Giving ground/orderly retreat command.Im asking for third time now!

[Jedi]

A post on here and a view at my post log reminded me that i have asked for this feature now for three total War games!

Napoleon Totalwar
Shogun 2
Rome II

So basically as everyone knows the backwards arrow command issues movement backwards commands but the problem has always been the unit will turn thier backs on the enemy and move backwards a few steps and thus suffer a lot of casualties due to no armor on thier backs.This will be futher penalized in Rome II as the new combat stats system and armor will count from the front and sides especially for shields.

So if one wants to fall back in a retreating battle formation to the red line or if you want to re-live the battle of Cannae and have your center fall back slowly and thus envelop the romans it simply will not work.Your men will turn thier backs break formations and lots will die if you attempt to give ground currently.Not very good for what is a very basic command for any semi competant infantry unit.

I cannot think of a better time to have this coded in.Now that CA have talked about the unit cohesion feature which would tie in brilliantly for high level infantry units wanting to lure the enemy into an envelopment.Please support this thread in the hope CA might consider this! Thankyou

[Big Brown Bear]

I've been wanting this feature in TW games for a long time too. It could be used to very good effect in tactical battles!

[jamreal18]

You can just charge those who are in the flanks to envelope them instead...

Where can you use this feature aside from battle of cannae anyway?...

[Jedi]

You can just charge those who are in the flanks to envelope them instead...

Where can you use this feature aside from battle of cannae anyway?...

Lots of places.What if you have no one on the flanks? How do u lure them in creating a horse shoe formation without a center giving ground? U have to turn your back and run and get stabbed in your back!

Also fighting a phalanx as romans.You want to be using roman infantry to skirmish with the phalanx not stand there and get demolished.I would want a small thin line maybe 3 deep to skirmish with it and pin it while the rest of the army attacked the flanks in numbers.Falling back or giving ground would be needed to stop the 3 man deep line getting stabbed in the back with the pikes when running.

Or if i simply want someone to come to me i can form up let him get close then start to back peddle slowly until i reach my prefferred destination.Otherwise i have to run and he can see my plan clearly is not to fight him but to lure him to perhaps a bit of rough ground.I could see that and say well ok then im simply going to stand here and watch u go on the hill first without me going in and you running.It is much less obvious if u let you get close and slowly move.Some people might not even notice it in MP if done correctly.

[Big Brown Bear]

Where can you use this feature aside from battle of cannae anyway?...

An ordered retreat whilst waiting for support from reserve/reinforcement troops.
While defending multiple streets in a siege battle, to allow all of your troops to fall back to a capture point at the same time without turning their backs and getting slaughtered.
Moving back down a hill to try and draw your opponent off of it, without exposing your troops to missile fire.

The possibilities are countless, limited only by your imagination and tactical nous.

[triptyck]

there have been times where i like to pull back my front line, and extend the skirmish... especially when facing a slow moving phalanx.

sure would be great if they could do it without exposing their backs to fire.

[Karnil Vark Khaitan]

I like it.

[SirFork]

Definitely a must-have feature.

[Murfmurf]

Yep /signed. Been wanting this for a long time.

[Steel*Faith]

This is a feature that is a must add at this point, especially in this period of warfare. This kind of feature would make tactical battle so much deeper in so many ways; I can't say how many battles I've played in TW games where I wanted to rotate a unit from the front lines, and move in a fresh unit to replace them, but couldn't because that would mean taking huge losses to men or moral by turning your troops backs on the enemy.

To expand on this, I would like there to be a type of formation, for Roman legions only, where one unit of Legionaries can rotate their front line men back and have them replaced by the row behind them. As seen in this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbSa9ZvSMaQ

Where can you use this feature aside from battle of cannae anyway?...

Seriously?

[Jedi]

This is a feature that is a must add at this point, especially in this period of warfare. This kind of feature would make tactical battle so much deeper in so many ways; I can't say how many battles I've played in TW games where I wanted to rotate a unit from the front lines, and move in a fresh unit to replace them, but couldn't because that would mean taking huge losses to men or moral by turning your troops backs on the enemy.

