Your own formations

[J.B.]

Cheers!

As the title says, I would like to see your own custom made formations.. I don't care if it's the classic Roman "Three-line", with some few things added.. Just as long as it's something that you made up yourself... If you can, please leave a picture with the formation (optional: a walkthrough of what the current formation is good at, their possibelities to adept to differents situations and who you primarily use it against)

I'll bring up my own formation later tonight


Btw, its my first thread

[shadowarmy75]

If I am outnumbered, against phalanx, and have no calvalry, I use this.

I=infantry
G=general

I just used the reversed cresent with fire at will turned on.

III
II II

If they attack the back, flank with front, if they attack the front, flank with the back. I once defeated two much larger armies with my veteran Hastati.

[Shadows]

Btw, welcome to the forums. back on topic: my formation will work with any factions' army but it works best with the Gauls. This is true because of the Gallic ability to instill vast amounts of fear before they attack. It requires a decent army with a varied amount of troops but it is available to modifications at your will.
Looks like this:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
CSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCS
BCBCBC DDDD DDDD BCBCBC
CSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCSCS
AAAA GGGG AAAA
(i cant get the letters in their exact postion bt they are close, cavalry should be out farther to the sides and the back line should be centered, but other than that most units are in the right spot)
AA- archers (with use fire on and in skirmisher mode except the back ones they are on maual firing with you selecting choice targets, i suggest enemy cavalry on the flanks) usually 5 or 6 units (when the enemy approaches and your archers pull back, set them on manual attack and pick your targets in the back of the enemy formation to avoid friendly fire w/ or w/o use fire on you choice)
CS- chosen swordsmen (guard mode on) again 5 or 6 units (any infantry will do but for Gauls, these are the best)(the second row is used to reinforce the front line should the enemy make lasting contact)
BC- barbarian cavalry (used to eliminate enemy cavalry or flanking infantry) usually 4 untis, two per side.(any cavalry will do but barbs are cheap, can even use the merc ones)
DD- Druids (instill fear by chanting and give your troops a morale boost.) usualy only one or two, (not needed but effective)
GG- general's unit (used to reinforce the front lines when they are close to collapsing) (Aany heavy cavalry will do in a pinch but the general also adds to morale to surrounding troops)
As you can see this formation is not very complex but the amount of fear generated by the wall of fire arrows from foresters combined with druid chanting is enough to send most armies packing without even making real contact with your soldiers. When using this army and formation I have routed entire armies (even disciplined roman ones) while taking almost zero casualties. (usually these are a result of my cavalry being hit by friendly fire or when they attack some flanking cavalry) This is my formation, hope you like it, it works and works well.

[Maximus Lazero]

This is my formation for the Roman faction in Rome: Total Realism



The idea is a slightly altered version of the old Roman manipular system. Velites attack the enemy first, then fall back behind the main army with the General's Cavalry and another cavalry unit between them. The Hastati make the initial assualt, while the Principes wait in reserve. They will be thrown into combat when the enemy is on the verge of crumbling, or when there are gaps in the line that need to be filled and/or an enemy unit's flank is exposed. The Triarii guard the flanks of the army against cavalry and other units. The Cavalry's job is to move around all the action and hit the enemy from behind. Other times, this results in their being used in cavalry vs. cavalry combat, and anyone who knows anything about the Roman cavalry understands that this is not a pleasant business.
The General's cavalry and the spare cav. unit wait to fill in any gaps or to beef up the wings in case the cavalry is fighting other cavlary. The Velites fulfill the same role as the Principes, but mainly as a last resort.
The formation changes little when using Legionaries, especially if mercenary/AoR spearmen are in the army.

This formation is actually pretty useful because it give you a strong center with reserves that can be used to reinforce other points on the line. I've actually fought battles where my Principes never had to be used in combat, or where they simply made the enemy route. The one flaw is that a strong enemy cavalry can maul my own, and that will lead to some hairy situations of my Triarii are occupied...thankfully the AI isn't THAT smart...>: D

[LordSaradain]

TTHPHPHPHPHTT
_V__V___V__V_
______A_______
_____E_G______

Here's my defensive roman formation, few enemies can get past this wall of Steel!

Key:
H = Hastati
P = Principes
T = Triarii
V = Velites
A = Archers
E = Equites
G = General

I often drop the archers for another unit of Equites.
Cavalry's mostly for pursuit or flanking in a critical situation.

