Ways to counter Rambo Cav?

[Horked]

How many units do Captains control? The answer to this is the amount of lives a rambo has; risk free rambo'ing. When she die she just respawn.

 

[Hans 77]

Rambo Cav according to OP:

Rambo Cav in reality:

 

[TFK_Ted]

The issue could have been solved easily game-sided by understanding what SERVERHOSTS and MODDERS did to commander battle in Napoleonic Wars: if you are too far away from friendly AI, you can't do damage.

But as said above, that would have required TW to understand stuff. So it's sadly not an option.

 

[Dextrus]

Go play skirmish and learn how to block. Should solve the problem

 

[Zarthas]

How does one counter this? Two separate times today alone I’ve seen solo cav wipe out entire PIKE formations without any loss, once with Vlandia, then with Khuzaits. It’s absolutely insane for this even to be a thing in the first place, and more or less equates to scoring a goal in soccer because the opponents aren’t allowed to touch the ball.

I really want to love this game but every other day some outlandish nonsense like this starts happening, not even including the sheer bossiness and bigheadedness of some newer people.

This has been pretty much my life in Captain mode. Gameplay changes did *once* shift the balance away from Rambo, but we're back to a strong Rambo meta.

1. Go immediately on the offensive, hard. The Rambo cav's one weakness is that it takes a long time to win. Push together, isolate the infantry and knock them out in the first minute. A true Rambo will under no circumstances risk his precious extra lives and will just watch you slaughter his team. If one of your teammates runs off to get C, he's a ****ing *******. It is not flag time, it is murder time. Ignore him and let him die to the Rambo cav while you engage the main body.
2. Ignore the Rambo. Do not engage the cavalry at all while you chasing the infantry. They want to delay and string out your troops.
3. Learn F1-F3 and F1-F4. Do not charge your troops if there is any chance they will be kited, because this is what a Rambo-focused team will do. Use Move To Position instead.
4. Use the Facing Commands to ensure your troops are looking and moving in the correct direction while pursuing. The rambo will attempt to slow you down by getting your formation to pivot to him. Don't let him.
5. You can't use Archers if there's a Glaive rambo on the field, sorry. You just can't. I don't recommend archers with Rambo at all.
6. Once you've easily murdered the Rambos team because he refuses to help them, ball up near the final flag.
7. Do not have your troops stand on the god damn flag. I don't know why people are so obsessed with being on top of it. It takes 4-5 seconds to capture. Your troops are very easy to lance will standing in the open on a flag. A true Rambo chad is not trying to win the match, he's trying to have the best KDR.
8. Get your troops with their backs against a wall/cliff so they are harder to charge, any trees/barrels/collision mesh for the Rambo to get caught on are super helpful too. A pike Square with some collision mesh hazards is very hard for a Rambo to get into and they will eventually make a mistake.
9. You can go play around the flag if you want to, but we're just waiting for the timeout at this point. A true Rambo chad will have around 5-7 cavalry left at timeout.

Kill any and all riderless horses you see on the map.
If you unhorse the Rambo and there are horses around, shoot them so they run off.
When you manage to unhorse a Rambo, just ignore him. He's harmless on foot. Killing him brings another horse into play. You need the time it takes him to find another horse more than you need the kill.

Empire in particular struggles against Rambo cav since they have no Pikes and their spear unit has a relatively low unit count. Expect to not win Empire vs. Rambo.
Battania on the other hand is pretty glorious against Rambos. Get you a mix of Imp Armor + Pike Clans, Imp Armor + Spear Oaths, and Throwing Spear Wildlings (Do not throw the spears, the Wildling's increased combat move speed makes them good at rearing).
Khuzait also has very few problems against Rambos, Armor + Pike Rabbles, Any kind of spear infs, and Glaive + Reinforcements Khans will **** them up. The only issue will be Khans moving properly but they can be screened with Pikes and are good for the last 7 minutes of point defense.
Aserai no longer has a pike, which is bull****, and hurts their Anti-Rambo game a bit. They do have massive troop counts and can take Imp + Armor + Spear so its still very survivable. Skirmishers + Spear can be helpful in getting horses to rear too.
Vlandia does okay, it is good to have a bunch of shortspear peasants in with your Sarges to keep your heavy infantry casualties down. Voulges also lost their pikes, which is still bull****.
Sturgia surprisingly can have some problems against Rambo now. Their spears are of middling size and their anti-cavalry perks got nerfed into the ground. All varyags or spear Warriors will get the job done as long as no one does anything very stupid.

