Your own formations

[communisto]

my typicial phalanx strat and formation, very straightforawrd, a very heavy flank



AAA
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CC CC
G
CC CC





A-archer
cc-calvary
^-phalanx

[Ramsing]

I do something very similar to the "helmet defense" with a slight variation...I have the frontal units up closer and all in deep formations so that they can throw pilum (tons of men at a time) with some units on the sides that are relatively thin (This is for Romano-bridge defense only:
~~~~~~}-----{~~~~~~
~~~~~~}-----{~~~~~~
~~~~~~}-----{~~~~~~
I I
IIIIIIIIIIIIII
AAAAA
G
I=Infantry (The depth of the actual letter I works well to show it)
A=Archers
G=General
~}-{~=Bridge
P=Peltasts

It's important to remember that as a Roman player you cannot just huck the pilum at the first enemy that crosses the bridge, rather, wait for a few hundred are in the "pocket" then order the legionares/hastati/princeps to throw 1 volley of pilum then order all units to close the "pocket". When your troops are at the base of the bridge, have 1 or 2 units (perferably something on the verge of routing or just a cheap unit) hold back the enemy while the rest of your army reforms. Repeat as necessary. If your confronted by phalanx-style troops and are the Romans allow 1 unit to cross the bridge at a time so you can easily flank it. When fighting a Greek, the worst thing you can do is allow them to form a defensive arc on your side of the river since this will totally destroy things. Also, when closing the "pocket" you don't necessarily have to use all your units and can let some stay in reserve if you really need to wage a long and sustained battle. Finally, if the enemy plants archers on the other bank of the river that can shoot those troops that are on the sides of the "pocket" they will be totally decimated, as they will be getting shot in the side. So, to counter this, take any unit that can take archer fire (preferably something in testudo formation or with big shield bonuses) and let them take the fire.

Anti-Ele Strat:
This one is basically what Scipio Africanus used versus Hannibal at the Batlle of Zama and works quite well.

L--P--L--P--L
-L-P-L-L-P-L-
Anything else you might have in the 3rd line (Archers/Onagers/Cav/Gen)
Basically, you adjust the formation so that the elephants will attack roughly at the peltasts (Keep all the 1st and line in deep formations) and use the peltasts to take all the flak dished out by the eles and so that they can kill them them...If the eles do go a little deeper then anticipated ot you feel like you really need to kill the eles fast send up more peltasts to the first line in the gaps so they can help out. You can bring some of the legionnares of the 2nd line up to do a flank of the eles seens how they will no longer have the charge bonus and will be more at risk. Typically this works really well against unarmored eles. Pretty well all armored eles I'd suggest you go crazy on with fire arrows and onagers so they can ravage the enemy without ever touching you. A few other things to remember: Don't use cavalry vs eles. Never use your general vs eles unless you're purposely trying to kill him. The peltasts are used to frighten and absorb the inital shock of the eles after which you should try to use some legionnares to attack the sides of the eles who should be deep into the peltast formations. If you can use fire arrows vs eles please do because they work much better then this strategy.
From Wikipedia:

Moreover, Scipio came up with an inventive method of neutralizing Hannibal's elephants. Hannibal lost all of his original elephant troops (who crossed the Alps with him) by the battle of Cannae, but they were replenished in Africa. First of all, Scipio knew that elephants could be ordered to charge forward, but they could only continue their charge in a straight line. So rather than arranging the maniples in the traditional checker pattern manipular formation, Scipio instead put the velites, principes, and triarii in succeeding lines of 500 men groups. Scipio realized that intentionally opening gaps in his troops meant that the elephants would continue between them, without harming any of his soldiers. He did this, and the elephants passed through his troops harmlessly and were picked off on the other side (many of them were so distraught, in fact, they charged back into their own Carthaginian lines). Scipio's troops then fell back into formation and continued marching.

