Thoughts on Ambushes

[Remwr]

Do you all have any thoughts on how useful ambushes will be in Rome II. Maybe it's just me, but I never used ambushes in Medieval II or Rome or any of the subsequent games in the series. For me, I hope that ambushes will feel more surprising and that the AI will make use of them in armies larger than a raiding party and that setting up ambushes will be easier.

[Greve Af Göteborg]

It would be cool if the pause function was disabled in ambush battles, giving the defender no time to properly deploy their troops from the original marching formation.

[Mage de Taverne]

That won't bother the AI ^^

Yeah ambushes were useless in previous TW, you could deploy too far from the ennemy, so that by the time you were in range, he had time to get more or less in proper formation. The only advantage was to be able to surround him, but then you needed a big army for that, so couldn't use ambushes to overcome a numerical disadvantage. Thus, useless. Hopefully with the bigger better maps and LOS, they will be better.

The ambusher should also be able to see the ennemy army before deployment, and to deploy right next to it so that the attack can begin right after the battle has begun, while the ennemy is still in marching formation.

[zagy20]

I recently did an ambush battle in Rome:Total War and I could deploy really close to the enemy although I'm not sure if it was because of Darthmod. Ambushes are extremly useful I find as even if you have lower quality troops, a quick strike on an unprepared enemy and you can cut them to pieces.

It would be cool if the pause function was disabled in ambush battles, giving the defender no time to properly deploy their troops from the original marching formation.

I like this idea however I think the entire battle may be a bit to long (unless thats what the player would prefer) but possibly 5 to 10 or so minutes so a good general will be able to survive and launch a counter attack while a poor general will get destroyed.

Another thing I have always thought about is if in an ambush the attacker has time to prepare traps and position troops while the defender deploys outside the map and comes in just as reinforcements do currently. The defender could then try to make it from point A to point B while surving the various assaults and traps. This I think could work if the AI moved in a column although a human player will probably act differently. Also if you don't know how many enemy are attacking as most are hidden then it could make the defender not worry about destroying their attackers but just getting the hell out of their.

[m_1512]

It would be cool if the pause function was disabled in ambush battles, giving the defender no time to properly deploy their troops from the original marching formation.

What if you had to use the restroom, or someone knocked on the door, or someone called on the phone?

What I would simply love is the wee bit change in the system. In RTW, the AI would simply jump on my army from the forest not caring about the numbers and strength at all. Although amusing and convenient towards winning, it does tend to take away the challenge part. Why? Because the enemy has revealed his position and showed their strength. So, why the fog of war? All I have to do is simply march the army through the dark lands and hope for weak barbarians to jump at them. But just consider the enjoyable gameplay, when you have no idea who is hiding in the forests, watching your armies.

But these are just my 2 shillings about how interesting it could be made. Anyhow, the game's looking good.

[MathiasOfAthens]

I recently did an ambush battle in Rome:Total War and I could deploy really close to the enemy although I'm not sure if it was because of Darthmod. Ambushes are extremly useful I find as even if you have lower quality troops, a quick strike on an unprepared enemy and you can cut them to pieces.

I like this idea however I think the entire battle may be a bit to long (unless thats what the player would prefer) but possibly 5 to 10 or so minutes so a good general will be able to survive and launch a counter attack while a poor general will get destroyed.

Another thing I have always thought about is if in an ambush the attacker has time to prepare traps and position troops while the defender deploys outside the map and comes in just as reinforcements do currently. The defender could then try to make it from point A to point B while surving the various assaults and traps. This I think could work if the AI moved in a column although a human player will probably act differently. Also if you don't know how many enemy are attacking as most are hidden then it could make the defender not worry about destroying their attackers but just getting the hell out of their.

CA sorted already confirmed or hinted at the possibility that the attackers in ambushes will be able to deploy traps like rolling fireballs. I can imagine more possible ambushes like spikes and hopefully ditches to stop/kill cavalry.

[DogSoldierSPQR]

I believe it has been said that if an army has been ambush, for that entire battle they will suffer a penalty but not sure how that penalty will affect things. Maybe just decrease every kind of stat a little bit or just make the moral weaker. But yeah, they should be very deadly this time as the AI will be programmed to strategically use them to devour an army of yours before they politically make a move against you.

[oppaiO_O]

i got ambushed in Shogun 2 quite a bit and got my arse kicked when i was using the bigger maps mod since they have a pretty close range when ambushed and i think Rome 2 ambushes will be even more deadly since in the Teutorburg?? video you could see that the Romans had little chance to do anything

[Mage de Taverne]

i think Rome 2 ambushes will be even more deadly since in the Teutorburg?? video you could see that the Romans had little chance to do anything

Well that's a scenario in which apparently the romans are badly outnumbered. But we can hope that you will be able to unleash flaming balls and arrows right away at the enemy before he gets a chance to react in real ambushes too.

[Dude with the Food]

Ambushing was useful in E/NTW because the enemy units stood back to back get it in crossfire even when they form up. Plus, well placed artillery can cause havoc all the way down the column.

[Sun Jetzu]

I use ambushes all the time, most of the time vanella units fall for it.

[♞Rogue General♞]

I'm just too impatient for ambushes I suppose. In Rome and M2 I'd rather have my army march/take over an enemy settlements rather than put my forces on hold a couple turns waiting, for an enemy army that might fall into my trap. And there's always the chance that the ambush won't be successful, even after all that planning.
That's not to say ambushes are not useful, but IMO if there were some changes in the ambush system to make it more rewarding for the attacker, it would be much better.

[BigHairyMelon]

Hopefully the AI can decline ambushes without the player seeing the battle screen pop up, I used to send a single unit of ashigaru ahead of my armies to root out any likely ambushes. If they decline and I don't realise it would be a nice surprise to get ambushed. There ill also be ampule opportunity for ambushes in an actual battle now that you cant see enemy troops if your soldiers don't have LOS. Although with the 20 unit limit on an army it may be a bit harder to do.

[jamreal18]

I hope units wont reveal themselves while walking in forests. I hate it in Shogun 2 where units reveal themselves then hide again.

I really dont like the arrow trails wherein you show your enemies where your archers are located. Whats the point of ambush if enemies can detect easily where your archers are because of those visible trails?

[Greve Af Göteborg]

Btw, you can still just press escape and bring up the menu to pause the game. You just can't issue any orders or look around the map.

[G.Assassin]

I like a few of the Ideas posted here.

Agree that deployment should be closer to the starting position of the defender (as per Darthmod), but would love to see that you have to get from Point A to Point B with a set amount of troops as per the Teotoburg Forrest (maybe within a set time limit).

The new LOS should help a lot to enable your troops to not be seen as easily, and allow for greater ambushes.

Also like the idea that as the defender you cannot pause and give orders as per the Legendary Mode in S2