Dr-Shinobi
Going to Play as each faction with characters with only commanding like skillsets. With this RP based build i only use the troops and sometimes defends if needed behind the lines. Mostly i command so to speak. This is to share how i use different troops in situations and hope to give out some valuable tips or at least ideas. Ive been playing twice as this before with success thru the whole campaign.
However im not an expert in all of them as im mainly an infantry guy, however i do know a thing or two as well since ive played thru 2 campaigns barely lifting a sword but my mouth
Im starting with Vladia right now and will be posting it as soon as i get an full large army to command and some good battles to be able to explain or show you....If you like please share your strategy video tips down below for others to study and learn from Or better up make an own thread if you like If theres any questions feel free to ask as long as its about strategies and units other questions you can pm me ofc
Remember this though...Nothing is carved in stone when it comes to an good strategy. We share our experience and learn from our mistakes. Its in this very esense of mentality we learn to become better and not to do them again. However the battlefield is dynamic along with your men and you have to do your best to get the outcome as maximised as you can. But its also your responsibility thru your actions to try make your men come home and to keep your armies protecting your kingdom
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1. VLADIA
- Archers -
Chapter 1:1:1
Since the enemy didnt had much cav on field it seemed i took the decision to let my archers shoot at their flank. There where no need to move them with an shield wall because they had an gap with good mid-close range shooting. It got hairy later on as i didnt got the support i wanted out from the infantry, which i admit some mistakes expanding them in the open like i did. But moving them back up to that tree line was the only option i had along with the retreat command so they shoot while moving back (this they do with regular move to but here they are more aware in my opinion and they fall back until you tell them to stop which is an leanient way when you try to find a good point to put them at). There was more in my mind that could been done better here but as we all know in the heat of things theres always things we could do better but in quick decision making have to decide anyways before its to late... Theres more to archery strategy then this depending on situations and terrain ofc but its some basics how i think at times
Chapter 1:1:2
As i saw here that they had more cavalry men on the start i decided to move the archers up towards the hills where theres also cover with the trees. Cavalry fighting without speed and momentum is bad cavalry i always say. Doesnt mean they shouldnt be respected. They can and will take your archers down. How ever Vladian archers are good melee fighters to. In my mind i wanted to support the infantry lines as much as i could in the flank and as mentioned avoid the cavs in the process. Couldnt support the infantry that well but we got the job done anyways. Also i chosed to attack in that later situation since i had reinforcements coming in from the other side. Making them run all over to our pos would endanger them as i took the decision to fight instead until it was safe
Chapter 1:1:3
Was a tricky situation in this one since the enemy where hiding down in "an ditch" At first i moved the men up with shields since i didnt know where the enemy where exactly and if it was long range which you dont want to engage with crossbows. That to preemptive defend them against in comming arrows from long range to...
Was hoping they would come up towards our right side but so wasnt the case. However i let my archers stay put since they also had cavs on that flank. Then moved em towards the left flank in hope i could catch the infantry on the mountain. But as you see here they where cheeky and attacked when i did. Then i had to make an choice either to attack or get down which was an pretty obvious choice for me since i wanted my men safe from mobile cav + i wanted them to be prepared to shoot for incoming infantry. Was a tight spot but they did well as they are formidable fighters to in close quarter engagements
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- Infantry -
Chapter 1:2:1
As we had the river to our advantage and our archer commander knew this as well, we utilized it to our advantage. However since im not in control of the whole army i couldnt split my troops in to three, this because of technical things being in an mixed army with AI. I wanted an main line in front then two small ones covering the both flanks bit angled but still in line... Was nothing more to it except i was waiting in the archers and javeliners to come closer in the end before decided to charge. Charging to soon in those situations can cause more casualties since there will become lesser cover for the soldiers when they arent organized standing still which comes natural and the archer then have time to fire more shots as the infantry are busy attacking others on the way. Choosing timing is key to a good charge at times....
Chapter 1:2:2
Here you can see that the enemy tried to sneak in to our right flank so always keep your eyes out so you can correct in time. This time i choose an hilltop so we had cover on our left flank in case the enemy decided to attack from two fronts. First attack we managed to hold off pretty well and we synced it well with the cross bowers. But when we realized that they had set up archers along with their reinforcements on our left flank, disorganization started to kick in.
So i tried to set up an wall bit back but still their archers started to chew on us as our archer commander didnt want to engage. Its here you realize that if youre waiting they are going to kill more of your troops since Vladians shields arent covering enough to support most of your troops against larger rains of arrows. However their shields are more designed to be an medium agile fighting type so to speak and cover big portions of the soldier who wears it from top till toe.
I could either have moved them back 40 paces but then risked them getting shot in the back so i took the decision instead to move them down instead to prepare an attack so our crossbowmen could cover us. But i also knew this was an big risk since we where now on an low ground where archers could shoot at us from above right over our shields and fighting well placed infantry on an high ground isnt something you want to do. Also because you dont know whats over on the other side of the ridge. But we had no choice at this time since my troops where already down there and where taking hits from their archers, so moving them up with their shields angled was the only way. It was an tough fight as expected in that situation. When it was over i then ordered the men to stay and hold that line by the ridge in case we needed to retreat and there was no point attacking overexposing them on that large open terrain.
