William Blake
30-09-2004, 08:48
You might think that the combat is a simple as it looks, just another RTS – select all, click on enemy, watch. You are wrong.
Game features you should know about, but you probably don’t:
1) On “tower” maps you can buy new units in the battle. To buy units make a camp with your marshal, on you left bottom will be big icon with hand with sack of gold.
Then you buy a new unit in a combat you have to have free slots in your army. Meaning you maybe need to loose some units from your initial army if you had a lot of units at the start.
More towers you flag more income you receive with time, but the maximum is 1000 gold. The tower map may be very strategic if you don’t crash enemy at the start.
2) Your units can heal dead men and archers can recover arrows.
To heal men or get new arrows break a camp and let men rest, you can click on the camp and see the stats of unit. The downside of camping is that you can’t move your units, but if attacked on the spot your men will get out and fight.
To more again click on big button on your left bottom, and the unit will get together, it take some time you can see the green progress bar over the camp.
Try to wait as much as you can and leave the damaged unit camp until it get all the arrows and men, only then click to “move out”.
3) There are 5 steps in loose/tight formations for a unit. It’s very hard to order by mouse drag, so use the little buttons, you can click them as far as they are not shaded, with every click the tightness will change for one step.
This is arguably the most important order you can give – the tightness of units formation. Remember – loose formation as much as you can then you are under archers fire, then you go hand to hand tighten as much as you can, but make sure you are facing right direction, in tight formation unit can turn fast but it can be hit hard from the back and sides.
4) Towers on tower maps are hard to storm, don’t be afraid to leave one archer unit on a tower, it will drive away most of 1-2 infantry unit assaults.
On the other hand, don’t try to storm a tower, best way to get 3-4 archer units, loose them at maximum and shoot until all enemy on the top is dead. You can do what ever you want, but consider yourself warned, you can loose some men at arms storming that tower.
General tactics and strategy
At the start you do 2 things – you check all your army and then you check all enemy.
Note: who has more cavalry, especially feudal knights, how many? Who has more archers, how many? Does enemy has more spear or sword infantry.
Then divide your army – move cavalry apart, at any given situation you’d better have cavalry and infantry separated because they need different tactics. Cavalry needs a lot of space, infantry needs a safe position.
I suggest you to set all your units in very tight formation you will see more units on the screen and move faster to the battle positions.
If enemy is on a distance move you army without any order to the best position, but leave yourself time to extend and order your units on the position before enemy can possibly hit you, if he does you are owned. If you sure you have time you can rush your units to get on the position faster and buy some time to re-arrange the army on the spot, but make sure you will have near full stamina at the moment of engagement.
Always keep the eye on the enemy movement, I personally spend more time watching the enemy then moving my troops, especially at the start, don’t miss his units flanking you or hiding behind the trees and buildings. Watch his cavalry, if he set the cavalry apart and move it far from the main army it can be very deadly or very dead – don’t miss your chance.
As I said before cavalry needs free space and infantry needs secure position. Don’t let your cavalry be stuck in a narrow passage or don’t have a clear and wide way to run away. The more cavalry you have the bigger the distance can you allow from it and your main army. Basically 4 or more cavalry with 1 or more feudal knights can operate with no support from the main army. I would flank a lot with such a force and operate about half map apart from my infantry. Just make sure you have way to flee and you are watching them not to get in trouble then you are not looking, don’t move cavalry near the enemy since it can charge right to the death without your permission.
Now the infantry, infantry takes a lot of space and it’s slow, so you need safe position, best way is to have enemy facing you front and have your flanks secured by hills, water or map borders. But most of the time you will have enemy from 2 sides: front and one flank. Here you can make 2 mistakes: you can loose some units in the maneuver or combat and enemy can hit one your part and the other can’t get there in time, or you can be flanked, such that enemy will strike not your melee fresh units of first row, but archers or camps from side or from behind. It will be especially bad if you have your marshal there without any real cover.
So you watch where the enemy is moving, don’t just get closer to him, always move a bit to the sides to make him turn his front and get away form his flanking. If you have a lot of cavalry you can move it on one side and enemy will be between your infantry, so he wont have open field to maneuver and you will know there he can go.