[MasterAdnin]

This is my usual late roman formation:

CH_CH_CH_CH
__CH_FC_CH
____A__A
CV__GG__CV
_____AR

Ch=Cohort
FC=First Cohort
A=Archer
CV=Cavarly
G=General
AR=Artillery

That is my basic formation if the battle can be easily won. I have more advanced formations, but use them depending on the situation.:wink:

P.S.-Welcome to the forums Gaius julius octavinus, hope you enjoy it here!!!:original:

[Lemi]

my favorite faction is Parthia. I will add my battle formations to see a fast attack with cataphract and heavy camels to produce shok in the enemy first lines. the war elephants attack comme at the end.

i don't now how to add images here. some help plz

[IMG]Parthian Formations[/IMG]

[Marcus Scaurus]

i don't now how to add images here. some help plz

[IMG]Parthian Formations[/IMG]

Copy the URL of the pic (if you have it on your computer, upload it to Photobucket) into the [IMG][/IMG]. Example: [IMG]www.mypicsite.com/picture1.gif[/IMG]

[AlexMirt]

when i play as the greeks and am attacked by a highly mobile army e.g. loads of powerful cavalry i tend to put my hoplite units in a circle or near enough e.g. a decagon for 10 hoplite units- in the circle i put all my other units like 1 or 2 peltasts 1 or 2 cretan archers and maybe one heavy artillery unit -e.g. heavy onager and maybe 1 back up hoplite unit. the wall of hoplites is pretty unbreakable even when i tried it with cataphracts and i have no flank to be outflanked- the cretian archers and artillery provide some protection against ranged units. If i have very few hoplite units i instead make a outward facing crescent so that the 2 ends of the crescent touch the very side of the edge of the map -i put all my other units behind this crescent wall. i think this is quite a useful technique for the greeks and although human players will be able to defeat this formation the AI can't deal with it at all- especially the circle aproach.

[shadowarmy75]

Thats not nearly as bad as German Spear Warband with screeching women inside.

[GambleFish]

Thats not nearly as bad as German Spear Warband with screeching women inside.

Ouch... i can only imagine the morale effects...

Does anyone have some really good hopilite formations? I never see ones other than the already mentioned circle/box tactic. I'd be interested to know if anyone has any.

For me, I end up placing a large line of 10-11 armored hopilites in a line and then placing 2-3 heavy peltasts and 3-4 archers behind. All available space after that is cavalry to protect the flanks. Works very well, but isn't useful for attacking.

[AlexMirt]

the greeks aren't great for attacking but i find this formation pretty useful though you do need a few mercs to make it work.I split all of my hoplite units into groups of 2 or 3 units and then i have gaps in between each group- small enough so that most but not all of an enemy unit will be able to get through without hitting either side of spears. In between each gap and slightly behind i have shock troop infantry like the thracians or bastarnae which are pretty easy to get hold of as the greeks. They are like the hinges about which the phalanx can turn and be far more flexible. If cavalry try to go through the gaps or hit the flanks these hinges usually deal with them well. Behind the phalanx line are the usal lot of archers/peltasts/slingers etc. The good thing about this formation is that it is flexible as certain wings can wheel back to defend against cavarly or wheel around the enemy to squash them on two sides.

H=hoplites T=thracians or equivalent S=skirmishers


HH HH HHH HH
T T T T T
S S S

[Lemi]

All right. i'll try


[IMG]d:/parthian.jpeg[/IMG]

[GambleFish]

the greeks aren't great for attacking but i find this formation pretty useful though you do need a few mercs to make it work.I split all of my hoplite units into groups of 2 or 3 units and then i have gaps in between each group- small enough so that most but not all of an enemy unit will be able to get through without hitting either side of spears. In between each gap and slightly behind i have shock troop infantry like the thracians or bastarnae which are pretty easy to get hold of as the greeks. They are like the hinges about which the phalanx can turn and be far more flexible. If cavalry try to go through the gaps or hit the flanks these hinges usually deal with them well. Behind the phalanx line are the usal lot of archers/peltasts/slingers etc. The good thing about this formation is that it is flexible as certain wings can wheel back to defend against cavarly or wheel around the enemy to squash them on two sides.

H=hoplites T=thracians or equivalent S=skirmishers


HH HH HHH HH
T T T T T
S S S

Thanks, I like the "hinge" thing... I'll give it a go!

