Samantha's School of K-nighthood/Chapter 4: Orders
Different Kinds of Orders
Once you're in command of a unit, it is up to you to maintain the whole kit n' kaboodle. (No, I don't know what kind of kit, or what a kaboodle is either, so don't ask.)
Unit Settings: This is where you give the orders for how your men are to march into the battle. You'll usually get orders from your marshal that will resmble something like this:
- Inf/SF with Siege engines: Front aggressive line
- Inf/SF without Siege engines: Middle normal line
- LR Archer: Middle defensive line
- SR Archers/MI: Front defensive line
- Cav: rear defensive wedge
Basically, they are telling the individual types of units how to move into battle. Looking under Unit Settings will show you all the options available, and you follow the orders for your particular type of unit. This is also where you can set the autopayment settings for your unit. Autopayment is how often your stewards will pay your unit without you having to tell them.
Loot Some People: This is when you turn your soldiers loose in enemy territory. There are all sorts of different types of looting available, which will allow you to do everything from robbing tax collectors to get gold, to burning and pillaging farms, damaging the infrastructure or military fortifications...to just plain burning everything to the ground and murdering people. This is a very, Very, VERY, VEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY bad thing to do. And you should only do it if you are specifically ordered to.
Training: Getting your soldiers in shape. The more you train, the higher their cohesion and training becomes. However, you're gonna beat on their gear doing all this, so their equipment is going to have to be repaired. Also, when you train a lot, your men are going to grumpy and whiny. Don't worry, they always do that. Take them out for some entertainment or just give them some time off and they'll recover their morale sooner or later.
Pay Your Men: Always a favorite for the troops. You can pay everybody, just pay your soldiers, or pay your paraphernalia. Whichever you choose. If you don't pay your troops for more than 5 or 6 days, they'll start bitching about this too. You can usually let them go unpaid for about 9 days if you have to, but try not to let it go on for too long. If you do, they can desert you when you need them the most, and will sometimes spread really bad rumors about you while doing it. This can hurt your honor or prestige.
Rest Your Troops: Exactly what it says. This allows you to let your soliders have some time off to just enjoy whatever they can find. This will get your unit back some of its morale, but not a lot. But hey...it's free...so no bitchin.
Entertainment: When your men are suffering from a huge morale loss, you can take them out and pay for a night on the town. WOO-HOO!!! You can either just take them out for an okay time, which will cost a little gold and a couple of hours but will get back some morale, or you can go for an ALL OUT PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! This will cost twice as much and take up all the time you have, but then you can really really raise their spirits. Go to a Dance Hall, go to a brewery, take em to a pub, Pick up some whores...go all out! But you can only do this when in a town, city or stronghold.
Repair Equipment: Training, battle...heck...even travel can damage your equipment. To repair them, you need to be in a region with an armour or weapon smith. You can usually find where these are under your Banker's Bulletin.
Arrest an Adventurer/Priest: Does exactly what it says. You can have your unit looking for adventurers, who are just commoners with swords that are out looking for a gold or two, or arrest a priest. Haven't had much experience with this, but I do know that arresting priests can upset the populace if the priest or religion is popular. But hey...that's why we're armed and armored...right?
Dig In: Have your soldiers pick up picks and shovels and start building earthworks and fortifications to protexct your camp. They're not as good as regularly built castles and the like, but they're better than nothing. However, this can affect how your unit will position and react in battle.
Hunt Enemies: After a battle, you can send your soldiers out in hunting parties to capture or kill the remaining enemy troops. However, in order to do this, you need at least 20 unwounded men in your unit. And your unit can't have retreated from the battlefield. Hunting takes at least 3 hours and you won't get the results until sunrise or sunset. Also, you can't send your men out hunting and then do things like dig in or travel.
