Retreat = Suicide

Since WFA I have noticed that many troops die while retreating especially against Rifles.
The USF Rifletroops do good damage in all ranges even on the move. So if you do a 1 on 1 with a squad and your men die to 1 or 2 and you retreat they almost die everytime because Rifles chase after them and give them the final blow.
A big problem is that units tend to take the "shortest" way back to the HQ.
If there is a wall of enemys between your troops and your headquarters... you know what happens.
Why can't the troops just run away from the enemies first (which would be logical) and take the next route back to the HQ.
If this route is full of enemies then it really is bad luck.
But I am sick of knowing that my squad of 2 men will die no matter if I retreat them or not.

cutting off your enemy's retreat path is an essential part of the early game. If you allow that to happen in a way that your squads are unlikely to make it home, it means you were over extended. It's important not to send lone units too far behind enemy lines for just that reason.

That is correct :/
But I think it rather annoying when I have a huge fight in the middle of the map and a second one between two units some distance away. When the unit from the second fight retreats it happens quite often that the people sprint through the main battlefield in the middle.

I don't agree with the topic. I think retreat works fine. Just because your soldiers are running away doesn't mean they are immune to getting killed. If your squads are getting wiped on retreat it's a sign you should adjust your playstyle and retreat a little earlier.

That is correct :/
But I think it rather annoying when I have a huge fight in the middle of the map and a second one between two units some distance away. When the unit from the second fight retreats it happens quite often that the people sprint through the main battlefield in the middle.

Well, you need to account for that and retreat earlier if the fight isn't going in your favor.

Ever since CoH1 retreat is not a free out of jail card.

Up until WFA it wasn't an issue for ost players, because shocks have 0 damage if the distance is longer then barrel and conscripts can't hit broad side of the barn. Well not anymore with rifles thrown into the mix and soviets needed to account for that pretty much since forever.

Retreat is fine, but WFA has introduced many units with very high long-range damage. Retreating when a blob of these units are coming sometimes results in that unit being killed anymay.

I think long-range infantry units should have a higher accuracy penalty while firing on the move to prevent that.

The only problem I see with retreating is that sometimes units just herpaderp around and choose the most retarded retreatpath possible...

Retreat is fine, but WFA has introduced many units with very high long-range damage. Retreating when a blob of these units are coming sometimes results in that unit being killed anymay.

I think long-range infantry units should have a higher accuracy penalty while firing on the move to prevent that.

i, too, think long range dmg (lmgs) needs to be toned down, yet if you get caught by a blob while retreating it is really your fault and you should be punished for being so unaware of your enemies' movement

I think machine guns are a bit too prone to dying on the retreat thanks to the 25% accuracy modifier, but otherwise it's okay.

i, too, think long range dmg (lmgs) needs to be toned down, yet if you get caught by a blob while retreating it is really your fault and you should be punished for being so unaware of your enemies' movement

No, no, the problem is when the blob is coming towards you and then you retreat whitout them ambushing you at all. Is just that support weapons can't safely retreat againt long-range weapons.
They did always kill the guy carrying the weapon and then all the crew is condemned.

And infantry units have the tendency of doing derpy things too, like getting stuck with walls or fences.

We are all guilty of it, but you should not retreat with one or two models. You are asking to die. Also important to note is the health of the models remaining, and not just the fact that 3 men are still standing. 3 guys with 5 hp left is not good either. You can't tell exactly how much HP they have, but if 3/5 men are left and the HP bar is 1/10th of maximum, then you can get a pretty clear picture.

Everyone has been f'd by retreat paths. sturmpios and rifles may make things tougher early game because it's not just bolt action rifles anymore, but it's the same rule since coh1.

No programmer can write omniscient code. Every situation and every retreat path cannot be accounted for to give what in your mind is the most optimal route, so it is up for you the player to make the call.

Did you hop a fence to get where you were? Then realize that the retreat path will not allow you to hop over said fence/obstacle. Is this something that can be explored? Probably. It doesn't sound like vaulting over obstacles would be too difficult to implement, but then again this game also doesn't have real side armor on tanks, but I digress...

I don't dislike the retreat mechanics, but what I'm saying is that accuracy on the move should be much worse for units using long range weapons.

Is not the same to shot from the hip a Ppsh while moving than aiming a Kar98k rifle against a running target.

What I learn from this game is, when your mg is not set up for flanked, you must escape immediately, because after you set up the mg the mg gunner is still not going to shoot for a while giving the riflemen enough time to walk pass it. The other thing I learned is Grenadier would lose to riflemen at any range.

Just know that if you are engaging a riflemen squad you're not going to last long, and they don't do enough dps to prevent riflemen squads from flanking and killing the mg to so you must retreat immediately or have another mg to cover it's flanks. If you don't realize this prepare to lose a lot of squads.

If you don't understand all this you're going to lose a lot of squads pretty fast.

Everyone has been f'd by retreat paths. sturmpios and rifles may make things tougher early game because it's not just bolt action rifles anymore, but it's the same rule since coh1.

That awkward moment when you realize your squad harassing the fuel on Semoisky is going to retreat through the entire enemy army in the center of the map...

Just wait for the no retreat no surrender commander, then you'll never have to worry about dying on retreat.

I don't dislike the retreat mechanics, but what I'm saying is that accuracy on the move should be much worse for units using long range weapons.

Accuracy on the move is 50% worse for all General Infantry except US Rifleman. This doesn't count Assault units (SMG's or AR's). Some units (Grenadiers and US Riflemen) also shoot less often on the move.

I think the high chance of stuff dying on retreat means harassment is less viable. Squads caught behind enemy lines=dead squads. It wasn't always like this.

I think the high chance of stuff dying on retreat means harassment is less viable. Squads caught behind enemy lines=dead squads. It wasn't always like this.

I think in general this game is slightly more lethal than COH1. Going behind enemy lines is historically risky...that is the point of it.

I also believe it's a trend to make games faster. Quick turnaround on games to address lack of attention span and make everything an "e-sport" first and quality game second. My two cents.

Yeah coh1 only way to kill retreating units was mines lol.

But i do agree on some of the pathing, ive seen a clear route that would of been faster to my base, but my army decides to run through 2 of the enemies blobs instead..........

It really does boil your piss when it happens, also exiting buildings, i hate how i manually have to always exit my men as auto exit does it right infront of the enemy, even when your side is the other side

At least, the game should retreat always choosing sectors owned by you, even if that means choosing a longer path.