I'm not really here to give a tutorial or anything, but I thought I'd share some screenshots I took, so you know what my game looks like and how I usually play.
First, a look at my basic strategy, when I'm lazy or when it's not such a difficult battle. It's nothing special. I simply line up all my men on a fairly high hill or cliff, or whatever looks good. Then I have them rain down arrows on the opponents. I have some various infantry units mixed into that line, but they don't usually see any action in easy battles, which makes getting Gray Archers a lot easier since they get most of the kills and most of the exp.
In case I'm fighting against more difficult opponents, especially those with cavalry, this is the formation I use:
The benefit is that I can protect my softer archers using my infantry. It also makes it so that the archers can focus on their shooting, while the melee infantry units can take out whatever. This requires a lot of good positioning to do properly, though, because the infantry has to be a bit lower than the archers, and also there should be enough space between the two lines. I put that space because if the infantry kills a horse, which often happens btw, the horseman slides around the ground and sometimes ends up in the archer's line, disrupting them and possibly killing some of them (especially my prized Noldor or Gray archers). The space usually means that even if they slide, they won't get behind the archer line.
Here's what a battlefield usually looks like afterward, just so you understand just how many arrows fly in a regular battle for me:
Notice that there are some javelins in there. It's part of my mid-ranged strategy. I have Empire Immortals (rescued; haven't gotten any the hard way yet) and some of my companions have throwing weapons too. It's supposed to get rid of shielded infantry as they get near, or even horsemen. It works well. It always looks like this for me, by the way, but the snow makes it easier to see all the missiles and corpses stuck into the ground.
Here's another battlefield just before it ended (there was another horseman circling around my men at the time I took this shot):
Notice all the dead horses. All of the horses in this shot, as far as I know, died before even reaching our infantry line. The infantry line should be about 20 yards or so to the right of this shot (I was in the front, directing, like I usually am). This was a D'shar raiding party I think? I forgot. I just know there was a lot of cavalry, but I set my corpse limit to low cuz I want the game to be as smooth as possible, especially in a real-time battle system like this.
Anyway, if you're curious as to how I maintain success without any cavalry, aside from archery, it's the positioning that keeps my guys alive, which is very important if you want to protect those valuable Gray Archers and the archers you're trying to train into Gray Archers. To be able to position them properly, I invested in Athletics, and I wear light armors most of the time, so I can run around fast. I tried being on horseback to command them with, but I was often moving too fast, taking me too far ahead of the front line, making me an easy target and often getting me killed by archers or their own cavalry (being a sitting duck). Also, I prefer fighting on foot as well, as my specialty weapons are two-handed swords and polearms.
As a commander of such an army, I have to move fast and often through my ranks, and make sure I know where all the enemy units and my own men are as much as possible. So I know if there's cavalry flanking us, or if there are any tough archers headed our way. If my troops are preoccupied by a flanker, and there's archers ahead, I try to draw their fire by shooting at them and getting closer, but running zigzags. I do my best to keep my men alive, even if I take some damage.
Also, as a commander, I stay in front of the front line especially when faced with cavalry. The reason is so that I can draw some attention away from my men, who might get killed by a couched lance attack. I rely on my pike to kill horsemen from that wonderful 245 length away, meaning I don't get hit by couched lance if I do it properly. But I do admit, I often get hit and even wounded here. I try to sidestep the lance in case I miss my own pike thrust.
I'll post more screenshots of this fun (for me) play style as I get them. Due to the nature of combat in my game, though, it's rare that I get a lot of opportunities to take shots. It doesn't even enter my mind usually haha.
But I hope you guys enjoyed this thread, and maybe it gave some ideas to people who wanted to try a full infantry or anti-cavalry army.
P.S.: For the curious, yes those are Pendor Foot Knights you see in some of my screenshots. You might be asking: "How do you get them in a 'full infantry' army when upgrade from a mounted unit?" Well, I tell the Squires to unmount or hold sometimes before the start of combat. The existence of cavalry in my army strategy, I've found, is disruptive to my style. And more often than not, they get themselves killed, if I let them charge. At some points, though, I let them stay on their horses, and only order them to charge when cavalry tries to flank the archer line. They usually come out unscathed.
Pendor Foot Knights are easy to get anyway. It only takes several battles and several days of Training, which my character has, then the Squires-at-Arms become ready to upgrade.
