Custom Formations
I'm just wondering what custom formations other players have used or developed, so I decided to start this thread. If you would like, just post some screens and a description of how your formation works.
I'll start with a few of my own:
Roman Serrated Formation:
This is my standard formation I use with the roman legions. Since my infantry is so powerful, I can leave gaps in the line for my archers. When the enemy gets into pilum range, I pull the archers back and laugh as the enemy tries to chase them through my lines.
The gaps are what make the formation so fun. If the enemy try to break through the gaps, their units will atoumatically be surrounded on two sides. there isn't really a reserve ecxept my general and one unit behind him. But since my line is spaced out, it's very long. This means that the enemy can only attack sections of it and not the whole line at once. So I can move free units to help surround the enemy.
Goose Formation:
This is my basic formation, in essence it's a giant V. It works with essentially any infantry, and can be used for attack or defense. When defending, the strong wings mean I don't have to worry about being flanked, since I can detatch one of the rear infantry units to protect my flank. If the enemy attacks my center, it's suicide since they'll already be half surrounded by the time they engage my center.
Usually the AI attacks my wings first and holds back on my center. This works great since I can then move my center up to help my wings surround the enemy flanks or just hold the line until my wings are free to turn in and surround the enemy center.
For attack, I usually try to use my wings to pin the enemy's flanks, and then punch with my center to try and split their army in two.
Spear Formation:
This is just a giant wedge, infantry on the outside surrounding my archers, with my cavalry concentrated into one group at my rear. I haven't really used it much so I can't say as to its effectiveness. Obviously, the goal is to punch straight through the enemy's center and the fan out.
Eight Arrays Formation:
with Legio XV:
(Never knew the Seleucids had flying Cataphracts
)
This is my addoption of the classic Chinese eight arrays formation. These screens are from my Three Kingdoms mod, but I'll get some with Roman legions later (pilum make this formation insanely hard to attack) I found a Japanese site with charts of many ancient Chiense formations as well as descriptions: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend-O...u/mokuroku.htm
The eight pics in the bottom box are the eight evolutions of the eight arrays formation; I was particularly interested in the formation so I chose to try and make this version of it and see if and how it could actually work. Unfortunately for me the descriptions are in anceint Chinese, so I can't understand them. Thus I pretty much improvised using this chart as a base.
After a little testing, I found that this formation works great defesively, but has essentialy no offensive capability unless you totaly restucture it into some other formation. The way I stuctured it, as you can see, I have four heavy infantry units arranged in front, where they from a bowl and one is in front of the bowl. I place my general right behhind the bowl, so he can help where the fighting gets most intense. In the center I just dump all my archers, then I stretch out an infantry unit on either side of the archers, leaving a channel for my cavalry. I place the cavalry, two in each channel, the forward ones facing towards the front, and the rear ones facing towards the back. Then I similarly have a second bowl for my rear. Here the two wings of the bowl face the front, and the two inside units face the rear.
The idea of this formation is that it is impossible to flank and can deal with a concentrated attack from any direction. This makes it good for defending against mukltiple armies. Also, though it may not look it, it's pretty mobile; meaning you can move to the best terrain while in formation, and stop an be ready for an attack quickly.
The way I use the formation is, once I've manouvered to the best spot, I just wait for the enemy to attack. The most important part is to keep rotating the formation to face the enemy's center. When the enemy atacks, sometimes the computer likes to send out its cavalry to try and flank you. But with this formation, the cavalry can't find any opening, so usually they just ride around you while your archers kill them. If t he cavalry do charge one of my flanks, I just have my cavalry on the side charge out from the two openings on the side and engage.
At any rate, when the enemy engages my front, the computer can only attack them with its center troops since my formation is so narrow. this leaves the AI's flanks either trying to fold down and stretch themselves to encircle you or they all try to rush at you forward bowl of men from evey angle. This is the critical moment. I have my cavaly charge forward to support both wings of the forward bowl, so the enemy can't surround them. If the one unit infront of my bowl is getting overwhelmed, I send up the unit behind it to help; and usually the AI general attacks my bowl, so I have my general go up to help too.
By this time, my flanks should be secure, so I can have the rear bowl and the the two units on my sides for up into two lines, one on the left and one on the right, as you can see on the last pic, and then sweep up to try and surround the enemy. Usually by this point some of the enemy units start to rout and then before I know it, they're all running.
I'm sure that was long, but I hope my explination isn't totally confusing.
And just for the hell of it, my All Cavalry Army:
Essentially two giant wedges of cavalry, with heavy cavalry on the inside edges and horse archers on the outside. All you need to do is split in two groups and ride alternate rings around the enemy while raining death down from above. the only times I take any real casualties is when the enemy has some decent cavalry.:tooth:
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Originally Posted by frankus
In my personal opinion I always hated the Carthaginians.
If Hannibal would have listened to his captain Maharbal Rome probably would have been captured and the known world today would be a hell of a lot different. "You know how to gain a victory but you do not know how to use it". That is what Maharbal said to Hannibal after Hannibal turned down the idea of attacking Rome.
, so there are relatively few full stacks on the map compared to some of the insanity I've seen around here.
