Waging effective war

[CoRnJuLiOx]

Ok, this is a really basic question, but I can't seem to find the answer anywhere, not even GameFAQs. How does one move stacks of troops without having to move each individual one? I was just playing a game where Babylon declared war on me all of a sudden (no provocation, just *BAM* war) and although I was able to fend them off, I was quickly bogged down by how long it took for me to be able to move my troops from the inner cities to the borders, because I couldn't move stacks of them. I was thinking of setting up a few towns to produce offensive units, all with a common rally point and then moving the entire stack up when it was ready, but I lack the means to move an entire stack at a time. The game doesn't seem to have any context buttons (either on the bottom with 'advanced action buttons' enabled, or in the right-click menus), and none of the guides i've found are helpful. Any suggestions?

 

[Optional]

I believe you're playing 'Play the World', and there you can't move troops in stacks, as far as I know. In the 'Conquests' expansion Firaxis added a button 'move as stack'. I understand that you're missing that.

 

[CoRnJuLiOx]

I believe you're playing 'Play the World', and there you can't move troops in stacks, as far as I know. In the 'Conquests' expansion Firaxis added a button 'move as stack'. I understand that you're missing that.

CRAP. How am I supposed to win now? Is there no way to at least group the units together, so I can call up an entire group at a single button press?

 

[Aabraxan]

. . . . I was quickly bogged down by how long it took for me to be able to move my troops from the inner cities to the borders, because I couldn't move stacks of them. . . . .

CRAP. How am I supposed to win now? Is there no way to at least group the units together, so I can call up an entire group at a single button press?

CoRnJuLiOx, I'm puzzled. I don't understand how lacking stack movement will prevent you from winning. It may take you longer, in terms of playing time, to move units from Point A to Point B, but the AIs aren't making any moves while you make yours. It sounds like you're thinking in terms of real-time strategy, not turn-based strategy. Or have I misunderstood what you're saying?

Picking a good spot to gather your troops isn't a bad idea. If you can find a choke point, you can just sit and kill off AI troops until you've gathered enough of a stack to go on the offensive. Along with good attackers, pile a few arty pieces into the spot you're defending. When the AI shows up with 1-move units, pound them with arty. The AI won't usually attack with redlined units & they'll sit there waiting to die.

 

[CoRnJuLiOx]

CoRnJuLiOx, I'm puzzled. I don't understand how lacking stack movement will prevent you from winning. It may take you longer, in terms of playing time, to move units from Point A to Point B, but the AIs aren't making any moves while yo make yours. It sounds like you're thinking in terms of real-time strategy, not turn-based strategy. Or have I misunderstood what you're saying?

Picking a good spot to gather your troops isn't a bad idea. If you can find a choke point, you can just sit and kill off AI troops until you've gathered enough of a stack to go on the offensive. Along with good attackers, pile a few arty pieces into the spot you're defending. When the AI shows up with 1-move units, pound them with arty. The AI won't usually attack with redlined units & they'll sit there waiting to die.

Yeah, you're right. I guess I am thinking in terms of real-time strategy as opposed to turn-based. I played lots of C&C when I was younger. I suppose i'll get used to it over time, but now that I think about it i'm still kinda new to the whole turn-based genre. The last turn-based wargame I actually played was Shining Force for the Sega Genesis, and it was nowhere near as complex as this.

 

[Lord Emsworth]

<j> is stack movement in Vanilla and PTW. With the latest patches at least.