Suggestion: Braced Formation Command

[WNxSpectre]

I suggest adding a braced or planted formation command, that would enable spear formations to brace their spears against the ground in an anti-cavalry charge spear wall. Such formations should be devastating against charging cavalry units. Especially if the braced formation could be combined with other formation shapes such as circle formation command to create a spear crown defense that was a widely used tactic against cavalry.

This would be useful when facing armies with large numbers of spear cavalry. This would help allow infantry armies to have tactics that are viable when fighting cavalry units. Braced spear walls or crowns backed by archers should be highly effective against cavalry and mounted archers.

This would help offset some of the current heavy bias towards favoring cavalry in the game.

 

[WNxSpectre]

To clarify one detail. I was thinking that the brace command could work like the hold fire command and be usable by units with pointed polearms in combination with other formations such as line, square, shield wall, and circle, to make formidable defenses against any cavalry foolish enough to charge into them. Cavalry that do run head long into such a formation should take heavy damage, akin to running into a braced lance.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

This is going to be officially implemented; taleworlds has already talked about it. Currently in MP, but soon™ in SP.

SPEAR BRACING
Spear bracing is a new passive stance for any unit wielding an eligible two-handed polearm. A braced polearm damages anything that comes into contact with it above a certain speed, using a similar damage formula to couched lancing. Currently, spear bracing is enabled in multiplayer only.

 

[AxiosXiphos]

I'm really intrigued to see how well this works; it could totally revolutionise spear units - which have always been an awkward/useless inclusion in Warband and mostly in bannerlord.

By the way - in case anyone hasn't found this yet. You can move while spear braced. Before or after spear bracing you need to toggle on 'Always Walk'. This will let you shuffle around a little while keeping the spear braced. Annoyingly though you need to toggle this off every time you finish bracing.

I really want the Spear brace button to automatically trigger this behaviour; without having to press another button - right now it a chore to use and of the few people I see using spear bracing - very very few actually move around.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Personally I have advocated that the nature of the spear bracing action in MP should be static (restricting movement as in The Deluge / papa's kit). That said, I hope that unlike the current application in MP in SP it will be different and that the bots will maintain a static position as in this video:

#staticspearbracing #switchweaponcommandnow! #letmechoose #playerfirst #Aimustobey

If Taleworlds by design has stipulated that bots in bracing formation are going to have the ability to move, it's going to be chaos.

 

[hruza]

This is going to be officially implemented; taleworlds has already talked about it. Currently in MP, but soon™ in SP.

There is no mention of implementing it in SP in that video and I very much doubt that it ever will. Without extensive rework of AI it would completely destroy balance of the game and make cavalry completely useless.

And extensive rework of the AI that would make it work is not going to happen because it would require much more complex AI then currently exists in the game.

 

[AxiosXiphos]

There is no mention of implementing it in SP in that video and I very much doubt that it ever will. Without extensive rework of AI it would completely destroy balance of the game and make cavalry completely useless.

And extensive rework of the AI that would make it work is not going to happen because it would require much more complex AI then currently exists in the game.

Errmm... Taleworlds did quite specifically state that it was only implemented in MP for the moment and would be coming to SP soon. Make of that what you will - but right now the official statement is Spear Bracing bots are coming. As with all TW communication - this doesn't make anything certain but the safe assumption is it is coming.

I don't know how well it will work - or if it will even be viable in SP. Sure it might seem scary but A.I cavalry has a tendency to flank as much as possible; I feel quite often the spears won't be able to position in a way that actually makes it effective.

 

[hruza]

Errmm... Taleworlds did quite specifically state that it was only implemented in MP for the moment and would be coming to SP soon.

citation from the video: "Currently spear bracing is implemented in MP only."
...noting about coming in to SP there.

I don't know how well it will work - or if it will even be viable in SP. Sure it might seem scary but A.I cavalry has a tendency to flank as much as possible; I feel quite often the spears won't be able to position in a way that actually makes it effective.

Given that most infantry in the game have spear or some other polearm, and without significant changes to AI, implementation in to SP would look something like this:

Cavalry charges infantry, infantry braces spears, cavalry dies. End of battle.

Spear bracing was implemented in to MP and not SP because in MP human AI is fighting human AI. And I pretty much doubt that AI changes that would make it work in SP can be implemented without changing not just AI but also scale of the battles. Bracing would require more complex AI, which would in turn require to lower number of AI bots in battles because of the performance.

My bet is that it's not going to happen.

 

[SGT_Night]

citation from the video: "Currently spear bracing is implemented in MP only."
...noting about coming in to SP there.



Given that most infantry in the game have spear or some other polearm, and without significant changes to AI, implementation in to SP would look something like this:

Cavalry charges infantry, infantry braces spears, cavalry dies. End of battle.

Spear bracing was implemented in to MP and not SP because in MP human AI is fighting human AI. And I pretty much doubt that AI changes that would make it work in SP can be implemented without changing not just AI but also scale of the battles. Bracing would require more complex AI, which would in turn require to lower number of AI bots in battles because of the performance.

My bet is that it's not going to happen.

It is not only in the dev update video, but also in their post of the upcoming changes

 

[hruza]

It is not only in the dev update video, but also in their post of the upcoming changes

Thanks for the link. Still:
"Please keep in mind that these priorities are neither all-encompassing nor set in stone, and we will adjust them if the need arises."

I am still willing to bet that it's not going to be implemented for reasons I said above. I just can't see it been implemented either without extensive AI changes or unbalancing cavalry in to uselessness.

 

[WNxSpectre]

This is going to be officially implemented; taleworlds has already talked about it. Currently in MP, but soon™ in SP.

Some one posted a link to their list which included:

"Spear Bracing

• AI Implementation"

I hope it is more than just an automatic AI action, I would like to see an actual command akin to "Hold Fire" that would be "Brace" Which would tell units to brace themselves against enemy charges, so that they would collectively plant polearms to the ground to be extra effective as a wall against incoming charges.