Possible to attack with less than 20% losses?

[Usermaatre]

I'm just starting out, trying to take out my 4th sector, and I'm trying to work out if it's possible to have a big enough army to take out a bandit camp with less than 20% losses. But I haven't managed to get any combat preview result other than "acceptable losses, you'll lose between 20% and 50% of your units" - I certainly don't consider 50% acceptable for a start!
If not, then is there some guideline as to how many units I should attack with to minimize the absolute number lost? E.g. if I send in 200 and I'll definitely lose 40 (20%), I'd rather send in just 100 and possibly lose 30 (30%).
And if you do always suffer at least 20% losses, does that mean at least 20% of your units should be cheapest type (recruits - they seem to the ones that get sacrificed first)?
TIA

[Usermaatre]

BTW I tried out 150 units against a bandit camp with 70 units.
I lost 26 recruits and 7 bowmen, so that's basically just over 20%.
Not great but at least recruits are cheap. But the combat preview had suggested I might lose between 20% and 50% even with only 100 of my own units, so I wonder how many I might have lost if I'd attacked with just that.

Don't suppose there's a way to "save" game state and restore/undo to it?

[copycat71]

Combat preview is an indication, if you want more exact numbers, use a 3rd party sim(ulator).
For instance: Battle Sim

And no, you cannot save prior to a battle and retry. What's done is done

[DorotheusII]

Suggest you take a look at https://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/island/conquer-island/

[sparkz]

I'm just starting out, trying to take out my 4th sector, and I'm trying to work out if it's possible to have a big enough army to take out a bandit camp with less than 20% losses.

Combat mechanics works the way that outside of very specific situations you wont be able to finish a fight without losses. Numbers advantage doesnt affect it much. Instead you should focus on utilizing the types of units to minimize the cost of loses, not the numbers.

But I haven't managed to get any combat preview result other than "acceptable losses, you'll lose between 20% and 50% of your units"

See above, combat preview is for the most part useless in this game because information about percentage of losses is irrelevant, its real cost of units lost that matters. Recruits are couple times cheaper to lose than other frontline units, so even if you were to lose more of them then say soldiers its still better outcome for you.

I strongly suggest you dont reinvent the wheel 10 years into the games existance and try using specific unit combinations from guides.

[Usermaatre]

Suggest you take a look at https://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/island/conquer-island/

Wow had no idea that was available, thanks.

[Usermaatre]

BTW I did finally see a message "Complete victory, you will lose 20% of your troops at most" from a combat preview, but that was for a camp with only 10 units (vs 100 of mine).
I have to say my previous attack (on a bandit leader) didn't go so well, victorious but basically lost everything except the bowmen. Not convinced of the value of certain unit types so far, particularly cavalry.

[copycat71]

There is a \help\ tab ingame. Use it to get help ingame.
There will be people online who can easily explain to you what certain troops benefits are ot otherwise give useful info and/or links to usefull websites.

[vigabrand]

Suggest you take a look at https://settlersonlinewiki.eu/en/island/conquer-island/

check out all of this site. its loaded with great stuff and almost all correct! I've been playing since day 1 and still use wiki all the time. there are other sites mainly to do with battle guides, but imo wiki is definitely the best for beginners and idiots like me

[Usermaatre]

Yeah I've been using it, but I'm determined not to lose so many units. Sending in 200 recruits to certain death just seems bananas (and then takes forever to wait for them to re-populate, even with various buffs etc.). But you need something like 200 elite soldiers to give you a decent chance of victory against some camps and I'm not sure it's possible to get enough XP to level up to the point that's feasible.
I assume it's not possible to have two generals attack the same camp at once?
Honestly though the biggest problem is the building license limit, and I gather you can't increase that without defeating more bandit leaders (unless you can find 1500 magic beanstalks...?)