What am I doing wrong defending gates?

[haniel]

Hi!
I play Gondor. Usually I use Gondorian Spearmen to defend my gates. I use the shiltron formation. The problem I have is that, even in that formation, my men, if not totaly outnumbered, push the enemy back, slowly out of the gates. What can I do to prefent them beeing brnt by my own boiling oil coming down from the gatehouse...

Thanks!

[Beggar]

Enable guard mode ?

[haniel]

Okay, this will make you think about a few more "?", but how do I enable guard mode (btw what is the guardmode?)?

[lennartje]

It's the little shield icon. Right bottom of the screen (or atleast, where you enable special abilities etc).

[haniel]

I will try that, thank you guys!

[Beggar]

It's the little shield icon. Right bottom of the screen (or atleast, where you enable special abilities etc).

Yup. But try not to click shieldwall icon, because that too has shields on it. On the other hand, I'm not so sure if any of Gondor's troops have shieldwall ability... At least the spearmen don't. Ah, whatever, I hope I didn't confuse you

[lennartje]

Yup. But try not to click shieldwall icon, because that too has shields on it. On the other hand, I'm not so sure if any of Gondor's troops have shieldwall ability... At least the spearmen don't. Ah, whatever, I hope I didn't confuse you

For those who think it's really hard, there's always the tooltip

[Hi-Polymer]

Yup. But try not to click shieldwall icon, because that too has shields on it. On the other hand, I'm not so sure if any of Gondor's troops have shieldwall ability... At least the spearmen don't. Ah, whatever, I hope I didn't confuse you

The citadel guards and the fountain guard do later on in the campaign.. but shield was is really effective dnt underestimate it.. ^____^

Basically when defending the gate put ur spearmen in front in guard mode and at their back place infantry that u cant put on ur walls this all depends on the amount of stack u have but dnt use their shiltron formation it only effects calvalry just over stack them in front of the gate covering every corner like everyone is talking about... ^___^ happy hunting

[aqua]

enable shiltrom if the enemy has sent cavalry....for infantry use the regular formation n enable guard mode(its in the shape of a traingular emblem n is in the command button list)

**********************----the gate---*****************************
.........................1.......................2...........................................
...................................3...................................................
1,2 and 3 r the units....face 1 n 2 right n left resp n 3 u know towards the gate n then enable guard mode....dont leave any space for enemy to sneak in

i have killed stacks after stacks of orcs like this at cair andros

[Rakovansky]

enable shiltrom if the enemy has sent cavalry....for infantry use the regular formation n enable guard mode(its in the shape of a traingular emblem n is in the command button list)

**********************----the gate---*****************************
.........................1.......................2...........................................
...................................3...................................................
1,2 and 3 r the units....face 1 n 2 right n left resp n 3 u know towards the gate n then enable guard mode....dont leave any space for enemy to sneak in

i have killed stacks after stacks of orcs like this at cair andros

I'd suggest that your unit 3 be an archer or ballista unit and set back further downt the road leading to the gate from the town center (if there is one in your case). The enemy will usually attack the 1 and 2 units if they are close enough to the gate, and your archer/ballista unit can shoot through the gap between 1 and 2 and ravage the enemy that is floundering in the gate under the boiling oil!

[aqua]

I'd suggest that your unit 3 be an archer or ballista unit and set back further downt the road leading to the gate from the town center (if there is one in your case). The enemy will usually attack the 1 and 2 units if they are close enough to the gate, and your archer/ballista unit can shoot through the gap between 1 and 2 and ravage the enemy that is floundering in the gate under the boiling oil!

thnx for the suggestion...i read this somewhere else too in the forum but havnt tried it yet.....wont the ballista kill my own troops too......sometimes mordor sents 7-8 infantry units in 1 go at the gate n they try to break in my formation n go towards the city centre(this may be due to Germanicu5's brilliant BAI switcher which i m using)....i think if i leave that side open they will run towards the ballista to attack it so havnt tried it so far

[Rakovansky]

thnx for the suggestion...i read this somewhere else too in the forum but havnt tried it yet.....wont the ballista kill my own troops too......sometimes mordor sents 7-8 infantry units in 1 go at the gate n they try to break in my formation n go towards the city centre(this may be due to Germanicu5's brilliant BAI switcher which i m using)....i think if i leave that side open they will run towards the ballista to attack it so havnt tried it so far

You can leave a small gap between the two units defending the gate - the AI will usually turn to attack those two units, especially if your ballista/archers are set far enough back. You will probably lose a few infantry to the ballista, but not many. It's certainly well worth the small sacrifice to devastate the enemy and cause panic.

