Lite Tactics

[Tyrenia]

I have to say, I always find SS Early Campaigns frustrating. I start off with my core territories, then decide to build a stack to expand... lo and behold, all my castles and towns are capable of producing are Light units (Infantry & Cavalry). Being a not so great Real-Time commander, I always sustain huge casualties because I try and use tactics I would usually use (i.e. with Heavy Infantry and Cavalry).

So what do I do? Light Infantry can't hold a line to save their life, and using light cavalry to chase down routing units is only good if the units are actually routing, and if they charge, they die. When I only have Light units, how can I win battles without sustaining large numbers of casualties?

[Caesar Clivus]

Use your light infantry to engage the enemy. Then flank them with your light cavalry and charge the enemy from the rear. It takes quite good timing though to minimise your casualties.

[meese]

Namely what light units? Light men at arms are pretty good at staying alive for a bit. Not against dismoutned feudal knights of course, but that's when you use your own precious few. Otherwise the old hammer and anvil still works.

[Navajo Joe]

Tyrenia,
I always play as Early Era as I enjoy building my economy and miltiary power, but as I am sure you are aware that the AI will have the same sort of calibre troops as you. I strive to build the Leather Tanner/Blacksmith/Armourer as soon as possible, so my troops are better protected and take less casualities. The AI does not develop its walls and building very well, so troops will fall behind yours. I always recruit every Merc X-Bow I can, they are very effective against enemy armour and they make a difference. As Caesar pointed out tactics wise, is exactly what I do, hit them from behind hard and rout them.
A recent battle i had, my archers and ballistas poured missile fire into enemy left flank, as they ran out of missiles my infantry moved forwards, just as they engaged, my cavarly hit that weakened left flank and they ran like rabbits!

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Generally I try and keep two or three achers with every stack. Fire arrows are great for breaking moral. Once your main line engages, use the spears to pin the ememy in place then send your flankers up the sides and rear. Pull your archers back and find range on isolated units. Charge the rear with your general and flankers and pop, the rout is on....

We don't have to grind the opponent to dust to be victorious. Those spear militia with the 1st armour upgrade can execute this plan to perfection if we don't ask them to do too much...Hope this helps...

[Ichon]

Early campaigns mean your opponents usually have low armor values and thus archers/crossbow really can damage them if used correctly. Only time I have trouble is sometimes in sieges the enemy has lots of archers on the walls who refuse to move unless I capture central square which is difficult to do without massive casualties in that situation.

Also it seems the AI always has at least 2 mercenary HC along with whatever generals in its army which really tear up early spears and another other early infantry units. The rest of the AI army also will rout much faster if you kill enemy general so you can do a couple things-

1. Fight defensive as much as possible, use bridges if nearby or use hill with ranged at top. In sieges always draw out the enemy army if they have lots of archers. On flat land have crossbow on skirmish in front of infantry that will either lure out enemy general or give more time to kill enemy infantry- after they run behind your infantry line rush them to non shielded flank of AI-sometimes need 1 spear for protection if enemy cavalry still in reserve.

2. If you have Jinetes or any good anti-armor units make it your priority to kill enemy general. It might cost half your general and 2 LC units for 1 enemy general but after that the enemy army routs really quick and your general with even only 6 men left can repeat charge down a line to leading to massive route.

The only problem is if the AI isn't very aggressive and shields its general for very long... the general will always eventually charge but meanwhile you might lose 50% of your army if the HC charge first so the best is to combine 1 and 2 as much as possible. Also never let infantry simply absorb a charge- half can die in the initial shock and then route fast.

Anytime you see enemy cavalry charging not only counter charge, but try and put a 2nd infantry on flank of charging enemy a bit ahead of the victim... this will not only reduce initial shock of just absorbing charge but if you react fast enough the flankers will mess with charging enemy pathfinding and stop their charge. At minimum always turn facing to face strongest threat. Just use pause alot until you get used to what you need to do... and remember there are only a few real dangerous threats in any enemy army which cause the majority of your losses, always just keep an eye out for those units.

[Tyrenia]

Thankyou all very much for your advice, + rep to you all. I tried some of the aforementioned tactics in a recently begun HRE campaign, and they worked to a tea. My crowning achievement was defeating 4 units of Italian Spear Militia, 2 units of Peasant Crossbowmen and a unit of mailed Knights with 2 Spear Militias, 1 Peasant Archer unit and a general. They sallied out from a town, but I managed to kill all 901 of them for a loss of only 200.

However, in spite of my newfound success with these, I still can't wait until I get some decent Heavy Units!

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Tyrenia...

I don't know if you need any settlement building tips, but just in case...

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=329518

I'm really glad these folks were able to help you out..btw campaign pics are always nice...

[Jiub]

Light units are hard to keep the main line with but on the other hand light cavalry is awesome to charge the enemy`s back with.

Check out the replay, i had a few bad moves. Don`t pick fights with your light cavalry, just charge into backs and disappear just as fast as you came. And another thing, beware of the enemy`s heavy cavalry, they`ll rip your light ones to shreds.
They had heavier troops...