Summary: Mounted nobles & companions who are leading parties in the player's army are, at random, thrown into the infantry & foot archer groups during the Order of Battle phase, instead of into the appropriate cavalry (for mounted melee characters) or horse archer (for mounted ranged characters) groups. The resulting inability to command them with their correct formations leads to those characters' early deaths being virtually certain, even with relatively easy battles. This is one of the ~3 most devastating bugs in the game, since the death rate for nobles & companions is so high.
There's no viable way to change their groups, either. Technically, if the enemy doesn't charge you (but they usually do, right away), you can painfully fiddle with the F3 -> F5 feature, dragging a formation into a straight line, counting troops, and slowly moving them around in formations until you finally can isolate the named NPC. However, this takes several minutes each time, and thus is a miserable slog even on those few battles where it's possible to do. Most of the time, it isn't even an option, on account of the enemy charging right away.
In the first attached screenshot, the two Eleftheroi characters are cavalrymen, while the companion is a horse archer. Note that the game has already incorrectly placed two of the three mounted NPCs into unmounted groups, rendering their mounts virtually useless. Turiados in particular is in deep trouble the moment the infantry are given a charge order, as he will charge alone into the enemy battle-line. If no charge order is given, he will fare little better, as a stationary horseman is more vulnerable than the infantry below & around him. Helmold is in a better place than his unfortunate ally, but is still stuck in a slow-moving group, unable to use his mount to skirmish safely with the horse archers in Group 4.
In the second screenshot, you can see the result of a 'sub-bug.' Once the Order of Battle screen is closed, starting the battle, Phelenos is moved from the correct cavalry formation to the incorrect infantry formation, leaving him in the "Suicide Squad" with his friend Turiados. As the screenshot shows, both of them are in the infantry group now (along with a third Eleftheroi NPC, who is not shown in the OoB screen), in spite of their horses. The shown position is is not merely where Phelenos spawns; he now follows Group 1 orders and not Group 3 orders.
So that's three Eleftheroi cavalry characters who will be dying with the infantry, unable to properly utilize their mobility, instead of chilling in reserve with the cavalry, where they should be. And then there's a horse archer companion who's stuck relatively immobile with the foot archers, instead of safely skirmishing with the other horse archers.
How to Reproduce: Create an army and invite four or more parties, all led by mounted nobles/companions. Start a battle with this army, and note that your party leaders have been placed into random formations, usually the wrong ones. Repeat the test several times, if necessary, using different nobles/companions each time (but it should show up on the first try, with 4+ NPC-parties in your army).
Have you used cheats and if so which: No
Media:
There's no viable way to change their groups, either. Technically, if the enemy doesn't charge you (but they usually do, right away), you can painfully fiddle with the F3 -> F5 feature, dragging a formation into a straight line, counting troops, and slowly moving them around in formations until you finally can isolate the named NPC. However, this takes several minutes each time, and thus is a miserable slog even on those few battles where it's possible to do. Most of the time, it isn't even an option, on account of the enemy charging right away.
In the first attached screenshot, the two Eleftheroi characters are cavalrymen, while the companion is a horse archer. Note that the game has already incorrectly placed two of the three mounted NPCs into unmounted groups, rendering their mounts virtually useless. Turiados in particular is in deep trouble the moment the infantry are given a charge order, as he will charge alone into the enemy battle-line. If no charge order is given, he will fare little better, as a stationary horseman is more vulnerable than the infantry below & around him. Helmold is in a better place than his unfortunate ally, but is still stuck in a slow-moving group, unable to use his mount to skirmish safely with the horse archers in Group 4.
In the second screenshot, you can see the result of a 'sub-bug.' Once the Order of Battle screen is closed, starting the battle, Phelenos is moved from the correct cavalry formation to the incorrect infantry formation, leaving him in the "Suicide Squad" with his friend Turiados. As the screenshot shows, both of them are in the infantry group now (along with a third Eleftheroi NPC, who is not shown in the OoB screen), in spite of their horses. The shown position is is not merely where Phelenos spawns; he now follows Group 1 orders and not Group 3 orders.
So that's three Eleftheroi cavalry characters who will be dying with the infantry, unable to properly utilize their mobility, instead of chilling in reserve with the cavalry, where they should be. And then there's a horse archer companion who's stuck relatively immobile with the foot archers, instead of safely skirmishing with the other horse archers.
How to Reproduce: Create an army and invite four or more parties, all led by mounted nobles/companions. Start a battle with this army, and note that your party leaders have been placed into random formations, usually the wrong ones. Repeat the test several times, if necessary, using different nobles/companions each time (but it should show up on the first try, with 4+ NPC-parties in your army).
Have you used cheats and if so which: No
Media:
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