Five detailed battles, 4 generals dead?

[tbone1218]

Playing France in the standard 1805 scenario. I'm I using my generals wrong or is it bad dice rolls or is it bug?

Mike

[Hard Sarge]

Depends, how did they die ?

you may of been chargeing formed units, the unit the General commands, takes losses, they got a chance to be one of them

if by being fired at, well, you seem to be unlucky

overall I try not to have my Generals with the Cav when they charge (click G when that unit is ready to charge while holding the mouse over another one of your units will move the General there)

I one time Lost Nappy, to a Suppy charge !!!!

[Ralegh]

My record was 4 generals in a battle - 3 of the enemies and one of mine. I was deliberately targetting enemy generals, though.

Your chance for a general to die is directly related to the number of men killed as a proportion of the unit, so try to keep them out of high-cas situations. All the normal things that help the unit avoid casulties will make the general safer (ie. skirmishers, being rested, being in supply, facing, formation, terrain, weather etc etc)

I strongly believe that a generals impact on troops rallying (ie while resting) is far more important than their combat bonuses....

[Russian Guard]

Not suggesting that the game be changed, but casualties are indeed high among Generals if you use them alot to lead attacks.

The game I'm currently playing, as Russia (1805 campaign) it is now late 1810 and only 3 of the original 7 Russian Generals remain alive, Kutusov, Bennigson and Barclay.

In addition I've killed 2 that appear as reinforcements (Buxhowden and someone else).

Stacking generals up like cordwood. I'm starting to use them much more judiciously, it is starting to hurt that I have no one to lead my Armies [;)]

I did get to watch the criminal Davout be forever silenced in 1808, as he was charged by Platov's cavalry [:D]

[ericbabe]

I could lower the chances of a commander's dying. Anybody else think it too high right now?

[Naomi]

I never suffered the loss of a single leader in quick battles, however hot they were and how numerous the death tolls ensued. I was pleased with Goddess of Immortality shining on (the bigwigs on [:'(]) my battleground. I'll go on testing how longer leaders can be so divinely blessed.

[tbone1218]

Naomi - The problem is with "detailed battles" not "quick battles".

Ericbabe - I think it should be changed. Please lower the odds. Ney and Nappie died last night.

[hiro8601]

Why don't you add the options of "wounded" and "captured"?
1.Wounded general can't fight for a while(may be 1-6months?)
2.Captured general will return by ransom(the value should be decided by the number of stars and their attribute).
I believe it makes the battles exiting[:'(]

[ericbabe]

Currently there's no mechanism for generals' dying in quick combat. There used to be during early beta testing, but our beta testers found it incredibly frustrating because there was no mechanism for being cautious or reckless with your commanders, as there is in detailed combat. Early after game release we had many people request that commanders be killable in quick combat. I took a poll and the results were about split on the issue. It's on my list of possible tweaks to the program, but I'd like to consider ways to give the player some control over how much risk he wants to put on his commanders.

Wounded and captured commanders would be interesting, but at this point the fun vs. work ratio may not be high enough to justify adding it -- it may seem like a minor feature, but it would actually involve quite a bit of work. We're strongly considering wounded commanders for our sequels, though.

[Russian Guard]

After playing yet another campaign from 1805 through (currently) 1810 as Russia, yes I'd suggest reducing the % chance a General is KIA in detailed battles.

I have again lost most of the at-start Generals for Russia, in addition to Buxhowden and Raevsky (again), so I no longer consider it a fluke that I have lost so many Generals in battle.

In one battle alone, where I had 6 Generals, 3 died in that battle (Bagration, Platov, and Raevsky).

I like the rule overall; just a bit too deadly IMO. [X(]

[ericbabe]

I'll put a poll up on the main area and see what the overall opinion is. You're certainly getting high commander mortality rates, but much higher than I typically get when I play, so I'd like to try to get more of a consensus opinion before I change this too drastically.

[Russian Guard]

Great - I just voted (no secret which way, eh?)

I can't imagine it's possible that Russian Generals are dying easier than any other nationality...but just thought I'd mention it, in case the code for this is Nation-specific. Not sure if any other players out there are as focused on playing the Ruskies as I have been. I haven't noticed enemy commanders dying as frequently...

Not to flog the proverbial dead horse, but last night I lost Bagration and Platov in a single 3-day battle in 1805.

Again, I like the rule - adds some tension and risk in using the Generals aggressively. Just seems a bit too high for my luck, anyway.

[TexHorns]

I have been playing Russia in game started in 1792. It is now 1803 and I think I have seen maybe 2 or 3 general casualties, of which maybe one was Russian. But I don't use my generals to charge. I use them to help with formation changes and to rally units. So that may be why my rates are so much lower. I don't see it as a problem.

As an aside, I have seen many generals surrender with their divisions. What happens to them? Are they returned to their country at war's end, ready to fight again? Or are they thrown in the Siberian gulag never to be heard from again?

[Russian Guard]

Well, sure, if you don't use them for combat, then they aren't likely to die. The question is, if you _do_ use them for combat, is the casualty rate too high?

In my experience, clearly it is, unless the purpose of the high casualty rate is to discourage using Generals in battle unless the need is paramount. If so, then the rule is fine - just make that point clear in the rules [:'(]

[ericbabe]

That's a good point about making it clear in the rules. I purposely don't send my favorite generals in with suicide charges -- often transfering them to another unit first if I'm going to make the charge. Still, I don't want to discourage the use of commanders too much.

[Hard Sarge]

Well, sure, if you don't use them for combat, then they aren't likely to die. The question is, if you _do_ use them for combat, is the casualty rate too high?

In my experience, clearly it is, unless the purpose of the high casualty rate is to discourage using Generals in battle unless the need is paramount. If so, then the rule is fine - just make that point clear in the rules

one thing with these posts, you keep saying you are getting your Generals killed in battle, but you are not saying how they are getting killed ?

my last test game, I lost one General, it was a 1792 start, and it is 1806 now

[Russian Guard]

Good point. I'll try to keep better tabs on it, but I can tell you that while most of them have come from charges (either charging or being charged), not all of them for certain.

I have absolutely assigned my generals to front-line units and used their tactical abilities to try to inflict maximum damage on enemy units.

I never cavalry charge enemy units that aren't disordered or even routed, unless I am behind them and they are in column. Even so, I killed Raevsky and Platov in the same battle, conducting charges this way.

Now I do get a bit aggressive with Infantry charges; I like the Bayonet upgrade and perhaps have been too aggressive with Infantry charges against enemy units...[:-]

If I play tonight (likely) I'll keep tabs and try to snap a few screenshots if possible, if my generals continue to die like wimps [:D].

[Naomi]

ORIGINAL: Russian Guard


Great - I just voted (no secret which way, eh?)

Heh, not sure I had voting rights, I simply responded to the poll just now. [:'(]

[Azog]

RussianGuard, have you checked if your generals play russian rulet?[:D] it was quite popular...

[Russian Guard]

Hmmm...Russian Roulette - I'll check the Generals for sidearms that have recently been fired [;)]

Didn't get to play last night, no new dead Generals to lament.

Looks like the poll is going the other way, so I'm anticipating I'll have to reign in my Generals and turn them into rally stations, like many of you seem to do [>:]

[:D]