Pirrhyc victorys

[torzsoktamas]

When I fight whit an equal army(in numbers and strengt),even if I win its always a Pirrhyc victory.I can make the best strategy,the AI always knows what I want to do,and finaly he makes me angry.Even at easy difficulty.Will in RS2.0 the battles be easyer and the AI less cheater?

[MarcusTullius]

When I fight whit an equal army(in numbers and strengt),even if I win its always a Pirrhyc victory.I can make the best strategy,the AI always knows what I want to do,and finaly he makes me angry.Even at easy difficulty.Will in RS2.0 the battles be easyer and the AI less cheater?

The AI normally isnt that great to be fair. What difficulty are you playing on?

It maybe that your tactics arent adapting to the situation and the terrain properly.
Can you give us an example of a battle you didnt win easily?

[century x]

Well what difficulty you playing? On the higher settings they get massive bonuses that can rip your army to shreads. Even if your on equal terms with the enemy.

And thats not just happening in this mod, it happens in almost all the Mods

[Mulattothrasher]

One thing that makes the A.I. a bit "better" is to go into your preference.txt file and turn the FATIGUE:OFF

This enable fresh A.I. controlled troops to reach your lines everytime, and it does add to the challenge. I do not like it when the A.I. runs it's troops all over the field so by the time you get to engage them they are already exhausted. No fun or glory to be had there.

[naeblis]

One thing that makes the A.I. a bit "better" is to go into your preference.txt file and turn the FATIGUE:OFF

This enable fresh A.I. controlled troops to reach your lines everytime, and it does add to the challenge. I do not like it when the A.I. runs it's troops all over the field so by the time you get to engage them they are already exhausted. No fun or glory to be had there.

isnt that the truth, though i think the question is how to not have your armies ripped apart, but yes fatigue off, the enemy will rip you apart.

[torzsoktamas]

Today I fought like this

I with the carthagians:4Poeni cavalry
4Celtiberian spearmen
2libian skirmisher
2elite afrikan infantry
2numidian skirmisher
6scutarii
The enemy with the gauls:3hevy cavalry
4swordsmen
4light spearmen
3belgae swordsman
4naked fanatic
2hevy spearmen
I lost 70% of my troops.I think my tactic wasn't bad.I engeaged the right wing first,then when he tried to flank my force with his centre i attacked the with my centre.Then with my right wing,being stronger then his left beated his left wing.But until this happaned the majority of my troops(70%)were killed.
Its on easy difficulty.

[naeblis]

the scutarii really arent all that durable, try something a bit tougher, and what are you general battle tactics? Do you try to flank them? try to rush the center? how do you use your calvary?

I generally use 6-8 units Late liby-poeni spearman as my main line, then build around that archers elite african infantry 2-3 of each of the last 2, and 3-4 calvary units, filling in random other units depending on what the situation is, or what i've got going on.

but remember that on h and vh battle settings the computer has the upper hand, they get att and def bonus's, and also in that battle the enemy has spear alot of spears, if you dont rush behind them, and crush them, you're gonna have alot of deaths as you wear them down.

[torzsoktamas]

I don't use falanxes because the enemy outflanks them from right and left whit his entire army.If I turn whit my falanxes the my army is disorientated and my falanx disrupted.How do you use the falanx?My tactic is to beat one of the enemy wing than flank the other whit my wing that beated the enemy wing.

[naeblis]

you use the phalynx as the anchor/base then you flank out around the enemies on either side of your formation (or both sides) as you have them pinned down and you should get results, there are bunch of ways to do it.

try a few custom battles with the pikemen and see if you can get the hang of it. I find it fun myself, knowing that if i get flanked im in for heavy casualities, so it adds a bit of challenge for me.

[torzsoktamas]

The reason that I can't fight well with the falanxes,because I played just with the Romans and the vanilla casthagians.Whit the Romans I prety beaten the barbarians but with the falanxes....

[Sandrus Castus]

Put some flexible infantry with swords on the flanks of your hoplite-battleline, Sword Hoplites for example. That way you can attack possible flankers.

[Taelok]

Never put a Phalanx on your flank (unless you're up to the challenge). It's best to put them in a formation like this :

ooXXXXXXXXoo

The 'o's represent heavy infantry (light infantry will suffice early on) for flank / phalanx protection/ The 'X's represent your Phalanx troops. Cavalry can go behind these if you choose and help with flanking, as well as missile troops (archers etc). Extra infantry (heavy / light) can be put behind the flanks to out flank the enemy army.

This is just an extremely rough guide, if you need it. Adapt it however you wish.

[naeblis]

you can use phalynx's out on the wings of the formation, you just have to becareful they are positioned right to protect yourself, and you have to micro manage them in the battle

[torzsoktamas]

The problem is that the enemy attacks whit half the army my left falanxprotectors(few units)and whit half the army my right falanxprotectors.

[snuggans]

replace scutarii with thorakitai, or ultimately sacred band

[traxx91]

See this thread for some pics about carthagian formations.

[torzsoktamas]

Thanx for all of your help.Today I finally made a good tactic and won a battle with the carthagians against the gauls.I lost about 650 men from 2000 and the enemy almoust everithin from aout 2450.


My formation was like this:

00XXXX00
ssXXXXss
cc cc

X-falanx
0-thorakitai
s-celtiberian spearmen
c-poeni cavalry

[naeblis]

nice, when you get a chance try throwing some archers into the mix. good luck happy hunting

[El Crumb]

The above examples are all effective ways of using your phalanx as your main battle line. You can't go far wrong with the advice.

One or two things i have learned, usually the hard way, while fighting with the phalanx are:

The A.I. isn't so bad that they will charge your phalanx head on, (thankfully, it'd make for short games otherwise) they will nearly always try to flank your lovingly placed and aligned phalanx formations so you end up having to wheel the line and reinforce your flanks.

Experiment with your skirmishers, especially numidians horse to draw enemy out of formation and where you want them i.e. facing your phalanxes or at least away from your flanks.

Even if your phalanx is hit from the flank, don't despair, all is not lost. Quickly pull your phalanx men out of phalanx formation (just hit the phlanx button) so they can fight sword and shield with the enemy. Liby-phoenicians are decent fighters and will stand toe to toe with the enemy at least initially while you send reinforcements to counter their flankers.

A final word, after a few battles your men will gain experience, start dishing out more punishment then they take and survive longer. Try and always have a doctor on your generals staff too to save more lives to fight again another day.

[torzsoktamas]

Thanx.Now I know how to fight wuth the falanxes.Today i fought a few battles(in all the enemys were more then me)and won the battles with not so mutch casualties.My mistake was that I didn' attacked imidiatly the enemy with my falanxes and the enemy trickd me.Now I will crush them.Another thanx.