Flank March Suggestion

[TheGrayMouser]

Hello, not sure if this is something one can determine after a skirmish battle is already underway, but if not it SHOULD be..

If the program has sent part of my force as Flank March:
A where , if anywhere, can I see what these units specifically are?
B where can I be reminded of what flank they are supposed to arrive on?

I find when I have multiple battles ongoing, I completely forgot which battles might have a flank march...

[deadtorius]

If the program has sent part of my force as Flank March:
A where , if anywhere, can I see what these units specifically are?
B where can I be reminded of what flank they are supposed to arrive on?

As far as I know it will tell you in deployment that you have a flank marching force, might even tell you what its composed of. It scrolls up across the screen right when you enter the deploy screen. I dont think it says where the flank march is coming on though. Im often surprised to see a flank force arriving myself.

[BrentBJ]

I've had it tell me a flank march is programmed and which flank but not its composition.
Is it possible to plan a flank march or is that the prerogative of the computer?

[deadtorius]

I believe its random, can happen to either side. I believe, but don't quote me, that up to 3 units can show up in a flank march. As far as my musty old memory can recall I think that is the larges flank march I have ever had.
The game picks the side of arrival and the composition of your flank marching force. You can kind of tell when you don't see units on map during deployment.
Reinforcements is a similar thing, only there your off map troops will show up on your rear map edge.

[BrentBJ]

It can be up to 5 units.
Can we please have the option to say no to a flank march and just deploy normally.
They spoil the game for me. So far of my recent flank marches I had lost one game before it arrived. in another I'm waiting for 5 units to appear and my deployment shows this.

[w_michael]

It can be up to 5 units.
Can we please have the option to say no to a flank march and just deploy normally.
They spoil the game for me. So far of my recent flank marches I had lost one game before it arrived. in another I'm waiting for 5 units to appear and my deployment shows this.

I disagree with this suggestion. The Flank March scenario not only represents a planned manoeuvre, but also unplanned ones. This could be forces garrisoning a different town who received orders to join with the main force and have to come from a different direction. It could be troops of the main force that had to march along different routes because of the congestion of the primitive road network, or the availability of bridges/fords en route.

[rbodleyscott]

It can be up to 5 units.
Can we please have the option to say no to a flank march and just deploy normally.
They spoil the game for me. So far of my recent flank marches I had lost one game before it arrived. in another I'm waiting for 5 units to appear and my deployment shows this.

I disagree with this suggestion. The Flank March scenario not only represents a planned manoeuvre, but also unplanned ones. This could be forces garrisoning a different town who received orders to join with the main force and have to come from a different direction. It could be troops of the main force that had to march along different routes because of the congestion of the primitive road network, or the availability of bridges/fords en route.

That is the intention, yes.

[TheGrayMouser]

I like em too, I just wish there was a way to see/remind you : # of units, and the flank they are to arrive on... Would be nice to know the make up of the flankers too, at least in battles where you pick your own forces.

[rbodleyscott]

I like em too, I just wish there was a way to see/remind you : # of units, and the flank they are to arrive on... Would be nice to know the make up of the flankers too, at least in battles where you pick your own forces.

Aye, well I will add it to the long wishlist.

Although, in the spirit of reinforcements arriving by a different route, you might be expecting some reinforcements from that direction but not know exactly which units will make it in time.

[w_michael]

I like em too, I just wish there was a way to see/remind you : # of units, and the flank they are to arrive on... Would be nice to know the make up of the flankers too, at least in battles where you pick your own forces.

The reminder is a good suggestion. I think that you can determine which units are in the flanking force by comparing the beginning of battle unit list to the in-battle unit list ("L" key). The flanking units are not in the L-key unit list until they arrive, so the missing units are the flankers.

[BrentBJ]

Well I've just had a 9 unit flank march arrive about 3 (for the mounted) moves from where the fighting line is and with most of the mounted behind a forest. The pike and shot were in the open but will be irrelevant for several moves.
Can I possibly suggest that if we have to put up with the dammed things that there is a maximum size of 3 or 4. 9 is ridiculous.

Brent

[rbodleyscott]

Well I've just had a 9 unit flank march arrive about 3 (for the mounted) moves from where the fighting line is and with most of the mounted behind a forest. The pike and shot were in the open but will be irrelevant for several moves.
Can I possibly suggest that if we have to put up with the dammed things that there is a maximum size of 3 or 4. 9 is ridiculous.

Brent

I am guessing that either you were playing a very large battle, or the terrain was so dense that your army had trouble deploying.

Any troops that fall off the edges of the map due to lack of room to deploy on the chosen flank are automatically converted to a flank march.

In a medium sized battle on reasonably normal terrain, a flank march would never reach 9 units, and would rarely reach 5.

[BrentBJ]

Thanks for the reply. Yes it is a large game. However the terrain except where the flank march came on is reasonably open.
At what points level do flank marches and disappearing artillery start to occur? Is it around 2500 points or lower?
Despite my muttering and moaning on the forum I'm enjoying my games, I'm just trying to understand how some things happen.

regards
Brent

[rbodleyscott]

Thanks for the reply. Yes it is a large game. However the terrain except where the flank march came on is reasonably open.

The autodeployment routine first deploys the infantry in the centre - so that the armies don't miss each other on wide maps. It then decides, according to the terrain, which flank to deploy the most cavalry on. If the terrain is open on one flank and considerably less so on the other, most of the cavalry is deployed on the open flank. If there are more units than will fit on the map on that flank in the usual formation, any that "fall off the map" are converted to a flank march. This is particularly likely to happen if you have a lot of light horse.

At what points level do disappearing artillery start to occur? Is it around 2500 points or lower?

It depends on the army. The real issue is the 64 unit per side limit. If the points level goes above enough to buy 64 units, then that side may not get its full points worth of troops because the force selection process caps the army at 64 units. However, this does not take into account the need for limbers, which are treated as separate units .If the army does have 64 units, then the program will not be able to give any heavy or medium artillery their limbers, so they will arrive to the battlefield late, if at all.

I recommend playing smaller points total battles if you are using armies with inexpensive units, so that you don't hit the 64 unit limit. We will look into resolving this issue for a future update.

The campaign system should not allow an army of more than 64 units (including limbers for the artillery) to exist. The excess units will move to another province. This issue should therefore not arise in campaign games.