I have been playing war games for a little while. Some of them have been a challenge to learn but I have just plain struggled to understand Gallic Wars.
I have been trying small scenarios where I can move small formations and last night just about sent me over the edge. I was using 003_Gallic Raiding Party. I had my heavy infantry in line (not stacked) with 2 companies protecting my only exposed flank. It looked like a J. Had skirmishers out front, leaders behind the HI. Had 3 squads of HC ready to sweep down in the flanks of the barbarians who were doing a frontal attack.
At the start of the turn I had 98% Happy troops, 0 routed, 1 disrupted.
At the end of the turn I had 4 routed, 6 disrupted and my happy troops were down to 53%.
Next move I was toast...........
I have read all the files and am trying all the moves. I just don't get it.
Cats,
You are not alone. No mindless units in the AW series. These digital troops have a mind of their own. Commanding troops in AW is like herding cats. I could not resist the pun.
I sense that most players with war game experience expect the Hold command to be the default status. The assumption is the sergeants would maintain the troops discipline. The player thinks, "I put you in that hex, so you should stay there silly unit." Since this does happen in most war games, players are stunned to find out that their troops will break up the line when the overall operation is defending very easily. Some will advance, some will retreat ans some will hold their ground. On the surface, first contact in the AW games seems to capture what many war games lack, that chaos ensues. :hissy:
I too have have struggled fighting the AI trying to learn how to just get my troops to obey my plan.
Klaus,
Could you elaborate a little more from your experiences? How can a player use the hold command and when not to use it to maintain a defensive position?
Dog Soldier
Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything.
- Wyatt Earp
in case you issue this order, your troops will hold the ground, but they don´t fight, just block !! A good defensive position depends on terrain, place your troops on higher ground. Send out light Infantry, don´t forget to place "skirmish" as last order. Archers, that have not moved can fire with high accuracy at long range, very dangerous for unshielded troops. Make sure to form a "wedge" before you engage the enemy, in case the specific unit is eligible to change to this formation. If not choose "Line formation". NEVER engage the enemy in column formation, this is a formation for marching !
Cats Wrote:I have read all the files and am trying all the moves. I just don't get it.
Is anyone else struggling with this game?
Hey Cats:
I understand how you feel, believe me. This is not your ordinary learning curve. I've been struggling with Punic Wars for a while now and am just getting to the point where I can beat the AI - barely - in a few simple scenarios. Hang in there! It is truly worth the effort.
was your HI arrayed in Line Formation or Column ?
What about the terrain ?
Have you issued a "Hold"order ?
I really enjoy playing Gallic Wars, particulary the Slave Wars.
Cheers, Klaus
JR,
Had the HI arrayed in Line
Terrain was flat.
I had not issued a "hold" because they just stand around and talk about what they did on their last leave in Rome.
Dog
Good pun on the Herding cats. One of my wife and I's favorite commercials.
Well thanks for the responses and the encouragement. I thought I was just not getting it. "No puns on that statement please!!!"
I can understand the chaos that is good. But the seemingly large number of units disregarding orders is still a bit much. I will continue to work on my command skills. Be prepared for more questions and rantings from Cats.
My best,
09-24-2009, 10:59 AM, (This post was last modified: 09-24-2009, 11:19 AM by TJD.)
Cats Wrote:. But the seemingly large number of units disregarding orders is still a bit much. I will continue to work on my command skills.
You may be having some subtle problems with the command interface - units may not in fact be getting the orders you thought you issued. I had this problem frequently when I began playing PW and it was quite baffling to me. There does seem to be a bug issue with the "No Command Box" option. It doesn't always work, in my experience. I still prefer to play without it as a result, but this can be very tedious in larger scenarios. Sometimes you just need to click off, anywhere, and then click back onto the same unit to successfully establish an order. Very annoying. Another point: the "Roman Eagle" button, which must be depressed before you can successfully issue orders, seems a little buggy too. For example, when you click on a leader and check his command radius, the button will no longer be depressed, and so from that point you may think you're issuing orders but in fact you are not.
Note that I'm referring to Punic Wars, so your experience with GW may be different. But PW has been very recently updated to reflect the latest changes in the engine.
Another reason that units seem to behave "against orders" is that orders really do have to be issued in the right sequence. Movements have to echeloned just so or you will have units running into each other and getting all balled up. Lots of ways to go wrong. The "Pause"" order, which makes units skip a 1/4 turn, is very useful to avoid collisions and "interpenetration" problems. Movement needs to be very deliberately done or you can quickly wind up with no effective command control at all.
I've learned too that orders need to be issued each turn. (I got that from Titus over at the "Ancient Wars" forum. Titus I think is Paul Bruffel, the designer.) A unit won't just sit with an old order until a new one is issued. Some units will default to a certain order, e.g, velites will default to skirmish, but not all units will do this. So if a unit seems to be "going agaist orders", he may just be acting in the absence of them.
very good comment !
The bugs you´ve experienced in the first versions of PW have beem fixed already. Now you´re orders will be displayed on the map by arrows, so you can check them at all times.
Take into consideration, units can act without orders, particulary unreliable cavalry can charge without order ! Keep an eye on command ranges of your leaders. Units out of range are considered
uncontrolled.
Quote:The bugs you´ve experienced in the first versions of PW have beem fixed already. Now you´re orders will be displayed on the map by arrows, so you can check them at all times.
It's still a tad buggy I think even in the current version. Like Titus said, sometimes you still need to click the order key more than once to get it to work. Also, when you assign light infantry to skirmish in its own hex, no arrow appears, so there's no feedback to assure you that an order has been successfully placed. I guess that's why it's a good idea to double check using the 'Scroll' command button.
Quote:Take into consideration, units can act without orders, particulary unreliable cavalry can charge without order !
I learned that the hard way! Lots of dead Equites. Yeesh. I'm glad the Hold command has been discussed here lately.
I did a little better in this attempt. I had my skirmishers out in front and then pulled them behind the HI. The HI were facing the enemy in line and held for about 1 and 1/2 turns. They were then routed.
I did find out that you can first issue individual commands to units and then issue a group command to the rest and each will do as commanded. Once you check the group command box, the rest of the un commanded units will only use the group command. Hope that made sense!
Anyway, the battle was a least a draw. Usually the crows are just feasting on my troops and the barbarians are taking the spoils of the battle.
I realize that we are mostly talking about Gallic Wars. Am I correct to assume that Punic Wars is the same. Did Alexander show any improvements?
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Learning curve or Am I just that stupid?
RE: Learning curve or Am I just that stupid? 
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