To sum things up. I did a mistake there placing and holding them on that first ridgeline after the first attack, when i could had them more back and we had to pay some lives for that. But its also good in a way since you then have to make difficulty decisions fast, how to solve that situation in the best way possible. Also we could see here in the beginning how the AI are using the Cavalry badly attacking and returning in front of both our lines endagering them when it was no needed. They did however support us on the first attack as well which is always welcomed Even if it looked like the enemy got a good portion of us and mistakes where made, we still ended up killing 90 men more then them so overall we did good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYFeXt93qtg&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:2:3
Fighting with infantry on open ground is always a hard thing to do especially against Aserai who both has agile cavalry units with horse archers and lethal two handed infantry. Which make you having to shift formations constantly depending on the situation. However even if the terrain looks open there is always small hills, sandbanks and ditches you can utilize so there is no such things as completely no cover. Anyways our main commander wanted us to form an circle formation but i had to disagree at the start since i saw a lot of infantry charging in the middle so i shifted to an single double line formation to prepare for incoming troops. However you have to watch out for those two handed axes at times and dont let them dictate your linemen. If they have many in the center and not many archers pump an quick charge to show them youre not to mess with then fall back to formation again when it calmed down a little. This so you can get them back to cover against archers. After a while we saw more cavalry and horse archers coming in and now it was time to form a circle to cover our archers. I wanted an double lined circle but i didnt had time to set it up so it had to do with an single line. Keep eyes on the formation all the times and if you see the line getting pushed thru with an small blob of enemy infantry men, like you saw here order an quick charge to take them out then form back again. Other then that when i saw the cavalry being more out of the way i ordered the men back to line formation and then pushed them in stages forward to repel the foot archers. It was a close fight and an tricky situation since we didnt have much cavalry with us for cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOtvfACME1M&feature=youtu.be
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- Cavalry -
Chapter 1:3:1
Not the best showcase of Cavalry because of the terrain, but we did some skirmishes and some support for infantry. They didnt have much cavalry on the flank which is the cavalries first objective. But it depends on numbers ofc. We went up to the flank of the main army and waited until the enemies main army where busy on ours...Look out for others behind them since if you charge in from the flank they might catch your men in between. Look out for weaknesses and utilize ýour mobile men. Use shield wall when you know they have archers but be careful since shield wall can activate your cavalry to become slower. When that happens go back to normal formation and reactivate if needed. I also went back to normal formation later in the woods as there where not much presence of archers just so my men loosen up the combat stance. Other then that it was mainly skirmishes we did but i also hold back some charges since i saw that the infantry went up towards the mountains and thats a no go. You can do it but you will hurt your Cav as they get easier stuck in the fighting and gets slowed down..
Also to add if you have an cavalry man down without an horse protect them as you start to retreat. Then move them close to any horse and they mount it if its safe around....Always protect your men if you can is a good motto
Chapter 1:3:2
Since i only got seven Cav units at hand we had to do our best to skirmish around their main army. Here as well wasnt the best terrain for cavalry warfare hens i took them towards our left flank instead where there where more space to fight. We waited until the right moment to strike but i ordered them to soon since our infantry commander for some reason backed down during his charge making the enemy archers concentrating on my men instead and they got shot down at the same time engaging their cavalry. So you see here that timing is something you must treat with respect. Ordering them to engage to early can have grave consequences sometimes.
However my biggest mistake here was to fight that larger cavalry unit when we could have reconnected back to our main force to reset the engagements letting our archers do the work...Its good to show off these mistakes since its you as an leader who order your men to do them as well..However we annoyed their archers and cavalry long enough for our infantry lines to give them the breathing room they needed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMO-lol27JU&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:3:3
Since we where the biggest cav unit i had to try finding out where we could have done best effect. My mistake here was that i scouted with the whole group and was risking them from incoming archers. But we where lucky this time and set up on their right flank to attack on the right moment. However their infantry rushed away from their archers which where unaware of our position and i saw the perfect opportunity to strike. After that we decided to hunt some cavalry men who is our priority targets. Then it was not much to it then skirmishing for some soft targets and supporting the infantry when they where engaging. We only lost one cavalry man which was a good run even if there wasnt that much action going on we still got some kills, disturbed their archers and cavalry. Was maybe not the best spread out attack on those archers but it sure got their attention ^^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6arHeOptnMU&feature=youtu.be
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- Whole Army Assembled -
Chapter 1:4:1
As the weather was bad i had to go out and reconnaissance for my army but first i had to set them up in case they could have started to flank around. So i decided to put my archers a little bit on the high ground and infantry in front. Then i went out to see where the enemy was and how they had set up to get the best approach. I also brought with me cavalry in case i got ambushed and when you have them set on follow me they will protect you in case your horse would go down. Since the enemy choose to protect an hill i took my men to form an line on the left flank because it had most flat ground. But then i realized that Sturgs have some good archers in all ranges so i had to move my crossbowmen in to little bit of cover so they dont get hit from the sides. It was an risk in case their cav would have choose to flank us but still that ditch would have annoyed their approach and as said Vladian crossbowmen are good infantry fighters to. Nothing more to it since the enemy commander got out of patience and started to attack my archers which i then blocked him off with my infantry men. At the same time i relocated the archers to support but also to get more cover from the right flank in case more where incoming. Then i ordered my cavalry to charge in to support the infantry. Usually you charge them in from the sides or the back but in this situation and since i had so few there where no need for it
*Here you can also see by simple movement and caring about your troops will change your outcome and can be a lot more effective then just charging. Strategies simple or advance is key to good success thru your campaigns and your men will thank you when youre marching back home as they once more can return to their families and loved ones being safe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_LIpuSodbw&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:2
Same procedur as last time. Set up your defenses just in case, especially when you have lesser power then the enemy. And since nothing happened as i didnt hear anything marching in i took my small cav unit to scout ahead. Remember: Scouting is always an risky move, especially in close range with low visual. So when you and your small cav group (which i usually set on another cav group in number bindings) heads out always keeps distance from areas close to you that you cant see. Keep in mind that there is always an risk that you suddenly can be attacked and killed if you come up to close so keeping constant distances on dead angles is something you should keep in the back of your mind while heading out. If theres an big obstacle ahead you want to investigate? move around it where you can get best eyes from the sides
However it seemed that they wanted to ambush us in the woods.
