Decoys.

[HalfLotus]

Ive used decoys alot in the middle of battles (eager to use any and all general skills available ^^). Decoys blow in battles for several reasons. In enemy territory they suffer from extreme attrition damage. Afaik, supply wagons do not help. I havent tested it in all situations though.

They die in 1 hit! Thats right, one potshot and theyre down. They arent going to soak up any damage for you.

Decoys are best used to either 1. divert your enemy or 2. scare him.

1. Make a ****load of decoys and set them up on the main battle line. Meanwhile your real troops head for a soft spot. Using decoy several times you can make LOTS of fake troops. As long as they stay in your territory they will last a LONG time. Several miuntes of game time at least. I couldnt see a timer or anything on the units, but its a hella long time.

2. Use decoys while out of sight of your enemy. When you approach him he may retreat if he thinks hes outnumbered severely. Note that this will not work well in enemy territory!

Forced march is good for moving long distances and retreating quickly. Entrench can only be used in your territory. Generals give an armor bonus to surrounding troops.

[Chuckles]

Ya decoys seem weak. They can all be dead in 2 seconds some time. The only thing is that they buy you a second or two of the enemy targetting your decoys while you take no damage, while you do do real damage to them. So that's worth something but not a lot.

I didn't think of just leaving the decoys in you r own territory where the enemy may come by. That might be a good distraction for them. I'd want to know how long they last though.

[Inverse Icarus]

i use decoys all the time, the often turn the tide of a battle, even if you just make them fall in line with your troops.

i've also created a fake regiment of decoys, which an opponent charged at, then i flanked him with the real forces.

god, that was good.

[Solver]

I use thoes guys often, but it really sucks how sometimes they all disappear in two seconds. In multiplayer, yes, they can be a scaring factor... take two sets of Decoys (AND a supply wagon) to some point at the enemy. If he doesn't have good defense there, he will move his army to the point... which is when your real army strikes him.

[Sarxis]

Decoys are great. Leaving decoys scattered amongst at least some regulars seems much more effective.

[albiedamned]

I haven't tried this, but it seems like a good strategy would be to create decoys along the current front line, then use another general to ambush and maneuver your real troops around to a flanking position.

[Solver]

Just tried in a game... if I observed correctly, Supply Wagons do help decoys. Without them, though, attrition kills them in 2-3 seconds.

[shirleyrocks]

One thing I don't get about decoys is...how exactly are they "faking me out"? They're very distinctive in how they look - they have a semi-transparent look to them and since they always suffer from extreme attrition, decoys always have a bright red glow under them. I'm not opposed to the concept at all, but I've never been fooled by them. Um, well, not that I know of...

[albiedamned]

Decoys look transparent to their owner, but they will look real to the enemy. Unless the enemy has a scout around, in which case he can see them as transparent decoys. Also, the severe attrition damage actually isn't attrition. It's also related to if there is a scout around. If the enemy has a scout around, then he not only sees your decoys as such but your decoys suffer this severe damage and die in a few seconds. So bottom line, decoys are only effective if your enemy has no scouts nearby.

[Poogas]

Anyone know if ...

lets say you have a good number of units entrenched in your territory, they have been there a while, and you see the enemy coming, by this time your General has regained all of his craft, can he make decoys of entrenched units, and if so, would they be entrenched or standing (Normal Non-trenched position)?? If they are entrenched, does this have any affect on the number of hits they can take from enemy fire?

[Chuckles]

Ya that scout thing is cool. I just noticed that last night when I had a scout with my army and I saw decoys that I didn't make. Took me a min to figure it out but I also had a spy with my army so I wasn't sure which one it was.

[rocksk]

Decoy is cool. Two days back, my army (Roman) is having a fierce battle with Atec in Mec age. The battle last 10 full minutes with reinforcement coming in from both sides. I am thinking this will never end.

Then my generals created a group of decoy. The minute the decoy arrivaled, the emeny all turn their back and run. The decoy number is three times the enemy's. Give me a minute or two before they return and fight.