25.1 Frequently asked questions about warfare.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

1. My legions move very slowly. Why is this?
A complete unskilled, non-mounted, walking legion will move very slowly, it's true. However, develop your 'deployment' primarily, then 'alacrity' 'pathways' and 'marchendure' to speed them up. Larger legions move more slowly. Mounted legions move MUCH faster if they're set to be cavalry. Legions move faster when you tell them to run.

2. How close do I need to be to launch an attack?
Melee, which is toe to toe fighting, requires your legion to be in same location as your enemey and in an adjacent point on LOCALE. Held projectiles can reach from your legion to enemy legions in your own, and any adjacent location. Archers can reach up to two hundred fee - which is five or six locations away. Field equipment distances vary. Magical attacks are not switched on yet.

3. How exactly do I get my legion to fight?
The two important commands are ENGAGE and MELEE. If you're at the commandpost of a legion (MARSHALL <legion>) you should start by declaring how much of your legion you want to be in an offensive-mode, with COM MELEE. COM MELEE on its own uses all available men. Then you're ready to use ENGAGE to direct the legion. Easiest one is ENGAGE <target city or guild> ALL to tell your legion to engage the specific opponent city/guild legions under all circumstances. It will strike at enemy legions with banners first then if none available will deplete enemy legions enlisted but unbannered/unallocated to a full legion banner.

4. My legion is getting its ass kicked. What am I doing wrong?
Are you facing your enemy? Check out the FACE command. Are you in a sensible formation, compared with your enemy? The lines formation is a good starting point. Do you have Meleefight skill developed? If no, get it developed! Do you have no weapons against an armed foe? If so, get Meleeweapons developed and arm your legion! Do you have no armour? If that's making a difference, get Armourforms developed and LEGION EQUIP your guys with armour. Is your opponent mounted? Develop the 'cavalry' skill, LEGION EQUIP your legion with steeds and order their APPROACH to be cavalry. There are myriad other subtleties - delve into the helpfiles - but these are the core aspects of legion-to-legion melee.

5. My legion has thousands of men while my enemy has just a thousand. I'm not overwhelming him. Everything looks equal between us. Why?
There is a limited number possible for a single legion, on a frontline, partly depending on formation but mostly innate limits. So while a much larger legion will eventually win out against a smaller one, all other things being equal, if the smaller one has enough men to man a full frontline they will fight on fairly level terms until attrition reduces their numbers sufficiently. Towards the end the bigger legion is likely to start to win faster but at the beginning of the conflict it will not be so easy.

6. I am trying to construct items and issue the commands but my legion doesn't start constructing.
Legions won't construct in the inner barracks. They must be outside the cramped conditions of the interior barracks/dormitory to construct. Don't forget, also, to DEPLOY the legion - sufficient percentile of it - at 'fieldequipment' or whichever primary skill is associated with the construction. If in doubt, try 'fieldequipment' and remember if you deploy 100% of your legion and it has 40% 'fieldequipment' then it will construct at 40% absolute potency. If you deploy 50% of your legion with 40% 'fieldequipment' it will construct at 20% absolute potency.

7. I'm in a location adjacent to my opponent, and our locale-points seem adjacent, but he's able to hit me and my legion isn't striking back.
Check which direction your legion is facing. More than likely your opponent's legion is facing you directly, from the adjacent location, while your unlucky legion is not. Use FACE to adjust direction facing to meet you foe head-on, facing in the same direction as the exit leading to the location of your opponent.

8. Do I need to actively deploy armourforms or use ARMOUR command to benefit from my legion being armoured?
No, armour is a default. Armourforms enhances the armour's use and effectiveness but it isn't essential - your legions can wear armour regardless. You'll see how effective the armour is in LEGION INFO. If the percentage is higher than 100 it means you have spares.

Back to section index