How to get the AI off its hill

[Sitalkes]

I usually don't attack unless the odds are in my favour, so the AI usually stays put on its hill. Anybody got any strategies to get the AI to attack you on your hill instead? Artillery can help, but what if you don't have any artillery?

[Aeratus]

If you have enough archers, the AI will move and attack you. If they are on level ground, you need slightly more archers than they have. If they are on a hill, you need a lot more archers. But enough archers and they'll eventually come down.

[Silverheart]

Try shooting at them.
In my campaigns, the enemy usually tries to move after my army regardless of what I do, but that might be because of my strategy.
I always send cavalry to outflank the enemy, and they often start moving after the first charge from the rear.

Maybe the fact that I´m splitting up my army in two and spread out my units in such a manner is what entices them to start moving towards my "main body" (AKA, the foot troops)?

[Posantio of Umbria]

To get enemy's off hills can be tricky if you're equally matched in missile troops/artillery or the enemy has more of them.

Depending on the size and shape of the hill an AI enemy might be goaded off the hill if you manoeuvre your army to the side of his formation to attack from another angle: the AI will either pivot his lines on the spot to face your new position (and it can even happen that you switch places this way if you go all the way around him) or he will move off the hill to counter you.

On the campaign map you can also see if an enemy will be on high ground and if there is a spot of equal height (or higher) somewhere in it's zone of control (the brown places around him) where you can attack him from. Just move your army to that spot before you attack the enemy stack.

[Huskerjuan]

If at all possible I maneuver my army so that there is a small valley or gully between my position and my enemies, preferably more shallow than not. I will then send some of my light cavalry in loose formation against their missile units. If my initial charge breaks the line of missile units, their army will advance off the hill and into the lowland. Should my charge not break the lines, I set my units back to tight formation, retreat, and charge again. Eventually, you will either break the missile units, prompting an advancement, or hopefully your reduction in effective cavalry will cause the AI to feel that an assault of your position is warranted. Always make sure that the enemy will have to travel uphill, even slightly, to reach your lines.

Should the enemy be in such an uphill position that cavalry charges are ineffective, or the harassment by your cavalry does not prompt an attack, maneuver your army up their hill upon the slightest grades possible, as to keep your troop's stamina as much as possible. Or you could always relinquish the field and find more suitable grounds, a defeat really isn't a defeat if you don't lose a man...

[NobleNick]

The most sure way to get the enemy to move off the hill is to get attacked by them on the campaign map. You can often force this by taking choke points (again, on the campaign map).

This can quickly lead to a whole 'nother subject, but: Another excellent way of doing it is to have an all-cav stack. The computer figures those horse can't do much. Then, in battle, simply run around and make the enemy chase you over hill and dale until they are exhuasted. Then attack (but be sure to get the charge bonus in, and not to attack spears from the front).

Another way to keep the enemy off the hill is to THINK about this BEFORE attacking. If you are on hilly terrain on the campaign map, attack from uphill. It is not a guaranteed thing, but more often than not you will be uphill of your opponent on the battle map.

-IF- you enter the battle map as the aggressor -and- downhill of your stubbornly ensconced opponent, then siege weapons can prompt a move. What most often works for me, though, is to circle the enemy from a safe distance to find even higher ground, then shoot from that point onto the enemy.

If the hill is a true 360 peak, but not a steep one; then another tactic which has worked for me is to set up near the enemy with lots of infantry-protected archers. Sneak one missile unit up barely close enough to get arrows into a fringe non-missile unit. If the enemy unit charges, move your unit back under the covering fire of the rest of your archers. If the enemy only has missile units at the fringe, bring up two of your missile units at extreme range, so that you have local superiority against just one enemy unit. The enemy will usually not put up with this, and will charge you with other units. Again, retreat and let the chasers eat arrows from your backup. Usually the AI eventually gets tired of this and charges in. Until then, enjoy the free kills.

In the unfortunate case where the hill is steep and no higher ground is nearby, encircle the opponent from a safe distance, then do a simultaneous 360 degree charge.

Finally, in the VERY UNFORTUNATE case where you are the aggressor, and the enemy is on a steep hill, and they are many, and you have no siege weapons, and the only access is through a narrow chokepoint: Take your hit; get your big red crayon out; and mark a nice "X" on your monitor at that spot on the campaign map, so that you never do that again.