RedMarth said:
Dude, Gorvex, you are the best. Thanks for such a thorough answer! I think my problem is that I haven't had enough troops to constitute 2 full rows. Is forming ranks sufficient, or would shield wall work better?
Glad I could answer/help!
You don't need much units to be able to form two rows. Something like 10-12. You can do it by two methods:
#1: order 'stand closer' repeatedly until they end up clumped enough. I don't recommend this, as it takes too much time when it comes to forming 4 or 5 rows, and you have to keep attention on counting for the desired effect.
#2: enable the "use_advanced_formation" in module.ini. That will unlock some extra F-key commands, which contain the "form 1-5 rows" orders, among some other useful stuff. This is what I recommend doing, as it's much easier and faster to set up certain amount of rows. And you get the ability to volley-fire (after ordering 'hold fire'), and to fire in ranks (left-middle-right) as well!
Personally speaking, I'm not too fond of those other type of advanced formations (square, wedge, shieldwall and ranks). In my opinion, for the AI, it's crucial that it uses them rather than doing nothing or charging in straight. But for you, the player, it can be better under most conditions if you just use the basic formations. For the sake of troop performance as well. Because let's face it, those formations are a bit broken from the start. Troops won't hold positions exactly where you said so (but couple of paces ahead or behind), will sometimes decide to move around a little on their own (dancing back and forth, which is annoying), don't allow you to keep formations after charging and ordering to 'hold' again, etc.
Wedge is utter sh*t for both infantry and cavalry. Cavalry performs the best when they are spreaded out and don't block each other while riding around. And wedge does the opposite: a tight triangle formation
The tightness is always handy for infantry, but not in a triangle formation. Squares, but mostly lines/ranks serve them better.
Square is subpar too, because it makes the ones in the middle stay out of action, due to being blocked by their neighbours. And in case of infantry, it's never good to make such formations when facing archers, who will gladly pincushion them since all arrows will hit someone or someone's shield, as it's hard to miss a giant square formation, even for inaccurate archers (e.g. shooting above the first guys' heads will result in the next guys getting hit)
The only two somewhat decent/usable formations are
ranks and
shieldwall. Which are the iterations of forming simple rows btw, that you can do with the default commands too. The only difference is that troops within the same division get sorted out if they are different (based on the below methods seen in quotes). I don't know the composition of infantry you are using, therefore I can't really recommend one over the other. It depends. But if your infantry division consists of somewhat homogenous units, then I'd say you would be better off with some basic rows, which are more precise and trustworthy, and they allow more flexibility in general. Here are the descriptions from the
Wikia of PoP for ranks and shieldwall:
J - Ranks: This will form your units into an assortment of lines, with the highest level units at the front. This formation, most effective against other infantry, uses your highest level units to do the most work, while your more vulnerable units stay behind them, coming out to give support. It can be used with great effectiveness if you have many highly offensive melee units (such as Empire Gladiators or Fierdsvain Berserkers) supported by ranged throwing units (such as D'Shar Ghazi Dervishes or Empire Legionnaires).
K - Shieldwall: This will form your units into an assortment of lines, similarly to ranks, but with shield units at the front. This formation can be used to protect shield-less units from ranged attacks, while moving on them. You may wish to order your shield wall to stand closer, as sometimes arrows can get through the cracks and hit the units in the back. Be wary of using this formation on an incline, as your shield-less units may stand higher than your shield units, leaving them totally open to ranged attacks.
Decide and see for yourself which serves your infantry better. I personally prefer to stick to some basic formations due to the above and just form multiple rows with a tight displacement for infantry.