Rome II

[MengJiao]

For the defeated nation not dieing and returning, id read that the nation only dies when all the troops are wiped out, not the last city which is the old way and the remainder of the army turns rebel - now every one must be hunted down, what this means of course is the remaining armies out in the field can recapture a province and hey presto Carthage are present on the map again

Exactly right.  However, I've found that the AI usually suicides it's troops at the nearest city after you take the final one.

The real shocking AI behavior, on the Strategic Map, is all their armies I see hanging around outside town suffrering attrition.  The skull & crossbone symbol's tooltip on the character cards says, "Your armies are suffering losses every turn due to the inability to afford their upkeep" or something to that effect.  Nearly every faction I attack, who have been at peace, have three small armies sitting outside one of their cities wasting away like this.  I was gonna post a screenshot of it, but all I got was a black screen on the cap.  :-\

I'm very close to packing it away for awhile, when the AI is this brain dead.  I didn't think it was possible after their previous game, but they managed to screw it up.  I intentionally avoided all the hype before release, so it would be a fresh experience, and some of the new facets I like.  However, it's just unfinished and the AI is putting up no fight at all.  Hell, it's helping me kill them. 

I just hope that CA gives it enough post-release work to get it where it needs to be.  The way they quickly left NTW, and most notably ETW, in a mediocre state while heading off to produce the next title makes me wonder whether they'll have the fortitude to do so.  I would be very sad if they didn't get it up to Shogun 2 standards in the end.

I'm not so sure the army attrition problem is just bad AI.  It doesn't happen to factions that are winning; it seems to happen when a faction builds up for an offensive and then things don't go as planned and they are still at war.  This is what happened to me as Easy Pontus when I built up the armies for one war and then had to swtich fronts while repairing the economy.  I saw it happen to the big Eastern Factions that lost provinces but still had large armies.  They instantly got very friendly and signed as many agreements as they could.  It doesn't make sense to demobilize good armies in this game.  I let mine suffer some attrition if necessary rather than disbanding them.  So it may not be quite as big an AI goof as it seems.

[mikeck]

This was already mentioned by JH - but can I just clarify?

I started the prologue last night and I had my formation of troops. When I clicked on an enemy unit to attack (clicked - NOT double clicked) - they ran towards them like a rabble.

So that is porked right - but from what I gather only in the prologue?

I don't mind if I double click to attack they run and lose rank - but I'm not having my units running as a rabble towards the enemy when I single click the enemy unit!

Well, that is the same in the prologue vs the campaign. If you double click. It is a charge. A charge will lead to a mob. Form them into a group, set the formation and then use the arrow keys to walk the unit forward in formation and just click once on the enemy. They will keep formation

[bboyer66]

Uninstalled
Just a huge step backwards in the Total War Series. Biggest disappointment of the year for me so far. Will most likely reinstall once its patched up and the modders do their magic.

[undercovergeek]

Uninstalled
Just a huge step backwards in the Total War Series. Biggest disappointment of the year for me so far. Will most likely reinstall once its patched up and the modders do their magic.

anything in particular?

[Nefaro]

I'm not so sure the army attrition problem is just bad AI.  It doesn't happen to factions that are winning; it seems to happen when a faction builds up for an offensive and then things don't go as planned and they are still at war.  This is what happened to me as Easy Pontus when I built up the armies for one war and then had to swtich fronts while repairing the economy.  I saw it happen to the big Eastern Factions that lost provinces but still had large armies.  They instantly got very friendly and signed as many agreements as they could.  It doesn't make sense to demobilize good armies in this game.  I let mine suffer some attrition if necessary rather than disbanding them.  So it may not be quite as big an AI goof as it seems.

I'm gonna continue with my Pontus campaign and see if it actually does something with them.  Once I've witnessed this happen, they just tend to sit there and do nothing even when at war.

I've also yet to have a proper large enemy army take the initiative and attack me while it has a chance of winning, despite it having a a small overall numbers advantage at a couple points in time.  It has only attacked me once I've defeated the garrisons in their cities, and taken their very last one.  Then it will just send small suicide armies to die against the walls.  :'(

Goddammit.  And now I fired up Steam, and the newly released update just stalls out at about 58%.  ::)  Just refuses to continue even after restarting, pausing & unpausing, etc.  I've been attempting to avoid any preconceived notions or the usual complaining about TW releases, but my own view is taking form and thus far it's slowly going down.   :-[


EDIT:

Maybe this fix listed in the patch notes has something to do with it?..

