Universal battle-winning strategies

[Broken Pope]

Now I'm not pretending to be an expert. There are plenty of detailed battle-winning strategies on these forums that are flawless and elegant. I just thought it might be interesting to set out some rules-of-thumb; not faction-specific counsels of perfection - just common sense rules to help newbies. Some of whom are young. And stupid. I also wondered if there were any basic common-sense things that I hadn't worked out.

To begin with:

- Try to control the higher ground on a battlefield. Your charges will gain more impetus and your enemies charges will be less effective.

- Always try to outflank your enemy and attack from the side or rear.

- If your opponent has reinforcements waiting, try to concentrate your entire force on the army he has in the field. This is called 'defeat in detail' in military jargon; you incur far fewer casualties if you engage your main force on a portion of your enemy.

- If you have a range-advantage over your enemy try to exploit it. Sit your cannon on a hill and thin-out the enemy ranks before engaging them.

- Have a line of spearmen or infantry behind your archers / musketeers.

Any more general rules?

[Old_Scratch]

-If you do not have the long range advantage, don't hesitate to charge.

-Be flexible, don't tie yourself down to one strategy. If it's not working, immediately abandon it for a more appropriate tactic.

-Be mobile and always take advantage of opportunity. If the enemy makes a mistake you must exploit it quickly or you'll lose that advantage.

-Balanced and well rounded armies are generally better than armies made mostly out of one type of unit.

-While being flanked is bad, don't allow the fear of flanking to dominate your tactics. This can lead to defensive formations that may look strong, but can be easily exploited.

[Sher Khan]

A universal thread not in its universe!

Moved to Battle Planning.

[Viking Prince]

Use two missile units to create a cross fire on a single unit. This is not quite a flanking move, but should break most units. Crossbows are very effect with this method.

All units have their use at various stages of the game. For example, Peasant archer units lack penetrating power, but are the very backbone of your offense on turn one. Even later in the game, flaming arrows can still eliminate seige towers and rams.

Keep units organized and in line for open field battles. Breaking line formations before the eney breaks will lose the strength of your attack.

In forrested "open field" combat, it is very difficult to maintain lines. Even the computer will break lines upon advancing. This is an opportunity to flank individual and small groups of units. Missile crossfire is also now more effective. Keep your units in formation.

[jman47]

NEVER assault across a bridge

When assaulting a settlement, make multiple breaches in the defenses if possible, it makes it easier to flank defenders behind the walls and uses your army more efficently, rather than having a mile long blob sticking out of the main gate with 3/4 of your soldiers standing around picking their noses

[wearycelt]

Jman, I think that statement needs clarifying.

NEVER assault across a bridge..... without siege engines that have enough range to hit the troops on the opposite bank.

[jman47]

good point, wearycelt, however siege engines are also innacurate and although they will do damage i dont think it would be enough to justify a bridge assault. i would rather wait for the enemy army to attack me (on the campaign map) or find some other way to get around, rather than throw precious men away over a bridge.

however there is something to be said for leaving your army staring at theirs and move another army to their rear to act as reinforcments, then slaughtering them all to the last man for their insolenceMWAHAHAHA.....

oops, got a little carried away

[wearycelt]

Jman, somehow I can tell that you, like me, miss MTW 1 where you could slaughter prisoners during battle, sometimes just to hear there screams.

That was in and of itself a universal battle winner! And guarantee of Dread Lord status.

[Strom]

Jman, I think that statement needs clarifying.

NEVER assault across a bridge..... without siege engines that have enough range to hit the troops on the opposite bank.

Bridge assaults are fine as long as you have sufficient missile superiority. In fact they may be better than a regular battle for an archer heavy force against a non-ranged one as the AI will be unable to close with you (or gets slaughtered at the bridge head if they do) and you can peck him to death at your own pace. Siege engines are nice but not necessary unless the enemy has a lot as long range missiles (longbows, heavy crossbows) can almost always hit the far bank from your side.

Don't be afraid of marching your archers onto the bridge (it's a good idea to back them up with some spearmen just in case the AI charges them with cavalry) as archers are more effective when they're closer. You can have 3-4 units of archers standing one behind the other on a bridge and all able to fire. Also consider using flaming arrows as (I believe) against more heavily armored units you get more kills before they run out of arrows. Again, if you're close enough to the enemy the accuracy penalty of the flaming arrows doesn't matter so much. Although, obviously, if the enemy has five units of pavisse crossbowmen your longbowmen are going to get slaughtered on the bridge, which kindof goes back to the missile superiority argument.

