Fleeing Enemies Behind Lines Doesnt Make Sense.

[Mr. Sir]

Love how when you route and enemy unit they can retreat behind YOUR lines then decide oh wait im not done and then attack your rear. Cant count how many times an enemy unit or lord has been finger pounded then decided to retreat behind my lines because its closer to the exits yet then decide they arent done so they just got a free "run through my line and attack my rear" card. Bad mechanic, retreating units should be killed if they go through your lines.

[Weinerpalace]

you have the option to attack them while they are fleeing, do you not?

[Immortalis]

Retreating units do get attack if they pass through your lines.

But a spearmen poking a dragon will not insta-kill it just because the dragon is panicking.

[KoboldUtopian]

I think the idea is that they retreat toward the nearest table edge.

[Triple G]

Yes - they could address it, that they retreat or route to their side, which would be the good solution...

It´s most ridiculous in settlements, when they basically try to run away with going further into to city, as the walls on the other side are not on the map. But the idea is probably to hide somewhere inside the wardrobe till the fight is over, which is reasonable i guess. You can also have other clothes there, and go out in that disguise unharmed.

Also routing units get attacked. If You want to make sure some unit really leaves the map, You have to chase them down, if they don´t have the skull icon on them, which means they´re broken...

I mean it can´t be too hard to say that at the beginning of the battle certain sides, or parts of it are viable exits for this faction, and some for these - depending on where they started, or where they reinforce, then the AI wouldn´t try to find a path to that other exit..

Also that´s why corner camping is so nice, because routing units will leave the map almost instantly, and never come back, without the need to chase them down, or worries that they come back. Same is when placing the army where their reinforcements will arrive, to quickly deal with them and have them leave fast, while that would still work if they had limited exits...

TL;DR:
It not only has downsides and can be exploited to make the battles easier, because it basically turns all routing units in broken units.

[Metal Izanagi]

I've never understood why the rule isn't just "fleeing units will retreat in the opposite direction of their current facing."

Even an idiot like me could have told them that making units retreat to the nearest map edge will inevitably lead to situations where units will retreat through enemy lines only to reform in a flanking position that they shouldn't have been allowed to get to in the first place.

[sirkudjon]

Yes just like attacking army retreating into your settlement. It is what is. Maybe it's the engine limitation?

[Triple G]

If it was an engine limitation You wouldn´t have fixed entry locations for the armies, but random ones.