MONGOLS!!!!

**Dredd** · February 11, 2012, 08:17 PM

Conquering the world has made me stumble upon the infamous Mongol horde and their infamous bow cavalry. Now, what's the best way about trying to beat them? I know Spearmen alone aren't going to kill them off since they have the hybrid infantry unit. Help?

**Sulfurion Blackfyre** · February 11, 2012, 08:25 PM

You think the Mongols are bad? Hah. Wait for the timmies then.

**Kitsunegari** · February 11, 2012, 08:27 PM

Light cavalry and archers/crossbowmen protected by spears.

**In3x** · February 11, 2012, 08:37 PM

Bridges, castles, spearmen.

**13lackGu4rd** · February 11, 2012, 08:49 PM

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=71138

**TheDarkKnight** · February 11, 2012, 09:32 PM

Prayer.

**Nazgûl Killer** · February 13, 2012, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by Gen. Chris

Prayer.

This.

Oh, and also, throwing everything you have at them. I've tried many different strategies, tactics, and advice fighting off the Mongols. And I've come to a conclusion: Just... Use everything you have. Cannons work magnificently. As do cavalry armies. But, mostly, just... Fight fire with fire. Fight numbers with more numbers - And quality wherever you can.

I think the main key to defeat the Mongols doesn't lie in battlefield units. It lies in strategic, surgical strikes and knowing when and how to strike. Using a network of spies and assassins to take out as many generals as possible while using your armies to get a 3:1 or 2:1 ratio against them in the battlefield will help you defeat them soon enough.
And get a lot of assassins.

Strategic thought beats the quality of the units. I would often get the Mongols deadlocked with light cavalry and then smash them with heavy cavalry, or lure them into a 'valley of death' between two hills with my archers and artillery. Just use everything you have in a smart fashion. Focusing in one area is the sure way to be defeated. You need to use all your available unit types and combine them to make a super army.
And, also, get a lot of assassins.

The best general is not the one who uses a specific unit to counter the other. The best general is the one to use all his units in such a smart way as to defeat any and every army he encounters. Regardless of opposition. And this is accomplished by strategic thought and smart formations, along with proper timing and some good doses of luck. And prayer. And a lot of assassins.
Did I mention you should get a lot of assassins?

**Dredd** · February 11, 2012, 09:47 PM

To those who recommended just staying in the citadels, I really can't wait out having Mongols siege me because I'm dealing with the HRE and Spain so I need to keep mobilizing and recruiting troops to prevent being overwhelmed.

**Teutonic Warlord** · February 11, 2012, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by Napo

To those who recommended just staying in the citadels, I really can't wait out having Mongols siege me because I'm dealing with the HRE and Spain so I need to keep mobilizing and recruiting troops to prevent being overwhelmed.

1 general, your best spearmen, archers, and ballistae and trebuchets.

Trebuchets have the greatest range and a powerful shot. Ballistae have accurate penetrating fire that can wipe out many men with a single bolt. Archers provide closer range fire. Spearmen hold the line. Plus, if you can bottle up the Mongols in the field with this army, your ranged weapons can absolutely destroy the enemy when they turn into one giant blob trying to fight your spears. If you have gunpowder, replace ballistae with serpentines and trebuchets with cannons/basilisks.

Also, before the Mongols reach your spearmen, use the trebuchets to blast fire all over the army (preferably where the most troops are) while your ballistae shoot at their general. I must say, though, you will want to have a few of these armies/keep them well reinforced, or the Mongols will just beat you down when you run out of ammo.

**El Cid99** · February 13, 2012, 03:49 AM

Which faction are you? That would help.

**EP!anastasi** · February 13, 2012, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by El Cid99

Which faction are you? That would help.

He's playing as France.
my source: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=522409

There are dozens of threads about dealing with Mongols, you can find them if you do a search

**Pounders** · February 13, 2012, 07:26 AM

If England, Poland, or the Turks, use the stakes on your archers. Poland has poor foot archers so dont mass them; use only enough to plant stakes at a choke point; other wise use dismounted Polish Nobles and Strelczky, their mounted crossbowmen with serious range and AP axes for melee. England, longbows and armored swords. Turks, Janissary archers and Janissary heavy inf. with sipahi lancers (mounted and dismounted). Catch them on the bridge east of Antioch and hold against the world there.