Always try to estimate the distance and time you need to hit the enemy from all sides, the most common mistake with handling several separated armies is to move way too far and let your one army be crashed while another can do nothing about it.
Once you decide to engage enemy with one army, try to engage him with the other – he will be distracted and lose the moment and you will exactly know then the action begin. As always try to hit archers or weak back units, storming rush on the prepared enemy front rarely leads to success.
Try to avoid crowd at all costs, always leave some space to move your units freely without affecting others, in a one crowd its very hard to find and select one unit, its hard to get through fast, turn and change formations, in a crowd all you unit advantages are lost since all you units engage enemy randomly and suffer from arrows. If you happen to be loosing you can’t save any units from the crowd, but second row can always leave. So if you was hit badly, don’t try to “save” units already crashed, but retreat, they are dead anyway, but they are buying you time to regroup, if you rush to help them you will loose the rushers too.
Always try to have second line of fresh or ordered units, then you first row flees enemy is weak too, so its very good to hit him with fresh troops, even if not, the second fresh line of defense will allow your fleeing units to get out of the mess and stop in safety. If you let enemy chase them they will surrender and then you really lose the unit, units that lost men and some morale can always camp to regain strength.
Even if you win the skirmish, try to get your fighting units out and replace them with fresh wave, most likely enemy will flee, but you first row has no stamina no lots of men to chase them, so fresh troops will make the final blow and chase the enemy with full stamina and you first row unit can camp immediately and regain the loses under cover of the second wave fresh troops.
If you won initial battle and enemy fled, don’t try to kill them all at all costs, return your troops that are chacing the enemy back to the camping spot, regroup and carefully check your army and enemy all over the map, especially look for flanking or regrouping units, its very common to feel like you won then you did not. Stay calm, don’t let the victory slip away, see that cavalry over there? And these “look like shattered” dozen enemy units all around you? You need order and strength, never underestimate the enemy. Remember, once enemy “feel” like loosing he will go for your marshal, guard him good.
That would be all for “quick guide”, thank you for reading.
PS
“….All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him….”
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
Good luck.
Game features you should know about, but you probably don’t:
1) On “tower” maps you can buy new units in the battle. To buy units make a camp with your marshal, on you left bottom will be big icon with hand with sack of gold.
Then you buy a new unit in a combat you have to have free slots in your army. Meaning you maybe need to loose some units from your initial army if you had a lot of units at the start.
More towers you flag more income you receive with time, but the maximum is 1000 gold. The tower map may be very strategic if you don’t crash enemy at the start.
2) Your units can heal dead men and archers can recover arrows.
To heal men or get new arrows break a camp and let men rest, you can click on the camp and see the stats of unit. The downside of camping is that you can’t move your units, but if attacked on the spot your men will get out and fight.
To more again click on big button on your left bottom, and the unit will get together, it take some time you can see the green progress bar over the camp.
Try to wait as much as you can and leave the damaged unit camp until it get all the arrows and men, only then click to “move out”.
3) There are 5 steps in loose/tight formations for a unit. It’s very hard to order by mouse drag, so use the little buttons, you can click them as far as they are not shaded, with every click the tightness will change for one step.
This is arguably the most important order you can give – the tightness of units formation. Remember – loose formation as much as you can then you are under archers fire, then you go hand to hand tighten as much as you can, but make sure you are facing right direction, in tight formation unit can turn fast but it can be hit hard from the back and sides.
4) Towers on tower maps are hard to storm, don’t be afraid to leave one archer unit on a tower, it will drive away most of 1-2 infantry unit assaults.
On the other hand, don’t try to storm a tower, best way to get 3-4 archer units, loose them at maximum and shoot until all enemy on the top is dead. You can do what ever you want, but consider yourself warned, you can loose some men at arms storming that tower.
General tactics and strategy
At the start you do 2 things – you check all your army and then you check all enemy.
Note: who has more cavalry, especially feudal knights, how many? Who has more archers, how many? Does enemy has more spear or sword infantry.