First, a look at my basic strategy, when I'm lazy or when it's not such a difficult battle. It's nothing special. I simply line up all my men on a fairly high hill or cliff, or whatever looks good. Then I have them rain down arrows on the opponents. I have some various infantry units mixed into that line, but they don't usually see any action in easy battles, which makes getting Gray Archers a lot easier since they get most of the kills and most of the exp.
In case I'm fighting against more difficult opponents, especially those with cavalry, this is the formation I use:
The benefit is that I can protect my softer archers using my infantry. It also makes it so that the archers can focus on their shooting, while the melee infantry units can take out whatever. This requires a lot of good positioning to do properly, though, because the infantry has to be a bit lower than the archers, and also there should be enough space between the two lines. I put that space because if the infantry kills a horse, which often happens btw, the horseman slides around the ground and sometimes ends up in the archer's line, disrupting them and possibly killing some of them (especially my prized Noldor or Gray archers). The space usually means that even if they slide, they won't get behind the archer line.
Here's what a battlefield usually looks like afterward, just so you understand just how many arrows fly in a regular battle for me:
Notice that there are some javelins in there. It's part of my mid-ranged strategy. I have Empire Immortals (rescued; haven't gotten any the hard way yet) and some of my companions have throwing weapons too. It's supposed to get rid of shielded infantry as they get near, or even horsemen. It works well. It always looks like this for me, by the way, but the snow makes it easier to see all the missiles and corpses stuck into the ground.
Here's another battlefield just before it ended (there was another horseman circling around my men at the time I took this shot):
Notice all the dead horses. All of the horses in this shot, as far as I know, died before even reaching our infantry line. The infantry line should be about 20 yards or so to the right of this shot (I was in the front, directing, like I usually am). This was a D'shar raiding party I think? I forgot. I just know there was a lot of cavalry, but I set my corpse limit to low cuz I want the game to be as smooth as possible, especially in a real-time battle system like this.
Anyway, if you're curious as to how I maintain success without any cavalry, aside from archery, it's the positioning that keeps my guys alive, which is very important if you want to protect those valuable Gray Archers and the archers you're trying to train into Gray Archers. To be able to position them properly, I invested in Athletics, and I wear light armors most of the time, so I can run around fast. I tried being on horseback to command them with, but I was often moving too fast, taking me too far ahead of the front line, making me an easy target and often getting me killed by archers or their own cavalry (being a sitting duck). Also, I prefer fighting on foot as well, as my specialty weapons are two-handed swords and polearms.
As a commander of such an army, I have to move fast and often through my ranks, and make sure I know where all the enemy units and my own men are as much as possible. So I know if there's cavalry flanking us, or if there are any tough archers headed our way. If my troops are preoccupied by a flanker, and there's archers ahead, I try to draw their fire by shooting at them and getting closer, but running zigzags. I do my best to keep my men alive, even if I take some damage.
Also, as a commander, I stay in front of the front line especially when faced with cavalry. The reason is so that I can draw some attention away from my men, who might get killed by a couched lance attack. I rely on my pike to kill horsemen from that wonderful 245 length away, meaning I don't get hit by couched lance if I do it properly. But I do admit, I often get hit and even wounded here. I try to sidestep the lance in case I miss my own pike thrust.
I'll post more screenshots of this fun (for me) play style as I get them. Due to the nature of combat in my game, though, it's rare that I get a lot of opportunities to take shots. It doesn't even enter my mind usually haha.
But I hope you guys enjoyed this thread, and maybe it gave some ideas to people who wanted to try a full infantry or anti-cavalry army.
P.S.: For the curious, yes those are Pendor Foot Knights you see in some of my screenshots. You might be asking: "How do you get them in a 'full infantry' army when upgrade from a mounted unit?" Well, I tell the Squires to unmount or hold sometimes before the start of combat. The existence of cavalry in my army strategy, I've found, is disruptive to my style. And more often than not, they get themselves killed, if I let them charge. At some points, though, I let them stay on their horses, and only order them to charge when cavalry tries to flank the archer line. They usually come out unscathed.
Pendor Foot Knights are easy to get anyway. It only takes several battles and several days of Training, which my character has, then the Squires-at-Arms become ready to upgrade.
