Rhodoks give me the most grief out of all the factions. Their sharpshooters are so damn good, and their sargents are numerous and are one of the few troops that rip me a new one.
I try to attack them from behind by letting them engage one of my other troops, whom I generally wind up trying to save since every body and their dog goes after them. The scary part is they must have about 62 HP's. I did a ride by on one from behind and smacked him for 58 points of damage. Knocked him down. He just got back up and started fighting some more.
Something to note: Always have infantry to the right of your archers.
You want to kite enemy troops so that they expose their right flanks to crossbow fire. If your infantry are to the left (or even head on) then half (or even all) of the bolts will hit their shields... and few will hit the troops at all!
great tip! that's the side you want to be on in a defensive siege so your own arrows can get through
here's a pic of the right triangle formation i use for my troops. sharpshooters on one side, infantry cutting through along that line and enemy in the general space where im standing. i think ill swap sides between xbowmen and sergeants next time to expose the right shields.
i updated tips to use against nords and other rhodoks. just send your sergeants straight to any reinforcement waves to keep your men tightly together. finish up what they didn't from the first skirmish yourself. alternatively scatter them by running circles with your cavalry
Rhodoks give me the most grief out of all the factions. Their sharpshooters are so damn good, and their sargents are numerous and are one of the few troops that rip me a new one.
I try to attack them from behind by letting them engage one of my other troops, whom I generally wind up trying to save since every body and their dog goes after them. The scary part is they must have about 62 HP's. I did a ride by on one from behind and smacked him for 58 points of damage. Knocked him down. He just got back up and started fighting some more.
well you could always make your elite units into a different group,like I play nord,so all my huscarls,end tier mercenary infantry and heros(with 2 handed deathsticks) make up a shock infantry group. while my major force just does the whole hurp durp infantry,I cut to the sides of the mountains and flank the archers, before hitting the mush ground force in the back.
also, against cavarly masses, a double infantry line does wonders,maybe 10 metres apart with archers to the right side. they get slowed at the second one and cut to pieces in the death canal/.
also, against cavarly masses, a double infantry line does wonders,maybe 10 metres apart with archers to the right side. they get slowed at the second one and cut to pieces in the death canal/.
i entered a battle against khergits but had mostly sergeants spawn as opposed to sharpshooters as i intended. i was afraid since i thought the enemy horse archers would get the best of my troops slow walking, but it wasnt that bad at all. the lancers want to come at your clump anyway. all i had to do was handle the skirmishers and the battle went very smoothly for my side.
some more pics:
That's my sergeants on the horizon
ive only seen it spam this fast when i use cavalry. my infantry do their thing with enemy infantry, while i do my thing vs. enemy cavalry
also, against cavarly masses, a double infantry line does wonders,maybe 10 metres apart with archers to the right side. they get slowed at the second one and cut to pieces in the death canal/.
i entered a battle against khergits but had mostly sergeants spawn as opposed to sharpshooters as i intended. i was afraid since i thought the enemy horse archers would get the best of my troops slow walking, but it wasnt that bad at all. the lancers want to come at your clump anyway. all i had to do was handle the skirmishers and the battle went very smoothly for my side.
some more pics:
That's my sergeants on the horizon
ive only seen it spam this fast when i use cavalry. my infantry do their thing with enemy infantry, while i do my thing vs. enemy cavalry
Sarranids were the first faction to declare war against me since I played as Rhodoks. I'm going to say your mileage may vary when you use my tactics--as I'm dependent on luring and taking out the Mamlukes (and any Knights) with my own character and companions. Cavalry vs. cavalry, infantry vs. infantry pretty much. Sometimes Mamlukes appear 25 to each lord and I have to work overtime--it becomes a game of keeping my men alive, kill or someone else will die. But when I play like this, I gauge how many lords I want stacked against me by the number of Mamlukes they have, since the Sarranid ground units are so pitiful. So even if it's 400 total against my 75, it'll be alright if the Mamlukes aren't half My Horse Archery is just overpowering to what a Mamluke can defend against
So far the largest battle I've had was ~380 with Mamlukes numbering about 40 for the first two skirmishes (not all at once) and like 10 for the last. So it's been pretty manageable. Horsemen don't count since they're as easy as infantry for Sergeants. Haven't found anything bigger yet.
I'd say enemy crossbow fire is more deadly than rapid arrow fire against the Rhodoks. So Swadian Knights backed up by crossbowmen may cause a few more casualties than the Sarranids could--mostly in siege. Arrows don't seem to phase my troops :O
i had my infantry stand ground on the left side of the enemy line (where cavalry typically spawn), and just let mamlukes collide with the blob. the mamlukes just cant move an inch at that point and you don't need to chase them down or anything, just headshot them while theyre immobile. usually players will use the same tactic, but don't advance their position from the start location (no charge). moving forward gives mamluke warhorses less distance between them and their target to pick up speed.
i play as one of those overpowered horse archers which is probably what makes using rhodoks easier. a sword-wielding, wedding dress-wearing horse archer
(this was originally Sarra, but i had to reimport her to a new game since my old one was corrupted)
Character Creation
Daughter of a Veteran Warrior
Shop Assistant in early life
Goods Peddler in adulthood
Wanderlust, reason for setting out to Caldradia
This is my list of priorities in this order:
Prisoner Management to at least 1. I recommend at least 2.