My first thought was how could i make them come to me since i had the crossbowmen perfectly set behind me on an hill. That thing could be risky with slow armored infantry running around with no cover and enemy archers in the woods, most prob cavalry to lurking around.... But then it struck me since were in such good midrange and we have an perfect low ground behind us. Fire for effect then make the infantry take the line while our crossbowmen took care of the rest if they managed to break thru. It was an gamble since Sturgs are formidable fighters in cqc which we could see when the fighting was over....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKEseMyPT10&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:3
Since i had a lot of cavalry in my setup i could take my time with the aproach with my infantry and archers.Take your time when you have it is an good tip i can bring you. When you rush things and dont think it thru the more mistakes you will make and the more you might need to correct.
I was tempted to take the left side approach by those small hills and trees which is good coverage against their archers and cavalry but i felt it was to short distance to the enemy to set them up there and would be lesser effective, especially with all my cavalry at hand to. I wanted that space against their infantry units since they are more effective in cqc and is exactly what the enemy Sturgs wants. So i set up the Crossbowmen with shields so i could get in good effective range. I also split up the cavalry units so i had cover from both sides to cover our approach since it was such open ground.
However i ordered the cross bowers to engage to early but still was enough to taunt the enemy to an attack. Then when the timing was right i ordered everyone to attack at the same time and was as simple as that. You can now see how effective it is since you have more control of the situation with these amount of cavalry at hand. You must think of them to in these situations so you dont get blind where your infantrys best pos would be which is a common mistake i do sometimes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ycSGbGvsY&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:4
As you could see here my crossbowmen where already shooting when set up which indicates that the enemy commander was thinking about attacking so i let my crossbowmen shoot even if it wasnt at an optimal range. This so i could get time to think over the situation and stop potential rushes. When i realized that their commander had stopped and had set up an tight defense by an hill up front with some archers shooting at my men i then decided to get them all in to tight broad columns to utilize the terrain and protect the unshielded troops as much as i could. Utilizing terrain is very important in every battle and can protect your men while moving up towards positions that is better for them or for your archers to cover your infantry the most. This i realized when we came in to an good effective position since we had an small hill behind us to the right. So i let the crossbowmen first fire some salvoes to see what their commander decided and since he didnt liked it well we got him in to an trap. Especially with our cav set up to our far left side to. Best part about this where that our archers shot in towards their infantry while our infantry attacked since i utilized the height of that hill...I could been more posh about the attack there splitting the left side cavs in to two and having one attacking in from the side while the other more from the back but it worked fine anyways even if the terrain wasnt the best to charge in....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0-uUxkkoQk&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:5
This should more be in to the cavalry section since it was with my cav units i supported the most with, but since i used my whole army in this one to it wouldnt be fair.
Since our AI commander chosen to recklessly set up his army right in the middle of the field facing a lot of cavalry from the enemy side. So i set up my archers to become secondary backup line behind so they could shoot at the enemy cavalry breaking thru towards the field and i also set up my infantry to cover them in case their cavalry got the idea to charge at them. Here i both did right with my 20 something cavalry at hand by supporting the front infantry squad as much as we could. However when the Battanians eventually broke thru and stormed the field i did an terrible charge, which is good in a way to show for you people thinking cavs are weak. Thing is i charged them way to soon against an spread out horde of Battanian infantry men who everyone are equipped with deadly spears that have good reach. And when i did charge my men in to that they all concentrated on them without infantry disturbing them and stabbed them down. This was an mistake i had to pay for. However out of all those horsemen i only lost 4 out of 20 after the battle and we made 17500 denars (no ransom lord) + 2 horses from the loot so was well worth it even if i did an grave mistake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqFasHlO7L8&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:6
Here you can see how we utilized the terrain to its fullest. Having Infantry on the deep ditch helps them from incoming archer fire and ambushes the enemy in an solid formation while they are getting showered with arrows from above. And the cavalry didnt had time to utilize their speed This was an perfect example to show how you can with the help of terrain make an deathtrap against your enemies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igeYvAmhkN8&feature=youtu.be
So an short sum up with Vladia troops, out from my perspective...
Archers: They have formidable archers in mid to close range. They also have large shields when it comes to the high tier ones that you can move them with to an good position. And they are also really formidable in close quarter combat with swords working as an infantry unit
Infantry: Their infantry is well oiled as well and they all have spears as secondary's which make them good at both infantry and cavalry. Some also have blunt weapons which make you get more prisoners and equals more money.
Their shield how ever isnt that large. It covers one person but lacks in angles and their heads as well as covering the ones behind them. How ever its an shield that is pretty agile. Speed wise with the troop setup they are medium overall. Their support class brings an devastating two handed glaive that are combined with an two handed sword for close combat engagement. And the pike man is excellent against cav and also have an throwing weapon to support behind the shield wall.
Cavalry: They are not very agile ones but they have good armor and long spears. When you come up to the upper tiers they have couched lances which can be very devastating when they get their speed up. They can be used to knock larger formations but are most shining when supporting infantry clutching an enemy thick line to run them over in an thick mass. They also can take some hits so its usually no problem if they are getting slowed down for a short while inside an thick brawling area which they can be good with their one handed swords to. Dissmounted they are good infantry units as well and can use their lances for anti cavalry if needed.
