My Favorite Silvan Strategies
Im sure there are plenty of topics about this but i just felt like sharing my experience with using Silvan elves and the strategies that i find work best. First let me make clear that im playing with mephistos mini mod for RR/RC which basically exaggerates the strength and weaknesses of the factions. For instance elves get 76 soldiers per unit but their missile dmg is increased and the costs are also slightly higher. And orks get more soldiers per unit that are slightly less effective then standard RR/RC. But i think this strategy should hold more or less true even with standard balance.
Basic Deployment
The elves biggest strength is their arrows so in order to get the kind of victory you want its imperative that you use their missiles to do as much dmg as possible. Elevation is great if you can try place your archers on a hill it will increase their already impressive range. Line up a front line of infantry and place archers behind them preferably on higher ground, make sure there is enough distance between the archers and the inf line so that they can shoot at an arch and hit the engaged orcs, since orcish units are large they should be able to send the fire arrows at the back of the orcish unit without killing your own guys. But be weary of when shooting in the direction of lightly armored spears and wardens your own arrows may be the biggest threat to them. Make sure your infantry line is wide because the orcs are many and you don't want them washing over and running past your line to your archers. Your infantry especially the elite ones will hold that thin line against many hundreds of orcs so do not worry.
Deciding which line.
Deciding were to put which units front line or archer line is important. Obviously spearmen and swordmen go into inf line and sentinels go into missile line, but the Graladim archers are both great archers and infantry so were you place them depends on the rest of your army if you have infantry aplenty there is no need to crowd the front line, if you have many sentinels and not enough inf to hold the line use them in the front, unleashing a volley of fire arrows point blank into a band of charging orcs is incredibly effective. Generals bodyguards for silvan elves are perhaps my favorite unit, i usually have them in the front because they hold the line and are not vulnerable to arrows, and this allows me maximum range to get kills and deal with specific threats like trolls or numenoreans with surgical precision. Earlly in the game i like to get 3 units of bodyguards together and have them hold the line alone against goblin rabble and have the rest of the army be sentinels which annihilate the enemy with arrows. They are more defective then early spears can do maximum damage before the enemy approaches and don't get killed by friendly fire. But maby most importantlly their numbers regenerate at no cost whic can be a life saver early on when dealing with troop shortages.
Using Archers Properly
Ok well this is pretty basic, when the enemy is far use regular arrows to get the max kills, when they are getting close switch to fire to demoralize them, mass flaming arrow fire from sentinels reaks havoc on morale. Of course you want to concentrate your fire base on the position of the unit with reguard to the enemy and you want to concentrate on most imediate threats, halberds marching slowlly towards your line are not a threat, fast moving morgul knights are. Shoot the units which are about to engage your line rather then those that are far and their archers. And something i found is important when shooting units of orcs that are engaged don't use the archers directly behind the engagement but rather chose the ones on the other side this prevents friendly fire.
Biggest threats
The biggest threats i have come across (haven fought mumakil with silvans yet) are pretty self explanatory Nazgul, trolls and artilery. In the rebalanced mini mod the cav charges are increased so nazgul and morgul knights are incredibly dangerous to your thin line formation, even a charge directly into your spears will break your thin line and can have devastating results opening a clear avenue to your archers and resulting in a loss of expensive units. Basically there is a simplle way to deal with them shoot them use all your archers if you have to, forget killing orks and take out those knights if they reach your line you have problems. Trolls are incrediblly dangerous for similar reasons, first you lack infantry to effectively deal with them, second the small unit sizes matter alot when it comes to trolls throwing your guys around. They disorganize and break your line and the following onslaught of orcs will wash right over your thin line if they are out of formation and since they are in the midlle of your unit shhoting at them once engaged can do more harm then good 2 units o trols can cost you a battle you would have otherwise won with few casualties. So again same as nazgul just shoot them with all you can use your generals range to start chipping away at those hit points early once one falls rest will soon follow.
Special Strategy
OK the Silvan elves have a very cool unit elven hose archers, what makes them so special? Well they are horse archers with incredible range (and as all elves good missile dmg) to trully have them be an efective part of your strategy you will need at the very least 2 but best at least 3 units. They are you surgical instruments to take out your priority targets. Nothing in the orcish arsenal matches their speed and range so charge them around the enemy and take out their general, this works particularity well on mounted nazgul. Take out their artillery they will send units after you but they cant catch you. Take out their halberds the walk slowly so you can take your time shooting them in the back. And if they are out of rage of you generals and archers you can soften up trolls, but if trolls are fev and in range its best to save their arrows for a different target. Don use them in melee and don't flank with them its a waste. They are a precision instrument so flanking is like using a scalpel to butcher a cow. Ents, well these guys serve 2 main purposes they can occupy an entire flanking force while you fight the main one by just running through them, and they can be very useful if you charge them across the entire enemy line knocking them down disorganizing and slowing their approach allowing you more time to pepper the enemy with arrows. Dont keep them engaged too long because numbers matter and orks definetlly have numbers, dont have them fight trolls, and remember if it took a minute for a single Ent to fall dosent mean that it will take a minute for the next one the rest will soon follow so get them our.
Remember Silvan elves are a unique faction with very few very expensive units, for a long time you may only have one 3/4 stack, and later maby 2 of those. You really need to win and win well most of the time to keep afloat. A defeat in a major battle can spell doom because it may well cost you all or a good half of your soldiers. Try to keep your armies large so you can minimize losses, were as 1500 orcs will overrun 400 elves, 1500 elves will massacre 4500 orcs. Larger battles work in your favor.
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Originally Posted by Vaz
