Autocharge test

[RebBugler]

If the stacked regiments were heel to toe, then that's an issue. Maybe this can be looked into.

[Garnier]

With the patch, solid shot against those packed lines should be devastating. Muskets still don't do more damage against packed troops which is a downside, but it's always been that way.

But do units actually charge again after you click the retreat button?

[Michael Slaunwhite]

Hi.

Correct me if I am wrong, but was it a habit for troops to just up, and charge the enemy without receiving orders to do so? I have experienced (much to my annoyance) my men just up, and charging an enemy line which has really (in the end) had me lose valuable positions, and men.

In real life if I gave the order to hold the line, and my men suddenly charged the enemy I would personally have them all jailed, and summarily put to death for such an act of defiance, and recklessness.

This is one area I really don't think is at all realistic, but I could be wrong.

Later.

[SouthernSteel]

With the patch, solid shot against those packed lines should be devastating. Muskets still don't do more damage against packed troops which is a downside, but it's always been that way.

But do units actually charge again after you click the retreat button?

The bad thing was I brought my guns up right behind my line (peak of Culp's, being down the slope would've been worthless, but not meant for cannister) and they were shot up despite being behind my infantry :pinch: I lost every single gun, most without firing because they couldn't target the enemy units to my front, but could be targeted by them, despite my infantry being between the two.

The other bit will require more testing, I guess. I don't know if sspoom was able to try it last night or not. Still, silly that holding the top of Culp's Hill is a death trap.

[RebBugler]

The auto charge was fine tuned over weeks of testing before this game was ever released. It must occur, otherwise opposing troops would stand on top of each other shooting...this is entirely unrealistic, and frankly, stupid. We made the auto charge with as little distance between troops as realistically possible, I believe around 25 yds. The only exception being 'when units touched'. They (their flags) may be beyond that 25 yds., then wheel and touch (their ends usually), then they auto charge. You should never see a unit auto charge beyond 25 yds, unless they touch. If so, get a save, for this is a bug.

Edit: I'm talking infantry, T1 cavalry is 100 yds

[SouthernSteel]

I guess the problem I (and others) are pointing to is a unit auto-charging when a unit further away charges. So, say the enemy is 150 yards away in the open, and my unit is on a rock wall. The unit is the field is ordered to charge, and my unit responds with auto-charge, thus being drawn well off the wall and likely well out in front of my line. This can obviously be abused. I don't know that any unit has auto-charged from that distance.

The issue that sspoom had last night was that he was trying to form up and extract his troops, but as the enemy advanced on his heels, his troops kept turning back to melee, despite orders to move away from combat. Willard accused him of column charging (which we know isn't possible anymore), but really what was happening was that he couldn't keep up with 10 regiments being pulled back into melee at varying intervals (I don't really know anyone that could).

And mikesla, I hate to say it, but your command style just doesn't fit for Civil War combat. If any of your men had survived a charge they launched themselves (something which really only happened early in the war, the old salts were a lot more cautious in the later years) you'd have to find enough men to round them up and a prison to send them to. That's just not good management of your manpower. A handful of men might have been possible, but not, say, an entire regiment. What more likely you could have done is to jail whoever led it in, if they were alive which, being out front, they likely were not.

As I've said before, you just have to babysit those regiments that are being pulled off their positions. They will likely take increased casualties being pulled into the open and subjected to flanking fire as they reform (and charge, and reform, rinse, repeat) until you get them to safety, but it's better than having them routed/destroyed/captured.

[KG_Soldier]

Yes, Garnier, last night I had a unit autocharge back into melee after I gave it a retreat command.

And Parker is right, I've lately seen units (a few, anyway) autocharge from over 100 yards.

And entangled regiments do a little dancing around melee, disengage, melee.

But the real problem I see is retreating units repeatedly autocharging back into melee.

I'll send a save game file this evening when I get home.

[KG_Soldier]

As to the stacked regiments firing uphill, it most often happens (with devastating results) to units on the crest of a hill. Parker (Southern Steel) found his men in a similar situation on the Alpine map a while back. Units behind his front line couldn't fire (they weren't higher) and the enemy below had many regiments stacked one behind the other firing up.

I wasn't in the game last night.

I don't think it's a bug, just the way the game's line of sight works.

[SouthernSteel]

It's just cruel is what it is. Alas for my poor soldiers!

Partly my fault for not getting out, I just keeping wrongly putting faith in the fact that soldiers higher than others, all other things equal, should dominate.

[Marching Thru Georgia]

RebBugler wrote:

The auto charge was fine tuned over weeks of testing before this game was ever released.

Are you serious??? There are more melees now than even in the 1.0 version. The game engine is well tuned for ancients gaming, not so much for blackpowder.