Wheeling

[Wagram]

This may be because of my inexoeruience with the game or because I have missed something but it does not seem possible to get an regiment (infantry or cavalry) to wheel to its right or left flank. This could be a reasonable decision at regimental, brigade or divsional command levels as a threat could materialise in that quarter that requires some reaction.

It may be that the AI does this automatically but, even in the role of corps or army commander it might be reasonable to have a commander of this level who happens to be on the scene to give the orders required, It would also be good whn playing smaller level games.

If I have missed a procedure already in the game would one of the more experienced players be kind enoughyt to let me know what it is.

Thanks

[JMM]

Do you have an example about this behavior?
Could you upload a save file on redmine...

http://comandplay.coda-cola.net/projects/hw-public/activity

JMM

[AJ]

JMM, I don't think Wagram means they don't wheeel, I think he means he would like to make them wheel at his command for tactical purposes. IMHO, too much micro-management for me though.

[Hook]

I think what JMM might be asking for is a save game that shows an example of units that should be wheeling but aren't.

When I first got the original demo, I was surprised that there was no command to make a unit change facing.  I was used to doing this in Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory and other games.  It turns out that units will change facing automatically.  Sometimes they'll even march in oblique to keep the long side of their formation facing a threat. 

An infantry regiment will react to another unit when it's within 500 meters.  This gives them plenty of time to form square if the threat is cavalry, or turn to face the enemy if it's infantry. 

The only time infantry does not wheel to face a threat is if it's in defensive line, and I'm not entirely sure they're not better off staying where they are in that case anyway.  Defensive line gives a lot of bonuses that they'd lose if they moved.

Hook

[AJ]

I've seen what Hook describes happen all the time, changing face, square etc. In my experience of defensive line, although the units on defensive line don't turn face, defense reserve will try to take care of an enemy trying to flank or attack in the rear of the defense line

[Wagram]

I Was probably not very clear in my original question

What I would like to know whether it is Possible to turn a regiment to face the flanks. For example, suppose the 21st Line is Advancing due north. We Will assume for Purposes that this regiment holding the extreme right of the divisional line. We Will suppose Enemy Appears That year over Brigade Has ridge 500 meters away to the East such that It threatens the flanksof the division. The divisional commander wants to gain time by having the 21st Ligne wheel 90 degrees to engage the threatening enemy brigade. Indeed, the divisional commander might want to have the entire brigade to which 21st Ligne belongs conduct such a manuever.

It is true that this might be micromanagement in a grand tactical system as one or two people have suggested earlier. It might be that the AI will actually do this for you. However, for now I would just like to know what i, the player is able to do under the program and. if I can perform such a manuever, how exactly I can best achieve the results I want at the tactical level.

[quartermaster]

Hope no one thinks I am being overly pedantic here but a deployed unit (from battalion to division) is more likely to perform a "change of front" than it is to wheel.  To wheel you can only use the flank as a pivot and in some cases the pivot needs to move in order allow the deployment to take place. 

For a change of front you designate one peleton etc. as the base then the other units and sub-units take ground and align on this base peleton etc.

One other option on finding a line outflanked is to bring up a unit from the reserve to the rear of and extending behind the threatened flank so the flank is refused.  If the enemy advance to make a flank attack then their own flank is exposed by this reserve unit.

If you have no reserve unit then the threatened unit could retreat then face front again creating a refused flank for the rest of the brigade.

 

[Marquês de Alorna]

Dear Wagram

Your suggestion is a very interesting one, since the player is already given the capability to stop the regimental AI and to order movement or to change the formation. It makes sense that a senior officer that is nearby a regiment in a critical tactical situation should be able to micromanage (thus extending the set of regimental orders available to the player).

However, given the focus of the game on Grand-Tactical aspects, I think this should be assigned lower priority at this moment. I would prefer to have e.g. more freedom for map design using rivers, and to the ability to place units anywhere on the map in order to better recreate historical scenarios.

Regards,
António

[AJ]

In theory, you could give an individual regiment a march order to the east, it would then wheel right towrd the threatening enemy, however AI may overide your order if it puts the Corp in danger.
I think the manouver Wagram wants to do will be more feasable when we have Division/Brigade control, I know this is high on many peoples wish list but in the general order of things it's probably low because of the many bugs JMM is already commiting himself to fix. We'll see.

[Wagram]

As Ajlewisbrookes says it may well be that the long term solution to this lies in the brigade/division control which TMM still needs to develop fully. One way I could see this working is to have some form of brigade/regimental formations menu. This might, among other things have an option instructing the brigade commander to refuse a flank. It could include other things like selecting options to form a regimental sqaure (much like the square we see now) or battalion squares. We might have an instruction to form a brigade in two or three lines. Ideally options should work together so you might have a situation where your brigade is formed in two lines with its right flank refused formed in battalion squares.