[Decimus Equitius]

This is the formation that I have been using for a while ( --- Denotes empty space)

-----------------Hastati Hastati Hastati Hastati----------------------
Triarii Triarii ----Principe Principe Principe Principe ---- Triarii Triarii
----------------------General - Equites ------------------------------Archers Archers Archers -

---------------------------------------------------------------------Equites - Equites - Equites ---

I find that with this formation it is really easy to react to what the enemy is doing. And the heavy right flank really messes them up.

[GambleFish]

Does anyone have a good strategy for fighting large rebel armies/gladiator uprisings? I fought one battle in which the enemy have 18 units, and 16 different kinds of unit inside the army. Generals bodygaurd, sarmatian mercenaries, egyptian chariots, gladiators, pontic heavy cavalry, bowmen, thracian mercenaries, and all sorts of tough troops. To make mattes worse, they had double gold experience, silver weapons, and gold armor. I tried standard legion formation (post-marius) with Legionary cohorts, a few praetorians, some archers and a couple legionary cavalry. One charge by the enemy and I was routed off the field - some units befre taking more than 3 casualties!

The second battles was against the same rebels - but I thickened my unit lines and used fire - at - will to take out enemies before charging. Same result. What do you do in a situation when you're fighting lots of heavy cal, tough infantry, and no twoor three units is the same? Keep in mind their troops would be superior to any legion you deploy, because of the armor and experience bonuses.

(My legions consisted of 10-11 Legionary Cohort, 3 or so Praetorians, 2-3 archers, usually 2-3 mercenaries of varied types, and 2 legionary cavalry.)

[Slimshoom]

allright here we go

"Triange of Death"

----P----
---P-P---
--P-P-P
--AAAA--
---CC---
----G----

P=phalanxes
A=archers
C=cavalry
g=general

enemy breaks like water on rock

[Decius]

P=Principes
A=Archers
V=Velites
T=Triarii
C=Calvary
G=Gen.

V V V
P P P P P P
T T A A T T
C C G C C

Works well...Have the Archers off skirmish and Velites on...Sometimes bring your triarii out to the flanks of your velites so when calvary charge them because they are unprotected you can get the calvary in a sandwhich and destroy them...When the enemy charges use your principes and bring Calvary around behind them. Make sure to keep your general by your Principes when fighting so they get a good morale boost and a negative for the enemy ...good luck with it

[HorseArcher]

key:
H = Horsearchers
C= Cavalry (heavy or medium)
C*=hiding unit until the enemy can be flanked from behind
I = Infantry (heavy/light/medium)
M= Missile (archers,slingers,velite-types)
G = General
- = empty space
E = Enemy

for factions with horse archers or missile cavalries:
Scorpion (my own version):



EEEEEEEEEEEEE

H------------H
-H----------H

C-IIIIIIIIIIII-C
---MMMM----
M----G-----M

Battle: Horse archer engage the flanks and draw away the heavy cavalry, they can be routed , no problem, concentrate on the rest of the enemy forces with your infantry and missile



Faint and Retreat: (horsearcher faction)



-----------EEEEEEEEEEE---------

----------H---H---H---H----------

-----------(hills/woods/tall grass)-----------

C*--------(hills/woods/tall grass)-----------C*
------M--M--M--M--M--M--M------
------IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-----
--C------------G----------------C--
----------------------------------


Your main forces are a good distance away from your horse archer positions and possibly move them so they aren't really visible until close range (behind a hill or woods etc)
Draw the enemy closer and closer and skirmish with your horsarchers, then direct the horse archers (as they retreat) so the enemy is chasing them towards your infantry line (easy way to do this to turn off skirmish mode and move them manually), and engage them with your missile (foot archer etc) units next, until your foot missile retreat behind the infantry and the enemy goes meele with your infantry.
Once they clash, engage them from the rear with your hiding cavalry units and for extra shock, flank them from the sides too with the cavalry units waiting beside your infantry.

[Savage_Swede]

Ok heres my pre-marius formation in SPQR, (i only use it against gaul or other barbs)

"THE RUBBER BRICK"

T__T_P_P_P_P_P_T__T
H__H_H_H_H__H
C V_______V C
G

Key:
T=Triarii
P=Principes
H=Hastati
V=Velites
C=Cavalry
G=General

My principes in shield wall, whith hastati support, pins the enemy down while velites pepper them and lowers their morale, and triarii guards the flanks. And my cavalry fights of possible enemy cavalries flanking maneuvers, and when that is done i bring my cavalry around the flánks and attacks the enemy in his back. And now while surrounded, gauls break almost at once.