Phalanax-Style Defensive
_______________
/ AAAAAAAAAAA \
/ CC G CC \

/ or _ or \ =Phalanax infantry
This seems to be very well known so I'll try and keep it brief. If you can, try and sit on top of a hill with this and keep your better units on the flanks. If you're in danger of being over flanked use your cavalry or archers (Chances are there won't be much for them to shoot at as the enemys battle line engages you so you can afford to use them as light infantry) to flank the enemy. If you have any morale boosting phlanax units be sure to always post one or two throughout your line to spread higher morale to as much units and possible. Also, make sure there are absolutely no breaks in the battleline.

[Janitorius Adeptus Maximus]

Kinda off-topic, but did anyone else notice that the guy who made this thread never posted again? It was in fact his first and only post. Interesting....

[Andante]

Hi!

I'm not sure if this reply belongs in this thread, but it seems to be a good place to start. I'm new to RTW
(I just started playing yesterday).

Can you use the formations listed in this thread as your starting formation (when you first get into the
Battle Map screen), or are they simply formations you move your units into once the battle has begun?
If the former is correct, how is this done? I'm assuming, if that case is correct, that something must
be done in the World Map screen.

Thanks for any insight you can give!

=========>Andante

[Hader]

Hi!

I'm not sure if this reply belongs in this thread, but it seems to be a good place to start. I'm new to RTW
(I just started playing yesterday).

Can you use the formations listed in this thread as your starting formation (when you first get into the
Battle Map screen), or are they simply formations you move your units into once the battle has begun?
If the former is correct, how is this done? I'm assuming, if that case is correct, that something must
be done in the World Map screen.

Thanks for any insight you can give!

=========>Andante

These are formations you use in battle whenever you want

[MasterAdnin]

Pre-marian formation:

Red=Hastati

Green=Princeps

Blue=Triarii

Aqua=Velites

Yellow=Equites

Purple=General

Grey=Enemy

White Outside Bluish-Purple Inside=Hastati Movement

White Lines=Principes Movement

Orange Outside White Inside=Triarii Movement










Salaam,
Adnan

[Korinthos Hoplites]

I always use this formation when defending with Gauls:

H= Infantry (heavy)
L= Infantry (light)
D= Druids
C= Cavalry
F= Forester Warbands
G= General

--------------FFFFFFFFFFFF-----FFFFFFFFFFFF
CCCCCC------HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-------CCCCCC
--------------LLLLLL-----DDD----DDD-----LLLLLL
-----------------------------GGG

Before starting the battle I pull the army back as most as possible, I use druids for chanting, the foresters for weakening light infantry or exposed cavalry, my horsemen are used for sneaking around the flanks before the clash and for routing mounted skirmishers (I leave horse archers on their own because they don't need to be so close to fire, thus making them harder to catch... they're killed by the foresters instead).
When the enemy is near I pull the archers to the flanks and start warcry, then I counter-charge with the heavy infantry. To avoid friendly fire during the fight I use the foresters as flankers (they're quite good at melee unlike most archers). By this time the cavalry should already be done with the mounted skirmishers, so I charge the rear of the enemy (unless it's well guarded, if it is I wait until it isn't). The druids keep the units quite steady, but when there's real trouble I use 'rally troops' and charge with my general from the rear. If they try flanking I immediatly use my light infantry as place-holders and quickly pull the cavalry against them, when they don't flank I charge the lighties in support to the front.


This tactic is enough to destroy any AI army of the same strength and can fairly handle slightly stronger armies. Unfortunately I've never tested it against human players but it shoud do pretty well....

[Aether]

well my strategy


H Pr Pa Pr H
T____A___T
E ___A ___E
_____G

legend: H= Hastati
Pr= Princepii
T= Triarii
P= Phalanx
E= Equites
G= General
A= Archers
That's mostly mine

[Banehallow]

This is my Carthaginian battle formation. I used an archer mod for Carthage. It sucks for a civ w/out archers.

P-Phalanx T-Spearmen S-Skirmishers/Slingers E-Elephants D-Light cavalry
I-Heavy Infantry A-Archers C-Heavy cavalry G-General

I-I-I-I-I

This is my Carthaginian battle formation. I use an archer mod for Carthage. It sucks for a civ w/out archers.