**NobleNick** · February 13, 2012, 12:15 PM

Two broad areas to think about:

1.) Strategic:

The Mongols are designed into the game to be a royal PITA. Translation: Not a problem which can be easily solved by one or two or four stacks; especially not out in the field. This is a problem which will take a -LOT- of stacks of quality units, or fewer stacks if used in combination with other strategies. Other strategies include:

A. Hole up in cities and make the Mongols come to you. Those HA are not so fearsome from behind stone walls or blocked up in the city streets where they can't easily run away.

B. Let the Mongols take a city. . .at a price :-) . . . then take it back. The Mongols suck at siege warfare. I -LOVED- seeing the Mongols finally start taking cities, because it takes a lot of units to keep those cities, what with the religion difference and all; which means fewer Mongols on the field.

C. Better yet: let the Horde take some OTHER faction's cities, then take them from the Mongols. This means staying west and letting the Mongols spend their rage on someone else before you come in and mop up the mess.

D. Not something that will help you this game, but something to remember in the future: by being aggressive and finishing the game early (within about 100 turns), you win before the Mongols stop wandering in the desert and start forging west. This strategy works so well, that my cities/military did not even SEE the Horde at all in my first few long campaigns.

E. Field many stacks, close together, so that your numbers in battle are at least on a par with theirs. Then just slug it out.

F. Basically, wear them down. The Mongol army upkeep is ZERO. But they have no income to replenish troops. However, you can replenish. So that scary Horde can be methodically whittled down.

2.) Tactical:

A. Get attacked, if possible; on hilly ground, if possible. Set up on high protected ground with lots of missile units. Use spears to protect missile units The missile unit's superior range (compared to HA) is exaggerated by the height difference. HA will have to come in really close to get off a shot. Can you say, "Horse shish-ke-bob?"

B. Another favorite is to lock down all bridges in the path of the oncoming horde. When attacked at the bridge, be prepared with lots of missile units, a good mix of spears and HI, and maybe a trebuchet or two. There are lots of posts on exploiting bridges, so I'll leave it at that; except to say that if you can't hold a bridge with one stack against at least three opposing stacks, on vanilla H/H difficulty, you are not doing it right.

C. Another tactic which has worked for me is to use full stacks of heavy cavalry (Knights). This takes a little thought, a little practice, and a lot of time with the pause button. But you can use your heavies to herd the wiley HA into a single corner of the battle map; then butcher away until the last unit has routed. As cavalry-rich France, if your economy is good, you have an excellent array of mounted tools to do this.

D. Others have given various battle tactics in this thread, which look OK to me. If nothing else, and even if you can not get significant help from the terrain, you can field a good mix of missiles and protecting troops to wear down the HA (remember that your crossbows have better range than HA).

I hope that helps.

**Sitalkes** · February 13, 2012, 10:24 PM

Don't forget to lead your armies with generals who have a good dread or chivalry rating - the Mongol generals are all high dread generals. I found it easy enough to defeat them (as Jerusalem) if I had the high ground, artillery,a good general, and enough shooters, and the Mongols had to attack up a few choke points. Remember also that the Mongols may come in several waves.

**Pounders** · February 13, 2012, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by Sitalkes

Don't forget to lead your armies with generals who have a good dread or chivalry rating - the Mongol generals are all high dread generals. I found it easy enough to defeat them (as Jerusalem) if I had the high ground, artillery,a good general, and enough shooters, and the Mongols had to attack up a few choke points. Remember also that the Mongols may come in several waves.

Dont forget the part about the waves. If your main armies are in shambles from the first wave its going to take awhile to recover when the next 3-4 stacks slam into what you have left. It wouldn't hurt to set up your defensive line near a citadel or fortress, preferably within one turn of ressuply

**Parzival2211** · February 14, 2012, 07:12 AM

As Spain, I am on the offensive against the Mongols (who have the Timurids already knocking at their backdoor). I have sufficient funds, so I can rely on heavy cav armies with 2 or 3 generals to defeat the Mongols.