Use of Elephants?

[Hellboy]

Based on the description of Elephants, I have been making sure to use them such that there are no units behind them, in case they rout. But having played around with them now for a while in SP, I have yet to see sure evidence that they are killing my own troops, once they do rout.

Am I simply missing the damage that they do (that being quite possible), or does the description misstate the damage that they may do to friendly troops?

Also, playing EA T'ien Ch'i, is it useful to group Noble Chariots w/ Elephants?

[BandarLover]

I'm no expert, but I have seen routing elephants trample my own troops before. And while I'm not sure of T'ien Ch'i, when ever I play Bandar Log I group my elephants with tiger riders and their moral does appear to be higher than if just grouped with elephants.

[Wish]

the trick too keeping elephants from routing is to mix them with high morale troops (iron crows, etc)

[johnarryn]

Elephants will indeed trample your own troops as they retreat, although they dont do as much damage as when they are on the attack since they retreat in a straight line. Nevertheless, i often group archers and fragile mages slightly away from the center to give my elephants a clean line to rout through should they retreat.

As some other people have said, mixing elephants with high morale units is a smart move... doesn't matter much if the units can keep up with em, as long as theyre in the same unit.

[KissBlade]

You actually want slower units as Elephants usually have high amounts of hp to not need to worry too much about dying.

[NTJedi]

Hellboy said:
Based on the description of Elephants, I have been making sure to use them such that there are no units behind them, in case they rout. But having played around with them now for a while in SP, I have yet to see sure evidence that they are killing my own troops, once they do rout.




Yes they can trample your own units, but only when they are fleeing.

[Hellboy]

Thanks everyone for the replies and the info, this has been helpful.


johnarryn said:
As some other people have said, mixing elephants with high morale units is a smart move... doesn't matter much if the units can keep up with em, as long as theyre in the same unit.

The TC noble chariot has 13 morale, is that high enough to qualify?

TC also has warriors of the 5 elems w/ 15 morale, but I typically prefer to but those in a melee group off to one side of the elephants. Maybe I should simply make one big melee group and consider the elephants part of that group?

[Tyrant]

Morale is the average of the units in the squad, so higher is better. Also, the bigger the unit, the harder it is to rout, but big units also reduce frontage, so it kinda depends on the size of the unit.

[Ironhawk]

Think you meant to say "the bigger the squad, the harder it is to rout"

[NTJedi]

Ironhawk said:
Think you meant to say "the bigger the squad, the harder it is to rout"



Also the commanders/mages do morale checks even when they are not directly endangered and can retreat in battle. Those dragon helmets are needed.

[Gandalf Parker]

Yes I was going to jump in to say that a units size can count AGAINST it as far as routing. It seems to me that slingers work well against elephants which makes me think that its due to their size making them get hit more. But thats just me guessing at what might be game-logic.

[K]

Don't forget that units with less than 5 members checks morale every turn, and due to the crazy cost of elephants most people use less than 5 at a time. Even then, unit losses take a unit below 5 and then trouble starts.

Run a test game and watch how just adding even some slingers or militia keeps your elephants in the battle longer.

The final answer really is high morale units to make a high average morale, but in most situations your "morale solution" for yout troops will vary on race and circumstances. Casting Beserker on a few elephants generally makes the whole unit unbreakable.