Newbie 'charge' question

[Alan McG]

Hi,

I have just started playing Medieval 2, my first TW game ever (well also bought Empire but I can't play since fonts are impossibly small and can't read a thing), and I have a newbie question about using cavalry charges..

I have seen a few tutorial videos explaining how to use charge against different unit types. It seems that short of sending them against 'prepared' spear/pikemen, they can mow down through most infantry units.

So I would like to know.. How do you 'charge'? Is it a simple attack operation on the desired unit? This seems to be the logical way, but whenever I attack an infantry division my horsemen pretty much stop dead the moment they touch the infantry soldiers. I see no 'charge' anywhere, I expected them to at least trample a few soldiers in the first line of defense before they stopped. In the tutorial videos I saw cavaly cleary crushed the unmounted units, the way I would expect it to be.

So am I doing something wrong here? At least against weak units like archers I would expect them to do much more damage!

In most cases I have used mailed knights, which I think is the first available heavy cavaly unit. I have tried this against many early stages infantry types (I have never gone beyond turn 50). Of course, my horsemen are running when they crash against infantry (and they are 'fresh').

Any help here would be awesome.

[Rakoua]

The thing is, the cav has to stop before hitting the inf to form up, and then charge into them. However it's a bit difficult to get this (I can't remember the exact way, I still get charges that don't do anything sometimes)

[Alan McG]

I see.. But they are always sort of 'in formation' aren't they? I mean you can't just stop and position your soldiers 2 meters from the enemy and then charge..

What if you just walk to the enemy until you are like 20 meters away and then click the run button? Would that do a charge perhaps?

[painter]

As long as your heavy cavalry are in formation, that should initiate a charge.

There are factors like terrain. It is easiest on open and level ground but you can also charge downhill. And sometimes even through some small obstacles like rocks or the occasional tree although it may cause the charge to be uneven.

To charge, simply line up your heavy cavalry a safe distance away from the enemy. I would usually line them up outside of the enemy's missile units range, but nearer or further will work as well. Then let them idle for a moment to ensure proper formation. I prefer two lines of cavalry for best coverage, but other numbers will work just as well. Then send them running to attack your enemy. I've seen my knights walk up to the enemy and then start a charge, but I prefer to send them in at a run.

[Alan McG]

If you send them in a run from quite a distance away, won't they lose the formation?

[painter]

They won't necessarily lose formation. While they may start off unevenly, the extra distance to the target will give them time to return to formation. You can see this happen whenever you send any unit running around the countryside. If they had started off in a disarray, they will usually regroup while running.

[D00d]

You don't even have to make them run. If you simply click the enemy unit, they will walk until they get into charge range, then they'll pick up speed and smash into enemy. Same goes for infantry, they can also charge. Try it out in custom battles on a flat map, like 'Grassy plain'. Just take horses and smash a unit of infantry 1v1.

Oh, yeah, patch the game if you haven't already. Not sure if charges were changed, but patch just in case.

[Alan McG]

Ok, thanks all.. Based on that, it seems charge should pretty simple so I don't understand how come I can barely trample over the little soldiers and they just stop dead right after the clash.. I will keep a closer eye today see how is the formation holding up before they collide, in case that is the issue.

[Silverheart]

I´m always careful with my heavy cavalry, so I only charge missile troops from the front. Other units, infantry and preferably cavalry, I always try to get behind - this gives more enemy casualties, and lowers thier morale more than a frontal charge. Also, the AI general often hides behind his army, making him vulnerable to attacks from behind.

Like the others said, it is typically best to keep your horsemen out of enemy missile troop range until they are in the position from which to charge.
But I usually doesn´t have to line them up myself before charging - they tend to do that as they are running, provided they have enough distance to the target.

[beckyolt]

When selecting an knightly unit, simply click twice into an enemy unit with the right button of the mouse and they should charge. Remember, don't charge units in hills.

can't play since fonts are impossibly small and can't read a thing)

I had this problem but theres a mod that fixes it; And high resolution ( 1024 x something ) helps alot too.

[Alan McG]

You are right, even if they are just walking they start charging themselves. This is quite tricky.. It seems the units must be quite evenly aligned in order for the charge to truly succeed. If they are not the penalty is massive (and you can hardly ever manage to get them perfectly in parallel).

That aside I always have one or two horses getting ahead of the pack, which also seems to negatively impact the chrage (much more than it should in my eyes).

Let's keep trying then..

I had this problem but theres a mod that fixes it; And high resolution ( 1024 x something ) helps alot too.

Yeah, I saw that one. But never managed to get it to work. Even posted an add here: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...=252620&page=3

Probably due to my incompetency loading mods, but I'm happy with medieval now. I'm finding the game harder than I expected! I've always been a civilization player, and this is an interesting change. I'm finding things like diplomacy much harder to grasp here. For instance I can't for the life of me reconcile with any faction, even though they were the ones declaring war on me to begin with. I more or less manage to repel the increasing number of enemies attacking me but there are just too many. Eventually I always end up giving up and starting a new game since everyone is at war with me and I am forced to being on the defensive all the time, unable to expand anymore..

[Om noml]

I believe if you do the walk movement, it should simply march the cav into range and then they charge as said earlier.

[Silverheart]

What you need to do, Alan, is to have an army or two that expands, either against the enemy or in another direction.
When the enemy is bombarding you with full armies constantly, the only way to keep up is to expand somewhere in order to increase your strength.