I use Skirmish cavalry as bait. The right flank is used to break the enemy's left.

P-Phalanx
T-Spearmen
S-Skirmishers/Slingers
E-Elephants
D-Skirmisher cavalry
I-Heavy Infantry
A-Archers
C-Heavy/light cavalry(ambush pos.)
G-General

-------------D-D--------------------------------
---------------------I-I-I-I-I-P-P-P-P-P-S-S-E-E
C-C-C------------T-T----A-A-A-A-------S-S----
-C-C------------------------G------------------


*Ambush position

Merged double post. - Trajan

[IXlegion]

my plans is very simple put my legionaires in front row line them up 8 long then charge then click all the units to run past the enemy so theyl crash into them them follow up with my cav it strikes fear into the enemy each time

[Cavalier]

This is my strategy that I use the most, using Terrae Expundagnae. Lots of skirmish in the beginning,
mass attack, flanking, covering fire etc.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5...vegreekdb2.jpg

[jaklei]

I am always testing out new formations and tactics, the one that has worked the best would be the new "tie'em'up" formation that i am using.
It works great with RTR like modifications (i am talking about battle lenght, EX darthmod)
This is how it works:
Take your 2 elite troops and spread them thin as the front line, backup with 1 huge low quality unit
Engage the enemy by walking onto them with your 2 front troops
take your best killing infantry troops and keep them in the right middle
take the bulk of your army to the left middle
keep the general and your cavalry (if you have cavalry superiority then you can do whatever you want with them)
and put them just before the 2 other divisions of infantry but just behind the front troops if needed

When you flank with the left division then keep 1 unit faced against possible counterflanking moves you opponent could have
move with your right division just after the left division has gotten into hard fighting (this will give the illusion of them as reserve troops)
and flank right or use it with your cavalry to punch through the middle of the battleline.

be swift, be smart

It is an very, very agile tactic. nothing is left out and nothing is needed.

[Brutius Bollocksus]

My macedonian formation, phalangite crescent with reserve with cretan bait.
Basically my phalangites are arranged in a basic crescent formation with 1 large group of heavy cav at the back. Light cav on either flank to react quickly to threats and to hold up the fight until the mac cav arrives. I normally place the general in the middle of the crescent to begin with for a morale boost, but once they infantry charge I merge him in with my mac cav. The cretans are used to perpetually harass the enemy infantry and after the initial archer fight, if they are not doing much to the enemy cavalry I use them as bait to draw the enemy in to my crescent. If they do send the infantry in, the mac cav are quickly sent to destroy the enemy cavalry and then wrap around to encircle them. The cretans and light lancers are used as a last resort to fill in any thinning areas or gaps.


P= phalangites
C= cretans
G= general
M= macedonian cavalry
L= light lancers

-----C
L P CCC P L
---P G P
---P P P
----MMM
----MMM

[Korinthos Hoplites]

Well thought formation Brutius

[Enemy of the State]

P= Princepii
T= Triarii
H= Hastati
E= Equites
G= General
A= Archers

-----H-H-H-H
---T-P-P-P-P-T
E-E----- A---- E-E
---------G

Something like that...

[Brutius Bollocksus]

Yeh I use that roman formation quite often, Triarii are amazing for defending the wings but I normally have some form of heavy cav as well and more archers.

[LSJ]

Against the AI last week I had four great victories using strange tactics that would only be useful in my specific situation.
Instead of my favoured army, consisting mainly of spearmen and heavy cavalry, I was using archers, javelins, and light cavalry.
The good thing was that each battle was in Armenia on rocky hills.
This is how it was played out:



------------[ENEMY]-----------


-----------------------------===THIS IS A CLIFFISH BOULDER===
----JAVS--------------------------------Miss.Cavalry

----------------ARCHERS--ARCHERS
---L.CAVALRY----------------------------L.CAVALRY
-----------------------------------------L.CAVALRY

The enemy engaged the peltasts, who threw javs until the enemy got too close.
