Units Retreating

[sealman]

I would like the ability to direct where my defending unit retreats to. I have had many times when my unit retreats and instead of retreating to a city or a stack of my units, it always goes to an empty tile, thus is destroyed by the next attack.

 

[judgement]

I agree.

At very least, they should be more intelligent about where they retreat to.

 

[Philips beard]

Sounds fair to me!
But what if they flee in panic, and dont have time to think ?

 

[BassDude726]

very true... i can't tell you how many times i've watched my horsemen or chariots in the early stages get ripped apart in counter-attacks because they retreated to the worst possible tile.

 

[Dell19]

I think Philips beard brings up a fair point. They may have retreated but they still lost the battle so it makes far more sense for them to scatter. A possibility would be to give certain "organised" units the special ability to make an orderly retreat by choosing which square to retreat to.

 

[BassDude726]

Or maybe have retreating capabilities increase with their status (veteran, elite). The better-trained the unit its, the less likely it is to scatter in defeat

 

[rcoutme]

Since the % chance of retreating is already incorporated into the retreat ability based on vet. status, I think that the unit should always retreat where the owning player directs (other than to an attack). If a unit 'scattered' it usually was effectively destroyed (simulated rather well by it actually being destroyed, I think).

 

[Dell19]

I feel that 1 hit point units have been broken and I believe the unit's motivation would be low so they wouldn't be particularily willing to listen to orders so I feel that they should randomly retreat as the next turn the unit has a chance to regroup, although certain organised units should have the ability to retreat together. Perhaps they could even be an ability to pillage a square as the unit retreats so the unit may have been defeated but the enemy will also be hindered.

 

[sealman]

Sounds fair to me!
But what if they flee in panic, and dont have time to think ?

True, units don't really have time to think, but I am sure that they would have some concept of some basic things like...

1) oh, that is city right there, lets hide there instead in the open fields to the left.

2) we are getting creamed here, but i know some more of our boys are that a way, lets go there instead of the open fields to the left.

3) i don't know if i can make it to the city or the army but those mountains look like a better place to hide than those open fields to the left.

(I think you can see where my units tend to retreat to)

I also think that units should not be able to retreat across a river, as they attempted to cross, they would be picked off like fish in a barrel.

 

[Arathorn]

Ah, but for every logical explanation, there's an almost-exactly opposite, equally logical explanation....

1) They expect us to to run to our city, so we'll throw 'em off and run to the open fields to the left.

2) They've cut us off from our boys that-a-way, so the only way we can run is to the open fields to the left.

3) Those mountains look inviting, but I don't think we can climb 'em fast enough. We better try hiding in the open fields to the left.

3a) Those mountains would be great but we'd visible for 100 miles as we were trying to climb -- our only prayer is running left to the fields where we can maybe duck out of sight.

(and others)


Now, a lot of this is said tongue-in-cheek, but there's a nugget of truth there, too. Retreating as a cohesive unit is hard, especially when you're being pressed. And with the abstraction of combat (which I like), we can never know what caused a local colonel/general/commander to run the way he did, but I can accept the abstraction as is...I even like it, as I view a defensive retreat as a victory regardless -- at least they have to burn two units to kill my guy.

And while I also have a tendency to agree on the river thing, there's a flip side to that coin, too.... "Let's get across this river and then burn the bridge behind us."

Arathorn

 

[The Last Conformist]

I don't like this; it adds to much micromanagement.

What you could have would have it automatically retreat to a tile with a friendly city on if able, and if not to ones with friendly units in above empty ones.

 

[Dell19]

Similar to my idea of having some unit types that are allowed to choose where they retreat. I'm not sure how its too much micromanagement though as it would be the same as moving troops to attack, just in the opposite direction.

 

[Jaca]

I don't like this; it adds to much micromanagement.

What you could have would have it automatically retreat to a tile with a friendly city on if able, and if not to ones with friendly units in above empty ones.

Yes. Perhaps when retreating, a weighted RNG could be activated instead. Just before effectively retreating the computer checks if there is any friendly city 1 tile away. If so, it gives that square a somewhat higher probability. Same for friendly units. Would that be satisfactory?

 

[Mewtarthio]

1) They expect us to to run to our city, so we'll throw 'em off and run to the open fields to the left.

Isn't that a bit like saying, "Let's have our soldiers rush out into the field wearing hula skirts and do the chicken dance, since that's the last thing they'd expect!"

 

[sealman]

Isn't that a bit like saying, "Let's have our soldiers rush out into the field wearing hula skirts and do the chicken dance, since that's the last thing they'd expect!"

That might just work

I don't like this; it adds to much micromanagement.

What you could have would have it automatically retreat to a tile with a friendly city on if able, and if not to ones with friendly units in above empty ones.

Less micromanagement than some other ideas floating around here, but I could live with that auto retreat to a tile with a friendly city/unit.

And while I also have a tendency to agree on the river thing, there's a flip side to that coin, too.... "Let's get across this river and then burn the bridge behind us."

That assumes that there is a bridge close by that has not already been burned or destroyed which leads us to a whole new level of warfare which I personally would not care to see in the Civ series.