Elephants....

[yutterh]

WTF!?!?! they are impossible to kill. I just started my first campaign as the scipii and i lsot my city on the island because my entire army was killed by 6 elephants. how do you fight these?

[Darth Umbrage]

Yea, if your not careful elephants can really do some damage. Spears usually work well, and as for the early Romans, you can hire hoplite mercs in sicily. Also if you can manage to surround them pila can go a long way. Archers using fire arrows will make the elephants run amok and then will die by arrow as they run in circles. But yeah direct confrontation with elephants is not disirable, up close they can tear apart most anything, including chariots.

[A Demented Goldfish]

Yea, if your not careful elephants can really do some damage. Spears usually work well, and as for the early Romans, you can hire hoplite mercs in sicily. Also if you can manage to surround them pila can go a long way. Archers using fire arrows will make the elephants run amok and then will die by arrow as they run in circles. But yeah direct confrontation with elephants is not disirable, up close they can tear apart most anything, including chariots.

lol yea

[Genius of the Restoration]

Swamp them with Hastati or something if you're desperate, they're only normal elephants and should rout. Just keep your cavalry away from them. They don't actually hurt infantry that much really. Just out-morale them with numbers. Flaming arrows are the best though, but you could try this if you don't have archers.

[yutterh]

Ok sweet ill try those next time

[Ruprecht]

I love fighting enemies that have either Elephants or Scythed chariots, all you do is get your archers (preferably Auxilia or Cretan) for long range, shoot a volley or two of flaming arrows directly at them and sit back and watch them run-amok killing half their army in the process.

[Brusilov]

The best thing to kill elephants with are javelins. If you know you may encounter elephants on the battlefield it's always best to include several javelin armed units in your army. Make sure you have them with 'fire at will' off also 'skirmish' off. Put these units behind your front line and move them around to be in a place to throw the javelins at elephants.

Fire arrows are OK to but they just tend to make the elephants run amok. It's funny when it's in the enemy ranks but less funny when they are in your lines...

[Lucarius]

get some velites and maybe some hoplite mercs and you will be fine.
or train archers (or hire some cretans) and put them on flaming mode.
these african elephants are really small and have no armor on so they will be easy to hit with arrow.
good luck

Fire arrows are OK to but they just tend to make the elephants run amok. It's funny when it's in the enemy ranks but less funny when they are in your lines...

yeah, think about hannibals stupid action.
his own carthaginian elephants just crushed his front line.

[Sir Pignans]

Use skirmish units or flaming arrows.

Or you can use merc hoplites.

Skirmish units get that bonus against elephants. Just don't use them against armored and war elephants. I don't think there very effective against them.

[Lucarius]

Skirmish units get that bonus against elephants. Just don't use them against armored and war elephants. I don't think there very effective against them.

you are right.
skirmish (javelin) units are not that effective against armored elephants.
but they can still do some serious damage.

[Fireright]

Try blasting em with artillery on fireballs...might get a few lucky hits and take some out, then finish off whats left with javelins...lots of javelins!!

[Genius of the Restoration]

Unless you were Spain, and the OP isn't, I don't understand why you'd try to kill them when routing them is so much easier and less time-consuming. I mean a couple of volleys and they're amok waaay before they come within javelin range. Just amok them and take care of the proper army. Elephants are hard to kill, but you don't need to kill them to win the battle.

[eXistenZ]

Elephants were fun...



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(very old screenshots, when i had to run the game on minimum specs )

[|Sith| Max]

I don't understand why you'd try to kill them when routing them is so much easier and less time-consuming.

Because they are all new.

[Sir Pignans]

Unless you were Spain, and the OP isn't, I don't understand why you'd try to kill them when routing them is so much easier and less time-consuming. I mean a couple of volleys and they're amok waaay before they come within javelin range. Just amok them and take care of the proper army. Elephants are hard to kill, but you don't need to kill them to win the battle.

I'd rather kill them in one battle and getting it over with than routing them in countless battles.

Plus, the AI needs all the help it can get, so I try and kill them, rather than rout, which would be too easy.

[Genius of the Restoration]

I'd rather kill them in one battle and getting it over with than routing them in countless battles.

Just get a crushing victory and wait for the message that the enemy forces have melted away. You should only need to rout them once if you annihilate the main force, even if they escape with a man or two. Make sure the generals are dead, but that's pretty much priority number one in campaign battles anyway.

Plus, the AI needs all the help it can get, so I try and kill them, rather than rout, which would be too easy.

Just as long as the people who read this know that killing an elephant is less effective than routing them. You can give the AI some help by all means, it just mightn't be a good idea to tell people to kill elephants when it isn't tactically the most effective move you can make in most circumstances.

[Sir Pignans]

Just as long as the people who read this know that killing an elephant is less effective than routing them. You can give the AI some help by all means, it just mightn't be a good idea to tell people to kill elephants when it isn't tactically the most effective move you can make in most circumstances.

Fair enough, but I am used to playing on VH and whenever I play the beginning of the Scipii campaign the only way to beat them is kill them. So I mass my javelins from Hastati and pray there are some hoplites available. I seem to remember it is very hard, and costly in terms of men, to rout them on VH.

But by all means, rout them if you can, I suppose it is the most effective way.

Plus, I genuinely believe it would be actually better to kill them, less risk of them to retreating into the inside of there city, elephants can destroy you inside a city. And since your so close to the carthage town, I think they do retreat into it.

[Genius of the Restoration]

Fair enough, but I am used to playing on VH and whenever I play the beginning of the Scipii campaign the only way to beat them is kill them. So I mass my javelins from Hastati and pray there are some hoplites available. I seem to remember it is very hard, and costly in terms of men, to rout them on VH.

It shouldn't be that hard though. You should be able to do it with next to no casualties if you play it out well. As the Scipii you start with a unit of Velites and a unit of Roman Archers. One unit of archers can rout a unit of elephants. Send your general near them and wait for the elephants to give chase and continue to rain fire arrows down on them.

Plus, I genuinely believe it would be actually better to kill them, less risk of them to retreating into the inside of there city, elephants can destroy you inside a city. And since your so close to the carthage town, I think they do retreat into it.

I think they'll only retreat towards a town if they're in that friendly territory. If they're in your territory (as in yutterh's case for instance) and you defeat them they'll be wiped out.

I think elephants are less dangerous in a city if you've got archers though. I mean, once they're routed they're a bonus for you. Just sit your units on a wall and wait for them to leave and see what carnage they leave in their wake.

I dont use archers in rome because building that building takes too long and i need to focus on otehr structures so i jsut go for 2 of the 3 military buildings to upgrade. Also i am not really good with archers <_<

Know archers, love archers

[Lucarius]

Haha i see

[Lucarius]

- Javelins
- Hoplites
- Fire Arrows
- Desert Eagle
- Spearman

there are lots of options to kill a Elephant.