To expand on this, I would like there to be a type of formation, for Roman legions only, where one unit of Legionaries can rotate their front line men back and have them replaced by the row behind them. As seen in this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbSa9ZvSMaQ



Seriously?

Yes i forgot about the roman rotation.I dont think that will make it into the game but it would really buff the AI by keeping its troops fresh against the player as the men always rotate ranks.But as you said and know when trying to do this without the said feature being coded in by CA and thier animators we would have to use our own rotation of micro rotating our legions with the backwards command.It sucks to watch them die with swords in thier backs though when this is something Rome was famous for.

Even if they cannot code in real life rotation they could just stop people turning thier backs.Even if it was an exclusive Roman only feature it would still be miles better than not having it.You would actually see people have multiple lines of infantry and rotating them in multiplayer for the freshness and morale bonus of thier troops.

It would make Rome herself a real challange to conquer when the campaign AI controls her as well.No longer would you be able to exploit the feature yourself while leaving the AI bogged down and tired.Im sure there are a lot more features where it can become essential also.I just cannot think of anything not mentioned in the thread yet.

[T-Duke]

Totally agree. Such a feature should be simply a "must feature" in ETW and NTW and we miss it. I seriously doubt they're going to add it in Rome II

[CoLLimeN]

MUST HAVE !

[CnConrad]

This would be handy and seemingly not that hard to code in

[fightermedic]

orderly retreat is a must have

[TR00PER7]

perhaps if the unit is close to combat or in combat, selecting the unit and ordering it to move backwards but not running will have them back away slowly from the enemy but with their shields facing the enemy.

[Sixer19]

you are very wise

[I2ain_2_Battle]

i agree would love to see this make it in Rome 2. and it shouldn't be too god awful to make it happen.. i wonder what jack lusted thinks about this idea?

[The Black Ghost]

Yeah, that would be nice. It would have especially been helpful in ETW and NTW... Troops could actually back away from a fight while shooting instead of just swiveling and running.

[wrcromartie]

So if one wants to fall back in a retreating battle formation to the red line or if you want to re-live the battle of Cannae and have your center fall back slowly and thus envelop the romans it simply will not work.Your men will turn thier backs break formations and lots will die if you attempt to give ground currently.Not very good for what is a very basic command for any semi competant infantry unit.

I cannot think of a better time to have this coded in.Now that CA have talked about the unit cohesion feature which would tie in brilliantly for high level infantry units wanting to lure the enemy into an envelopment.Please support this thread in the hope CA might consider this! Thankyou

1st off - YES, I've been saying the same for some time now. Just right-clicking behind the army doesn't cut it, as your men will immediately lose cohesion and expose themselves to slaughter.

When skirmishing, it is pretty much a given that the order of battle is to engage & fall back in an orderly fashion. Slingers/javelin/bowmen all engaged in that type of "stick & move" fighting. Roman formations (usually in the checkerwise manipular) had light troops out in front of the heavy infantry. Once they had fired missiles & the enemy ws moving towards melee distance, the light troops would fall back through the lines & move to reinforce the flanks. This was pretty much the SOP for the Roman light infantryman.

For the main infantry, such a huge part of the Roman military machine was managing the stamina of their legionaries Romans (usually in the checkerwise manipular formation) would charge the first line forward (usually the 1st of three lines of heavy infantry). If they met heavy resistance, they would charge the second line forward and have the first line fall back through the gaps.

After falling back to safety, the first line could catch a breather and recover their elan. If their reserves were holding firm, they could try to maneuver and flank. If the engaged reserve started to fail, you could order them to fall back and fight with the first and/or third lines.

This type of back & forth between armies allows better tactical depth, and should penalize players who are perhaps over-aggressive and commit troops too far & too fast without thinking through the proper positioning.

Example:




http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Rom-mnpl-2.png

Also - I would suggest that a unit's ability to fall back & retain cohesian should be dependent on #1 Morale, #2 Veterancy, #3 Troop Skill (militia, profesional, etc.)