Except there is no Initiative, Movement or Range in the mobile app. So there is no way to actually see what each unit is doing, if it's doing anything at all.
I'm really interested in whether the AutoFight we are forced to use in the mobile version actually takes any of that stuff into consideration; it's hard to accept that it does, since there is no evidence showing on the game that.
It does. I autofight one of my cities and manual fight most of my main city (autofight first 15 provinces). I use what I learn from manual fights in autofights. I don't do the "choose 5 of same units" autofight strategy because it's far too inefficient for me. When the battle is over, I can tell by the damage to units that it's behaving as anticipated based on Initiative, Movement, and Range, even if I don't see the battle play out. I've done enough manual fights now that I can play out the first few moves in my head from looking at the enemy's lineup.
You don't need to see things playout technically. Here is the image of the battleboard:
From there, you just match this starting position to the stats:
So even without seeing battles playout, you'll be able to see based on movement/range numbers things like only certain units have enough movement and range to reach the enemy on opening round to get a shot off. For example, light range have highest initiative and go first. Bearing no obstacles, they can move forward and shoot someone across from them. However, getting that shot off will now put that light range in the retaliation zone of most of the enemies. That light range can kill an enemy mage on his opening shot, but expect him to take heavy damage when it's the enemy's turn to go. Do I need to know which exact hex AI moved him into or which enemies went after him? No. Hence, the generalness of autofights is just fine if you understand where the movement and range zones are. In autofights, I'm playing the probabilities of their various zones against each other.
Like if I use 4 Archers and 1 Blossom, my autofight results will likely end with my Blossom walking away unscathed. That's how it plays out because the enemies are busy targeting the Archers that moved to the front while Blossom usually hangs out in the back since she has long reach. Another example...if I use 4 Archers against 4 Abbots and I'm somehow getting slaughtered, even without loading the battlefield, I already know that means it's a funnel map preventing my Archers from reaching the Abbots and he's picking me off. It's the range number coming into play. He has longer range than my Archers. He can shoot me, but I can't shoot him back. That means I need to switch to Cerebus so they can run out the funnel and not be sitting ducks, or use Blossoms because they'll be in same range and I'll win that same autofight.
Right now I'm even experimenting with a new strategy where I'll line up Buddy across from a Hellhound
in certain situations. On paper, that is an atrocious matchup and if you go by the Star ranking system, you'll probably never think to try this. But again, understanding initiative, movement, and range (and being the self-appointed President of Bud Sorceress Fan Club), this setup will not only be a winning combo, but one where I lose less troops and can work in autofights too!
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