I Hate That Total War Cannot Have Guerilla Warfare
The fundemental structure and coding of these games is antithetical to guerilla warfare in both campaign and battle design. Even the older games where single units could be individually moved. I mostly play Shogun and TWW3 so that is my frame of reference.
In battle, tactics are limited to rigid and tight formations with a lack of small unit tactics. Armies and battles exist as blobs, singular masses which dont split up unless manually baited, rather than having purposes or obejctives that would give them reasons to split up. All units fire projectiles which can be easily seen even while hidden, and unit spotting/firing ranges are non-conditional and generally large enough to make prolonged hidden fire impossible. Proper ambush fire can only be done with either a massive speed or range advantage. Moving generally reveals units, even if to rotate while switching targets. Units cannot create entrenchments/cover or traps. The overhead camera means using LOS as a means of instant concealment, even in close range, isnt viable.
On the campaign level, skirmishes and hit and run ambushes are impossible. Every battle is either a total victory or a total loss. If you use an army to ambush, spend your ammo, then retreat, it is still counted as a loss. If the enemy has enough movement and touches you, your army is instantly forced into an all or nothing last stand even if it out speeds the enemy in battle or campaign movement. The games revolve around this "two battle" rule. Cities and settlements cant be retreated from, or broken out of. Retreats on the campaign map cannot be manually controlled. The games dont allow for logistics raiding or supply ambushes, as the economics of the games are centered around static cities or outlying buildings, meaning economic gain only occurs if the "hardpoints", cities, are taken or defeated. Newer games dont allow individual unit movement, which compounds the problem. The series is centered on visible and static hardpoints (owning or raiding). Guerilla warfare is about invisible and fluid warfare. Massive armies move more than small ones with the right general, without size penalties.
How could this be changed?
-individual unit movement and variable movement coming back
-Variable spotting ranges in battles and on the map
-armies could "bank" movement to outrun attackers by waiting a turn
-retreats are manually controlled based on a movement meter
-Layered spotting. Essentially a layer or many of information between "know nothing" and "know exact location"
-trade lines, supply and logistics, fluid decentralized economy to allow fluid decentralized warfare
-replenishment and ammo tied to supply lines
-buildable camps, moveable camps
-armies can be pinned down by battles/skirmishes on campaign map, battles arent instantaneous
-hidden units dont fire visible projectiles
-units have stacking campaign movement debuffs for their armies/in an AOE. Massive armies move slow and have to disperse to manouver. Small armies have to be chased down by small armies or faster units. This was the historical purpose of cavalry, detatchable rapid response
-armies dont use their red circle to block movement, but to allow engagement options midturn for spotted armies that move or stay in the circle
-armies can move at variable speeds for variable spotting distances, modified by terrain
-armies have rest turns/turns with lower movement based on previous movement
-armies can know if theyre visible, some sort of info war