Some campaign gameplay questions

[entropyembrace]

Hi, I've been enjoying the campaigns a lot and have been really enjoying an "Italian wars" campaign of French 1526-1549 vs Spanish-Imperial 1503-1533 game to simulate the war of the league of Cognac portion of the Italian Wars. As I've been playing I've had a couple of questions I haven't been able to find answers to by searching the manual and forums.

First, how does the game determine which army withdraws from the field of battle at night fall? At first I thought this was determined by which force is attacking but I'm not sure anymore. Is it the army with highest percentage of routed forces that retreats under the cover of night?

Second is more of a tactical question. I wonder what is the best way to use artillery pieces so that they can contribute to the battle without suffering a high risk of being overrun? I have a hard time pinning down all of the Spanish-Imperial forces since the colunelas are a smaller tactical unit than my pike keils and they employ plenty of light horse. Often I end up with either Spanish infantry breaking through a hole in my line or some light horse getting around my light horse and instantly dispersing my artillery. This happens even when I end winning the battle and it's especially painful because it means that my artillery are gone for good.

Usually I leave my artillery far behind my main line in a central position with some reserves as bodyguards if I can spare them from the front but if the AI can get close they will ignore the reserves and charge the guns directly. Where should I place the guns in relation to the rest of my forces and what is the best way to defend them?

[SnuggleBunnies]

For the artillery, read the zone of control portion of the manual. You should be able to use your bodyguards to block the movement of enemy lights by facing the tiles they would need to pass through to hit your artillery. Of course, this only delays them; you'll want to bring your own lights, or your crossbows, to bring them down.

[rbodleyscott]

First, how does the game determine which army withdraws from the field of battle at night fall? At first I thought this was determined by which force is attacking but I'm not sure anymore. Is it the army with highest percentage of routed forces that retreats under the cover of night?

In "open battles" yes. In "reinforcements battles" the side that was awaiting reinforcements wins if he is not defeated by nightfall.

[entropyembrace]

For the artillery, read the zone of control portion of the manual. You should be able to use your bodyguards to block the movement of enemy lights by facing the tiles they would need to pass through to hit your artillery. Of course, this only delays them; you'll want to bring your own lights, or your crossbows, to bring them down.

Thanks for the ideas. It sounds like I really to hold a couple of light horse units back with the gendarmes or french/italian pikemen I usually use as reserves/guards. I've had a hard time using ZOC to protect the artillery because light units usually have enough movement to go around and if a breakthrough happens against my line it's usually by a landschneckt keil that can ignore ZOC.

In "open battles" yes. In "reinforcements battles" the side that was awaiting reinforcements wins if he is not defeated by nightfall.

Thank you. This helps a lot. I've lost a couple of battles simply by playing too passively when I misjudged which side would withdraw.