Rallying troops

[Pikeman]

We already know that your men can rout. Will we be able to rally our troops, after they've fled, like in MTW? Or will we even be able to do it in person with a knight commander? This would be very realistic, and should be in the game. After all, in some battles (like Hastings), a routing army could turn around and massacre the enemy, after being rallied.

[Angryminer]

I don't think I want my knight to wave his sword while looking at some crying peasants to symbolize that he tries to reassure them...

But yes, it would be nice if the morale of our troops was higher when the distance to the knight is very close.

Angryminer

[Henrik]

Originally posted by Angryminer
But yes, it would be nice if the morale of our troops was higher when the distance to the knight is very close.

Angryminer

I've got this "strange" feeling that something like that is infact in the game - i.e it would only be fair and give the game a good balance i.e it would work as a counterweight to that event when one of your units flee the battlefield and in the process give other units the same idea, so there should be some kind of "moral-bonus" for those unit which are closest to the knight ! ( I really hope you understand what i mean, coz i'm not quite sure that i do :D )

Regarding this fleeing issue: i think that peasents should be more likely to flee than the regular army and they should also be less diciplined - as i recall the battle at Hastings was lost partly because the housekarle part of the army wasen't diciplined enough:
The cavalry advanced up the hill and engaged the Saxons and gave the impression that they were turning and running. How the Saxons came to this conclusion is still unclear in the melee. It must have been pre planned that they all turned away at the same time to make it seem as though some order to retreat had been given. Whatever the Norman cavalry did, it forced the Saxon army to break ranks and follow them down the slope. Another question surrounds whether Harold gave the command to pursue them or not. I have been very critical of Harold so far. If he did make this crucial decision, he could be accused of total stupidity. The true facts will never be known, only the result. The Saxon line broke and the Normans were followed down the hill. Many housecarls and fyrd were killed in their enthusiasm to finish the fight. Harold must have become very worried at this development. www.battle1066.com (http://www.battle1066.com/battle2.shtml) *look under paragraph "Broken Ranks"

what happened here should/could also happen for the peasant part of the army in KOH - coz a peasant army must lack the dicipline which a regular army has - this would also prevent the player from recruiting lots of peasants for the army i.e. u can really trust'em !

[Pikeman]

I agree. In my opinion, knights should also be undisciplined sometimes, depending on how strong the leadership is (some of the biggest battles in the middle ages were lost because of impatient and arrogant knights).

I also think some way of improving your troop's discipline should be there (like a military academy of some sort).

[Henrik]

Originally posted by Pikeman
I agree. In my opinion, knights should also be undisciplined sometimes, depending on how strong the leadership is (some of the biggest battles in the middle ages were lost because of impatient and arrogant knights).

I also think some way of improving your troop's discipline should be there (like a military academy of some sort).

That would be micro- or even macromanagement :( - so that's probably not going to happen - besides the only type of units that should, or one would think, have the lowest morale and dicipline would be the peasants :)

[Angryminer]

We'll be able to upgrade our barracks so units will pop out at a higher exp-level (in this particular town).

Ask Frank if you don't believe me :D .

Angryminer