Maximum battle width depends on region type

[Zakilevo]

People occupy more spaces than you might think.

Even if you put people beside each other, shoulder to shoulder, each person will occupy at least 50 cm. That is without any armour or equipment on them. If they are wearing chain mails and other defensive equipment, they will need at least half a meter to a meter or even two meters to move freely. If you put 300 men in a line, you will need at least 300 meters to align them( if you consider each person needs a meter of space). You won't find such space in a mountain or a forest region that often.

[Sonya]

I think i understand the idea, and sound interesting. Since i have no idea about the battle program i am not sure if is easy to work on. Will try to repeat what i try to understand, or what it is suppose to do. maybe with this a new idea comes out...

a) For the main idea to work, the battle program have to calculate each individual/troop by separate.
ex: 100CS 10 man Unit = 10 CS per man.

b) How is the battle calculated?  Unit vs Unit? Or each troop by separated, for this idea to be effective, is necessary that the battle is calculated in base of 1 invidual/troop VS the one that it have in front of him.

c) There must be a way determine the winner from the two individuals, in a way that the stronger wins, but get weaker for the next opponent.
Ex: 1 15CS troop fight a 10CS one. Calculating 15>10 but 15-10=5; Then the winner will be the one who had 15, but will have 5CS due to equipment damage fatigue, any excuse to avoid a unbeatable superior unit. (correct me if i am wrong, but i think RISK is like that)

d) Since the region determines the field width, then the line settings will determine what unit fill the front ranks, it can be the ones whoa arrive first, or we can choose the Vanguard settings to do this. But anyways the ranks will be filled, by settings or ramdom, is up to the players to plan beforehand.
Ex: Max field width = 10 (Think in Scale) 
Battle: 4 Infantry units vs 3 Enemy Infantry units
1a- 3 men                  2a- 6 men
1b- 5 men        VS      2b- 5 men
1c- 4 men                   2c- 4 men
1d- 7 men

The Field Will be Like this

1c->1a               2a<-2b
1c->1a               2a<-2c
1d->1a               2a<-2c
1d->1b               2a<-2c
1d->1b               2a<-2c
1d->1b     VS      2a<-(*)
1d->1b               2b<-(*)
1d->1b               2b<-(*)
1d->1c               2b<-(*)
(*)->1c               2b<-(*)

* Blank Space
The winner of this battle will depend on the CS of each individual unit, remember Numbers doesn't always win battles, but is good to have them!

This is just my idea (or at least interpretation) of how things would go with a With Limited Field which sounds interesting. for a wider example you can use this (Click for Reference

Infantry 4555 Men, so in a field with a width of  800, and in case that the forces were split, it will take 5.6 turns for all the infantry to enter the front ranks, of course you have to put into account, the rest of the troop types, but it seems that 5.6 turns is a pretty fast but i am sure that troops CS and numbers will push that a little.

You have to take into account the Archer damage which of course will have a great advantage on this settings since they can do damage  and mostly be safe, also Cavalry, SF and MI.

Well i hope we can find a way to change the game for better and more fun (More strategy= more fun). In case that everything in game already works like this, well... sorry i just figured out. but if no, think about it maybe it can help create newer ideas.


Peace!

PS:
Look at me..... what BM makes me do, if i talk like this to my friends they leave me talking alone.....

[Indirik]

People occupy more spaces than you might think.

Even if you put people beside each other, shoulder to shoulder, each person will occupy at least 50 cm. That is without any armour or equipment on them. If they are wearing chain mails and other defensive equipment, they will need at least half a meter to a meter or even two meters to move freely. If you put 300 men in a line, you will need at least 300 meters to align them( if you consider each person needs a meter of space). You won't find such space in a mountain or a forest region that often.

Open space in a straight line, maybe not. But unless there is some additional terrain restriction in a forest, you can still go around. It would be very hard to constrict the battle to some small front line.

[Foundation]

If it's separate count, I can see 200-300 being reasonable. So what if a single unit by a battle-worn noble with a gazillion honour is able to take a stand in small mountain regions? There aren't many who are capable of doing this and able to sustain the unit maintenance (have you tried paying/repairing a unit of >100 men?).

[Zakilevo]

Open space in a straight line, maybe not. But unless there is some additional terrain restriction in a forest, you can still go around. It would be very hard to constrict the battle to some small front line.

True. Actually in a forest, your front line may stretch since you will have trees between your men.

Mountains usually have narrow paths so those will probably have the smallest space for battles.

[Bedwyr]

If it's separate count, I can see 200-300 being reasonable. So what if a single unit by a battle-worn noble with a gazillion honour is able to take a stand in small mountain regions? There aren't many who are capable of doing this and able to sustain the unit maintenance (have you tried paying/repairing a unit of >100 men?).

Exactly.  I have to admit that the idea of a Hero making a valiant last stand with his three hundred hard-bitten veterans alongside him gives me all kinds of RP chills, but a large part of that is because it should be damn difficult.

What effect do you think that fortifications would have on things? A fortified castle or town can be completely surrounded, and should probably open the battlefield much wider.

I would suggest that for the first stage of implementation, they function like rurals.  In the future, I could see more elaborate ideas, but I am (with great difficulty) trying to keep myself focused.

To that end: I think we have a solid idea.  Limiting battle-widths to X number of soldiers per side, with Mountains having the lowest number of X and Rurals having effectively infinite X, and hills/forests/badlands in between.  Time to write up a feature request!  Now, all of you go discuss the other two ideas and come up with some of your own!

[vonGenf]

I would suggest that for the first stage of implementation, they function like rurals.  In the future, I could see more elaborate ideas, but I am (with great difficulty) trying to keep myself focused.

I would suggest leaving cities and townslands as they are. They are already differentiated from the other regions in having walls, which leads to different tactics, which is the goal.