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2. STURGIA (Is unplayable overall atm. Not much to record and many hours of peacetime on end)
Chapter 2:0:0
Showing some good AI assault tactics while i wait for me to be able to atleast command one unit in an good battle
1st assault was an excellent usage of terrain with that shield wall and having the archers shooting from behind. The assault was textbook Sturgian attack however after they killed that line they got a little overexposed. They should have stopped and lined up their archers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDxyGJCq3bM&feature=youtu.be
Second Video is an excellent showcase how AI utilized the arrows to soften the enemy up who now could do nothing standing in defensive pos on an hill then when the whole army charged they utilized the throwing weapons to such power that the enemy went down like swiss cheese....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCw6U_d5wtw&feature=youtu.be
-Archers-
-Infantry-
-Cavalry-
-Whole army assambled-
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3. ASERAI
- Archers -
Chapter 3:1:1
Was not much happening here and since i got the low tier archers at hand we didnt do much. Anyways i wanted to show that Aserai archers are agile ones which means you can move them around faster and can be good at times at long range engagements and as Sturgians good at shooting from behind the friendly lines. But since the enemy choose to hide behind a hill i took them to the right flank because they didnt have much cav units there. Sure it was a risk but was something i was willing to take at this point. Here you can also see that even if the ground looks open you have small ditches you can cover your troops in. They are not optional cover but still its harder for your enemies to hit them if they only show their half bodies. Reason why they didnt shoot at times was both because there was friendlies near but sometimes i think theres a bug to or something because i was clearly in range which could been triggered an block with them not firing when the friendlies where around idk yet. It doesnt happen often but sometimes it does
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIaU_xPToLw&feature=youtu.be
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-Infantry-
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- Horse Archers -
Chapter: 3:3:1
Not one of my strongest units i have knowledge about, but ill give it some five pence out from past experiences.
This was not the best showcase but i took them to the right side to see if we could get behind and get in some sneaky potshots at them. Horse archers are good units to ride around with in circles around the enemies on an medium distance like those cowboys and indians movies you seen from the past. Dont forget that they only can shoot to the left, because right side is their dead angle. However you always have to be aware of reinforcements cutting you off and other archers as well as cavalry, Some small misconceptions of horse archers though is that they need to stay mobile which ofc is what they do good. However it also affects their aim so if you can put them in a position if the opportunity arrives that they can shoot standing still, this is also what they are good at. To get fast in to an position that are safe and get some fire power in then start move again just to annoy the enemy but also kill them as archers do best. And these can get to positions in angles where their shield walls cant protect them while your ground troops advances.
Ive made a lot of mistakes here especially getting them in towards the grounds where a lot of enemies where around which can happen to the horse archers when they focus to much on archery not paying attention. But i also manage to show some of the things they do best...
Also horse archers can dismount if you find a good position up on an mountain side example and then mount them again if the enemy starts to react to your pos....So with this said i didnt have much plan here then just try to get in to the infantry relieving some to ours, but as i said we could done tactically way more better here but its good to show your failures as well *Sidenote: Going to try if Column or scatter formation would be an better option perhaps using them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2skQzNoTuOQ&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 3:3:2
Here we got off to an good start. As you can see here we got up to the point of shooting their line in the back and went up on their right flank just in case we needed to get out quickly. And as you see we disturbed their archers to helping our troops out. When they started to line up it was time to move and we got some good runs on both their cavs and infantry. Then something happened. We got spawned in more horsearchers who cut thru their lines when they tried to reach us. It was in that moment i should have let the cavalry go by themselves but i thought that we still had more infantry out there...Anyways was not much we could have done since they had a long line of infantry and cavalry at hand
Was like i said a good start, the rest well we tried Idk if we can blame game mechanics on this one but i dont want to be that one so to speak. There was most prob better things i could have done with them since im an novice with HAs .. even if it was partly true xD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xi7dvcE87M&feature=youtu.be
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- Cavalry mixed Assault/Javeline -
Chapter 3:4:1
Here you can see an textbook example of how to use one flank cavalry only. I want you to have this tip in the back of your mind when youre ordering your cav around back from your center pos. If you have two flank cav its way better since you can dictate which side is best suited for an charge or even both and so on...
But first things first Aserai Cavalry. Its an mixed form of cavalry. Its more like Khuzaits but also Sturgs Cavalry form up with both javelin throwers, archers and fast sword light cavs with spear. Keep an eye out what type of cavalry you have in your lines and i would recommend you to sort them in to different squads so you can have one/two+ for full assault and others for skirmishing. How ever we did our job and did it pretty well to. As ive said before timing for attacks are essential when it comes to cavalry. And when you time them right with your infantry they are an really good weapon of choice. Just be careful so they dont get stuck on the enemy reinforcements and enemies spread out that are concentrated on your attack. Aserai cavalry dont have the most armored cavalry but they can be very agile and uses projectiles to combine with this. They can be really sneaky to because of their agility and ive seen them many times rush in with an sword to bash some ones head to the ground then being out of there in a split second. So dont underestimate their secondary weapons....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--vJhiuxxdw&feature=youtu.be
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- Whole army assambled -
Chapter 3:5:1
We had not much cover on this one and quite some tier two troops which have small shields so you have to look out for heavy archer attacks if so. Here i set up cavalry by my right side covering our horse archers which i put on standby filling up the lack of archers we had. When i realized that they had an large line of archers i had to move up my men in stages. When they where close enough for an attack i pre attacked with my cavalry which you shouldnt really do but i needed to buy some time for my infantry men but i also saw that they where bit confused in the back line so it went well anyways.
