Mixed Infantry - Cowards?

[Carna]

Let me first say that MI are my personal favourite troop type. No denying that they're not as good as archers with ranged or infantry with melee, but I like the combination of both. It makes them good militia, as we all know, and also makes them fairly effective at hunting rogues. Where they fall down, every time, is actually fairly stupid. They have the same tendency as archers, unless running aggressive or murderous, to retreat from melee combat every time. This is wonderful if you're fighting monsters. Your MI just keep taking shots and if they happen to get caught, they'll survive. For pitched battles, this makes MI worse than useless. While Velax was General of Arcaea, we actually had this conversation both IC and OOC.

Now, I don't want to see MI to be the next feature cut but keeping them as they are is almost painful to watch at times. So, what I am asking is if the responses of MI when acting "normal" could be changed to not have them behave like archers running from a charge but instead fire and then take the hit. This doesn't make them any more powerful. As a matter of fact, MI rarely die these days because they stay out of melee combat more often than not.

I'd have dropped this into feature requests, but as its more a change than something new, here seemed better. Might be reasons why this won't or can't be done, but its been bugging me for months now. I could either stop caring or bring it up so...

Anywho, thanks for looking at this and I look forward to feedback from devs and fellow players alike.

Regards,

Finn.

[Anaris]

There are changes that have been on testing for a while that should help a lot with this. Archers and mixed infantry will, if they are near a close combat, attempt to fire carefully into it, at a penalty to hit, rather than retreating.

[Bael]

There are changes that have been on testing for a while that should help a lot with this. Archers and mixed infantry will, if they are near a close combat, attempt to fire carefully into it, at a penalty to hit, rather than retreating.

This is from testing that he is posting :/

[Anaris]

This is from testing that he is posting :/

Well, the only realm he mentioned was Arcaea, which is on stable. And as the behavior he describes (ranged units retreating from melee combat) has been completely removed from the testing combat code, I rather think he must be either talking about stable, or behind the times.

[Chenier]

There are changes that have been on testing for a while that should help a lot with this. Archers and mixed infantry will, if they are near a close combat, attempt to fire carefully into it, at a penalty to hit, rather than retreating.

IMO, the MI should check if there are enemies it can shoot. If not, then it should proceed to normal infantry behavior. If one didn't want a unit that would stay in melee, he'd pick archers.

[Tom]

IMO, the MI should check if there are enemies it can shoot. If not, then it should proceed to normal infantry behavior. If one didn't want a unit that would stay in melee, he'd pick archers.

Uh, you have a misconception of MI as some kind of transformers there. They don't "switch" between any behaviours - they have their own. They have their own weapons and armours, not infantry and archer equipment that they use in turns.

[Velax]

Under what conditions do MI enter close combat?

[Chenier]

Uh, you have a misconception of MI as some kind of transformers there. They don't "switch" between any behaviours - they have their own. They have their own weapons and armours, not infantry and archer equipment that they use in turns.

Which are?

I always figured them as people with javelins, mostly. Throw a bunch, and then use them to poke the pointy ends at people who get too close.

Or slings, which they then use as flails once in melee, or other such versatile weapons that can both be used from range and in melee.

I know they currently have their own behavior. But everyone has always said that MI behavior sucks. Hence why I believe they should just adopt other established behaviors instead.

[Andrew]

Well, the only realm he mentioned was Arcaea, which is on stable. And as the behavior he describes (ranged units retreating from melee combat) has been completely removed from the testing combat code, I rather think he must be either talking about stable, or behind the times.

Barca uses a lot of mixed infantry. I sent him like the last 5 battles of reports between Terran, Barca, and Kabrinskia before he posted on this.

[Chenier]

Barca uses a lot of mixed infantry. I sent him like the last 5 battles of reports between Terran, Barca, and Kabrinskia before he posted on this.

So he ignored it, or the behavior is also seen on stable?

Most people have a phobia of MI, myself included (not to mention that good MI centres are hard to come by), so seeing what they do first hand is rare.

[Anaris]

Barca uses a lot of mixed infantry. I sent him like the last 5 battles of reports between Terran, Barca, and Kabrinskia before he posted on this.

If you're saying he saw mixed infantry "retreat from the close combat near them" in those reports, then something is very, very wrong, because that part of the combat code just flat-out isn't there anymore. I know, because I took it out myself, and re-verified that it was completely gone before I posted about it earlier in the thread.

[De-Legro]

If you're saying he saw mixed infantry "retreat from the close combat near them" in those reports, then something is very, very wrong, because that part of the combat code just flat-out isn't there anymore. I know, because I took it out myself, and re-verified that it was completely gone before I posted about it earlier in the thread.

MI on testing for me certainly hasn't been fleeing combat, with the changes I find them quite effective so long as I don't try and tackle monsters single handed.

[egamma]

MI on testing for me certainly hasn't been fleeing combat, with the changes I find them quite effective so long as I don't try and tackle monsters single handed.

On testing they're actually pretty good at taking on monsters as long as you have enough of them.

[MaleMaldives]

On testing they're actually pretty good at taking on monsters as long as you have enough of them.

Agreed. 50 decent dug in MI can take on almost most monster groups. Monster flee quite quite quickly so picking off 1-3 monsters before engaging in the melee can make the difference between another round of combat with them or not, which then saves a bunch of your men's lives.

Fantastic way to gain prestige by the way =)

[Bael]

Agreed. 50 decent dug in MI can take on almost most monster groups. Monster flee quite quite quickly so picking off 1-3 monsters before engaging in the melee can make the difference between another round of combat with them or not, which then saves a bunch of your men's lives.

Fantastic way to gain prestige by the way =)

My character had a bunch of about 40 mixed infantry down in Barca, never lost a single battle and was often the main force defending the land (this was back when it was much smaller). Until they ran into some Zuma, that is...