General is miles away is if you have Elite units or high veteran units. Elite Units will encourage men to stand their ground, although are still subject to cracking if under too much pressure with no General, just like in reality.

[Hikaru Genji]

Adding to Humble Warrior's post, or rather specifying, during the Gempei War battles were basically skirmishes in which opposing samurai attempted to seek out a worthy opponent, kill him, and take his head to add to his own prestige. Once the samurai, specifically the leaders, were dead, the battle was basically over. Foot troops counted for very little, to the point where they weren't even recorded in the list of men in an army. So, it's not just a silly game feature, but a fairly well replicated model of real battles of the era.

[General Maximus]

Adding to Humble Warrior's post, or rather specifying, during the Gempei War battles were basically skirmishes in which opposing samurai attempted to seek out a worthy opponent, kill him, and take his head to add to his own prestige. Once the samurai, specifically the leaders, were dead, the battle was basically over. Foot troops counted for very little, to the point where they weren't even recorded in the list of men in an army. So, it's not just a silly game feature, but a fairly well replicated model of real battles of the era.

Ah, now I see why they made most troops look like farmers and peasants, probably to add a great difference between Samurai and normal troops. They march in loose formations, never in a proper line and cavalry could easily pass through them, and they look like farmers who were doing their job until the battle started on 'their' field. They went inside the farmhouse building, grabbed a pointy stick and came to fight.

Sengoku-era troops don't look like peasants, because the system you said about must have ended by then.

[Condottiere 40K]

Not quite, though Oda's and Hideyoshi's Sword Hunts seemed to have capped that option, plus with Ashigaru becoming an integral part of Daimyos' military forces, specialization became more important rather than maintaining militias.

[General Maximus]

The good thing is that every Samurai is a master bowman, and they can horse-archer anyone. Plus they are as well armored compared to later units.

[The Useless Member]

I got rid of samurai.

The AI kept spamming them.