Agility to 18
Weapon Master to 6, read On the Art of Fighting with Swords to get to 7
Weapon Proficiency points to Throwing and only Throwing
Athletics to 6
Riding to 3 at first for Sarranid or Hunter Horse. Improve to 5 later when you have spare points so you can ride Champion Sarranid Horses and just for the speed/maneuverability bonuses
Horse Archery to 6
Strength to 24 for Masterwork War Bow. I don't use anything else by the time I reach 24.
Power Draw to 8. You don't have to use the next bow right away, just whatever you can afford
Power Strike to at least 3. Build this later when you have spare points
Should be level 24 by this time.
Intelligence to 14. Read Essays on Logic for the 15th. I don't intend to develop party bonuses beyond +2. This also allows me to provide backup skills of 5+2
Surgery to 4. Carry The Great Book of Surgery for the 5th
Wound Treatment to 1. Carry The Book of Healing for the 2nd
Pathfinding already started at 2 from Character Creation. Same with Inventory Management
Ignore the +1 in Tactics, Engineer, and Persuasion, those were gotten via books.
Charisma to 27. You probably won't reach this stage so pretty much just pump the rest here
Leadership to 9. Read The Life of Alixenus the Great for the 10th. Again, you probably won't reach this stage.
Ironflesh to 8. Build this when you have spare points.
Trainer to 5. Build this when you have spare points. Carry The Manual of Arms for the 6th.
Trade started at 2. Build to 4 if you ever manage to get spare points. Read A Treatise on the Value of Things for the 5th.
Combat skills come first so that you're capable of taking down more units which in turn means faster leveling for the rest.
Once you have 200 proficiency into archery, things will be much easier. It'll quickly develop once you start playing sieges (from scoring headshots). Once you hit 300 into a melee proficiency, try a new weapon type. The goal is to be well rounded for tournaments. This is a character you'll want to export/import for the future so versatility is key.
Points to agility and athletics were decided by what I found worked well for sneaking into enemy towns and winning tournaments. Horse archery just followed to max at 6, though I'd say 5 is okay. At first the Masterwork War Bow is not as accurate as you'd like, but to be honest, you'll adapt to it.
The other thing that probably makes my game easier is that Rolf just hit level 37 for me My party skills have all hit 10 already so I don't see as many killed as I see wounded (thank goodness). My companions are all skilled at a melee weapon to 300 and now all using War Bows
Hope this helps. Let me know what other info you'd like and I'll edit it.
Nice tactics guide.
I started using rhodoks recently as well, although i haven't tried to take them on battlefield yet (bottom line training and when they reach high tier, i stack them in castles and towns)
Because they were first faction i defeated and lost only one battle against them ( siege of almerra and odds were then about 15:1, i was prisoned) so i am little urn not confident of their skill in open field.
Hardest enemies have been Nords so far as they destroy shields and horses with their axes and when infantry tries to charge them Nords put their throwing axes and javelins into use ( I have lost at least 4,5 battles against Them)
Another easy enemies seems to be Khergits, it takes long time to win a battle against them because they run across map all over the place but even in odds 10:1 they are easy to beat if u order your men to edge of map and khergit lancers can't ride across you. ( horse archers may be some trouble for a while but if your troops have good shields they just eventually run out of arrows.
Using at moment difficulty of 89% and mixed force of Swadians(40% of army), Mercs( 25%), Rhodoks(25%), Sarranids(5%), Khergits(5%) about.
Oh a useful tip maybe. I use Bunduk, Jeremus and Lezalit as infantry support, all wielding two hand weapons and level past 30 and they are really helpful amongst infantry.
i just updated the guide in the first post. redid some formatting and threw in a few more pics. lemme know if you guys have additional tips or alternative tactics and ill gladly throw it in
Just wondering if youve tried pure sharpshooter armies?
Ive been playing Nords for a long, long time and want to try Rhodoks, but want to move away from pure infantry, as Ive used pure Huscarl for a long time as well. I was thinking it would work as Sharpshooters are almost the equivalent of Nord Veterans in melee, if less well armored.
sharpshooters are capable infantry, but sergeants just do a better job. it also gives me 2 separate groups to command for sandwiching and other formations. id say sarranids, vaegirs, swadians, and khergits would be easy to use all sharpshooters against, but not nords and fellow rhodoks. nords make me panic sometimes when they reach my sharpshooter line x_x
but yeah, sharpshooters are very similar to veterans. ive been swiped once thinking i was walking beside a friendly sharpshooter in a byrnie @_@
ill try it tonight. im thinking something like spread apart and fire at will until the enemy comes close, then stand closer x3 in time to shroud them
Yeah, Sargeants are definite bulldozers. Theyre the only foot that seems to give my Huscarls trouble.
Let me know how it turns out. Id give it a shot myself but it would take awhile to get enough SShooters to have a good test run.
