Cannot turn unless flanking threat when there is a threat

[philo32b]

I love this game, but I'm a little confused by one of the rules. It is the "Can't make stationary turn away from priority enemy (except to reduce flank threat)" rule. I understand what this means, but the game seems to violate it, which is what confuses me. Please refer to the screenshot below:



My pike & shot unit is about to get flanked by the Imperial cavalry, and so it wishes to remain stationary but turn to the left. But the above rule is forbidding it from making this turn. Would someone please explain why it can't turn to reduce this flank threat.

[rbodleyscott]

The Kurassiers are not a flank threat, because your pike and shot unit is a Later Tercio and hence immune to the ill-effects of flank attacks.

[philo32b]

Thank you very much, I keep forgetting that. And thank you for such a great game!

[venividivici]

I can see how the game mechanics of this are hard wired for flank attacks on Later Tercio's. Surely this goes against a realistic situation though where a tercio may be engaging an enemy tercio block to its front and then receives a flank attack from enemy cavalry at the same time. I'm thinking here for example about Gustavus's Blue Brigade at Lutzen which was pinned by Comargo's infantry regiment to the front and then charged in both flanks by five companies of Imperial cavalry and utterly destroyed. Devastating flank attacks on Later Tercio's should therefore be represented in the game as no tercio, early or late, was immune from cavalry flank attack in reality.

[rbodleyscott]

I can see how the game mechanics of this are hard wired for flank attacks on Later Tercio's. Surely this goes against a realistic situation though where a tercio may be engaging an enemy tercio block to its front and then receives a flank attack from enemy cavalry at the same time. I'm thinking here for example about Gustavus's Blue Brigade at Lutzen which was pinned by Comargo's infantry regiment to the front and then charged in both flanks by five companies of Imperial cavalry and utterly destroyed. Devastating flank attacks on Later Tercio's should therefore be represented in the game as no tercio, early or late, was immune from cavalry flank attack in reality.

Perhaps, although Gustavus's Blue Brigade used a much shallower formation than Later Tercios, and is not immune to flank attacks in the game.

[venividivici]

I always assumed Later Tercio's were these shallower formations which brought more muskets to bear in the front, or are they something different in Pike and Shot ?

[rbodleyscott]

I always assumed Later Tercio's were these shallower formations which brought more muskets to bear in the front, or are they something different in Pike and Shot ?

"Later Tercio" is used in the game as a technical term for the later stage of Spanish tercio development before they adopted the shallower Dutch formation. (Once they did so, their units, though still called tercios, do not qualify as "Later Tercios" for game purposes).

For example, see this illustration of the Battle of Nieuwpoort:



The Dutch units (on the left) are in the new shallower formation developed by Maurice of Nassau, the Spanish in the more traditional deeper formation that we term "Later Tercios". Of course the depiction does not show the actual number of ranks (the Dutch Battalion formation was actually 10 ranks deep), but it can be seen that the Spanish units are 50% deeper than the Dutch units.

The shallower formation (as represented in the game by Maurikian infantry battalions and standard Pike and Shot battalions) is vulnerable to flank attacks, as such units were significantly more vulnerable to flank attacks than the earlier deeper units.

[venividivici]

Thanks for the detailed explanation Richard. So there are no examples of one of these deeper Late Tercio's ever being successfully flanked and disrupted or routed by cavalry then ?

[rbodleyscott]

Thanks for the detailed explanation Richard. So there are no examples of one of these deeper Late Tercio's ever being successfully flanked and disrupted or routed by cavalry then ?

Well they are vulnerable to rear attacks, so even if such examples can be found they could be rear attacks.