Defending settlements against stupid AIs
I have been playing M2TW for a while now and getting a hang of it. While defending settlements, I kinda figured out one of the most useful strategy that works wonders against bots....while playing as the French I was suddenly betrayed by Milan (have no idea why, my relation with them was 'perfect'). He had me heavily outnumbered. Even though I had the odds stacked against me I thought of putting up a fight so that I can atleast reduce their numbers so that I could reclaim it later more easily.
I had:
three unit of spear militia
three units of crossbowmen
two units of mailed knights
one unit mailed knight (with the general)
well i don't remember the exact figures but i guess the bots had:
three units of mailed knights
one general bodyguard
two dismounted feudal knights unit
three units italialian light infantry
two units of italian spearmen
one catapult
two pavish crossbomen units
I thought I was a goner for sure. Their catapult made shortwork of my wall and towers so I retreated to the central plaza (while my opponent were busy destroying the rest of my walls even though they had made a large enough hole already). I grouped my spear units and placed them in an 'L' shape formation such that when my enemies poured in they met my spears from the front and from their left flank. The basic formation was capping the entrance to the plaza such that my enemies poured in through the narrow alleyway and got surrounded by my men. I hadn't completely shut off the alleyway but kept a gap on the left side from which my enemies could pour out and surround me but obviously I had that in mind. I placed my heavy cavalry on the left of the spears 'L' formation while my archers were stationed safely behind the shield wall who peppere the enemies from a distance. The bots finally ran out of ammunition for their catapults so they poured into the city. For some strange reason their heavy infantry put up ladders on the walls so they were not the part of their initial charge. The Milanese general charged into my spear first (riding solo) but before it met the shield wall it took an awkward turn and stopped. I took the advantage and crashed my mailed knights in his right flank and charged all my spears into him. His general died almost instantly and his bodyguards routed. I quickly reformed the lines to greet the second wave that were his mailed knights. Before they could harm my nervous spear units my knights rammed them on the sides, followed up by the charge of the spears. They held on for quite some time and killed many of my infantry but they soon lost their nerves and routed. My men quickly fell into their original positions and braced for the third charge of light infantry and spears. They came in a huge bulk and my arrows hardly missed. I let them engage with my spear unit before ramming my cavalry into their right flank. I kept withdrawing and charging my cavalry. The Milanese Italian militias caused heavy casualties to my knights and spearmen. I noticed that their heavy infantry were storming in to support as well. But luckily their light infantry began to route one by one in quick succesion. By the time their heavy infantry reached my men they were already horrified and shaken. They too fell by might of my men's spears and lances and routed. I sent my cavalry to make sure they never turned back and kept routing. Since this victory I have been using this tactic every time I have to defend a settlement but with better quality troops.
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Re: Defending settlements against stupid AIs
Originally Posted by tearsinrain86
