strategic questions

[HunterKiller]

when i build an army, i hate when the army has all the types of units, i mean infantry and cavalry.
but i like them being the same (army with horses or army without horses)
i used to make the infantry army for sieging and attacking, while i use the horsemen to defend my country (as u know, they cant carry siege staff) and thats not real by the way, as in real world, the horsemen leave there horses and take the siege ram, or tower, or whatever, but unfortunately, M2TW isn't our world, so nvm
i will get straight to the questions, i want u guyz to tell me what u prefer? whats the merits and demerits of each type of army, what army could they defeat, and what army they couldn't defeat, how can we use cavalry army in assault, if the infantry army is flanked, what shall i do? if the cavalry army is flanked, what shall i do too. do u think separating army is a good idea? and why? should i let my general attack with the cavalry, or should i keep him guarded behind? and add every thing u see in the theme, as i cant say all the questions in the universe.
+ questions out of the theme, shouldn't the generals be in the middle of the first line in his guards, not left? "actually, never seen a general leaving his men and staying on the left side!"
thanks for the interest.

[born2dive67]

well for all horse army I would use almost all HA (horse archers) with about 4 heavy horse to roll over pin cushioned units towards the end. once HA have used their ammo then the enemy by this time is about to break if they haven't already, and i also use them along with the heavys to just swamp the enemy army usually timing HA to the rears and heavys to the fronts of enemy units

all infantry hmm closest i get is 6 spear types 6 archers, 4 heavy infantry the last 4 are general and three horse using the horse to draw off and handle enemy light cav or to bum rush enemy archers in advance of their lines. when both sides infantry lines are engaged then using the cav to hit enemy infantry in the rear and crush them against my lines.

when seige equipment comes into play, then i drop 2 archers, 1 spear, 2 heavy and replace them with the seige units for long range damage its so fun to watch

side note, if i am going against india and troops on east side of the campaign map i bring 4 javelin horse units as elephant killers, they do it good and super quick.

ok thats about it for me on my army compositions and strats of use.

[Faris ad Din]

Building an army of all one role of unit is up to you - it all depends on your preferences and what strategies you like to use. What works for one person may not work the best for another.

Building armies entirely of one role of unit, for one, keeps the STRATEGY of using it very simple. Whether you're using novice or advanced tactics you're likely using the army as more or less one cohesive unit acting in concert, and this is a no-brainer kind of army - whatever strategy you are using, you are using it with twenty units of infantry all massed up for maximum effect (or in two or three groups with the same intent). The same goes for cavalry armies.

I'd call archer armies a slightly different game as players who employ all archer armies (horse archers, foot archers) may be using more archers to mass up their volume of arrow fire - fire a few arrows and you kill some, fire enough arrows and the enemy is so mauled they cannot even reach you. It sometimes takes a bit of skill to pull off this strategy well.

What you use cavalry in assault for is typically their charge, and it is easiest to charge an enemy from the flank or the sides. Generally speaking they are not very useful in besieging enemy settlements, what I apply them for is sending them AROUND the city down another angle towards the city square, I attack the defenders there with my massed infantry first, and then I charge them right after with my cavalry (with luck I can get them to charge properly with lances lowered). They ARE very useful in open field battles, and using lots and lots of them is typical. You should not allow a cavalry army to be flanked to begin with. Either split your cavalry to begin with so you can attack the enemy on two flanks (they cannot easily defend against charges from two directions) or keep your main infantry focused on the enemy like football linebackers and swing your cavalry wing all on one side of your army like a sledgehammer. If the enemy tries to outflank your concentrated wing of cavalry you can charge them head on and overpower them. Cavalry come in smaller numbers than infantry, and if used improperly they CAN be beaten in melee, so I play them safe by keeping them away from the infantry trying to attack them, and I send them instead after isolated pockets of units and especially archers.

If properly used, archers can rack a huge number of kills during a battle. They are best used against concentrated packs of unarmored units, they are bad as counters against other archers. You can even send infantry units running after archers.

I put generals at the lead of cavalry forces. General units are typically so strong, they can beat any other unit, or several. Generals (good ones) typically have even higher numbers of hitpoints too. Their units replenish for free over time, so I typically use them at the head of a cavalry formation to both bring the most kills and soak up a little damage. Just make sure your generals are not isolated, that is what I use the rest of the cavalry units for - if a general begins to engage in combat and is being hit, I charge another unit of cavalry PAST him so as to swarm the area around him with friendly cavalry to increase his chances of survival. Usually he does.

As for me, I do not use armies purely of one role of units. I do this only early game if I do not have all the required structures. I mix my armies pretty well, with about one-quarter to one-third cavalry, one-third to one-half infantry, and one-third archers (if I have archers I make sure I have enough to make an impact. Lone units of archers are pretty dinky in what they do). I do not focus too much on a defensive/control type of play, sheltering behind an infantry line and wearing the enemy down with arrows, I do not focus too much on going on an all-out football rush with infantry, I do not focus on going on glorious all-cavalry charges. Again, this depends on the faction. Granted it is a faction with a balanced roster, I use all three tactics in fair measure, for best effect.