Dont overextend your troops. If the enemy break your line move your troops back to finish them off then set up a new line and read off the field whats needed to be done. I also used the horse archers in to small skirmishes from left to right flank where i needed some extra firepower. Was an pretty simple charge in stages but its good to show how you can utalize your cav along with your infantry to charge in stages like we did, especially against a lot of archers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcvgzYFD-b0&feature=youtu.be
BATTANIA
EMPIRE
KHUZAITS
However im not an expert in all of them as im mainly an infantry guy, however i do know a thing or two as well since ive played thru 2 campaigns barely lifting a sword but my mouth
Im starting with Vladia right now and will be posting it as soon as i get an full large army to command and some good battles to be able to explain or show you....If you like please share your strategy video tips down below for others to study and learn from
Or better up make an own thread if you like If theres any questions feel free to ask as long as its about strategies and units other questions you can pm me ofcRemember this though...Nothing is carved in stone when it comes to an good strategy. We share our experience and learn from our mistakes. Its in this very esense of mentality we learn to become better and not to do them again. However the battlefield is dynamic along with your men and you have to do your best to get the outcome as maximised as you can. But its also your responsibility thru your actions to try make your men come home and to keep your armies protecting your kingdom
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1. VLADIA
- Archers -
Chapter 1:1:1
Since the enemy didnt had much cav on field it seemed i took the decision to let my archers shoot at their flank. There where no need to move them with an shield wall because they had an gap with good mid-close range shooting. It got hairy later on as i didnt got the support i wanted out from the infantry, which i admit some mistakes expanding them in the open like i did. But moving them back up to that tree line was the only option i had along with the retreat command so they shoot while moving back (this they do with regular move to but here they are more aware in my opinion and they fall back until you tell them to stop which is an leanient way when you try to find a good point to put them at). There was more in my mind that could been done better here but as we all know in the heat of things theres always things we could do better but in quick decision making have to decide anyways before its to late... Theres more to archery strategy then this depending on situations and terrain ofc but its some basics how i think at times
Chapter 1:1:2
As i saw here that they had more cavalry men on the start i decided to move the archers up towards the hills where theres also cover with the trees. Cavalry fighting without speed and momentum is bad cavalry i always say. Doesnt mean they shouldnt be respected. They can and will take your archers down. How ever Vladian archers are good melee fighters to. In my mind i wanted to support the infantry lines as much as i could in the flank and as mentioned avoid the cavs in the process. Couldnt support the infantry that well but we got the job done anyways. Also i chosed to attack in that later situation since i had reinforcements coming in from the other side. Making them run all over to our pos would endanger them as i took the decision to fight instead until it was safe
Chapter 1:1:3
Was a tricky situation in this one since the enemy where hiding down in "an ditch" At first i moved the men up with shields since i didnt know where the enemy where exactly and if it was long range which you dont want to engage with crossbows. That to preemptive defend them against in comming arrows from long range to...
Was hoping they would come up towards our right side but so wasnt the case. However i let my archers stay put since they also had cavs on that flank. Then moved em towards the left flank in hope i could catch the infantry on the mountain. But as you see here they where cheeky and attacked when i did. Then i had to make an choice either to attack or get down which was an pretty obvious choice for me since i wanted my men safe from mobile cav + i wanted them to be prepared to shoot for incoming infantry. Was a tight spot but they did well as they are formidable fighters to in close quarter engagements
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- Infantry -
Chapter 1:2:1
As we had the river to our advantage and our archer commander knew this as well, we utilized it to our advantage. However since im not in control of the whole army i couldnt split my troops in to three, this because of technical things being in an mixed army with AI. I wanted an main line in front then two small ones covering the both flanks bit angled but still in line... Was nothing more to it except i was waiting in the archers and javeliners to come closer in the end before decided to charge. Charging to soon in those situations can cause more casualties since there will become lesser cover for the soldiers when they arent organized standing still which comes natural and the archer then have time to fire more shots as the infantry are busy attacking others on the way. Choosing timing is key to a good charge at times....
Chapter 1:2:2
Here you can see that the enemy tried to sneak in to our right flank so always keep your eyes out so you can correct in time. This time i choose an hilltop so we had cover on our left flank in case the enemy decided to attack from two fronts. First attack we managed to hold off pretty well and we synced it well with the cross bowers. But when we realized that they had set up archers along with their reinforcements on our left flank, disorganization started to kick in.
So i tried to set up an wall bit back but still their archers started to chew on us as our archer commander didnt want to engage. Its here you realize that if youre waiting they are going to kill more of your troops since Vladians shields arent covering enough to support most of your troops against larger rains of arrows. However their shields are more designed to be an medium agile fighting type so to speak and cover big portions of the soldier who wears it from top till toe.
I could either have moved them back 40 paces but then risked them getting shot in the back so i took the decision instead to move them down instead to prepare an attack so our crossbowmen could cover us. But i also knew this was an big risk since we where now on an low ground where archers could shoot at us from above right over our shields and fighting well placed infantry on an high ground isnt something you want to do. Also because you dont know whats over on the other side of the ridge. But we had no choice at this time since my troops where already down there and where taking hits from their archers, so moving them up with their shields angled was the only way. It was an tough fight as expected in that situation. When it was over i then ordered the men to stay and hold that line by the ridge in case we needed to retreat and there was no point attacking overexposing them on that large open terrain.
