Stupid Horses!

[Failing Conquer]

Right, I'm playing as Rhodok, Rhodok troops, Rhodok loyalty even using a crossbow and a pick! So far it's being going well. I'd just attack some sea raiders, form my men into two lines and watch. But, now we're up against the Sarrinds. We can beast them in a seige easily. On the feild though, I just get charged by horsemen and die. What should I do?

 

[FrisianDude]

You tell everyone to bunch up really close and put your archers slightly, very slightly, in front of your spears.

A hill might be better even, but any cav army should crash to death against a solid wall of 'dok.

 

[Remedius]

Yes definitely affirmative on that advice - stand closer a billion times before (F2 F4 x many)

If you can find a good incline put the sergeants at the bottom and shooters away up the hill to get a clear shot over the sergeants in front. You will lose some at the front but the cav will be destroyed leaving you to bludgeon the rest.

 

[AWdeV]

If hills are hard to reach go for forests and rivers. Forests are less than ideal as they slow down the foe less and block your shooters.

 

[FrisianDude]

Also, if you have money problems it might be a good idea to give upgrade priority to crossbowmen rather than spearmen.

 

[Ludial]

If you're actually using mixed troops, do as said above(forming your infantry in three or four ranks should suffice, with missile troops behind them in a spread out line). However, if you're using only crossbowmen, don't make the mistake of bunching them up. The cav will start trampling them(without them being able to shoot back effectively) while the real killer would be the missile troops following close behind. With a good part of your xbows trying to shoot and the rest turning about to face the horses, archers would have a blast shooting away at your men as they won't have their shields up. Instead spread them out well, this way horsemen would just move between them and get shot, while enemy archers will have a harder time hitting them.

So remember the strengths of each - footmen with big shields hold tight, shooters spread out.

 

[Ringwraith #5]

If you don't mind using an exploit, stand next to the edge of the map. The horses will run into the invisible wall, stop, and get slaughtered.

 

[Remedius]

While Ringwraith is clearly a great general utilising all available advantages - I hate little magical effects like that - I'd prefer to win without reality loopholes.

And there is no reason why you can't win by conventional means

 

[FF]

^
true

I have another one: If the enemy cav is rushing you all at once, then a good way to stop them is with cavalry of your own. Go recruit some merc cav or raise a few from peasants, they dont need to be strong or many, but if you order your cavalry to charge the enemy as he is getting close most of them will stop for a moment. you are basicaly sacrificing a few for the good of most. Now, you can either let your xbows shoot them before they stop killing your bait(risky), or have your infantry charge the clustered enemy and slaughter them(less risky). This tactic usualy worked for me, but in my case the bait was my char and my companions on horses, so I wouldnt actualy lose any man in the fight.

 

[AWdeV]

What Vod said can be hilarious too. Especially fun if it's just you on a fast horse luring away all the horseman just before they hit their charge. They lose all impetus, don't know where to go and are easy targets for your shooting or even for a countercharge.

 

[SpittingLlama]

Give all your companions horses, order them infront of the lines at the start of a battle, and get them to dismount, forming a horse wall

 

[Failing Conquer]

How would I get my infantry into 3 lines? I know how to get them into a single line but not multiple ones.

 

[PocketAces]

From a previous thread hit "stand closer" multiple times and they form lines. 

 

[Remedius]

How would I get my infantry into 3 lines? I know how to get them into a single line but not multiple ones.

Dammit man - read your own thread - it's right there at the top - I even gave keystrokes!!

 

[possum]

give your companions heavy shields and armor and put them in front of your regular troops.

they will stop a part of the first charge and since they cant die, they will be ready to block the cav attack in the next battle too.

 

[NJSQRL]

If you have problems getting them to form ranks (as I do now and then)  you can also keep a contingent of lower tiered infantry as well. I wouldn't say go out and grab a few recruits... but tier 4 will work.

Set your tier 4 infantry to a different group and have them stand in front of your sergeants.

This way they slow the horses down, sergeants stop them, sergeants whip out their little hammers and go to town

Your first line takes some pretty heavy casualties specially when the enemy infantry reaches them but they were meant to die anyway.

 

[Remedius]

give your companions heavy shields and armor and put them in front of your regular troops.

they will stop a part of the first charge and since they cant die, they will be ready to block the cav attack in the next battle too.

Not if they are wounded and there aren't enough of them to form an adequate wall and certainly not of any depth. If you fight a large enemy and make it to the next round using that tactic you may have lost most of them.

 

[PocketAces]

If you have a river on the map, then place you infantry int he river or on the bank, nothing like a river to stop  a horse charge. I admit this doesn't work for every map.

 

[Knighttemplar12]

well what I did for the Sarranids was match cavalry against cavalry. Go recruit some swadians or Khergits or maybe even vaegirs. Point is best way to fight against cavalry is either spears or match them with cavalry. I can beat a sarranid army of about 60 with only 10 swadian knights.