Cavalry Fanning Out Like Flowers During Rout

[doctor_sound]

Hey guys,

Thank you so much for the mod. Love it. I am, however, deeply perplexed about one issue. Whenever a foot unit routs and I send my cavalry to hunt them down, the cavalry seems to fan and spread out and walk around the units, killing them once or twice with a cohesion animation and ultimately, half of the units escape the map with my stupid cavalry on-looking.

Is there any mod or file I can use to change this behaviour? While hunting routing units, the cavalry should be right on their tail, killing as they make their way towards the front.

[NosPortatArma]

i usually micromanage my rout-chasing cav, so that i first move them so they're in the blob of routers, then i tell them to attack. then when cav strays away again, i order them back aqgain, then attack. also i try to keep cav in square formation, not long line or column. that's only solution i know.

[doctor_sound]

I mean, there must be a mod or edit I can do to make this behaviour automatic right? Idk, micromanaging while engaging the main army with auxiliaries becomes difficult - end battle, no problem.

[Wolf Priest]

Unfortunately, it has to do with M2:TW pathfinding (or lack thereof), and its ether same or worse than in mod.

[QuintusSertorius]

As Wolf Priest says, default M2TW pathfinding behaviour. Not a lot you can do, and any changes you make to our pathfinding settings will have other consequential effects in other areas.

CA designed the engine for M2TW with multiple interdependent mechanics, some of which make no sense whatsoever (like kill rates being pegged to unit cohesion).

[OJ33DA]

CA designed the engine for M2TW with multiple interdependent mechanics, some of which make no sense whatsoever (like kill rates being pegged to unit cohesion).

Does this mean that there are no good "incohesive" units?

[QuintusSertorius]

Does this mean that there are no good "incohesive" units?

You misunderstand; cohesion is a single value indirectly set in the battle_config.xml. The higher you set the melee kill rate, the better unit cohesion is and vice versa. Except you don't want the highest kill rate possible, because that has impacts on the wider balance of the battle engine. The value we chose is there for a reason, for the right pace of kills that allows maneuver and morale to matter.

[Baharr]

It's more about getting used to the engine than it is about building the perfect "cohesive" running-down unit, I'm afraid.

Some tips -
1. Keep your cavalry in square rather than column or line formation when chasing routing units
2. Move your cavalry right up close to the routing unit and only then order them to attack
3. Alternatively, move your cavalry *into* the routing unit (via move command on the ground between soldiers) and then order them to attack
4. Alternatively alternatively, move your cavalry to where the routing unit will be in order to cut them off and then attack

Basically units chasing down fleeing units will often bizarrely fixate on one particular guy and chase him around, or, as you've said, fan out nonsensically if the pathfinding decided that's what it wants to do. I've been playing Medieval 2 since it first came out and it's been an issue from day one; my advice is to just find workarounds.

[Septentrionalis]

3. Alternatively, move your cavalry *into* the routing unit (via move command on the ground between soldiers) and then order them to attack

That is really good advice and works for other units as well besides cavalry. It appears that the more your pursuing individual soldiers have adjacency to routing soldiers, the faster you can take them out. If you are among them (routing soldiers surround your units), your soldiers carry out their business incredibly fast.

4. Alternatively alternatively, move your cavalry to where the routing unit will be in order to cut them off and then attack.

One thing I have noticed is that the enemy soldiers turn around if they find themselves running against cavalry. If you keep blocking their escape route with cavalry without using the cavalry to pursue, you can actually corral them and have your infantry catch up and finish them. That grants your infantry experience which normally your cav would hog up.

How I wish that killing routing enemies would not give the units experience, but fighting, and that infantry would get their fair share without the player resorting to tricks like that.

[Lusitanio]

How I wish that killing routing enemies would not give the units experience, but fighting, and that infantry would get their fair share without the player resorting to tricks like that.

You're not the only one mate...