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Passive posture benefit for second line units?

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:00 am
by LoupVert
Hi community,

not sure why but I'm having the habit to switch every single unit not on the front line to Passive posture, even these under construction.

I'm doing it without really knowing if it does matter, it just feel right, would be like setting my units to R&R mode.

But since it's kind of tedious, I would like to know it does matter after all?

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:11 am
by ohms_law
I do know that passive posture puts units at the top of the replacement queue.
Well, I think that it does. Nearly positive.

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:21 pm
by Kensai
Not good. If you badly need replacements for some front-line stack sitting on a region with a depot, you will need to give it priority to take these replacements. By placing passive to all you give to all priority, ergo: it loses its usefulness.

Passive is great to:

  • retreat a badly-beaten and possibly surrounded unit
  • let a unit rest and take reinforcements as fast as possible
  • in case you don't want it to march-to-the-sound-of-guns for that turn (and it's inactive, so you can't use the avoid combat button)
  • you want to move through enemy territory with cavalry (although even there I don't think it's the best: I do prefer defensive with immediate retreat)
  • have ships in naval boxes

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:44 pm
by LoupVert
Thanks a lot Kensai.

Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:51 pm
by John Sedgwick
What Kensai said.

It increases the chances of retreat before battle but gives a combat penalty otherwise, so it's risky near the front, but I constantly use it for small cavalry raids/patrols, and to separate damaged units into structures for speedy recovery. I also set units under construction to passive, although I don't know if this makes any difference - it just seems right.