- Fixed issue where armies would be stuck in Muster stance and could not exit that stance in Campaign modes.

[JudgeDredd]

This was already mentioned by JH - but can I just clarify?

I started the prologue last night and I had my formation of troops. When I clicked on an enemy unit to attack (clicked - NOT double clicked) - they ran towards them like a rabble.

So that is porked right - but from what I gather only in the prologue?

I don't mind if I double click to attack they run and lose rank - but I'm not having my units running as a rabble towards the enemy when I single click the enemy unit!

Well, that is the same in the prologue vs the campaign. If you double click. It is a charge. A charge will lead to a mob. Form them into a group, set the formation and then use the arrow keys to walk the unit forward in formation and just click once on the enemy. They will keep formation

That's what I said - in the prologue I clicked (single clicked) the enemy unit and my troops ran at them - with no formation. I think (read hope) I read that this isn't the case in the campaign.

But single clicking to attack (at least in the Capua scenario in the prologue) results in a messy charge!

[Yskonyn]

Hehe take it easy, Nef.
I have been seeing a lot of Steam downloads pausing at a point for no reason too lately. Its got nothing to do with the game or CA. :D its Steam being busy. Perhaps writing files it has finished before downloading the next part.
Patience, it will continue.

I am rather amazed at the complaints about the movement and formation holding. As long as I don't doubleclick my forces never rush out.
Haven't tried this on long range though.
I will test this in the coming days on my game.
Still, if you CTRL click for a movement order with multiple units selected, they march in formation do they not? With cavalry staying next to infantry.

[bboyer66]

Uninstalled
Just a huge step backwards in the Total War Series. Biggest disappointment of the year for me so far. Will most likely reinstall once its patched up and the modders do their magic.

anything in particular?

Mainly the AI, battle speed, glitches, etc.
Im trying to come up with one thing this game does better than Shogun II and I cant come up with anything.
Think Angry Joe said it best

[JudgeDredd]

Hehe take it easy, Nef.
I have been seeing a lot of Steam downloads pausing at a point for no reason too lately. Its got nothing to do with the game or CA. :D its Steam being busy. Perhaps writing files it has finished before downloading the next part.
Patience, it will continue.

I am rather amazed at the complaints about the movement and formation holding. As long as I don't doubleclick my forces never rush out.
Haven't tried this on long range though.
I will test this in the coming days on my game.
Still, if you CTRL click for a movement order with multiple units selected, they march in formation do they not? With cavalry staying next to infantry.

Be aware I'm talking about the prologue. I don't know what goes on in game. Maybe it's because in the prologue you don't have "expert" roman units...they do look like peasants. I don't know. But last night, in the Capue mission in the prologue, I clicked my unit and clicked the enemy unit and my wee pixelated soldiers didn't hold rank and instead it was a bit of a mess...and they looked like they were running too!

[Nefaro]

That's what I said - in the prologue I clicked (single clicked) the enemy unit and my troops ran at them - with no formation. I think (read hope) I read that this isn't the case in the campaign.

But single clicking to attack (at least in the Capua scenario in the prologue) results in a messy charge!

If you set up your own formation, and don't use a preset one, then you must "lock" the formation in after you form them into a 'Control Group' (by pressing 'G' or Ctrl & and number).

To lock in your formation, in order to keep your army formation while moving, point your mouse cursor at the Group commands button to bring up the full list of available ones.  There will be one with a Lock symbol on it.  When you enable that, the control group tab will display a lock symbol on it.  You can now give a group order and your group will generally hold it's formation on the way there and will definitely form up tidily on arrival. 

There has always been an issue with cavalry moving a bit faster than the rest of the group.  It's been in all the TWs that I recall.  They slowly start overtaking, and walking through, your infantry.  Even if you have such a group lock on.  So you may need to give them stop orders or micromanage a bit if they start getting ahead.  I tend to just order shorter moves at a time and let them reform before issuing the next.

Hehe take it easy, Nef.
I have been seeing a lot of Steam downloads pausing at a point for no reason too lately. Its got nothing to do with the game or CA. :D its Steam being busy. Perhaps writing files it has finished before downloading the next part.
Patience, it will continue.

Yeah, I'm probably just unnecessarily venting my Steam client rage on Rome 2 with the patch not finishing.  I've been experiencing Steam issues fairly regularly lately, with it sometimes freezing up my whole computer when, or after, doing it's auto-patching (feels like all the damn time) and when resuming from sleep mode.