Then divide your army – move cavalry apart, at any given situation you’d better have cavalry and infantry separated because they need different tactics. Cavalry needs a lot of space, infantry needs a safe position.
I suggest you to set all your units in very tight formation you will see more units on the screen and move faster to the battle positions.
If enemy is on a distance move you army without any order to the best position, but leave yourself time to extend and order your units on the position before enemy can possibly hit you, if he does you are owned. If you sure you have time you can rush your units to get on the position faster and buy some time to re-arrange the army on the spot, but make sure you will have near full stamina at the moment of engagement.
Always keep the eye on the enemy movement, I personally spend more time watching the enemy then moving my troops, especially at the start, don’t miss his units flanking you or hiding behind the trees and buildings. Watch his cavalry, if he set the cavalry apart and move it far from the main army it can be very deadly or very dead – don’t miss your chance.
As I said before cavalry needs free space and infantry needs secure position. Don’t let your cavalry be stuck in a narrow passage or don’t have a clear and wide way to run away. The more cavalry you have the bigger the distance can you allow from it and your main army. Basically 4 or more cavalry with 1 or more feudal knights can operate with no support from the main army. I would flank a lot with such a force and operate about half map apart from my infantry. Just make sure you have way to flee and you are watching them not to get in trouble then you are not looking, don’t move cavalry near the enemy since it can charge right to the death without your permission.
Now the infantry, infantry takes a lot of space and it’s slow, so you need safe position, best way is to have enemy facing you front and have your flanks secured by hills, water or map borders. But most of the time you will have enemy from 2 sides: front and one flank. Here you can make 2 mistakes: you can loose some units in the maneuver or combat and enemy can hit one your part and the other can’t get there in time, or you can be flanked, such that enemy will strike not your melee fresh units of first row, but archers or camps from side or from behind. It will be especially bad if you have your marshal there without any real cover.
So you watch where the enemy is moving, don’t just get closer to him, always move a bit to the sides to make him turn his front and get away form his flanking. If you have a lot of cavalry you can move it on one side and enemy will be between your infantry, so he wont have open field to maneuver and you will know there he can go.
Always try to estimate the distance and time you need to hit the enemy from all sides, the most common mistake with handling several separated armies is to move way too far and let your one army be crashed while another can do nothing about it.
Once you decide to engage enemy with one army, try to engage him with the other – he will be distracted and lose the moment and you will exactly know then the action begin. As always try to hit archers or weak back units, storming rush on the prepared enemy front rarely leads to success.
Try to avoid crowd at all costs, always leave some space to move your units freely without affecting others, in a one crowd its very hard to find and select one unit, its hard to get through fast, turn and change formations, in a crowd all you unit advantages are lost since all you units engage enemy randomly and suffer from arrows. If you happen to be loosing you can’t save any units from the crowd, but second row can always leave. So if you was hit badly, don’t try to “save” units already crashed, but retreat, they are dead anyway, but they are buying you time to regroup, if you rush to help them you will loose the rushers too.
Always try to have second line of fresh or ordered units, then you first row flees enemy is weak too, so its very good to hit him with fresh troops, even if not, the second fresh line of defense will allow your fleeing units to get out of the mess and stop in safety. If you let enemy chase them they will surrender and then you really lose the unit, units that lost men and some morale can always camp to regain strength.
Even if you win the skirmish, try to get your fighting units out and replace them with fresh wave, most likely enemy will flee, but you first row has no stamina no lots of men to chase them, so fresh troops will make the final blow and chase the enemy with full stamina and you first row unit can camp immediately and regain the loses under cover of the second wave fresh troops.
If you won initial battle and enemy fled, don’t try to kill them all at all costs, return your troops that are chacing the enemy back to the camping spot, regroup and carefully check your army and enemy all over the map, especially look for flanking or regrouping units, its very common to feel like you won then you did not. Stay calm, don’t let the victory slip away, see that cavalry over there? And these “look like shattered” dozen enemy units all around you? You need order and strength, never underestimate the enemy. Remember, once enemy “feel” like loosing he will go for your marshal, guard him good.
That would be all for “quick guide”, thank you for reading.
PS
“….All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him….”
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
Good luck.