 

[Safety_Tree]

Go play skirmish and learn how to block. Should solve the problem

Or learn to read and realize we’re talking about an AI issue.

 

[Einarcf]

Maybe give bots autoblock cheats. I think I saw some good AI mods

 

[Sigaretovic]

This has been pretty much my life in Captain mode. Gameplay changes did *once* shift the balance away from Rambo, but we're back to a strong Rambo meta.

1. Go immediately on the offensive, hard. The Rambo cav's one weakness is that it takes a long time to win. Push together, isolate the infantry and knock them out in the first minute. A true Rambo will under no circumstances risk his precious extra lives and will just watch you slaughter his team. If one of your teammates runs off to get C, he's a ****ing *******. It is not flag time, it is murder time. Ignore him and let him die to the Rambo cav while you engage the main body.
2. Ignore the Rambo. Do not engage the cavalry at all while you chasing the infantry. They want to delay and string out your troops.
3. Learn F1-F3 and F1-F4. Do not charge your troops if there is any chance they will be kited, because this is what a Rambo-focused team will do. Use Move To Position instead.
4. Use the Facing Commands to ensure your troops are looking and moving in the correct direction while pursuing. The rambo will attempt to slow you down by getting your formation to pivot to him. Don't let him.
5. You can't use Archers if there's a Glaive rambo on the field, sorry. You just can't. I don't recommend archers with Rambo at all.
6. Once you've easily murdered the Rambos team because he refuses to help them, ball up near the final flag.
7. Do not have your troops stand on the god damn flag. I don't know why people are so obsessed with being on top of it. It takes 4-5 seconds to capture. Your troops are very easy to lance will standing in the open on a flag. A true Rambo chad is not trying to win the match, he's trying to have the best KDR.
8. Get your troops with their backs against a wall/cliff so they are harder to charge, any trees/barrels/collision mesh for the Rambo to get caught on are super helpful too. A pike Square with some collision mesh hazards is very hard for a Rambo to get into and they will eventually make a mistake.
9. You can go play around the flag if you want to, but we're just waiting for the timeout at this point. A true Rambo chad will have around 5-7 cavalry left at timeout.

Kill any and all riderless horses you see on the map.
If you unhorse the Rambo and there are horses around, shoot them so they run off.
When you manage to unhorse a Rambo, just ignore him. He's harmless on foot. Killing him brings another horse into play. You need the time it takes him to find another horse more than you need the kill.

Empire in particular struggles against Rambo cav since they have no Pikes and their spear unit has a relatively low unit count. Expect to not win Empire vs. Rambo.
Battania on the other hand is pretty glorious against Rambos. Get you a mix of Imp Armor + Pike Clans, Imp Armor + Spear Oaths, and Throwing Spear Wildlings (Do not throw the spears, the Wildling's increased combat move speed makes them good at rearing).
Khuzait also has very few problems against Rambos, Armor + Pike Rabbles, Any kind of spear infs, and Glaive + Reinforcements Khans will **** them up. The only issue will be Khans moving properly but they can be screened with Pikes and are good for the last 7 minutes of point defense.
Aserai no longer has a pike, which is bull****, and hurts their Anti-Rambo game a bit. They do have massive troop counts and can take Imp + Armor + Spear so its still very survivable. Skirmishers + Spear can be helpful in getting horses to rear too.
Vlandia does okay, it is good to have a bunch of shortspear peasants in with your Sarges to keep your heavy infantry casualties down. Voulges also lost their pikes, which is still bull****.
Sturgia surprisingly can have some problems against Rambo now. Their spears are of middling size and their anti-cavalry perks got nerfed into the ground. All varyags or spear Warriors will get the job done as long as no one does anything very stupid.

These are some good tips you wrote down.

 

[Dextrus]

Or learn to read and realize we’re talking about an AI issue.
pretty sure, that the rambos are players and most people complaining about them can’t block/play adequately.

