Ancient Strategies and Tactics

[MarcusU]

I hadn't seen any thread like this so I decided to make it. Here we can share and discuss tactics used by you, the player, in game and compare them to real historical examples. Also, as someone who is admittedly not very good at the mod, this thread will hopefully be helpful for people such as myself for developing skills and knowledge to apply in the game.

 

[MarcusU]

My first question is, what is the most preferable formation density for infantry in a typical battle scenario in the game?

My thoughts are that if the formation is too tight it can be easily surrounded, especially if it is in a square. Also, it cannot provide as much area denial or defense for your skirmishers. For example if your infantry line is shorter than your skirmisher line, enemies (notably cavalry) will pour into them and they will therefore be left rather vulnerable if a formation is too tight. Furthermore, a tight formation for many factions whose infantry are equipped with precursors may also be a disadvantage because it gives less soldiers a line of sight to throw their missiles at the enemy. Also, a tight formation makes it easier for missile units to score hits on them.
However for greek factions, a tight formation is very advantageous because it allows hoplites to support each other and they do not need to worry about throwing missiles into the enemy ranks. Also, for phalngites a tight formation could also be to their advantage because it stops enemies from being able to manifest themselves into your formation and easily kill long spear wielding troops, however one may argue that a tighter formation of phalangites would disable their ability of being able to support each other with spears because the reach is too great, so everyone will be too close to the enemy. Here is an image that displays this theory:

Spoiler

In addition, a very dense formation will soften a cavalry charge and make it almost impossible for them to kill anyone with a head-on charge.

Perhaps this question is too vague because it will really vary between different factions and the circumstances of a battle, for example if one is fighting and they seem to have a skirmishing force which outweighs their infantry, it may be more effective to spread your troops out to protect the skirmishers. For hoplites, a tight formation is probably more effective than a looser one because it allows troops to assist one another. As a Roman, again, there are positives and negatives to either deployment; a tight formation disables the use of pila being used by a portion of soldiers but with their shorter weapons, a denser deployment will let troops to use their weapons more effectively because everyone is closer to the front line.

 

[Karabekian]

Tactics is perhaps a better term. I have played a rather long campaign as a vassal of the Keltoi. My 105 strong party consists of some 40 argos and arios spearmen and the rest is a mix of solduros and other javelin equipped infantry (and the occasional axeman etc).. The spearmen I keep in a shield wall formation as tight as possible. They are invulnerable to cavalry and their large shields keep them mostly safe from missile fire. In fact I usually only suffer casualties if the formation is broken (say to chase the enemy).  Immediately in front (or behind if the enemy is strong in cavalry) I have throwing infantry. They expand their javelins to draw the enemy closer and then pull behind the spearmen. Usually the enemy formation is so disrupted that they face the spearmen piecemeal and not strong enough to harm the shield wall. Against a cavalry strong enemy their javelins kill enough horses so that their charge (past my spearmen) is broken enough to not seriously harm the infantry. Their role is then to kill the enemy at the sides of the spearmen and chasing any withdrawing foes.

I suffered terribly when I first started playing the mod. My personal preference is playing with smaller armies to balance performance and difficulty.

 

[MarcusU]

The spearmen I keep in a shield wall formation as tight as possible. They are invulnerable to cavalry and their large shields keep them mostly safe from missile fire.

I suppose making the unit as tight as possible does prevent missiles from passing through gaps in the formation and therefore every soldier is protected, especially if shields are from head to toe.