[iron88]

I think you can also select the units and hit stop and repeat it every few seconds. I used to use a straight block of the gate, but for a while now I have used a V or cup formation and give the enemy just a little room to get through the gate. This gets them surrounded on three sides and helps a good bit in breaking morale instead of just slugging it out. Just use the schiltrom for horses and even then it doesn't really make a big difference at the gate. Maybe just a couple of units set that way for heavy horse attacks.

Rakovansky mentioned the ballista which is probably one of the better against all odds game changing tactics I have learned in the game. I don't use it much in TATW, but I used it a lot in standard. Just flank the gate on both sides and give the flame set ballista a view out the gate. Get the feel after a few times to how much distance you need between the flanking units to keep a unit from running up the middle and attacking the ballista. I think of them as barbs to catch and hold the enemy while the ballista does its work. You can even try to stretch a unit or two down the road to provide extra protection against breakthrough units. A unit of cavalry or attack infantry behind the ballista may be helpful in defense. Use the stop or guard methods to help stop the gate defenders from folding over in front of the bolts. Though as Rakovansky said the small sacrifice is worth the payoff. I also tend to micromange the ballista. Try to get them firing at units in or through the gate more than units engaged with your defenders. That way the bolts tend to go down the middle. I've routed my own troops before firing at engaged units and having the bolts go astray and straight through the line of my troops.

[Outlawstar15a2]

I think you can also select the units and hit stop and repeat it every few seconds.

Now why in the Grey Heavens would he want to do that when he could just use guard mode and be done with it?

[Kawee]

The worst enemy of the ballista tactic is the Huge Walls. Because when you have Huge Walls, the path in front of the gate is just one big horizontal line.

[Maberous]

I've found out that the formation, that Aqua suggested, is usually most effective. Trick is to make formations deep enough (like at least 4-5 men deep) so that it has some flexibility when enemy pushes your men back.

If I have Cavalry in my disposal, I sometimes use kind of hammer and anvil- type defence at the gates:

------------------------------------[--G--]------------------------
(Inf)..Cav ..........................................Inf..(Archers/ javelin)

-----------------------------------I ..Inf ..I------------------------
............................................I..(a/j).I.................................

Infantry ties enemy at the gates with exposed flank which cavalry can charge time after time. If can afford, I have backup infantry behind the cavalry and skirmishers behind infantry

[Mhydrian]

I always put Schiltrom in front of the gate with over lapping lines of spearmen all in guard position. It works pretty well for me.

[Arthéin]

why does it feel like I`m the only one NOT defending the gates in a siege here...I always fall back to the city plaza (but I keep my general at the gates until they break....to kill some enemies with the towers)
when I play as gondor, I have found that 2 units of spearmen and about 4 archer (and hopefully a general) is the best combination to defend a city (a cheap one too)
that one works flawless until the trolls arrive

[Black_ice_Spain]

there is no pike-wall formation for gondor? xP, with theutonic orden pikemen/tercios, 3groups of them could kill a whole army without suffer more than 10loses xD. (just leave enough space so your formation doesnt get broken and rapped by that mass-effect which comes when too many units go trough the gate and push everything in their way).


------------Door--------
-------Pike------Pike---
-------Pike------Pike---
----------Piiiiiiikee------

"Vertical Pike" are same group xP

[Hi-Polymer]

there is no pike-wall formation for gondor? xP,

there is i believe citadel and the fountain guard have either shield wall or pike wall not gondor speaman... i knoe 100% the fountain guard have that ability
but im pretty sure citadel guard has shield wall....