DM has proven that superior player skill wins.

Plus making the AI to strong the same people would come running and crying

 

[Spottswoode]

Or learn to read and realize we’re talking about an AI issue.
pretty sure, that the rambos are players and most people complaining about them can’t block/play adequately.

DM has proven that superior player skill wins.

Plus making the AI to strong the same people would come running and crying

You literally quoted the sentence about Ai then went on to talk about players blocking and then went on to say people talking about Ai inability to hit cav players properly with spears dont want better Ai.

Do you see where you might have fallen down in your interpretation of the quote in your own post?

 

[aLiaXXXanger]

Get better mechanically and beat the Rambo cav

FearSpear is a bit harsh but he is speaking the truth ..

First you must get better either at your personal mechaical skill or getting better commanding and using terrain somehow.
More or less whatever change they implement , rambo will always be present becouse this game is the way it is and its heavily dependent on personal skill.
You have no idea how having 1 good mechanical player can make a difference and make different outcome to end game...

omg...

Go play skirmish and learn how to block. Should solve the problem

what are you talking about here, uncles?
Rambo cavalry tactics pose no threat to any more or less experienced captain. It is directed against his bots, which still have not received from the developers high-quality algorithms for the functioning of formations against the cavalry that we have. So, for example, the formation of a circle by a spearmens squad should not only almost completely eliminate the damage from the cavalry charge, but also force the units to use their spears more aggressively against the Rambo cav. And such a protective formation of the shields infantry like a square should allow it to raise its shield in response to the swing of the spear from above. Well, archers should finally learn how to properly hit moving units, mainly aiming at cavalry horses.
As @Zarthas correctly pointed out, Rambo Cavalry tactics have indeed stepped up a bit since the recent patches. Perhaps this is due to the cancellation of the decline in horse health and some increase in cavalry lance. I must say that I think the increase in horse xp is quite an adequate step from the developers (from realism point of view), but they should not forget what was the reason for its recent decrease. At the same time, it was necessary to propose another way of de-actualizing Rambo tactics. And the most correct way I think is to lower the horse's acceleration and increase the inertia of its movement (braking), which would prevent the cavalryman from returning too quickly to the attacking position (even without reducing couched damage). And then it would be possible to "scored" on correcting the functioning of the formations?.
As for countering Rambo tactics in the current conditions, supplement the guys who have already offered quite effective methods, perhaps with such an exclusive, such as the use horses one of your cavalry squad (after f3f3) to destroy by your captains the annoying Rambo rival or his parking. Moreover, it will be enough to kill only horses.
Have a nice game, guys! @NIN3 and all another guys from TW, I wish wisdom and success in developing approaches to improving the already excellent? MP and captain mod especially!

 

[Nordous]

Kill their camped units

 

[Horked]

uncles

?

Seriously though, good post

 

[Neptuno]

EA unc expeditionary forces have been defeated countless times by vov rambo tactic

 

[Varadin]

omg...

what are you talking about here, uncles?
Rambo cavalry tactics pose no threat to any more or less experienced captain. It is directed against his bots, which still have not received from the developers high-quality algorithms for the functioning of formations against the cavalry that we have. So, for example, the formation of a circle by a spearmens squad should not only almost completely eliminate the damage from the cavalry charge, but also force the units to use their spears more aggressively against the Rambo cav. And such a protective formation of the shields infantry like a square should allow it to raise its shield in response to the swing of the spear from above. Well, archers should finally learn how to properly hit moving units, mainly aiming at cavalry horses.
As @Zarthas correctly pointed out, Rambo Cavalry tactics have indeed stepped up a bit since the recent patches. Perhaps this is due to the cancellation of the decline in horse health and some increase in cavalry lance. I must say that I think the increase in horse xp is quite an adequate step from the developers (from realism point of view), but they should not forget what was the reason for its recent decrease. At the same time, it was necessary to propose another way of de-actualizing Rambo tactics. And the most correct way I think is to lower the horse's acceleration and increase the inertia of its movement (braking), which would prevent the cavalryman from returning too quickly to the attacking position (even without reducing couched damage). And then it would be possible to "scored" on correcting the functioning of the formations?.
As for countering Rambo tactics in the current conditions, supplement the guys who have already offered quite effective methods, perhaps with such an exclusive, such as the use horses one of your cavalry squad (after f3f3) to destroy by your captains the annoying Rambo rival or his parking. Moreover, it will be enough to kill only horses.
Have a nice game, guys! @NIN3 and all another guys from TW, I wish wisdom and success in developing approaches to improving the already excellent? MP and captain mod especially!

