Battle

Battles are one of the most important features of the game. They are why troop leaders command units -- why they are called "troop leaders" in the first place! Through battle, realms live and die. Fortunes and reputations are made and lost.

When does a battle take place?

A battle should take place when:

The armies of two enemy realms meet in the same region.
The armies of two neutral realms meet in the same region, and at least one unit is set to aggressive.
The armies of two allied realms or two realms who are in peace meet in the same region, and at least one unit is set to murderous.
The armies of any realm meet a rogue army.

In order to take part in a battle you will only have to travel to the region in which the battle will take place. You should also make sure that your unit's settings are set properly (you don't want to end up slaying, or get slaughtered by, your friends).

Rogues are hated by all. Rogue troop leaders represent a huge challenge to the very core values of BattleMaster society, just by virtue of holding armies, but swearing allegiance to no realm. Therefore, they are always attacked on sight. Monsters and undead, when they appear, are always rogue.

See this page for more details.

Preparing for a battle

There are several things that can be done on the eve of a battle, if one is anticipated. Line settings are usually given out, in whichever manner is chosen by that realm -- usually line settings are given as orders by your army's marshal.

The realm that holds the field may dig in, constructing very basic fortifications around their camp as a mild deterrent and safety measure. So long as the unit remains behind their fortifications, they will be slightly safer than in the open field. Digging in takes a solid six hours of work, however.

Individual units may also decide that they do not wish to take part in the battle, and may either travel to a different region, or give orders to attempt to evade battle. Many commanders may consider this cowardice, however, and a troop leader who flees battle may face considerable repercussions.

Diplomacy Effects

The exact reasoning of who sides with which party is often not entirely clear. Therefore, a more detailed breakdown of all the steps the game takes to decide what realm is on which side can be found here.

How it works

All battles are calculated during the turn change. Battles take time -- especially long battles may take so long that you are left with too few hours to do anything time-consuming (such as digging in) the following turn.

The battle will begin with one side defending the other side attacking. You control the field, defend in a battle generally, if you own the region and have a unit or militia stationary there fighting in that battle. If your not the owner of the region you have to make sure all the stationary enemy forces are defeated, scattered or retreated.

The armies left standing when the battle is over control the field. The realm that controls the field often has many more options available to it than they would otherwise. Even if your realm won the battle, if your unit was driven from the field, it is considered defeated.

Only a troop leader whose unit held the field until the very end of the battle may:

Do civil work
Do police work
Repair or tear down fortifications
Loot the region
Forage the battlefield
Hunt defeated foes
Attempt to take over the region

(These actions are of course subject to other constraints, such as unit size or ownership of the region)

When you win

Taking part in a battle may gain you Honour and Prestige. How much you will gain of either, depends on many factors, including:

The size of the battle
How long the battle lasted
How much honour and prestige you already have
Whether you successfully attacked or defended an important region
Your units performance during the battle

Depending on what kind of unit you command, you might also improve your personal skills. Commanding any unit in battlefield may give you experience in Leadership. Commanding an Infantry or Special Forces unit may improve your Swordfighting skill. Commanding a Cavalry unit may improve your Jousting skill. There is no Archery skill, so commanding an Archer unit will not gain you anything special. The chances of improving your skill depend on:

The size of the battle
The current level of your skill. The higher your skill, the harder it is to improve.

Your unit might also gain some training and/or cohesion. Again, the amount of each depends on:

The current training/cohesion value of your unit
How long the battle lasted
Your units performance during the battle

When you lose

During a battle both sides probably suffer casualties, to both the troops and troop leaders involved. Casualties include both the dead and wounded. Wounded troops stay with your unit until they either die or are nursed back to health. Wounded troop leaders and dead heroes have their own problems.

Additionally, armies will seek to capture enemy troop leaders in the thick of battle, to be taken back to prison and held for ransom. Even armies which are defeated can still take captives. This occasionally leads to the situation where a person is captured even when their side won an overwhelming victory!