Grouping and moving units

[KLHII]

I was wondering if there is a mod that would allow you to group your units and move them within your turn. Example would be moving a fleet of ships (destroyers, BS, and a carrier) to a new location)? I find this to be helpful and would not weaken the gameplay.

Any suggestions or comments would be welcomed.

Moderator Action: Moved to general discussion.

 

[Babri]

I am looking for it too. Is there any mod for that ?

 

[Scios]

I like this idea a lot. It would help protect settlers, workers, siege weapons, and carriers. Good idea.

 

[Blitz66]

Oh man, I'd die for a way to group or maybe even formations for my naval units.

The one nice thing about SoDs was that they were so easy to move.

 

[Samuil]

I am not a programmer, but I can think of issues why this could not be implemented...
1. formation while moving...
You could not move your starting formation, due to the fact that you do not usually have roads all over the place, but just one line connecting cities... than terrain...
This could be implemented for a group of naval units, but other than that, I do not think its realistic to expect it being implemented
2. Protecting ranged units...
this would require some algorithm that would place ranged units at the end of a column, or on the sides... and then you would get people complaining how their ranged unit was at the back, and they wanted to skirmish first and attack right after that....
3. Unexpected sighting - what happens if the troops spot an enemy unit along the way. Do they continue or does the entire army stop to reassess the situation?
4. Enemy ranged attacks - what happens if the troops are under attack while moving (even from an enemy they can not see like airplanes or artillery) does the entire army stop, or just the injured unit. if the later, how does that affect the movement of the army, its formation, etc...

Dunno, while grouping units for movement could provide some benefit, apart from some potential for grouping Naval units, I do not see how it could be pulled off

 

[eric_]

I think it would be cool if you could put a group in a formation, ctrl + click or drag and select multiple units, then point the cursor at a given location. The group would then make its way to the new location at the speed of the slowest unit (taking terrain into consideration, so a knight would only move one tile if a longsword in the group entered a forest in that turn).

I think the trickiest part would be handling mountains, natural wonders, and other impassable obstacles, but I do think it would be doable. Also, if a unit were to spot an enemy, then the whole group should stop to reassess.

A more complex option could be to select a group of units, point them at a location, and choose one of a two options: Move in formation or beeline to the new location (all units make use of their full movement points regardless of others). If moving in formation, the whole group stops to deal with any spotted enemies. If beelining, only units within 1 or 2 tiles stop. For formation, it would be cool if a great general provided 1 extra movement point and/or allowed units to ignore terrain-based movement modifiers.

In either case, it would also be cool if you could assign each unit a final target location so that, regardless of how you move them (formation or beeline), they wind up in a context-appropriate formation. It might also be cool if there were movement formation "presets" like columns, wedge, echelon, etc.

This would allow for interesting flanking maneuvers, too, where a fast unit could attack the side or rear of a group of units moving towards a target location.

I think for any of this to really be interesting, though, cities would have to be a lot further apart. Is there a mod that imposes something like a 6 or 8 tile minimum between cities and that adjusts resource dispersal, border popping, and road maintenance accordingly?

 

[Babri]

I am not a programmer, but I can think of issues why this could not be implemented...
1. formation while moving...
You could not move your starting formation, due to the fact that you do not usually have roads all over the place, but just one line connecting cities... than terrain...
This could be implemented for a group of naval units, but other than that, I do not think its realistic to expect it being implemented
2. Protecting ranged units...
this would require some algorithm that would place ranged units at the end of a column, or on the sides... and then you would get people complaining how their ranged unit was at the back, and they wanted to skirmish first and attack right after that....
3. Unexpected sighting - what happens if the troops spot an enemy unit along the way. Do they continue or does the entire army stop to reassess the situation?
4. Enemy ranged attacks - what happens if the troops are under attack while moving (even from an enemy they can not see like airplanes or artillery) does the entire army stop, or just the injured unit. if the later, how does that affect the movement of the army, its formation, etc...

Dunno, while grouping units for movement could provide some benefit, apart from some potential for grouping Naval units, I do not see how it could be pulled off

1) Simple. The formation would move according to the slowest unit.

2) Formation is supposed to reduce micro & make it easier to move units over large distances. It is not meant to completely remove the arranging of troops. So you can send an army over a long distance through your empire, then when the target is closer, you take control of the army & arrange the units according to the situation

3) Hmm... There should be an option whether an army in formation gets alerted or not when it sees a unit.

4) Same as 3.

 

[roguepro92]

definitly think a general should get some sort of boost if a "formation movement" ability is implemented by Firaxes or a mod.
an army with general should move much swifter either ignoring terrain movement or giving +1 to movement.

 

[Scios]

definitly think a general should get some sort of boost if a "formation movement" ability is implemented by Firaxes or a mod.
an army with general should move much swifter either ignoring terrain movement or giving +1 to movement.

I'd love to see General bonuses for terrain. Maybe grouping would require a general?

 

[Dermo]

But a Settler and a military unit can occupy the same hex, you should be able to at least group the two.
Also an embarked unit should be able to share the same tile as a naval combat unit (and be grouped in a similar fashion)

 

[roguepro92]

I'd love to see General bonuses for terrain. Maybe grouping would require a general?

definitly.
only a general ca group move armies maybe?
it is what a general does.