What effect does the shieldwall have?

[Augustus In Command]

I've just purchased BI and have embarked upon my first campaign as the Saxons. I've noticed that some of my units have the shieldwall ability. What combat bonuses/minuses does this ability cause and under what circumstances should I use it?

Thanks for any help!

[Soccer1993]

for me shield wall dun really help me, like it's much more better for me to countercharge! I had a unit of Saxon Hearths and some uh...wat were they called the, Sarmatian Auxi's charged at me and i charged bak and i actually killed more than they killed me with the charge bonus. while i had shield wall for another unit of Hearths and another unit of Sarmatians charged at me, they killed some from charge bonus but none of my guys got to kill any of them on the hit. im sure shield wall does have it's uses though...i just dont use it often..

[Augustus In Command]

Ok thanks, but that wasn't particularly helpful. I need to know exactly how a shield wall affects battle in terms of game mechanics.

[Trajan]

The shield wall is a defensive formation which has a high defensive rating but a low attack rating. The shield wall really shines against cavalry so it's best used against them. For some more info on BI's shield wall formation, check out this thread, and this thread.

[penance_of_discord]

well, what i like to do as saxons is get a line of infantry set up and then sheild wall them all. my hunters rain arrows until the enemy wanna charge. what you do is receive the charge with sheilded units, and then unsheild the units next to them and use them to flank. combined with cav flanking, it demoralizes the enemy a lot, becuase the enemies morale is determined by how good they are doing in combat. if they arent killing many guys and are being surrounded + flanked, then they run very easy, letting your horses run them down. thats my take on shield wall.

+ its nice when the enemy are shooting arrows at you.

[Augustus In Command]

Over the past 24hrs I've repeatedly tested the shield wall formation in custom battle. Notably I just tested a mass shield wall consisting of levy spearmen on guard mode and I have to say that it did not hold a contiguous line. Rather, some units would advance forward whilst others held back, depending on which units were actually engaged in combat.

Re: Infantry on infantry combat - The shield wall will fare well against other infantry because the defensive bonus balances out the offensive minus. However, its main shortcoming is that it's easily flanked so generally its not advisable to use against infantry unless you outnumber the enemy and can thus provide a shield wall long enough to prevent flanking.

Another advantage to the shield wall is to use it in narrow city streets, especially when faced with cavalry. I like to place a unit of archers directly behind an infantry unit in shield wall formation and pepper the enemy with arrows. This invariably causes the enemy to charge straight onto the shield wall.

On balance it can be useful in a limited number of situations but it would have been a whole lot better - and more realistic - if CA had programmed the shield wall to hold a contiguous line without breaking up.

[AmbrosiusAurelianus]

Re: Infantry on infantry combat - The shield wall will fare well against other infantry because the defensive bonus balances out the offensive minus. However, its main shortcoming is that it's easily flanked so generally its not advisable to use against infantry unless you outnumber the enemy and can thus provide a shield wall long enough to prevent flanking.

Yes, I find it a bit annoying that the shield wall is so compact really. I was hoping for shieldwall-against-shieldwall battles, such as one got in the Anglo-Saxon period, but I don't tend to use the shieldwall because it is too easily outflanked, as you say.

[Helepolis]

I must say I find shieldwall a bit overpowered. I use it mainly if I need to hold a line for some minute versus superiour troops. It makes it almost too easy to start flaking and counter flanking maneuvers with your heavy inf waiting in second row. This refers to shieldwall when playing mods like Darth, Spqr or RTR.

[andym]

Have you tried putting the units into Sheildwall then use the Guard command?I think this is what you are looking for.Works a treat in bridge battles.It sounds as though you are using the same tactics as me Penance.You might want to reconsider what to do when faced with either elephants or Horse archers,not to mention Onagers.I think i have another 4 provinces to take before World Domination by the Saxons!