English settlements under siege

[uubbaguubba]

Whenever I'm under siege I wait for them to attack and lay the following trap (this only works if you have Longbow unit);

Place 3 units in tight formation in a 'U' shape and deploy stakes - this breaks up any infantry units and desimates their cavalry when they charge in; often killing the General. You will have plenty of time to re-deploy the archers up to the ramparts and have a turkey shoot at the oncoming invaders

If the attackers have siege weapons (catapults / cannons / etc), place the Longbow across the paths leading to the central plaza, again deploy stakes and move back once the battle starts. The AI isn't too bright so will use the shartest plan rather than the safest

With significant losses to cavalry, the unit breaks and usually causes a cascade effect into a rout - to mop up and kill the fleeing army WALK your cavalry through the stakes.... no damage

Enjoy

[S4ndyMan]

haha never thought of that. but you still can use this strategy with other stake-deploying units.

[Silverheart]

I´m already aware of that strategy. It is impressively effective ^::^
I was actually beginning to think that I was the only one using it.

uubbaguubba, as the inventors, I think we should come up with a name for that strategy...
Like "Pigsticking" or "Stake-spamming".
I´m thinking about a name like, "Fylking" (Swine Array in english), after the Viking strategy of pointing a tri-angular wall of sharp poles forward to skewer cavalry and halt infantry.

[xash11]

I also thought i was the only one using it, iv been using for a while, its most effective against Spanish when they charge in as they always seem to use a lot of Jintes, I tend to use spears in schiltrom at the top of the street on edge of the square and they take care of any cavalry lucky enough to escape what i just call the cav trap. Plus any infantry that arnt broken will wear themselves out against the spear wall and soon break. I also bring the archers back behind the spears so that as the enemy charge up the street they become clustered and are met a hail of arrows. You can man any settle quite cheaply this way especially Citadels. For a Citadel i just keep 3 longbowmen 4 spears and a general. it also works well against Mongols and Timurids with their elephants. Although you need a few extra units against these.

[Silverheart]

I like the sound of "cav trap". Good idea.
Or perhaps "horse trap" would sound even better ^::^

[melkor1861]

This is a well-known strategy as one of the few ways to (effectively) counter the mongol hordes without horse archers. Perhaps Khan Killers?

[The Source]

''The stakes are high'' or omfg its a stake in the ground, lets run into it

[Jom]

"The stakeout".

[xash11]

Sometimes though usually against Danes or French their cavalry will just walk through so what i do is have an expendable unit like billmen near the gate, Then just as the gate is crashed in have them leg it back to base, this causes cavalry to charge, then its pandemoneum. Theres some good suggestions as to the name.I wonder if the makers have a name for it? They must be aware of it. I would like us to be able to build moats, draw bridges, stake pits and savage guard dogs to make assaulting settlments and castles more challenging and exciting.

[melkor1861]

Sometimes though usually against Danes or French their cavalry will just walk through so what i do is have an expendable unit like billmen near the gate, Then just as the gate is crashed in have them leg it back to base, this causes cavalry to charge, then its pandemoneum. Theres some good suggestions as to the name.I wonder if the makers have a name for it? They must be aware of it. I would like us to be able to build moats, draw bridges, stake pits and savage guard dogs to make assaulting settlments and castles more challenging and exciting.

While I would love to see the added dimension, I do think that pathfinding would be a straight NIGHTMARE. the AI already gets hung up on the buildings outside of the walls as it is, and that's just no fun.