[Tail End Charlie]

When your a horse archer faction, I thinks its a good idea to have an all cavalry army, horse archers become lethal in large numbers. Especially since your infantry is not often up to the level of skill for a battle line. Add to that your armies will move faster and be able to inflict pyhrric victories on enemies by just firing loads arrows and retreating. The only problem is that you can't realistically assault settlements without infantry support or unless they force a battle. Though it is a good idea to have some shock cavalry to break formations.

If your a bit more well rounded you should have a balanced force a good example being Geogia where you can make armies monaspa HA, lancers, dismounted archers and spearmen. If your fighting a certain type of enemy it might a good also to adapt your army.

If you have a major deficancy in one sector, its often a good idea I think to neglect that. For instance ERE has awful Archers and HA's so instead just cut them out and rely on your heavy armoured spears, axes and cavalry. Although you could just spam mercs.

[Vagabond]

Wow, no offend but what a wall here.
For me:
Early game:
_HA+GB for open battles vs infantry.
_HA+ foot archer +GB for open battle vs HA.
_well armoured infantry mixed with milita spear, lead by a high attack/siege skill general for auto-resolved battles.

Later:
_Heavy , heavy and just heavy cavalry for open battle, nothing stand a chance against them.
_HA+ foot archer +GB for open battle vs HA
_well armoured infantry , lead by a high attack/siege skill general for auto-resolved battles.

Because AI's armies suck and always a mess so i think armoured HA+heavy calvary is the best option.

[born2dive67]

I seige with HA, just have to wait for the enemy to come out, so they can eat arrows

[Fenix_120]

Actually I have won some outstanding victories with just my bodyguards as the ERE, I had a full army of family members...without cheating and also with a few left in the cities to spare.


It was so easy I restarted my campaign.

[HunterKiller]

i don't really like having an army of horsemen, as i think that i am some kind of sissi who keep running until the enemy or down!

this strategy i made when having a battle against khwarezmain, i won but with lots of casualties. so i used it only twice, but i hated it, i was trying to mix all kinds of troops. just see (note the heavy cavalry i sent them for taking off the general and making there forces busy with the horses while i charge them with the infantry)



the tactic failed when those spearmen standing behind, cut my cavalry's way from reaching behind troops and to the general. it failed the twotimes i tried it, if it is bad, plz i need recommendation , if it was good but needs developing. add what u have

Please watch your nouns and don't double post, edit your posts instead. -Empress Meg

[born2dive67]

how many HA were you using?

what is the number break down of the troops you used?

[Valdamar]

Nice, complex.

First develop an army based on your playing style, then develop one based on your enemy and terrain, then stop wasting money on armies and utilize other strategic options at your disposal.

Flexibility is the key. You can adapt your army but the computer can’t adapt its. Generally speaking light and medium armies take land, heavy armies hold it. The point of cavalry isn’t raw combat power, but maneuverability. Use this for your infantry as well.

There are so many options, have fun with your experiments.

[HunterKiller]

how many HA were you using?

what is the number break down of the troops you used?

3 units horse archers and i don't understand what u mean with the number break down of the troops! explain more

[born2dive67]

by number break down, i am asking how many of what type of troops, like 3 HA, 6 spears, 4 heavy infantry 1general, and 6 heavy horse.

three horse archers around the outside edges is to few, need more to get better affect from their arrows minimum 3 per side for 6 total, I like 10 my self 5 to each side and if anything tries to attack them then they concentrate their fire on that unit.

[HunterKiller]

i don't really like horse archers, they r very weak. and if those heavy cavalry have seen them i sight.... they r dead folks. i like the kind of horsemen who charge at the enemy and make them rout from the first charge.
my troops are: 1 general, 2 heavy cavalry standing by him (they are not full units they like 30% of a unit, as they have battled before) 1 archer, 3 spearmen , 7 swords men, 3 heavy cavalry, 3 horse archers.

[HunterKiller]

i want u guyz to tell me the perfect army, the totally perfect army that has all its types, how many swordsmen/axemen? <<doesn't matter i think>> how many spearmen? how many horsemen? how many horsearchers? how many archers? how many skirmishers? how many generals? how many artillery? it is up to u
any type u see it isn't required, just exclude it. the types that may be excluded are (horse archers, skirmishers and artillery)

[Evan]

Actually I have won some outstanding victories with just my bodyguards as the ERE, I had a full army of family members...without cheating and also with a few left in the cities to spare.


It was so easy I restarted my campaign.

Do people expect something like this not to be extremely easy? I usually never use more than one general per army just because I like variety along with a bit of a challenge and some realism.

[Tail End Charlie]

A perfect army? Well mine would have the spears and axes of Byzantium, the cataphracts and horse archers of Kwarz with the bows of Makuria.

[HunterKiller]

A perfect army? Well mine would have the spears and axes of Byzantium, the cataphracts and horse archers of Kwarz with the bows of Makuria.

no no no noooo, i don't mean the types of it, i mean the number of the units like. #number of spearmen, # of horse archers, # swordsmen, u know what i mean?!

[born2dive67]

well the perfect army would also depend on what faction you want to use. Which at this point in time i can't comment on as it's been a little while since i have played BC, kinda got sucked into the DLV mod and rpg'ing of my Generals and the way the building tree is. but thats another story.

[Vagabond]

well, tactic depends on what kind of enemy, i think there's no "perfect" army or a fixed way to won a battle.