Pre-Battle Checklist
- Identify high ground, chokepoints, open lanes, and retreat exits.
- Decide whether the battle serves your campaign identity.
- Assign each formation a job before contact.
- Keep a reserve instead of committing every unit early.
Formation Roles
Use formations as answers to battlefield questions, not decoration. A line holds space, a reserve repairs mistakes, a flank threatens movement, and a commander presence supports key pressure points.
Morale Protection
- Avoid isolating damaged units.
- Retreat before a collapse spreads.
- Keep commanders near important fights without exposing them recklessly.
- Use terrain to slow enemy momentum.
After-Action Notes
After every fight, record what happened: terrain, first order, morale break, retreat timing, and reputation consequence. Those notes turn a battle into a campaign story. Continue with the world map guide.
Three Practical Battle Plans
Hold and punish: choose defensible ground, keep reserves close, and let the enemy spend momentum first. Controlled advance: move the line in stages, then pause before morale or formation spacing becomes messy. Survival retreat: preserve commanders and trained troops when the battle no longer serves the campaign. These plans are simple, but they make later official mechanics easier to explain because each order has a purpose.
What To Update Later
When Raw Power Games publishes more exact unit, culture, or formation rules, this guide should add named formation examples and screenshots. Until then, the page stays focused on decisions that are already visible in public battle coverage: terrain, morale, command mode, retreats, and the cost of overcommitting.