Slitherine

Why are there no turn limits in Epic Battles? Night doesn't fall while they are ongoing?

It has never really been an issue for me till now, but I'm currently playing one of these horse army vs foot army Epic Battles where we've basically played to a draw at Turn 28, and my opponent wants to keep playing for 80 turns!

The designers can add a turn limit by editing the scenario.bsf for the battle.

Here is a list of some things you can do with the SCENARIO.BSF file:

1) Scripted AI orders: you can write more complicated AI orders than the Editor can do.
2) Reduce visibility, for the whole or part of the scenario.
3) Change the victory conditions.

4) Implement a turn limit.

5) Reinforcements (see Scenario creation guide part 9)
6) Change the numerical strength of the units
7) Change the quality rating of the units.
8 ) Allocate extra points to spend on purchasing units according to difficulty rating.
9) Allow units to leave the battlefield when they reach a map edge.
10) Hide units from view on the first turn
11) Make units static for the whole or part of a scenario.
12) Make units start the scenario Disrupted or Fragmented.
13) Enable messages to appear during the scenario.

Sure, designers can add a turn limit, but none of the Epic Battles I've played include them...just curious why?

It is because those battles were not ended by nightfall, with the exception of Carrhae, which does have a turn limit.

rbodleyscott wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 5:49 am It is because those battles were not ended by nightfall, with the exception of Carrhae, which does have a turn limit.

Did the battles continue into night or were they finished before nightfall? It would be good to have some very generous turn limits for all battles. This would solve the kind of situations 76mm is having without really affecting the authenticity of the battles. If a battle isn't solved by turn 30-40 it's most likely not being actively fought anymore and ending it is a matter of gameplay rather than history.

Frankly I'm surprised that all of the Epic Battles other than Carrhae extended past nightfall, but in any event it would sure seem reasonable to have some kind of turn limit in all games.

In my current battle I'm regrouping my scattered forces on the far side of a large map and we will now proceed to fight what is in essence a second battle, but with all of my arrows depleted, etc. And then potentially a third... I would prefer to call a draw at this point, but my opponent seems eager to continue the fight such as it is, so I can't just quit, although the whole thing is a bit ridiculous.

Also, I want to mention that this battle has been "actively fought" (both sides at 40-something % casualties), but my swarms of mounted and foot bowmen now do almost zero damage...I cannot get a cohesion check even after firing at a single unit with 5-6 bow units--and so it has to be death by a thousand cuts for every unit, until they autobreak. I also have about half my cats left but every time I succeed with them they pursue into the depth of his heavy/medium foot formation and are crushed. By this point I would have ridden off into the sunset...

76mm wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 9:11 am Also, I want to mention that this battle has been "actively fought" (both sides at 40-something % casualties), but my swarms of mounted and foot bowmen now do almost zero damage...I cannot get a cohesion check even after firing at a single unit with 5-6 bow units--and so it has to be death by a thousand cuts for every unit, until they autobreak. I also have about half my cats left but every time I succeed with them they pursue into the depth of his heavy/medium foot formation and are crushed. By this point I would have ridden off into the sunset...

What battle are you playing?

Emesa

76mm wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:23 am Frankly I'm surprised that all of the Epic Battles other than Carrhae extended past nightfall,

I don't think that is what Richard meant. I believe he was saying that all the other battles were fought to a conclusion before nightfall.

rbodleyscott wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 5:49 am It is because those battles were not ended by nightfall, with the exception of Carrhae, which does have a turn limit.

Paul59 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:11 am I don't think that is what Richard meant. I believe he was saying that all the other battles were fought to a conclusion before nightfall.

Heh, I had to re-read Richard's response a couple of times to understand what you meant...I read "were not ended by nightfall" as a quaint English way of saying "were not over by nightfall".

Either way, seems like some kind of turn limit--40 turns? 50 turns?--would make sense.

In my XL MP games, I always use 36 turns, which generally works pretty well, I think I've only had one game end as a draw, although a couple have been decided on the last turn!

Paul59 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:11 am

76mm wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:23 am Frankly I'm surprised that all of the Epic Battles other than Carrhae extended past nightfall,

I don't think that is what Richard meant. I believe he was saying that all the other battles were fought to a conclusion before nightfall.

Correct.

MVP7 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 7:46 amIt would be good to have some very generous turn limits for all battles. This would solve the kind of situations 76mm is having without really affecting the authenticity of the battles. If a battle isn't solved by turn 30-40 it's most likely not being actively fought anymore and ending it is a matter of gameplay rather than history.

We could do that, although possibly someone else would then complain about that. We will think about it.

rbodleyscott wrote: ↑Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:36 pm

MVP7 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 7:46 amIt would be good to have some very generous turn limits for all battles. This would solve the kind of situations 76mm is having without really affecting the authenticity of the battles. If a battle isn't solved by turn 30-40 it's most likely not being actively fought anymore and ending it is a matter of gameplay rather than history.

We could do that, although possibly someone else would then complain about that. We will think about it.

Presumably the opponent that 76mm mentioned in his first post would be one of those to complain!

Paul59 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:22 pm Presumably the opponent that 76mm mentioned in his first post would be one of those to complain!

Yes, being denied the ability to play to 80 turns would be egregiously unfair|a violation of his human rights|totally unrealistic|all of the above!

Now I'm in a second battle where the same thing is happening--after 12 turns my opponent has put a picket force in a strong position in front of my line and is sending the rest of his army off in an effort to pin my cav (behind his flank) against a map edge. Hey, why not, he's got all the time in the world!