The Javs retreated behind the archers, who fired at the enemy mob.
As the enemy neared the archers, the units retreated to the group of light cavalry behind the cliff.
The missile cavalry ran behind the enemy mob, and stood still while throwing javelins.
The enemy mob then attacked the missile cavalry, while all of my light cavalry units went behind the mass,
but didn't get close enough to attack.
My missile units went on top of the cliff, and my missile cavalry went against the bottom of the cliff.
The enemy mob charged the missile cavalry, who I let die.
My light cavalry units then charged en masse the backs of the enemy mob.


-----------------LIGHT CAVALRY
----LIGHT CAVALRY--ENEMY---LIGHT CAVALRY
--------------------ENEMY----------
-----------======THE SAME BOULDERISH CLIFF=====
------------ARCHERS---JAVS---ARCHERS

Of course, I lost the whole missile cavalry unit, but the enemy mob got massacred at the bottom of the cliff by arrows and javelins,
along with a big cavalry charge to their exposed flanks.
Against an elite army this would have failed, but I was against a mob of light infantry and shield-bearing peasentry.
The morale effects were too much so the enemy ran away and was run down.

Rediculous tactics and sacrifices are very useful against the AI in battles you don't want to fight but have no choice.

[gnaeus]

It's really not a completely original formation, so I'll credit Hannibal of Carthage on this one. Just slightly edited

I'll use a Roman example.

KEY:
T-Triarii
P-Principes
H-Hastati
G-General

BEGINNING:

T-T-P-HHH-P-T-T
--T-\------/--T--(Center falls back)
------ -G--------

OUTCOME:
T---------------T-
-TT----------TT--
----P--HHH--P----
--------G---------

Cavalry then circles and locks in if you have it. If not, fold the V towards the center and "ta da"...lol

[unfortunate crow]

.................................................................
............archer-archer-archer-archer................
.........cohort---cohort---cohort---cohort..........
cav-cav---cohort---cohort---cohort---cav-cav.
..................................................................
...............cohort--1stcohort--cohort................
............................General.............................
...................................................................

On attack, fast march the entire formation towards the enemy's army until first battleline is engaged, archers will fall back on their own. Hold back cavalry to defend flanks. Use second battleline to reinforce any points in the first that are failing. Now you may use cavalry to flank and take out enemy units that have drifted out of formation. Use third battleline (your tactical reserve) and general to cover flanks at this point (can reinforce previous lines if needed).

Usually while the enemy tries to outflank the entire formation as it marches, at least one cohort makes it behind the enemy's lines and can flank. This formation works well in MP as it requires little micromanagement after all troops are engaged. When your opponent tries to flank you they are often met by one of your fresh third line cohorts. This formation is designed after classical roman tactics, and takes advantage of the heavy roman infantry.

[Angrod]

this is the formation i currently use against all enemies in the RTR Campaign, though i might need to change it later when i
start facing elephants, heavy cavalry and chariots.

V V V V

----H H H H
C----P P P P--C
----T T T T----C

--------G

(EDIT: used - to make the units line up like a checkerboard)

V= Velities H= Hastati P= Principies T= Triarii C= Cavalry (usually equities, can be replaced with any mercs later)
G = General

the plan is simple, first velities soften up the enemy, and against a hellenic army to try to draw away swordsmen
from the main phalanx line, and to get them to attack me if im on the offensive. then when they attack if have the
hastati and principies on FaW to soften them up more, andonce the hastati are hit the principies charge through the
gaps at the enemies flanks, and the Trarii are used as backup when i decide which areas are need rienforcing.
once the enemy hass been met the cavalry groups as one unit and rear charge each fight one by one, usually
making them rout straight away. doing this i usually end up going through 4-5 full macedonian armies one by one
in the same turn until i finnally kick it, or more often until i manage to get to take a settlement, when i send another
identical arrmy in to take a new settlement.

i got this tactic from reading an article on wikipedia about how actual roman generals fought, so not really my own idea,
but i use it in my own way

Never use in multiplayer though! unless getting pwned is fun for you