[homefry]

1. Attacking across a bridge is one of the best tactics (assuming you have another army behind the enemy) on the campaign map. You position 1 army on the bridge and the other one behind the enemy. When the battle starts, the enemy will be too preoccupied with your force across the bridge that your force from behind can have easy pickings.

2. Try not to have a battle with too many trees. The AI can fight regardless, but you won't be able to see enemies or your own units under the trees.

[Theseus1234]

1. Attacking across a bridge is one of the best tactics (assuming you have another army behind the enemy) on the campaign map. You position 1 army on the bridge and the other one behind the enemy. When the battle starts, the enemy will be too preoccupied with your force across the bridge that your force from behind can have easy pickings.

well how can you position one army across the bridge considering the enemy forces have the bridge in their zone of control

anyways, as for tips:

keep reserves. If the enemy outnumber you, it is likely they will either break your defense or outflank you. put some shock infantry at charging distance away from your first line so if the enemy breaks the first line, your shock troops will beat them back and repatch the whole

concentrate your missile fire on the unit or units that will cause the most trouble for you.
example: your army is 1x peasants and 5x archers
enemy: 1x peasants and 1x SUPER HEAVY CAVALRY
focus your fire on the cavalry, not the peasants

[jman47]

actually ive never played M1TW, but lets just say if i lose more than 30% of my assaulting forces, that settlement will burn for sure, and if they kill one of my generals (like recently in a venice game im playing), especially if they kill him when the battle is already basically over and im mopping up in the town square, prisoners are auto executed, NO EXEPTIONS

A-Hem, sory got a little wild again

[Dash]

This is a strategy I use...

Don't send in your entire force when assaulting settlements. Send in your weak/mercenary forces first to weaken the enemy, then send in your good troops to finish them off.

After you make your breaches in the wall, keep using your artillery to wear them down before attacking. Loved using that tactic with onagers in RTW.

When doing the above tactic, try hitting the general/captain. Morale loss + loss of heavy cavalry (if general)

If assaulting a settlement with a larger garrison than you, attack with your artillery(if you have any) and try and kill as much of the enemy as you can before pulling out to assault it another day. Be sure to attack it again the next turn before they have a chance to retrain their troops.

[homefry]

well how can you position one army across the bridge considering the enemy forces have the bridge in their zone of control

Look at what I put in parenthesis.

[gary0044187]

Look at what I put in parenthesis.

to take that a step further, not many rivers have only one path across. Many times you can get troops (especially cavalry) to a flanking position just by crossing at a nearby ford.

[Sokar Rostau]

I assaulted Norwegian Castle Town, that had 5 units behind the walls and a full stack behind the settlement, with a stack of the best Welsh troops I could muster (all of them sucked) in my Britannia campaign the other night. My Bombards were only strong enough to breach the outer walls so I used up the last of their ammo on one of the towers and retreated just as the reinforcements arrived. Next turn I assaulted again and charged my infantry through the breach, taking out one of the Norwegian Generals before they retreated to the safety of the inner courtyard. I then moved my 6 Seathwyr (sp?) onto the outer walls, while my Bombards worked on the inner one, so that the reinforcements had to advance the whole way under a hail of arrows, significantly thinning their ranks.

I have also, on a number of occasions, defeated castle garrisons by getting my infantry into the courtyard gates to give my archers a window to get onto the parapets to create a crossfire and rain bloody (or even firey) death on the defenders. It's particularly useful when your troops are exhausted and there are several full General units in the courtyard - all you need to do is give your archers time to get onto the walls (with Ladders if needs be).

When assaulting castles, especially with cavalry-heavy garrisons, getting your own missile troops onto the walls can win you the battle with minimal losses.

[Engrish]

-know thine enemy

[Theseus1234]

well, mainly infantry is used fro creating a pocket at your end of the bridge so that your missile units can fire into it or your cavalry can charge through a gap

[Broken Pope]

Had a lovely bridge battle where I was heavily outnumbered by Aztecs playing Americas as New Spain.

Because they had such a huge advantage, the AI decided it had to rush me. I kept them at bay with some dismounted conquistadores while I annihilated the whole army with culverins, archers and musketeers. Really nice exploding ammunition hits in their compacted ranks as they surged over and around the bridge.

[Eers]

Ever tried a custom (bridge) battle like this?

Cannon elephants vs. Aztecs random army.
Oh, God help the Aztecs When the elephants start to shoot!

Or when they're almost over the bridge, RUSH! Damn, I just love that.