miloc said:
I downloaded the demo two days ago and I am hooked too, even though I only played the tutorial so far. I think I am going to buy it.
Having said that, I have a problem with the "how to command a division-tutorial": The brigade-generals never follow my orders.
Example: In the division scenario General Early holds the center. He has a nice wall in front of him, therefore I want him to place his regiments behind that wall and stay there. In order to achieve this I put him on "hold" stance. But shortly after I have him running his regiments around in the open field in a pointless counterattack. Then I tried to move him back to his initial position but failed. I finally decided to ignore the brigade-generals completely and took control of all the regiments personally, only then I got the results I wanted. But it felt like cheating, since regiments can be ordered around directly while following the chain of command has a (realistic) delay.
Is there a faq or something that explains how to command brigades in more detail? Or is there something I missed?
EDIT: nevermind, I found the madminutegames-forum.
Ok im playing EU3 and saw TC SM board and am wonderin whats up? Does PI now control TC SM? Anyways once you realise the breadth and depth of the command hierarchy in TCSM you will be simple amazed.
To answer your question above remember that Take Command is all about exactly that, Taking Command. Hitting the Take Command button for a leader means he will only do exactly what you tell him to do as well as those underneath him within his chain of command, and this means you can no longer use the "general" commands of attack, probe, defend, hold ground, although he will still retain the last order he recieved and will begin to carry out that order if you un TC him. You sometimes might want to position an entire brigade by TC'ing the brigade commander and let them sit where they are with TC still on until such a time where you feel you want them to go for it on there own. The regiments who are not TC'd will then stay in the area they were in when the brigade commander was TC'd but will adjust their facing on their own unless you TC them as well.
Relying on a brigade commander to operate non-TC'd will means that the commander will act to the degree that his historical counterpart reacted. If he was brash and irrational he may very well initiate an attack on an advancing enemy even while issued hold ground orders.
Also remember that the way the ai works for a commander is based upon what he can see from his perspective on the battlefield. So in general the best way to use orders without Taking command is to move the commander to a position where he has a good perspective of the task you want to assign him then sending him the order, then selecting him and giving him move/formate orders. Its fun to watch how they choose to carry out those orders you give them.
Non TC seems to work much better on the attack and TC better for defense imho. For attacking its fun to TC your brigades/divisions and move them into a line of battlethat is close to but out of range of enemy rifles, cannons dont hurt very bad at long range. Once there in the line of battle, and within a reasonable distance of the enemy line select the commanders of the brigades or divisions un-TC, send them the general order (in this case either attack or probe) AND MAKE SURE THEY ACTUALLY RECIVE THE ORDER FROM THE COURIER and give them a move and formation order of where you want them to advance in the fight (up to the enemy line or actually theough the line is a good final destination), remember from above it might actually be good to move your commander ahead some before giving him the order so he can survey the enemy if his current position is not that good LOS wise. Now sit back and watch your commander carry out your orders by moving their brigades/regiments in the fashion of there historical counterparts. If you see a problem with say a brigade jump in and TC the brigade commander and regiments if need be and operate them manually.
If you want to position a defense on a wall it is HIGHLY recommended you TC the brigade commander and potentially the regiments in that brigade then manually position them exactly how you want the defense laid out , say against a wall or fence, then leave the brigade commander on TC and un TC the regiments so they can adjust facing if need be. This is one area where the commader ai just blows.