To sum things up. I did a mistake there placing and holding them on that first ridgeline after the first attack, when i could had them more back and we had to pay some lives for that. But its also good in a way since you then have to make difficulty decisions fast, how to solve that situation in the best way possible. Also we could see here in the beginning how the AI are using the Cavalry badly attacking and returning in front of both our lines endagering them when it was no needed. They did however support us on the first attack as well which is always welcomed
Even if it looked like the enemy got a good portion of us and mistakes where made, we still ended up killing 90 men more then them so overall we did goodhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYFeXt93qtg&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:2:3
Fighting with infantry on open ground is always a hard thing to do especially against Aserai who both has agile cavalry units with horse archers and lethal two handed infantry. Which make you having to shift formations constantly depending on the situation. However even if the terrain looks open there is always small hills, sandbanks and ditches you can utilize so there is no such things as completely no cover. Anyways our main commander wanted us to form an circle formation but i had to disagree at the start since i saw a lot of infantry charging in the middle so i shifted to an single double line formation to prepare for incoming troops. However you have to watch out for those two handed axes at times and dont let them dictate your linemen. If they have many in the center and not many archers pump an quick charge to show them youre not to mess with then fall back to formation again when it calmed down a little. This so you can get them back to cover against archers. After a while we saw more cavalry and horse archers coming in and now it was time to form a circle to cover our archers. I wanted an double lined circle but i didnt had time to set it up so it had to do with an single line. Keep eyes on the formation all the times and if you see the line getting pushed thru with an small blob of enemy infantry men, like you saw here order an quick charge to take them out then form back again. Other then that when i saw the cavalry being more out of the way i ordered the men back to line formation and then pushed them in stages forward to repel the foot archers. It was a close fight and an tricky situation since we didnt have much cavalry with us for cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOtvfACME1M&feature=youtu.be
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- Cavalry -
Chapter 1:3:1
Not the best showcase of Cavalry because of the terrain, but we did some skirmishes and some support for infantry. They didnt have much cavalry on the flank which is the cavalries first objective. But it depends on numbers ofc. We went up to the flank of the main army and waited until the enemies main army where busy on ours...Look out for others behind them since if you charge in from the flank they might catch your men in between. Look out for weaknesses and utilize ýour mobile men. Use shield wall when you know they have archers but be careful since shield wall can activate your cavalry to become slower. When that happens go back to normal formation and reactivate if needed. I also went back to normal formation later in the woods as there where not much presence of archers just so my men loosen up the combat stance. Other then that it was mainly skirmishes we did but i also hold back some charges since i saw that the infantry went up towards the mountains and thats a no go. You can do it but you will hurt your Cav as they get easier stuck in the fighting and gets slowed down..
Also to add if you have an cavalry man down without an horse protect them as you start to retreat. Then move them close to any horse and they mount it if its safe around....Always protect your men if you can is a good motto
Chapter 1:3:2
Since i only got seven Cav units at hand we had to do our best to skirmish around their main army. Here as well wasnt the best terrain for cavalry warfare hens i took them towards our left flank instead where there where more space to fight. We waited until the right moment to strike but i ordered them to soon since our infantry commander for some reason backed down during his charge making the enemy archers concentrating on my men instead and they got shot down at the same time engaging their cavalry. So you see here that timing is something you must treat with respect. Ordering them to engage to early can have grave consequences sometimes.
However my biggest mistake here was to fight that larger cavalry unit when we could have reconnected back to our main force to reset the engagements letting our archers do the work...Its good to show off these mistakes since its you as an leader who order your men to do them as well..However we annoyed their archers and cavalry long enough for our infantry lines to give them the breathing room they needed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMO-lol27JU&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:3:3
Since we where the biggest cav unit i had to try finding out where we could have done best effect. My mistake here was that i scouted with the whole group and was risking them from incoming archers. But we where lucky this time and set up on their right flank to attack on the right moment. However their infantry rushed away from their archers which where unaware of our position and i saw the perfect opportunity to strike. After that we decided to hunt some cavalry men who is our priority targets. Then it was not much to it then skirmishing for some soft targets and supporting the infantry when they where engaging. We only lost one cavalry man which was a good run even if there wasnt that much action going on we still got some kills, disturbed their archers and cavalry. Was maybe not the best spread out attack on those archers but it sure got their attention ^^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6arHeOptnMU&feature=youtu.be
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- Whole Army Assembled -
Chapter 1:4:1
As the weather was bad i had to go out and reconnaissance for my army but first i had to set them up in case they could have started to flank around. So i decided to put my archers a little bit on the high ground and infantry in front. Then i went out to see where the enemy was and how they had set up to get the best approach. I also brought with me cavalry in case i got ambushed and when you have them set on follow me they will protect you in case your horse would go down. Since the enemy choose to protect an hill i took my men to form an line on the left flank because it had most flat ground. But then i realized that Sturgs have some good archers in all ranges so i had to move my crossbowmen in to little bit of cover so they dont get hit from the sides. It was an risk in case their cav would have choose to flank us but still that ditch would have annoyed their approach and as said Vladian crossbowmen are good infantry fighters to. Nothing more to it since the enemy commander got out of patience and started to attack my archers which i then blocked him off with my infantry men. At the same time i relocated the archers to support but also to get more cover from the right flank in case more where incoming. Then i ordered my cavalry to charge in to support the infantry. Usually you charge them in from the sides or the back but in this situation and since i had so few there where no need for it
*Here you can also see by simple movement and caring about your troops will change your outcome and can be a lot more effective then just charging. Strategies simple or advance is key to good success thru your campaigns and your men will thank you when youre marching back home as they once more can return to their families and loved ones being safe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_LIpuSodbw&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:2
Same procedur as last time. Set up your defenses just in case, especially when you have lesser power then the enemy. And since nothing happened as i didnt hear anything marching in i took my small cav unit to scout ahead. Remember: Scouting is always an risky move, especially in close range with low visual. So when you and your small cav group (which i usually set on another cav group in number bindings) heads out always keeps distance from areas close to you that you cant see. Keep in mind that there is always an risk that you suddenly can be attacked and killed if you come up to close so keeping constant distances on dead angles is something you should keep in the back of your mind while heading out. If theres an big obstacle ahead you want to investigate? move around it where you can get best eyes from the sides
However it seemed that they wanted to ambush us in the woods.
