Cannons + Elephants = :-(

[Oracle]

ok so I decided to take my time with my first campaign and play on after my victory timer expired right, you know to unlock factions and get to know the game better. Everything's fine as I swiped across Europe and annialate faction after faction until I reach Constantinople, and BAM, ran into this:

http://ic1.deviantart.com/fs12/i/200..._Oracleex7.jpg


Holysmoke. That's 9 tiles of near full strength Timurides all with 4-5 units of elephants each.



Now I'm busting my balls trying to hold them back and call up reenforcements from every corner of my vast empire. Just throwing army after army after them trying to wear them down. And losing.

The problem is 1) the damn game crashes 2/3 times if I try to play a battle where elephants are involved and
2) I got no idea how to beat those medieval equivalent of Tiger tanks.

I tried fire arrows, I tried spears and cannons, I tried massed cavalry charges ala LOTR-style but nothing works. They just walk right over me. Where are the flaming pigs when you need them?

Anyone got any tips, strategies against elephants they'd like to share with me? :hmmm:

[OG Grenadier]

Yeah use those ballista type war engines (can't think of the damn name) but they aren't ballistas , they just look a bit like em. Also try fast moving jav equipped cavalry with decent upgrades, HORDES of them.

[vikrant]

well moved to battle plannig
i would recomend use some javeline throwers they are the best anti tank units

[The Mongol]

loose formation too.

I haven't got to the Timurids yet thank god so I can't give you many other tips really.

I don't see any Bonus vs Elephants on the Javelinmen anymore...

[invictus]

Well i decided to test the elephants vs a bombard cannon in custom battle just for fun. No exp to either unit i barely won with bombards, full exp they wooped me good. I then decided to take into account that they posses 7 elephants (large unit size) so i used 4 units of bombards (8 cannons total). I easily won that battle, so then i decided to use 3 units to get 6 and still they had no chance. So from what i can tell, bombard cannons are key to defeating them, for when the real hordes arrive, make sure you protect those cannons. -Leon

[Fuhrer Euik]

Sorry if this is off-topic, but who the hell are the Timurids?

[Dora190]

Sorry if this is off-topic, but who the hell are the Timurids?

Tamerlane appeared at end of 14th C ravaged Persia, and areas arround it, real nice gent. Had his territory marked by towers of human skulls. Savaged Afghanistan so badily its irrigation system never recovered, to this day...

Wasn't a descendant of Genhis, although he claimed to be. His wife was, however. I believe he was Uzbeg. His empire did not survive him and fragmented real fast too, can't think why.

There is to my knowledge no record of cannons on elephants ever being used by any western nation. There is tentative, and I mean tentative, evidence for the Thais using them in their battle for independance.

[Oracle]

hmm so I place the bombards in front and fire a directly at them?

ok thanks.

Unfortunately the game crashes in elephant battles and the AI is too stupid to win it for me. :-(

[Oracle]

bah, cannons didn't work. Too many elephants and too inaccurate shots. Looks like I'm gonna have to do it the old fashioned way: blockades and opening multiple fronts... or is that the new way?

[Senator]

I must look at these elephants in sp mode Inever knew that they put guns on elephants.
Senator

[OG Grenadier]

Holy cow have you played these elephant badboys in custom? Fully optioned out they are the Tiger tank of M2TW.

[Decebalus3]

I had about 600 troops in Jerusalem composed of heavy dismounted norman knights, chivalry knights, 2 units of crossbow guys, and about 6 cards of spearman.

Egypt attacks me with about 300 units, and 18 war elephants. As soon as the walls broke the elephants came in and started walking on all my troops. In about 30 seconds, my whole army was routing.

[jimbob]

Holy cow have you played these elephant badboys in custom? Fully optioned out they are the Tiger tank of M2TW.

Tell me about it!

The worst thing about it is the AI doesn't seem to know how to use the "kill rampaging elephants" function, and rampaging elephants can't leave the battlemap...... so even when you're routed them you've still got to kill them all.

Making the AI kill their panicing elephants definately needs to be added to the patch, or at least let the rampaging elephants leave the map. I've beaten the timurids in custom battles, only to loose because I loose my the remains of my army, charging elephants stuck round the edges of the map.