Just go play real multiplayer and learn to block

 

[CaNpoG]

2. Ignore the Rambo. Do not engage the cavalry at all while you chasing the infantry. They want to delay and string out your troops.

And let this rambo keep 1-2 shotting your troops who can't block or even pretty much attack the rambo if not equipped with spears and in charge mode, in which case the bots will scatter and get deleted by archers.

4. Use the Facing Commands to ensure your troops are looking and moving in the correct direction while pursuing. The rambo will attempt to slow you down by getting your formation to pivot to him. Don't let him.

The single bots will still turn when the rambo is close to them even though the unit doesn't turn. Doesn't even have to be right next to the bots to turn them.

5. You can't use Archers if there's a Glaive rambo on the field, sorry. You just can't. I don't recommend archers with Rambo at all.

I guess then TW should remove archers altogether since abusing AI is the new meta, sorry! You're really suggesting that "don't play a class at all if one of the enemies picks this class". Seriously?

A pike Square with some collision mesh hazards is very hard for a Rambo to get into and they will eventually make a mistake.

Bold of you to assume the bots hit enemy cav players with their weapons reliably if not in charge mode.

Kill any and all riderless horses you see on the map.
If you unhorse the Rambo and there are horses around, shoot them so they run off.

But you still can't really use archers when there's rambo cav? Or does oathsworn have AK47s now?

When you manage to unhorse a Rambo, just ignore him. He's harmless on foot. Killing him brings another horse into play. You need the time it takes him to find another horse more than you need the kill.

Well he can still sit behind your units and make them turn and hit the sidemost units of the line from behind. The bots can't counter that at all. When you go hit him he will probably turtle behind his shield and backpedal around to maximize the time he's abusing your unit's AI. If you press charge you will just scatter your units again and turn their backs on the enemies.

Empire in particular struggles against Rambo cav since they have no Pikes and their spear unit has a relatively low unit count. Expect to not win Empire vs. Rambo.

Also, don't play this faction if the enemy uses this one single "tactic". Yeah lemme quickly choose the faction I play as.


I really can't believe how some people still try to tell me that ramboing is a "tactic" and not straight up cheesing. It forces you to play in one single way every game and it's just tedious af when Captain mode is 99% about babysitting your unit from cheesers and infantry blobbing.

 

[Etonviper]

I usually just go cav and find their cav and just murder them so they can’t respawn. If you are not mechanically good then just flee if they chase you, you just waste their time

 

[Zarthas]

And let this rambo keep 1-2 shotting your troops who can't block or even pretty much attack the rambo if not equipped with spears and in charge mode, in which case the bots will scatter and get deleted by archers.

The single bots will still turn when the rambo is close to them even though the unit doesn't turn. Doesn't even have to be right next to the bots to turn them.

I guess then TW should remove archers altogether since abusing AI is the new meta, sorry! You're really suggesting that "don't play a class at all if one of the enemies picks this class". Seriously?

Bold of you to assume the bots hit enemy cav players with their weapons reliably if not in charge mode.

But you still can't really use archers when there's rambo cav? Or does oathsworn have AK47s now?

Well he can still sit behind your units and make them turn and hit the sidemost units of the line from behind. The bots can't counter that at all. When you go hit him he will probably turtle behind his shield and backpedal around to maximize the time he's abusing your unit's AI. If you press charge you will just scatter your units again and turn their backs on the enemies.

Also, don't play this faction if the enemy uses this one single "tactic". Yeah lemme quickly choose the faction I play as.


I really can't believe how some people still try to tell me that ramboing is a "tactic" and not straight up cheesing. It forces you to play in one single way every game and it's just tedious af when Captain mode is 99% about babysitting your unit from cheesers and infantry blobbing.

...you doing okay there, big guy?