I think the game is fairly realistic in that it is very hard to engage multiple opponents...imagine if you tried it in real life. Like hirovard said, backing up helps. Other things that can help-
1) Good range on your weapon. I'm talking like 120ish range like a great sword (unless you're talking siege where you're in a crowded area.) This way you won't have multiple enemies within striking distance of you, however this leaves you vulnerable to ranged attacks
2) Being able to kill quickly. If it takes you 3 hits to kill each opponent, you probably won't be able to take on hoards of enemies. This can be accomplished by having a high damage weapon (blunt or pierce v. high armor opponents,) placing your strikes to the enemies head, and by learning to get the most out of movement bonus. Blunt damage is also useful in that it often knocks your opponent to the ground: Whether you use this opportunity to strike him while he's vulnerable or just to give you a second to knockout his friend depends on the situation.
3) High athletics. I usually find 4 or 5 athletics is pretty good. While athletics improves your straight ahead run speed by a little bit on flat terrain, I really like how it improves your maneuverability- how fast you can start/stop/move side to side. Shuffling around enemies becomes much easier (on flat terrain...)
4)Good Armor. This helps a lot versus low level troops, maybe not so much versus high level troops who can more easily bypass your armor.
5) Use terrain/surroundings to your advantage. I often find the low ground advantageous v. melee troops, as it seems they often can not reach me while i can still strike their feet. If you're in tight quarters a lot of times enemies with long ranged melee won't be able to successfully swing so they can be easy pickings.
There are other things that you might notice that are slightly more nuanced that can make a difference too. For instance, once you get pretty good you'll notice yourself not just paying attention to the opponent right in front of you, but also the one behind him- because he may have a swing lined up right before you make a killing blow on the guy in front of him, and then you're probably toast.
If we're just talking about those training fields, #2, 3, and 5 will be very important...especially #2. You should be able to 1hit kill with either the 1hander or 2hander (if you have decent skill)...that staff I find to be a bit weak...but maybe its just me. Here's what i usually do in the training field-
With 2hander, wait for opponent to chamber an attack (unless they have 2hander and have chambered thrust) and chamber a thrust attack (you may need to backup to get it fully chambered in time.) When they are in range release the thrust and charge them at the same time, aiming at their head (may require some practice.) of the 3 practice weapons, the 2hander has the longest range and highest thrust damage, and if they are charging at you and you charge at them, you should get quite a good movement bonus (between +50% or +80% is pretty good I find...maybe some people with really high athletics have done more on foot.) If they have 2hander and have a thrust attack chambered you can do this still, but you have to hope you have better timing than the computer. Otherwise, you can also practice becoming good at chamberblocking (riposting) their thrust attack, I usually prefer to do this with an overhead swing.
With 1hander, its a little simpler. Wait for them to chamber, chamber a side swing, then dodge their swing and aim at their head. You can do this with the 2hander too, but I find the other way is way too easy once you get used to it. Actually you can do the same attack as previously outlined if you do it right, but remember you won't have as much range with the thrust.
Staff you can do either, but I find the thrust releases later on the staff than the 2hander, along with lower damage and range (if I recall correctly.) I think this is the hardest weapon to be good at in the training field battles.
Hope this was somewhat helpful.
*EDIT*
Forgot some simple things...like improve your manual blocking, and learn to feint. A simple quick feint almost always works v. the CPU.
Pls delete this post.
