SP - Battles & Sieges Ambush Mechanic - Single Player

[seahamster443]

What about the option to learn how to ambush nearby/passing enemies?

The storyline mentions Battanians ambushing, and it seems like it would suit at least a couple of the more missile-focused factions. It could be limited by scouting/tactics level and a percentage chance to avoid every character doing it, and serve as a reward for levelling those areas up, along with only being possible in certain terrain (forest, heavy snow, canyons etc). You could have an opposite trait option for a character with high scouting having a high percentage chance to spot a potential ambush and counteract it.

The mental image I've got is that the ambushing party deploys their troops in cover, the party being ambushed then is forced to deploy marching in a column, and then the battle begins with the ambusher breaking cover and attacking. Could also make playing as a small party or bandit more accessible as it could add a sort of guerrilla playstyle.

 

[RozBritanicus]

What about the option to learn how to ambush nearby/passing enemies?

I like this a lot. it would add that element of danger and maybe a good scout would be a must for your army to try and spot ambush attacks.

 

[AbstrusiveChewi]

To further this,

Ambushes depending on Roguery skill is a must, but also two ambush types. Once a successful ambush is sprung, you decide to ambush their supply lines or ambush the army as a whole. Then you can either commit larger casualties to the army, or more specific casualites to certain troop types or elite troops, or some other Map effect such as Morale, Army cohesion, food stores etc.

Eg,
Your small but elite army of 30 Fian Champions and 30 Falxman come across a large 1200 strong army of Sturgians. They're probably going to siege a large town. You set into ambush stance (reduces your speed greatly but makes you invisible), and attack them on the battle map in a forested area. You then choose to either ambush the main force in a long marching column or to attack their camp while they rest.
You choose to attack their camp, with the specific purpose of killing off their elite infantry in their sleep. The scene is a camp ground with a smaller and therefore much more favourable engagement of half armed Sturgian Elite troops that are easily dispatched by your well armed troops. If you stick around (time limit?) then fully armed reinforcements will arrive to kill your party, so you call a retreat and your troops flee to a retreat spot near where you entered from and escape. The battle stats are 65 dead Sturgian Elites and 2 or 3 dead Battanians.

Your Army of 600 Vlandians are travelling to siege when they hear news of a much larger Khuzait force. You move to intercept them and set an ambush on the road. On the successful ambush you opt to engage the main army, hoping to surprise the core of their horse archers with your more superior Shock Cavalry and then withdraw to conserve your own losses. The Scene is a long column of troops marching steadily until you give an order or your men are seen. You charge in, and the initial shock kills many enemy horse archers. You stick around for the melee, but once the majority of the enemy horse archers form into divisions and begin counter-attacking, you retreat with the majority of your forces intact. The enemy army is now significantly weaker. A few more succesful attacks and you may be ready to engage them head on for a more favourable engagement.




There is immense potential for not only more interesting ways for the player to help in the war effort against larger armies, but also for the AI to participate in wars as a whole. Battanians as a whole should fight wars more defensively due to their Lore, but due to the unfair matchups to nearly every other faction they always get defeated early into campaigns. Battanian lords should have the highest average Roguery so that small enemy war parties are often ambushed and large enemy armies take constant attrition when traversing through Battania. On map-wide scale this can diversify engagements across the board, but can be favoured towards smaller ambush engagments for Khuzait, Aserai, and Sturgians, and larger Army-focused ambushes for Imperial factions. This makes sense for their lore.

 

[AbstrusiveChewi]

Also as a note,

If the enemy parties see your ambush then the game pauses with a notification that you've been spotted. This way you can still attack (if the engagement is fairly even but you're looking for an advantage) or disengage if you have a disadvantage. Possibly a movement debuff as a consequence for having to quickly leave an ambush