Anything like a push mechanic during melee?

[Jewish Skeleton Man]

Watching videos about historical melee battles, and one of the most important factors I see is that formations move a lot, like you'll see the left flank get pushed all the way back to camp while the right flank pushes down a hill or whatever. This was really important for things like Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae completely enveloping the Roman army by baiting their forces to push through the center while the wings were pushed all the way back.

So, I'm wondering, is there anything like this in the game? As far as I can tell, unless you’re talking about a huge beast or cavalry the lines are generally static. It would be fun to do things like Hannibal maneuvers or rotating lines or oblique fronts but I'm not sure how.

[Super Cosmic Space Magnet]

No, there's nothing like that - units get statistical advantages when fighting up/downhill, but units don't get shoved out of position. They just stay in melee and get ground down until they fully break. Monsters can have the Mass to push through and start rampaging behind/across enemy lines, but that's not quite what you're describing.

The closest thing I can think of that you might like are Skirmishers. Clan Eshin Gutter Runners are fantastic for their good movement speed, the nets to slow nearby enemies, and their 360 degree shooting at close range. They're excellent at whittling enemies down and creating an asymmetrical battlefield.

You can sort of emulate encirclement tactics, however. Enemies love to run down isolated archer units, so you can put a sacrificial one on your forntlines to bait enemies if you're feeling fancy. Sometimes you'll want to intentionally get yourself encircled to make sure as many enemies as possible are getting drained by AoE damage over time effects (like Mortis Engine, or Festus' flasks)!

In truth though, the game is largely about having awesome spellcasters/monsters/heroes that do the decisive damage while the rest of the army holds the line - with some room for jazzy cavalry flanks. Different armies do this in different ways, but the focus is much more on the key leader pieces turning the tide than particular battlefield strategy.

This has all been about campaign though - you might adore Domination mode in multiplayer! Those battles are very scrappy and creative, and have little if any resemblance to battle lines! Check out Totaltavern or Turin's videos on Youtube if you want to get a sense of what they're like.

[Seraphiel]

I think Pharoah Total War is the only game to have that mechanic

[Jewish Skeleton Man]

Originally posted by Super Cosmic Space Magnet:

In truth though, the game is largely about having awesome spellcasters/monsters/heroes that do the decisive damage while the rest of the army holds the line - with some room for jazzy cavalry flanks. Different armies do this in different ways, but the focus is much more on the key leader pieces turning the tide than particular battlefield strategy.

This has all been about campaign though - you might adore Domination mode in multiplayer! Those battles are very scrappy and creative, and have little if any resemblance to battle lines! Check out Totaltavern or Turin's videos on Youtube if you want to get a sense of what they're like.

Do other TW games have more battlefield/line strategy with these sorts of mechanics? I've only ever played this one on my friend's computer; it makes sense the fantasy one would be more focused on magic and stuff.

[Jewish Skeleton Man]

Originally posted by Seraphiel:

I think Pharoah Total War is the only game to have that mechanic

My brain translated that into Khemri lol I guess that answers my question about other games having that sort of mechanic.

[Lord Farquad]

I remember a post just like this that got locked.
Edit.Ahh, thats right. it was a bg3 post. not a tww3 post.

[Mollerz]

Originally posted by Lord Cumquad:

I
Edit.Ahh, thats right. it was a bg3 post. not a tww3 post.

The incel forum?

[Super Cosmic Space Magnet]

Originally posted by Jewish Skeleton Man:

Do other TW games have more battlefield/line strategy with these sorts of mechanics? I've only ever played this one on my friend's computer; it makes sense the fantasy one would be more focused on magic and stuff.

Total Warhammer and Three Kingdoms are more fantastical in their presentation, and put emphasis on heroes/special units with activated abilities that have some kind of effect. It sets them apart from the rest of the series, as Total War generally has otherwise tried to be a reasonably accurate battle simulator.

Pharoh and Thrones of Britannia are more recent titles that both tried to cater to the more grounded crowd, but I don't know too much about them as there's not a huge amount of overlap between fandoms. It's probably worth checking out their Discussion boards or watching a few videos on Youtube to see if they're offering the sort of thing you're looking for.

The closest thing I can really think of is Bannerlord, as units will push their way through enemies if you concentrate enough bodies in a single point. You can absolutely play as a Zhuge Liang type character sitting at the rear of the battlefield and directing your forces in clever ways to take advantage of terrain etc.

CA have confirmed they're going to do Medieval 3 Total War "at some point", which is definitely the most eagerly anticipated title on the "I don't want a fantasy game" side of the fanbase. It's not even announced as having started development though, so while it may be perfect for you it's likely not happening for like.. Ten years.

[Et lux perpetua]

I go against the grain and say they absolutely do, your formations can most certainly have your left flank collapse while your right or center may push through their lines. Individual units will generally stick to whatever size of columns you've dragged them out to and a unit who is still fighting it cannot have part of its men push farther on from the rest of their unit to enage another of your units further in your backline. That entire unit has to move as 1. But Formations? Absolutely they can, you can have up to 40 units per side in a battle and you can choose what to bring and what buffs to give what units and do lots of things which specifically fit whatever tactics you want to employ.

[Et lux perpetua]

Theres so much variation in races in this game its incredible. But even if we say you and the enemy have exactly the same army, say 5 cav, 5 archers, 5 strong melee units and 5 chaff ones. Well how that battle goes is entirely up to the commanders descicions on the day of said battle.