Raz said:
Yah it has been suggested many times, but it isnt impossible.
you could just (like many new games) switch from commander view to soldiers view. Y'would need a super computer to run it though:p
I'd rather combine M&B with morrowind/oblivion.
"Supercomputers" as Raz calls them, are basically already around. Wait another few years (integrated circuits become roughly 2x more powerful, 2x cheaper and 2x smaller per unit of processing speed/memory/HD space every 18 months) and you'll have more than enough power to run full scale battles where you are able to play commander and also act as a hero figure out in combat. That is, so long as developers are willing to be efficient with their coding and with their game engine design.
Earlier, I was thinking the same thing as Bullvine, but I wasn't necessarily thinking about replicating Rome: Total War; it would be nice if the tactics/leadership skills offered new troop formations and orders as those commander skills improved. Before battle, in the same screen that players decide whether to leave battle/order their men to attack without them/go all out, it would be awesome to be able to rearrange your men into regiments, placing your companions as their captains (and maybe their leadership could improve the individual regiment's AI or morale). Then on the battlefield, players could order the individually assigned regiments on a grand scale, while your captains handled micromanagement (again, developers would have to make sure that your NPC companions had the AI to take command)
Once players can command hundreds of troops, it would be awesome to see pikemen regiments marching into battle with crossbowmen in the center, or to see a group of horsearchers running criss-cross across the battlefield firing arrows at enemy infantry.
Of course, all of this would require a major overhaul, and I don't think its going to happen to M&B, especially with only two people in the development team. Still, major kudos to them, they've done an excellent job so far and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they have in store for this game.