Please Explain: Battle Stack Mechanics

[trismigistus]

I have noticed than on occasion the AI has three stacks (x3 Lords) each with its own army during a battle. On only one (unexpected) occasion did I ever actually have two. It was as they came in as reenforcements and were set up on a completely different front of the battle map as though it was its own seperate army group arriving to the battle from a different direction.

I fully understand how it works when you are attacking a city since you have the garrison and any Lord that may be stationed there. That is the only obvious situation where you get two stacks.

I attacked the Wood Elves last night and low and behold I am up against 3 stacks. One of them was from a compeltely different faction (ally).

Am I as the attacker able to counter by bringing more than one stack into the battle under certain circumstances where I meet a particular criteria?

What are the specific mechanics (circumstances) that determine if an additonal stack is eligible to participate in a battle either as the attacker, or the defender?


P.S.
I must not be googling the best terms. I have spent time trying to google this with no luck.

[TVMAN]

See the red circle that surrounds each stack? That's your engagement/reinforcement circle. Any stacks near that circle can join battles, including your own.

[ArchaicReaper]

Be near each other. That's it. If you have two armies near an enemy and attack with a third army, all three armies will be present. You can tell if they'll be able to by yellow arrows between the reinforcements and the target. Allies also assist if they are in the same range.

[trismigistus]

Originally posted by TVMAN:

See the red circle that surrounds each stack? That's your engagement/reinforcement circle. Any stacks near that circle can join battles, including your own.

Near it, touching it, or only completely inside of it?

P.S. Thanks for the reply.

[trismigistus]

Originally posted by ArchaicReaper:

Be near each other. That's it. If you have two armies near an enemy and attack with a third army, all three armies will be present. You can tell if they'll be able to by yellow arrows between the reinforcements and the target. Allies also assist if they are in the same range.

Good enough. I'll be able to figure it out now. Mystery solved.

P.S. thanks

[TVMAN]

Originally posted by trismigistus:

Near it, touching it, or only completely inside of it?

P.S. Thanks for the reply.

Touching it/completely inside of it. When you order one of your armies to attack another army, you'll see yellow and red arrows pop up that point to and from the various stacks nearby. These arrows are meant to show you which armies will participate in the battle.

Also, there's a hard cap of 40 units per side on the battlefield at a time. If you have more than 40 units reinforcing the battle, then the extra units will join as reinforcements after the routing units leave the map. It works this way for the AI as well, so keep an eye on where their reinforcements are coming from so you're not flanked as the battle progresses.

[trismigistus]

Originally posted by TVMAN:

Originally posted by trismigistus:

Near it, touching it, or only completely inside of it?

P.S. Thanks for the reply.

Touching it/completely inside of it. When you're about to order one of your armies to attack another army, you'll see yellow and red arrows pop up that point to and from the various stacks nearby. These arrows are meant to show you which armies will participate in the battle.

Gotcha...

On a side note it occurs to be then that if you station an army just outside the city rather than in it you should be able prevent the enemy from initiating a direct siege. That is unless the enemy is allowed to ignore the outside army and attack the city.

Curious to know if the Cities garrison will help the army stationed outside the city if it is attacked?

And vice versa... Will the army stationed outside the city particpate in the battle with the siege defenders by being auto transported inside the city battle map?

Obviously I could test these things in game, but were already on the subject. I am on my very first game and at about turn 100 and have been playing without this knowledge the whole time on the normal setting and win win winning with the Empire. Maybe I will start a new game on the Hard setting since this opens up a whole new arena of battle tactics for me.

[Spinz]

Yah the garrison will help or be helped in those situations. If the enemy AI has lightning strike though, they will target the outside army and try to wipe it out vs 3 of their own armies (or whatever is seiging you).

[TVMAN]

Originally posted by trismigistus:

Gotcha...

On a side note it occurs to be then that if you station an army just outside the city rather than in it you should be able prevent the enemy from initiating a direct siege. That is unless the enemy is allowed to ignore the outside army and attack the city.


Curious to know if the Cities garrison will help the army stationed outside the city if it is attacked?

And vice versa... Will the army stationed outside the city particpate in the battle with the siege defenders by being auto transported inside the city battle map?

Cities have their own reinforcement circle, but armies can still besiege settlements that have a friendly army nearby.

For example: Let's say you have two stacks, and you're facing a settlement that has a garrison + a stack inside + a stack outside.

If you besiege the city, then the garrison and the stack are trapped in the city and can't do anything unless they attack the besieging army. If they do, the outside stack can assist since they're initiating a battle. If the outside army attacks your besieging army, then the garrisons inside the settlement can reinforce that battle as well.

This can work to your advantage. Let's say you besieged the city with one stack and decided to attack the outside army with your other stack. Remember, garrisoned armies can't do anything until the siege is lifted. Since the garrison inside the city is trapped by the siege, you're now only faced with one stack instead of two + a garrison. Since sieging armies can participate in battles as long as they're near the reinforcement circle, you'll be able to initiate the battle using both stacks.

