formations in darth mod

[m5000]

hello, at last, i can post

in darthmod, the formation concept has been changed completely, which frankly speaking is a bit confusing, and the worst thing is that altough the mod is one of the best i've seen as far as playing and challenge is concerned (at last i can have a serious and difficult game with this mod, one in which i can actually lose), it's at the same time one of the worst i've seen as far as readme info is concerned, there are so many changes which don't seem to be explained anywhere in the available readmes, even the new campaigns don't have any kind of description in the game... , but let's get to the point...

1. so now there are these 2 new formations - protective and normal - i never know when thery are on or off (this is so confusing probably because different units may react differently - some combine, some get loose) - when is e.g protective formation activated - when the little icon shows the soldiers standing close to one another or away from one another?? in other words, is the protective formation the counterpart of vanilla loose formation or tight formation as far as the icon is concerned ?

2. also, i've gathered some info from various posts regarding different formation in DarthMod (the form may be slightly changed):

DarthMod Formations

- Protective formation - better cohesion. The engine understands that and makes it very difficult to disrupt, and understands overlapping of shields. So, good for heavy units when they combine...better for lighter to get loose. Have more standing endurance but less mobility and can have more casualities in the process. In DarthMod protective formation is different according to unit type. Heavy units combine while light stretch.

- Normal formation - units more mobile and can surround the enemy formation better and produce more casualties. But will have more vulnerability in sudden charge blows.

(but what does it mean practically? does it mean that protectivve formation is always better for defence and normal better for attacking?)


- Guard mode - units defend rather than attack, will not chase, have very good frontal defense and vulnerable flanks since they are keeping their facing to your commands. Use this to withstand frontal assault with less troops while your excess troops flanks the enemy.

(does it mean that protective formation should go well with the guard mode?? because they both seem to me more defensive...)

- Free mode - units are self depended and attack what it attacks them. Can be found in the corner of the map if you neglect them but have better lasting ability if have to fight multiple enemy units

(better for attack i guess)



maybe someone more experienced could share their ideas about it?



regards

[Titus Protius]

if you have barbarian invasion then you will be familiar with shield wall. protective formation is simply the shield wall but i think its been improved not sure. the way i no that it is active is by simple moving over the icon and if protective formation is activated then it will say normal formation to go back to normal formation.
as for the army formations, Darth has made all these himself and improved the gameplay and look of battles immmensly. the link below is the formations pack page but tells you a little about the formations.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62465
also in C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War there are the readme files that you can read for past versions upto 8.1. just take a little look and have a read.
i dont really no that much about it but maybe Darth, wipeout or somebody else can tell you
what you need to no with detail.

I find that Protective formation can sometimes be best for defence and i do not attack whilest in protective formation because the enemy do easily surround you and your trapped. normal formation is what i usually use because the enmy can not over power and flank you. i do like protective formation when defending against sieges beacuase its a small space and you can use it to a good advantage.

[m5000]

...the way i no that it is active is by simple moving over the icon and if protective formation is activated then it will say normal formation to go back to normal formation...

ok, so i understand that the text that appears over the icon doesn't say which formation IS activated now, but which WILL BE activated when i actually click the icon?

[DARTH VADER]

Finally! You did manage it. Will not e-mail you now.

The quotes of mine you founded and type in your thread are self explainatory.

The idea of protective formation is to give protection to units according to their strength.
So heavy units with big shields are having big bonuses when they compine and overlap their shields. The light units will not gain anything from this due to their also light mass which makes them break to easily. So they expands as normaly and this is an advantage as well since they isolate the attacking units.

This pseudo-shield wall formation to selective units is adapted to DarthMod with combination of stats and mass settings for a true protective feeling.
All the other you quote are also explaining.

What it confuses you is the lack of different icon than this of vanilla loose/tight formation only to be get used to it later.

I was not having time to fix icons for it so I only changed the text.

DarthMod as you say has a lot to be found while you play since I did not have time to enrich the menus with much text.

As you say the most important thing, gameplay and challenge is fine implemented so that compensates

[m5000]

...As you say the most important thing, gameplay and challenge is fine implemented so that compensates

yes, your mod does make a difference

[DARTH VADER]

Also for romans I use mix of tactics according to battle and the faction.

For barbarians I do the following:

Mostly I use my manipular formation in guard-protective formation to defend.
When the heavy mass advances I use my velites-slingers to challenge them sooner and attack in more aggressive manner.

When they are near, the hastati are ordered to fire-at-will and unleash pilum death. They do not advance and order my principes (second row) with alt-click to slowly advance and fill the gaps or to instantly pilum charge the front line barbarians.

Once the batte line is fixed, the skirmishers are deployed in the flanks and kill hundrends of barbarians with flank fire.

If all goes well, the battle is finished with me as winner.
If my front is collapsing by barbarian superiority I use my triarii or general reserves to save the battle filling the gaps or flank attacking.

For greek-phalanx I do not use this so often and instead I use very mobile tactics to quickly flank-pilum charge them in normal formation (not protective) so to be more wide, and not guard mode.

So you see you have to find this yourself.
It is just there as an option.