My first thought was how could i make them come to me since i had the crossbowmen perfectly set behind me on an hill. That thing could be risky with slow armored infantry running around with no cover and enemy archers in the woods, most prob cavalry to lurking around.... But then it struck me since were in such good midrange and we have an perfect low ground behind us. Fire for effect then make the infantry take the line while our crossbowmen took care of the rest if they managed to break thru. It was an gamble since Sturgs are formidable fighters in cqc which we could see when the fighting was over....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKEseMyPT10&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:3
Since i had a lot of cavalry in my setup i could take my time with the aproach with my infantry and archers.Take your time when you have it is an good tip i can bring you. When you rush things and dont think it thru the more mistakes you will make and the more you might need to correct.
I was tempted to take the left side approach by those small hills and trees which is good coverage against their archers and cavalry but i felt it was to short distance to the enemy to set them up there and would be lesser effective, especially with all my cavalry at hand to. I wanted that space against their infantry units since they are more effective in cqc and is exactly what the enemy Sturgs wants. So i set up the Crossbowmen with shields so i could get in good effective range. I also split up the cavalry units so i had cover from both sides to cover our approach since it was such open ground.
However i ordered the cross bowers to engage to early but still was enough to taunt the enemy to an attack. Then when the timing was right i ordered everyone to attack at the same time and was as simple as that. You can now see how effective it is since you have more control of the situation with these amount of cavalry at hand. You must think of them to in these situations so you dont get blind where your infantrys best pos would be which is a common mistake i do sometimes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ycSGbGvsY&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:4
As you could see here my crossbowmen where already shooting when set up which indicates that the enemy commander was thinking about attacking so i let my crossbowmen shoot even if it wasnt at an optimal range. This so i could get time to think over the situation and stop potential rushes. When i realized that their commander had stopped and had set up an tight defense by an hill up front with some archers shooting at my men i then decided to get them all in to tight broad columns to utilize the terrain and protect the unshielded troops as much as i could. Utilizing terrain is very important in every battle and can protect your men while moving up towards positions that is better for them or for your archers to cover your infantry the most. This i realized when we came in to an good effective position since we had an small hill behind us to the right. So i let the crossbowmen first fire some salvoes to see what their commander decided and since he didnt liked it well we got him in to an trap. Especially with our cav set up to our far left side to. Best part about this where that our archers shot in towards their infantry while our infantry attacked since i utilized the height of that hill...I could been more posh about the attack there splitting the left side cavs in to two and having one attacking in from the side while the other more from the back but it worked fine anyways even if the terrain wasnt the best to charge in....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0-uUxkkoQk&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:5
This should more be in to the cavalry section since it was with my cav units i supported the most with, but since i used my whole army in this one to it wouldnt be fair.
Since our AI commander chosen to recklessly set up his army right in the middle of the field facing a lot of cavalry from the enemy side. So i set up my archers to become secondary backup line behind so they could shoot at the enemy cavalry breaking thru towards the field and i also set up my infantry to cover them in case their cavalry got the idea to charge at them. Here i both did right with my 20 something cavalry at hand by supporting the front infantry squad as much as we could. However when the Battanians eventually broke thru and stormed the field i did an terrible charge, which is good in a way to show for you people thinking cavs are weak. Thing is i charged them way to soon against an spread out horde of Battanian infantry men who everyone are equipped with deadly spears that have good reach. And when i did charge my men in to that they all concentrated on them without infantry disturbing them and stabbed them down. This was an mistake i had to pay for. However out of all those horsemen i only lost 4 out of 20 after the battle and we made 17500 denars (no ransom lord) + 2 horses from the loot so was well worth it even if i did an grave mistake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqFasHlO7L8&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 1:4:6
Here you can see how we utilized the terrain to its fullest. Having Infantry on the deep ditch helps them from incoming archer fire and ambushes the enemy in an solid formation while they are getting showered with arrows from above. And the cavalry didnt had time to utilize their speed This was an perfect example to show how you can with the help of terrain make an deathtrap against your enemies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igeYvAmhkN8&feature=youtu.be
So an short sum up with Vladia troops, out from my perspective...
Archers: They have formidable archers in mid to close range. They also have large shields when it comes to the high tier ones that you can move them with to an good position. And they are also really formidable in close quarter combat with swords working as an infantry unit
Infantry: Their infantry is well oiled as well and they all have spears as secondary's which make them good at both infantry and cavalry. Some also have blunt weapons which make you get more prisoners and equals more money.
Their shield how ever isnt that large. It covers one person but lacks in angles and their heads as well as covering the ones behind them. How ever its an shield that is pretty agile. Speed wise with the troop setup they are medium overall. Their support class brings an devastating two handed glaive that are combined with an two handed sword for close combat engagement. And the pike man is excellent against cav and also have an throwing weapon to support behind the shield wall.
Cavalry: They are not very agile ones but they have good armor and long spears. When you come up to the upper tiers they have couched lances which can be very devastating when they get their speed up. They can be used to knock larger formations but are most shining when supporting infantry clutching an enemy thick line to run them over in an thick mass. They also can take some hits so its usually no problem if they are getting slowed down for a short while inside an thick brawling area which they can be good with their one handed swords to. Dissmounted they are good infantry units as well and can use their lances for anti cavalry if needed.
