Attacking settlements

[yanner39]

Hey all,

I'm a relatively new player to the Total War series. I have a few hours of Rome 2 under my belt and I am now playing Attila. I'm good with the empire management stuff but I was wondering if some of you have basic battle tips for a new player.

I'm playing the Sassanid campaign on Normal. I'm attacking an ERE settlement, no walls and very little resistance. Basically, I won a Pyrrich (sp?) victory. The settlement was on a hill and there were 3 roads that led into the settlement. The AI block one one road in and I tried to bully my way through. Now I learned from my mistakes and I probably should have split my army in 2 or 3 to attack the city? Correct?

Like, is there a way to bait the AI to leave the city and fight in the open?

Any other tips in the deployment phase or battle phase? I'm been watching HeirofCarthage videos and they've been helpful. He does a really good job explaining what and how he's doing certain things.

Thanks

[Aeratus]

You can bait out the AI from unwalled settlements if you have a few catapults (such as mercenary onagers). Personally, I prefer to keep 2 units of onagers for all armies, because it makes taking a settlement really easy. Turn on flaming shots from the onagers and watch the enemy burn. You can also build your own onagers by onstructing a supply storage and upgrading through the carpentry line.

If you're baiting them out, it's probably best to keep your army in one location, so the AI will attack all together and get killed by concentrated onager fire.

[Bramborough]

I don't think you really need to split your army up....although you can certainly do so if you like.

One difference between the two games is that Attila's minor settlements have much more robust defenses than R2's. And the towers' missile fire is substantial. Plan your axis of attack, and prioritize taking the tower(s) in that area down first, before getting a lot of units in its range. This is one task for which even the low-end archers are quite useful with Flaming Shot (put them in Loose Formation to reduce their losses from the tower's return fire). If you don't have archers, then try to prioritize capturing towers during your attack (although you'll still take some losses this way); look for units in your army with "Excellent Capture Power"; they'll neutralize the tower a bit faster and therefore minimize those losses.

Of course, all this is irrelevant if you bring along an onager or two, as Aeratus suggests.

[Aenima]

If you outnumber the enemy, absolutely you should focus on attacking from multiple directions so you can spread the defenders out and eventually outflank them. Missile units should pelt the enemy before the charge, and if you can spare the ammo/have catapults consider taking out towers where you'll be charging, since they can make life hell for you.

[the_mango55]

Having onagers will draw them out.

Soften them up with ranged units before charging in.

Charge into their main defense with the heaviest armored infantry units you've got. When they get engaged flank your cavalry or light units down another road to take out their ranged units and hit the main force of the enemy in the flanks or back.

[Slaists]

Like folks say: just bring an onager or two. You don't even have to go inside the minor settlement. Just set up in the field, fast forward, and the garrison will come to you.