Slitherine

Do units retreat in random directions and random distances?
For example (below) my infantry unit was at position '1', but after being clobbered by the AI units from the white arrows, he retreated three hexes along the green arrow to position '2'.
Is there any reason why he didn't retreat in another direction for a shorter distance?

PoorOldSpike wrote: ↑Wed Oct 29, 2025 8:47 pm Do units retreat in random directions and random distances?
For example (below) my infantry unit was at position '1', but after being clobbered by the AI units from the white arrows, he retreated three hexes along the green arrow to position '2'.
Is there any reason why he didn't retreat in another direction for a shorter distance?

Quoting the manual: Units will attempt to retreat in a direction away from the attacker, and may retreat multiple hexes to reach safety.. If you observe the situation on your screenshot you will notice that two other possible hexes, the one on the left of the starting one and the one top-right, were all within enemy zone of control. Thus, your unit took the only route that did not lead into enemy ZOC and was not blocked by enemy units. Distance is also not random. The unit only traveled so far as other options were blocked.

There was even a topic in the past where we tried to explore this mechanic: viewtopic.php?t=108506 and in the end did not manage to figure out what decides the chosen hex if there are two equally viable ones. The observation was that there is no randomness in that case, the unit will always choose the same hex based on some sort of pre-determined rule.

Thanks, so although units will tend to retreat in certain directions, there's also a random element that makes forecasting their exact path unpredictable..
What divine words of wisdom can you give us grasshopper?

After 2000 hours thats still a thing I might never understand. There are so often situations when an unit is retreating in the worst possible direction without any reason. Imo you could call this feature at least a little bit buggy

DefiantXYX wrote: ↑Fri Oct 31, 2025 9:21 am After 2000 hours thats still a thing I might never understand. There are so often situations when an unit is retreating in the worst possible direction without any reason. Imo you could call this feature at least a little bit buggy

Perhaps retreats (and possibly other things) have been changed in game updates, but the manual hasn't been updated too?
PS- Here's one of the tips that appear at the bottom of the screen during the current game boot up, I don't know if it's still valid-

PoorOldSpike wrote: ↑Fri Oct 31, 2025 9:32 pm

DefiantXYX wrote: ↑Fri Oct 31, 2025 9:21 am After 2000 hours thats still a thing I might never understand. There are so often situations when an unit is retreating in the worst possible direction without any reason. Imo you could call this feature at least a little bit buggy

Perhaps retreats (and possibly other things) have been changed in game updates, but the manual hasn't been updated too?
PS- Here's one of the tips that appear at the bottom of the screen during the current game boot up, I don't know if it's still valid-

This is still valid. The only case where the rules become a bit murky is if there is more than one hex not in enemy zone of control, as that's when the occasional strange behavior was observed.