Excluding Units (specifically companions) from Battles (especially Sieges)

[Shard]

First of all i would like to say, that i think that the Birth and Death mechanic fits really good into the game and makes the sandbox feel a lot more diverse and satisfying.
While it is a great feature to have, it does create some specific problems that should be adressed.
Companions dying in battle happens way too often for me and is really random most of the times, which would not be a problem, if i wouldn't spend a lot of hours raising their skills. If they die, i always end up reloading the save until i finish the battle with them alive/wounded.
In field battles i usually need to babysit them, by either putting them inside my archer squads or giving them an own unit hotkey.
So here comes the problem: In Sieges you can't really babysit units, so they just end up dying there the most which completely destroys the enjoyment for me if i realise halfway that i can restart the whole thing.
I would like a feature to exclude units from battles or just sieges, so i dont have to worry about that.
There will probably be a mod at some point that adresses this problem, but i think that it is worth looking into, because i can't be the only one with these problems...

[Alyiakal]

This would definitely be great.

The other annoying part is if I have a clan member with a full party in my army, if they die in battle, their party just poofs, even if we win the battle, with no opportunity to reclaim the troops.

I do like the birth and death mechanic as well, although I've noticed that deaths in battle seem to only occur when you are actually fighting the battle. This has led to a situation where all my factions enemies have clans with a few dead members, meanwhile my faction has had no one die yet, despite having several AI controlled armies get crushed.

[Aven]

Originally posted by Alyiakal:

This would definitely be great.

The other annoying part is if I have a clan member with a full party in my army, if they die in battle, their party just poofs, even if we win the battle, with no opportunity to reclaim the troops.

I do like the birth and death mechanic as well, although I've noticed that deaths in battle seem to only occur when you are actually fighting the battle. This has led to a situation where all my factions enemies have clans with a few dead members, meanwhile my faction has had no one die yet, despite having several AI controlled armies get crushed.

Death during combat currently only occurs in battles involving the player, and currently the death rate is supposedly set at about twice what it should be, i.e. 10% chance vs. a 5% chance. It basically punishes the player for getting involved. I had one battle where four nobles died, including three on the overwhelmingly winning team. It was a 900 to 400 battle. The nobles should not have even been involved in combat at those numbers.

[Clovis Sangrail]

I do not understand the logic behind setting the game for 'realistic' damage and enabling birth and death, then complaining because people die.

[Shard]

Originally posted by Clovis Sangrail:

I do not understand the logic behind setting the game for 'realistic' damage and enabling birth and death, then complaining because people die.

It just happens too often and is random and basically unavoidable in certain scenarios. I like it overall as i already pointed out.

[Aven]

Originally posted by Clovis Sangrail:

I do not understand the logic behind setting the game for 'realistic' damage and enabling birth and death, then complaining because people die.

You would absolutely be correct if nobles could die in combat without the player, but because they can't, the feature is essentially broken. The primary issue is the imbalance in the noble populations experienced by the player's and his/her's neighboring kingdoms versus kingdoms the player doesn't interact with very often.

[Spaceman]

give them better armour? seem to work for me never had this problem apart from if i get crushed by a big army it can happen.

[𝔗𝔢𝔞 ❀]

I get around this by using companions as governors, or sticking them in the biggest stack of elite cav I can. Strangely, they or my noble allies do not seem to die in siege often anymore (late game), but I really soften the cities up first, and then waltz on in.

Another idea for sieges would be that if you have excellent armies of shooters, just give them a ranged weapon and ammunition and they will plink away. Or if your army is mostly melee, they will then sit back as ranged (but might get sniped) while the rest rush in. If they just have a bow, they will try to shoot it.

[Shard]

Originally posted by 𝔗𝔢𝔞 ❀:

I get around this by using companions as governors, or sticking them in the biggest stack of elite cav I can. Strangely, they or my noble allies do not seem to die in siege often anymore (late game), but I really soften the cities up first, and then waltz on in.

Another idea for sieges would be that if you have excellent armies of shooters, just give them a ranged weapon and ammunition and they will plink away. Or if your army is mostly melee, they will then sit back as ranged (but might get sniped) while the rest rush in. If they just have a bow, they will try to shoot it.

I always have them in the ranged category, but they still manage to die somehow...idk for me it makes sense that the surgeon that needs to treat the whole army doesn't show up at the siege battle

[flyingscot1066]

I put my more vulnerable companions in group 8 and have them on Follow. I've had 2 companions die during a campaign in which my faction conquered all of Calradia. When nobles died in battle, it was typically the enemy nobles.
When you go into battle, don't send your companions in with the cannon fodder, and they won't die like they are cannon fodder.

[Graufang]

Hideouts are a deathtrap for companions too.
I hoped, I could easily train their skills by clearing hideouts, but I found my companions dropping like flies. - Especially the weak ones, that would have needed the expierence the most.
But I never lost a companion during a siege.

[DeathOnRedBull]

+1 to this. Generally speaking, I send most companions in to battle, if on 100% health. If they're anything less than 'green', I think their mortality rate spikes. If anyone is suffering, I usually (like the OP) put them in group 8 and tell them to retreat at the start of the battle.

Crazy that this doesn't work in sieges though.

I like the birth/death thing - I think it works great for the player character, and all the NPCs, but it does feel like too much invested time is lost when a companion dies - you have no control over it, so it feels arbitrary.