Elf Strategy question

[marinosmedieval]

Hello!I'm playing Third Age 3.2 with the divide and conquer submod.Although the submod adds a lot of things it doesn't change the core gameplay fom the origonal mod.I'm playing with the Thranduil faction which mostly consists of archer units.What's the best way to use them in battle against more melle orientated factions?Even though I've been playing the game for years I always used cavalry based armys so I'm a bit confused...

[DrDragun]

Archer vs melee allows for some insane kill ratios. Good old vanilla Silvans vs Mordor battles with losses of 3000+ to 20. You have freedom of movement against infantry, as they do not have the speed of cavalry. Only trolls, nazgul, and catapults will be problems.

Your strategy is to 'kite' as we say in video gaming... to run and shoot and skirmish. In doing so, it is best to spread your archers out so that some may continue firing while the enemy chases others. As the enemy chases 1 group, move another group to the side and open fire on their flanks. When the enemy unit has been shot down to a small size, under 25% of their original number, then it become a waste of ammo to try to finish them. Pick the right time, then rout them to get them out of the way. Sometimes your archers will fire at closer units even when ordered to fire at bigger units in the distance.

Also, try to use the direct line of fire rather than the higher arc. This requires getting your units clear line of sight to the enemy at close range and with none of your allied units blocking their fire. However, you fill kill many more enemies this way.

[Funeh]

I find playing as elves extremely easy... You can win battles like 1000 elves vs 4000 any enemy... with minimal loses like 200-300... Just have half of your army some best archers you can field and play defensively. Have like 2-3 units of cavalry (you can use general cavalry, they are extreme good).. wait for your enemy on high ground and spray them with arrows, once them come, just hold the line and charge with your generals on them, they route immediatly... very easy... Good thing is that archers are also good in melee so I guess you could probably win with just full stack of archers but that gets boring...

[marinosmedieval]

I'll keep in mind your suggestions thanks a lot

[Withwnar]

If the enemy unit has a shield then hitting them from the side* does more damage and hitting them from the back does even more damage. Their Shield armour rating is 50% weaker on the sides and non-existent on the rear. This doesn't just apply to arrows of course.

* Either side. It makes no difference which side they hold their shields.

This might be useful: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...nd-Stats-(3-1)

[rickroe]

I find if you have roughly the same number of units and your army is mostly archers. (And don't want/can't kite due to situation.) Then it can be effective to continue firing until the enemy has closed distance on you almost to charge you and then to select each archer unit and hit the alt key as you right click on the unit you want to engage in melee. Right clicking the unit while you select the alt key will ensure you are actually fighting the enemy with your melee attack. Plus its fun a can rout the enemy if their morale is low. I have played this mod for years now and only recently found this out on the forums an it makes a big difference in battle outcomes.

[eugenioso]

remember that melee units are important too! you need someone to tie down the enemy forces while your archers do the dirty work. simply spamming a lot of archers or archer only armies can be bothersome to huge extents.

[AqD]

high-tier elven archers can easily beat the best melee units from other factions.

[Funeh]

But beware of friendly fire!

[magraev]

Elves are great early in the fight, but losses can mount seriously if you are outnumbered more than 2-3 to 1. You infantry is good, but not godly, and the arhcers do run out of arrows fast.

For large battles it is essential to only fire when you have a direct line of sight, or you'll waste your ammo. Sentinels are great for standing their ground behind stakes, but the other archers can do it too (and they must for max effect point blank shooting).

just my 2 cents.

[Bladvak]

Elves are great early in the fight, but losses can mount seriously if you are outnumbered more than 2-3 to 1. You infantry is good, but not godly, and the arhcers do run out of arrows fast.

as long as you put the elite archers in the first line (they can double as elite heavy infantry), you'll be fine. take out any siege weapons first and make sure that the entire front holds the line. the lighter archers in the back should and will wreak havoc on any enemy that is not in melee with the first line.

say you've got 5 elite archers and 15 light archers. you put the 5 units in a thin, slightly curved to the enemy, line upfront (2 men in depth) and the rest will be before them in a thicker line (4-5 men depth).

[Scharfrichter]

Hello!I'm playing Third Age 3.2 with the divide and conquer submod.Although the submod adds a lot of things it doesn't change the core gameplay fom the origonal mod.I'm playing with the Thranduil faction which mostly consists of archer units.What's the best way to use them in battle against more melle orientated factions?Even though I've been playing the game for years I always used cavalry based armys so I'm a bit confused...

select you archers and right-click on enemy units

[LuckyPistol]

What is this talk about "elves" and "strategy"? That's like trying to mix oil and water

[Carl Jung was right]

What is this talk about "elves" and "strategy"? That's like trying to mix oil and water

In one of my SE campaign's battles against Mordor, I left the computer to go get some coffee, thinking I've hit the pause button. When I came back 20 minutes later, I was shocked to learn the game was running all the time, since I was looking at the battle won screen!

The only real annoyance are the Mordor catapults, and Mordor likes to fill each stack with at least two or even three of them. They can take 20-30 of your guys per volley, and this can sting badly, especially for those expensive elites that could only be retrained in a settlement located the other side of the map. One way I found of dealing with them was by deploying the bulk of the army in the far rear and waiting for the enemy to move in. As his mobs rush forward, the slow catapults are often left virtually unguarded, making it easy to rush a cavalry unit (horse archers) in the rear of the enemy and charging the catapult crews repeatedly until they died off or routed.

Catapults are more annoying than trolls and nazgul commander, because you can always tarpit them with your basic tier spearmen, while catapults leave you with no choice with what unit you want to sacrifice. But it's still impossible to lose elven battles, unless you try to really role play and avoid using range exploitative tactics.

[British empire]

All you need to win as the elves is archers, you can mow down practically anything even trolls and Nazgul

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Stretch out your line holding units, five per stack should do it. Elf archers can hold their own in melee as well. Use a couple of archers to shore up your battle line, when need the need arises.

[Jakeford]

If you ask me it is a bit silly that Elven archers are so powerful, they should be good but not so good you don't actually have to use strategy.

[LuckyPistol]

Well given their recruitment time and unit number, I think its fairly balanced out. I've never used a full 20 stacks as any Elven faction before.

[Phier]

If the AI understood that the best thing to do was simply charge your archers no matter what the distance, playing as an elf would be VERY interesting. Instead they come at you more Pickets Charge style, and by the time the do charge they are mostly destroyed.

[Vifarc]

Well given their recruitment time and unit number, I think its fairly balanced out. I've never used a full 20 stacks as any Elven faction before.

Yup, with Silvans my attacking army is often half stack or less.
Having a full stack means we're already winning like a bulldozer, with a huge economy.