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Defend in Battle

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:07 am
by fairfax
Just a quick question. Is there anyway to have a "defend" without the Fortifications.I'm talking about Skirmish mode, I Would love to see a defensive map where the forces simply take up a "defensive stance on a hill line or in hedgerows / behind streams or rivers.
I'm sure many defensive battles would have seen few or any fortifications......Although don't qoute me on that.

I suppose I could try and do a defensive battle in the editor. But to be honest I find this a little confusing. But I would love see a defensive battle without the long grey walls straddling the map, or a choice with/or without fortifications.What do others think ? Is there a way to turn those long grey walls off ?

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:45 pm
by TheGrayMouser
That actually would be a nice touch, not sure how practical it would be to program it to work well though.. It would almost require the terrian to be "created" in a response to the AI force generated

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:48 pm
by rbodleyscott
To a large extent every "open battle" is like that. It is up to you whether you make use of the available terrain features to defend. There is nothing forcing you to attack or fight in the open.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:25 pm
by fairfax
I was hoping the AI would do the defending. I was unaware that in an open battle I could defend and let the AI come to me. Sometimes I have waited several turns without the AI moving, so aware the clock is ticking down I have made the main moves, when I really wanted to sit behind my hedgerows.
Regarding the editor. How could I get the AI defend ? Is it easy to do ?
Thanks again for answering.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:57 pm
by rbodleyscott
fairfax wrote:I was hoping the AI would do the defending. I was unaware that in an open battle I could defend and let the AI come to me. Sometimes I have waited several turns without the AI moving, so aware the clock is ticking down I have made the main moves, when I really wanted to sit behind my hedgerows.
Regarding the editor. How could I get the AI defend ? Is it easy to do ?
Thanks again for answering.
There is no simple way in the editor to make the AI stick to a defensive position except to give the AI units Aggression 64 orders which will stop them moving at all. You could perhaps give some of them 8 order which means they would start moving when the enemy was within 4 squares.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:25 am
by deadtorius
I was hoping the AI would do the defending. I was unaware that in an open battle I could defend and let the AI come to me. Sometimes I have waited several turns without the AI moving, so aware the clock is ticking down I have made the main moves, when I really wanted to sit behind my hedgerows.
I think it normally takes about 6 turns before the AI will move against you. You can trick it into an early attack if you can hide a portion of your forces in or behind a forest or in the blind spot behind a hill. I have forced the AI to attack me in several games, wither by waiting or hiding enough troops to trigger it to move on turn 1. I think it has to perceive a large advantage for it to want to move right away on you.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:37 am
by fairfax
Thanks for the help, I will go back to the editor and try what you suggested Richard, thanks again for the help. On a final note Has anyone wrote a detailed guide of how the editor works ?

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:42 am
by rbodleyscott
fairfax wrote:Thanks for the help, I will go back to the editor and try what you suggested Richard, thanks again for the help. On a final note Has anyone wrote a detailed guide of how the editor works ?
Only what is in the manual I think.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:29 am
by fairfax
Had a look at the"Unofficial modding guide" this gives alot of information......I didn't realise that you could add diffrent values together.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:42 am
by rbodleyscott
fairfax wrote:Had a look at the"Unofficial modding guide" this gives alot of information......I didn't realise that you could add diffrent values together.
That is discussed in the manual (section 20.4).

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:50 pm
by fairfax
Trying to set up a scenerio in the editor. Basically I wish to play as Parliament Team 0 against the Royalists Team 1. However when setting up the Royalists it is "Impossible to me" to select the Cavaliers, or Veteran Cavaliers for Team 1, they will select for Team 0 but not 1. Is this a bug ? I also tried it on my Pike and Shot game, same thing there......Is there a work around ? Sorry to be a pest but to put together a Royalist Army without these iconic cavalry doesn't seem right. I may check the Skirmish mode to see what the engine uses for Royalist Cavalry.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:02 pm
by fairfax
Checked the Skirmish mode and they do appear for the Royalists. Any help or advice ?

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:09 pm
by rbodleyscott
fairfax wrote:Trying to set up a scenerio in the editor. Basically I wish to play as Parliament Team 0 against the Royalists Team 1. However when setting up the Royalists it is "Impossible to me" to select the Cavaliers, or Veteran Cavaliers for Team 1, they will select for Team 0 but not 1. Is this a bug ? I also tried it on my Pike and Shot game, same thing there......Is there a work around ? Sorry to be a pest but to put together a Royalist Army without these iconic cavalry doesn't seem right. I may check the Skirmish mode to see what the engine uses for Royalist Cavalry.
The units are divided into two lists. By default, side0 only shows the side0 unit list.

The latest version of the engine (as used in P&S Campaigns) allows you to hold down the SHIFT key when you select Side0 for unit placement. The list will then show all of the units - there will be lots of duplicates, but you will have access to the ones that are normally only shown for Side1. The same works the other way round.

This is not documented in the manual because the old manual was not updated, only the extra chapter on campaigns was added. It is, however, documented in the Patch Notes.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:24 pm
by fairfax
Yes it works............Naturally thanks for getting back so quickly.

Re: Defend in Battle

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:25 pm
by rbodleyscott
fairfax wrote:Yes it works............Naturally thanks for getting back so quickly.
I have put a stickied message about this in the Scenario section. I appreciate that it is a significant omission from the manual.