Originally Posted by
Kilo11
Hey Cryoshakespeare,
I was just thinking to myself that you asked a serious question, and the flippant responses are a bit rude, so here is a serious answer.
First of all, I find that battles are more enjoyable and a bit more unique and longer-lasting if I enter them with a sort of guiding philosophy (kill as many enemies as possible, capture as many as possible [perhaps to ransom later], avoid as many friendly casualties as possible, etc.). Having this in mind will affect how you go about your positioning and what your general aims will be, as for each of these goals there are more subtle and effective ways to achieve them than simply hammering an anvil all day. This is especially the case if you have a somewhat more limited unit roster (some factions have hammers but not anvils, some are the opposite, some only excel in ranged units and have neither hammers nor anvils, etc.). In general, my go-to battle philosophy is one of casualty minimization, where I do whatever I can to make sure I lose almost no one, no matter what that takes. As this strategy is pretty cost-effective, making your armies last longer and reducing retraining costs, it also has a nice broad positive impact on a number of other factors in empire-building. This aim also makes me have to do a lot of micromanagement on the battlefield, with lots of repositioning of units, and constant attention to exactly where everyone is at, making each battle something of a challenge, and making me always be very mindful of the lay of the land (improves uniqueness of battles).
I also have general troop dispositions I use for these purposes and general tactics I use, but for now, maybe just consider approaching your battles in this broad way, with a particular aim in mind that is more specific than merely "winning". Also, let me know if you're interested in hearing more specifics about how I go about fighting this type of battle. I'd be happy to elaborate here, but on the first run didn't want to spam you with a massive excursion concerning my battle tactics.