Mind you this works both ways as well, so try to avoid getting your stacks trapped in a siege. If a bunch of doomstacks are near one of your settlements, it's better to lose that settlement than an army full of units. In this case move your stack so it's still within the reinforcement range of the settlement (so it can still provide some protection), and retreat if the AI decides to actually attack.

[trismigistus]

Originally posted by TVMAN:

Originally posted by trismigistus:

Gotcha...

On a side note it occurs to be then that if you station an army just outside the city rather than in it you should be able prevent the enemy from initiating a direct siege. That is unless the enemy is allowed to ignore the outside army and attack the city.


Curious to know if the Cities garrison will help the army stationed outside the city if it is attacked?

And vice versa... Will the army stationed outside the city particpate in the battle with the siege defenders by being auto transported inside the city battle map?

Cities have their own reinforcement circle, but armies can still besiege settlements that have a friendly army nearby.

For example: Let's say you have two stacks, and you're facing a settlement that has a garrison + a stack inside + a stack outside.

If you besiege the city, then the garrison and the stack are trapped in the city and can't do anything unless they attack the besieging army. If they do, the outside stack can assist since they're initiating a battle. If the outside army attacks your besieging army, then the garrisons inside the settlement can reinforce that battle as well.

This can work to your advantage. Let's say you besieged the city with one stack and decided to attack the outside army with your other stack. Remember, garrisoned armies can't do anything until the siege is lifted. Since the garrison inside the city is trapped by the siege, you're now only faced with one stack instead of two + a garrison. Since sieging armies can participate in battles as long as they're near the reinforcement circle, you'll be able to initiate the battle using both stacks.

Mind you this works both ways as well, so try to avoid getting your stacks trapped in a siege. If a bunch of doomstacks are near one of your settlements, it's better to lose that settlement than an army full of units. In this case move your stack so it's still within the reinforcement range of the settlement (so it can still provide some protection), and retreat if the AI decides to actually attack.

AWSOMNESS !!!

What difficulty setting do you prefer? After reading this I definately need to restart a new game. No wonder I have been plowing through the game. Normal really is not a challenge at all. Need HARD at the very least. Normal was great for a trial run of a 100 turns to learn it, but I won't enjoy finishing it knowing this.


Difficulty Levels

Total War: WARHAMMER features five difficulty levels, ranging from Easy to Legendary. This way, whether or not you have previous experience with Total War games and other strategy games, you can play the game you want to, be it easy to approach or extremely challenging.

The difficulty levels not only give the player minor bonuses or penalties to values such as public order, but also change the behavior of the computer-controlled factions. On easy difficulty, factions are forgiving to slights such as trespassing or breaking treaties and hesitant to declare war, while on very hard you will notice that they have become extremely opportunistic, not shying away from backstabbing the player if they believe it serves their interests best. The end-game challenge will also vary from tame to outright relentless, based on your chosen difficulty level.

o ‘Easy’ should be so easy that you are rarely, if ever, stopped from doing what you want to do. Expansion is simple and opposition is low. If you are not yet very familiar with strategy games or you just want to tour the Old World, this will be ideal.

o ‘Normal’ will still allow the player to quite simply experience the world, but will be slightly more challenging in the late game. This level is intended to be significantly easier than the equivalent in previous titles and experienced players will probably want more of a challenge. For just trying out a new unfamiliar Race for the first time though, normal can be a solid choice.

o ‘Hard’ will be a significant step up, the player will be expected to make challenging decisions from the early game onwards and will find themselves frequently under pressure on multiple fronts. Expansion will be more difficult and slower, and you can expect to lose some of your territory on occasion. The mid to late game will require the player to respond with planning, sacrifice and a sound knowledge of the interlocking systems of the game.

o ‘Very Hard’ The player is expected to be very experienced with the game in order to be able to survive from the outset. The game will be unforgiving and you’ll need to find ways to get the most out of all areas of the game, including battle, campaign economy, diplomacy and character skills. Nasty inescapable situations are likely to be encountered frequently by the ill-prepared and unwary, so you should exercise caution when planning your next expansion. The late game will offer a brutal challenge.

o ‘Legendary’ not only offers the greatest level of challenge, but also places restrictions on saving the game and issuing orders while paused in battle; rewarding only the experts, the committed and quickest of thinkers.

[TVMAN]

Originally posted by trismigistus:

AWSOMNESS !!!

What difficulty setting do you prefer? Normal, Hard ?

I'm playing on V. Hard at the moment, but I played on normal for my first two campaigns so I could learn the game. Gotta get all those V. Hard achievements before the next game comes out, you know?

[Zordiark Darkeater]

Originally posted by trismigistus:

Near it, touching it, or only completely inside of it?

Kinky.....