[Nefaro]

LOL!  I always enjoy watching AngryJoe's vids.  I have no idea why I don't do it habitually.  I'll blame it on failing memory.

[JudgeDredd]

Uninstalled
Just a huge step backwards in the Total War Series. Biggest disappointment of the year for me so far. Will most likely reinstall once its patched up and the modders do their magic.

anything in particular?

Mainly the AI, battle speed, glitches, etc.
Im trying to come up with one thing this game does better than Shogun II and I cant come up with anything.
Think Angry Joe said it best

lol - those are some funny videos - and oh dear...what about those flags?

[JudgeDredd]

That's what I said - in the prologue I clicked (single clicked) the enemy unit and my troops ran at them - with no formation. I think (read hope) I read that this isn't the case in the campaign.

But single clicking to attack (at least in the Capua scenario in the prologue) results in a messy charge!

If you set up your own formation, and don't use a preset one, then you must "lock" the formation in after you form them into a 'Control Group' (by pressing 'G' or Ctrl & and number).

To lock in your formation, in order to keep your army formation while moving, point your mouse cursor at the Group commands button to bring up the full list of available ones.  There will be one with a Lock symbol on it.  When you enable that, the control group tab will display a lock symbol on it.  You can now give a group order and your group will generally hold it's formation on the way there and will definitely form up tidily on arrival. 

There has always been an issue with cavalry moving a bit faster than the rest of the group.  It's been in all the TWs that I recall.  They slowly start overtaking, and walking through, your infantry.  Even if you have such a group lock on.  So you may need to give them stop orders or micromanage a bit if they start getting ahead.  I tend to just order shorter moves at a time and let them reform before issuing the next.

Hehe take it easy, Nef.
I have been seeing a lot of Steam downloads pausing at a point for no reason too lately. Its got nothing to do with the game or CA. :D its Steam being busy. Perhaps writing files it has finished before downloading the next part.
Patience, it will continue.

Yeah, I'm probably just unnecessarily venting my Steam client rage on Rome 2 with the patch not finishing.  I've been experiencing Steam issues fairly regularly lately, with it sometimes freezing up my whole computer when, or after, doing it's auto-patching (feels like all the damn time) and when resuming from sleep mode.

In the Capua mission I have no cav.

As for locking the unit - I am talking about an individual unit...not a group. I wouldn't use a group of 6 units to attack a single unit.

what I did was
   select all my units
   create a group (this defaulted to locked)
   as I approached the enemy and saw various units - two of which were approaching me. I set one unit to attack one enemy formation and one unit to attack another - and that's when they ran towards the enemy - and again - it was just a single click.

I wasn't talking about formation as in a large formation. I was talking about a single unit. Will they never keep their line/formation? I essentially wanted the soldiers (they were spearmen I think) to advance, in line, as a unit (it was the only unit) and attack the enemy unit "as a solid rectangle" - but they didn't do it.

[mikeck]

This was already mentioned by JH - but can I just clarify?

I started the prologue last night and I had my formation of troops. When I clicked on an enemy unit to attack (clicked - NOT double clicked) - they ran towards them like a rabble.

So that is porked right - but from what I gather only in the prologue?

I don't mind if I double click to attack they run and lose rank - but I'm not having my units running as a rabble towards the enemy when I single click the enemy unit!

Well, that is the same in the prologue vs the campaign. If you double click. It is a charge. A charge will lead to a mob. Form them into a group, set the formation and then use the arrow keys to walk the unit forward in formation and just click once on the enemy. They will keep formation

That's what I said - in the prologue I clicked (single clicked) the enemy unit and my troops ran at them - with no formation. I think (read hope) I read that this isn't the case in the campaign.

But single clicking to attack (at least in the Capua scenario in the prologue) results in a messy charge!

Understand, but mak sure when you single click, that your troops are not set to run. So engines when I click once on a location, my troops start running, I have to click the run/walk button. If you single click on the enemy and you are then "running", you will charge.

I basically walk my guys up to the enemy and stop. From there, they attack. I charge into flanks.

Bob, sorry you didn't enjoy it. It has issues but I think it is far better than Napoleon, Empire, m2 or Rome. I like it better than Shogun but it is not As polished as Shovun at release. I am having a blast, runs smooth and no crashes/bugs

[mikeck]

Well for me, one thing it does better than Shogun is Then it deals with an era And location that I at least have some type of passing interest in