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2. STURGIA (Is unplayable overall atm. Not much to record and many hours of peacetime on end)
Chapter 2:0:0
Showing some good AI assault tactics while i wait for me to be able to atleast command one unit in an good battle
1st assault was an excellent usage of terrain with that shield wall and having the archers shooting from behind. The assault was textbook Sturgian attack however after they killed that line they got a little overexposed. They should have stopped and lined up their archers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDxyGJCq3bM&feature=youtu.be
Second Video is an excellent showcase how AI utilized the arrows to soften the enemy up who now could do nothing standing in defensive pos on an hill then when the whole army charged they utilized the throwing weapons to such power that the enemy went down like swiss cheese....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCw6U_d5wtw&feature=youtu.be
-Archers-
-Infantry-
-Cavalry-
-Whole army assambled-
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3. ASERAI
- Archers -
Chapter 3:1:1
Was not much happening here and since i got the low tier archers at hand we didnt do much. Anyways i wanted to show that Aserai archers are agile ones which means you can move them around faster and can be good at times at long range engagements and as Sturgians good at shooting from behind the friendly lines. But since the enemy choose to hide behind a hill i took them to the right flank because they didnt have much cav units there. Sure it was a risk but was something i was willing to take at this point. Here you can also see that even if the ground looks open you have small ditches you can cover your troops in. They are not optional cover but still its harder for your enemies to hit them if they only show their half bodies. Reason why they didnt shoot at times was both because there was friendlies near but sometimes i think theres a bug to or something because i was clearly in range which could been triggered an block with them not firing when the friendlies where around idk yet. It doesnt happen often but sometimes it does
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIaU_xPToLw&feature=youtu.be
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-Infantry-
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- Horse Archers -
Chapter: 3:3:1
Not one of my strongest units i have knowledge about, but ill give it some five pence out from past experiences.
This was not the best showcase but i took them to the right side to see if we could get behind and get in some sneaky potshots at them. Horse archers are good units to ride around with in circles around the enemies on an medium distance like those cowboys and indians movies you seen from the past. Dont forget that they only can shoot to the left, because right side is their dead angle. However you always have to be aware of reinforcements cutting you off and other archers as well as cavalry, Some small misconceptions of horse archers though is that they need to stay mobile which ofc is what they do good. However it also affects their aim so if you can put them in a position if the opportunity arrives that they can shoot standing still, this is also what they are good at. To get fast in to an position that are safe and get some fire power in then start move again just to annoy the enemy but also kill them as archers do best. And these can get to positions in angles where their shield walls cant protect them while your ground troops advances.
Ive made a lot of mistakes here especially getting them in towards the grounds where a lot of enemies where around which can happen to the horse archers when they focus to much on archery not paying attention. But i also manage to show some of the things they do best...
Also horse archers can dismount if you find a good position up on an mountain side example and then mount them again if the enemy starts to react to your pos....So with this said i didnt have much plan here then just try to get in to the infantry relieving some to ours, but as i said we could done tactically way more better here but its good to show your failures as well *Sidenote: Going to try if Column or scatter formation would be an better option perhaps using them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2skQzNoTuOQ&feature=youtu.be
Chapter 3:3:2
Here we got off to an good start. As you can see here we got up to the point of shooting their line in the back and went up on their right flank just in case we needed to get out quickly. And as you see we disturbed their archers to helping our troops out. When they started to line up it was time to move and we got some good runs on both their cavs and infantry. Then something happened. We got spawned in more horsearchers who cut thru their lines when they tried to reach us. It was in that moment i should have let the cavalry go by themselves but i thought that we still had more infantry out there...Anyways was not much we could have done since they had a long line of infantry and cavalry at hand
Was like i said a good start, the rest well we tried
Idk if we can blame game mechanics on this one but i dont want to be that one so to speak. There was most prob better things i could have done with them since im an novice with HAs .. even if it was partly true xDhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xi7dvcE87M&feature=youtu.be
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- Cavalry mixed Assault/Javeline -
Chapter 3:4:1
Here you can see an textbook example of how to use one flank cavalry only. I want you to have this tip in the back of your mind when youre ordering your cav around back from your center pos. If you have two flank cav its way better since you can dictate which side is best suited for an charge or even both and so on...
But first things first Aserai Cavalry. Its an mixed form of cavalry. Its more like Khuzaits but also Sturgs Cavalry form up with both javelin throwers, archers and fast sword light cavs with spear. Keep an eye out what type of cavalry you have in your lines and i would recommend you to sort them in to different squads so you can have one/two+ for full assault and others for skirmishing. How ever we did our job and did it pretty well to. As ive said before timing for attacks are essential when it comes to cavalry. And when you time them right with your infantry they are an really good weapon of choice. Just be careful so they dont get stuck on the enemy reinforcements and enemies spread out that are concentrated on your attack. Aserai cavalry dont have the most armored cavalry but they can be very agile and uses projectiles to combine with this. They can be really sneaky to because of their agility and ive seen them many times rush in with an sword to bash some ones head to the ground then being out of there in a split second. So dont underestimate their secondary weapons....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--vJhiuxxdw&feature=youtu.be
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- Whole army assambled -
Chapter 3:5:1
We had not much cover on this one and quite some tier two troops which have small shields so you have to look out for heavy archer attacks if so. Here i set up cavalry by my right side covering our horse archers which i put on standby filling up the lack of archers we had. When i realized that they had an large line of archers i had to move up my men in stages. When they where close enough for an attack i pre attacked with my cavalry which you shouldnt really do but i needed to buy some time for my infantry men but i also saw that they where bit confused in the back line so it went well anyways.
Dont overextend your troops. If the enemy break your line move your troops back to finish them off then set up a new line and read off the field whats needed to be done. I also used the horse archers in to small skirmishes from left to right flank where i needed some extra firepower. Was an pretty simple charge in stages but its good to show how you can utalize your cav along with your infantry to charge in stages like we did, especially against a lot of archers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcvgzYFD-b0&feature=youtu.be
BATTANIA
EMPIRE
KHUZAITS
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