Almohad Strategies

[DemonArchangel]

I have no clue on how to use the Almohads properly in battle. Their units are easily the weakest in the game, and the Almos routinely seem to get me defeated every time i play online

[Al Qasim Hussein]

What specific problems are you having? UNtil you develop a lot of Almohad Urban Militia it can be a little rough, but your WHOLE strategy should resolve around shock units and cavalry, hit & run type of warfare. The Almohads just aren't going to go toe to toe w/ Western European units, no way no how.

If you can, bribe some Spanish Jinetes early on too. There are some in nearby Iberian nuetral provinces. I've found that those, combined w/ plenty of desert archers, camel archers, and an anchor of nubian spearmen can whittle away in the early battles until you get the (virtually) unstoppable AUM.

[Mount Suribachi]

In early AUMs are unstoppable and with them you should rampage through western europe (the only thing I've seen defeat them is Swabian Swordsmen). The real killer for the Elmos is the lack of decent spears + no new units in high or late. In early AUMs make them near invincible, but after that they really struggle.

[el_slapper]

In other words : conquer the world quickly... or die.

[Crash]

The Almohad Urban Militia are the key, in the Early game no other infantry can stand up to them. I played the Almohad only once because it was too easy, I got the 60% victory by 1189 without trying very hard.

The AUM made mincemeat out of all other infantry, was even able to take calvary charges, and it's armor and shield protected them from archers. The main weakness of the Almohad is the lack of heavy calvary, so I used mercenary calvary and then it was no problem. The Nubian and Muwahid spearment were good enough to deal with enemy calvary, as long as you had pleny of AUM to deliver the knockout punches. The Almohad also have desert archers available, who are superior to regular archers. The Saharan calvary are also my favorite light calvary, very fast and capable.

[Leet Eriksson]

The only way to defeat european powers with advanced units its to use the units properly,first of all deprive the enemy of any crossbows and archer units(use saharan cavalry),let the aums take care of spears and use a combination of Muwahid and nubians to handle other types of infantry,the iresistible charge the Muwahid have give tham an advatange when charging.Also use Ghazi to flank enemy heavy units if used with muwahids(who have good morale,and would not flee for enough time for the ghazis to flank)they can almost take care of any unit(talking about 0 valour units).

[Brutal DLX]

Well, AUM are good, but basically you have to win with superior numbers. Your lands are rich, upgrade them, your troops are cheap, so you can build more than your enemies. Once you reach the iron-rich provinces of northern Spain, the campaign is almost won.
As for multiplayer, muslim factions are harder to play (outside the desert), especially the Almohads are lacking a good spear unit, so you have to pump up your Nubians to at least v3. Add 3 AUM to fight the FMAA/CMAA and some pumped up Ghazis. The rest, v4 camels work wonders but dont rely on them too much, your cavalry will always be weaker than what the Catholics can field, so you have to make your troops work together, always try to double one unit of the enemy.
If you take an Islamic faction, it's always a good idea to play a team game, as this gives you more of a chance to be victorious...

[Doug-Thompson]

Destroy Spain in the first few moves, and the Almohads will be fine.

Almohads have bonused AUM in Granada, bonused Berber camels in Morrocco, bonused dhows in Tunisia, bonused Saharan cavalry in Cyrenia and desert archers and Nubian spears everywhere. All their strength is in the early game. Most of the time, the Almohads will attack Egypt after conquering Spain and build up a fleet. Then they watch the trade income flow in. If they get into Armenia, they get bonused Armenian heavy cavalry too.

Everything depends on an fast, powerful, agressive start.

[RollingWave]

Agreeed... the Almohads are definately a real powerhouse early on... very good posiion, decent wealth and dirt cheap troops (who are pretty good for dirty cheap troops) plus easy access to both the atlantic and the mediterrain trade....

Though yes they do get weaker in high and late, but then again they get arbs and all the cannons... so as long as you destroyed spain and have a half decent built up by high age it's hard for you to lose.... if you can win in quality than win with quantity....

Also a important point is that the almos get more high star generals and heirs than anyone I've seen barring the Byzantians.... which would ofcourse make your low quality troop into high quality troops http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif .... personally I think the quality of units tend to matter very little in campign mode... money and position and smart play will always win as long as you don't have a all peasent army http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif

[Doug-Thompson]

Opps. Just now realized that the thread asks a tactical question ("in battle") and I gave a strategic answer. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

I don't think the early game, when AUM are slaughtering spearmen while their armor protects against primitive archers is what is being asked here.

How do you hold out against crossbowmen and knights? That's a tougher question. The easiest answer seems to be: Sheer weight of numbers, fed by early conquests.

[DemonArchangel]

Unfortunately, the sheer bulk of numbers thing is not too realistic historically.

[Oaty]

Don't forget about them murabition (sp?) infantry, The Almahods javelin men they can do quite some damge behind a wall of spears in hold formation

[jLan]

Use muwahid against knights, then flank with Ghazis or AUM.

[RollingWave]

Well most short range throwers are quiet hard to use effectively in multiplayer because you can't pause...

Though in single player they are the great equalizer of the almohads... you be surprised how much damage naptha and murabins can do to even things like chivalric knights....

In multi... just buff up AUM and arb's valor etc... since your troops are all dirt cheap you should have enough left to buff quiet a bit of valor and armor etc...

[Doug-Thompson]

Quote[/b] (DemonArchangel @ Aug. 14 2003,18:47)]Unfortunately, the sheer bulk of numbers thing is not too realistic historically.
An Almohad conquest of France isn't realistic, but it's fun.

Seriously, there is a thread that gives exactly what you want: Someone who's quite good gave a description of Almohad tactics. He mentioned one of their biggest advantages: Very few survivors get away from AUM, especially when being pursued by Saharan cavalry. I'll look for that post. It was a good one.

[solypsist]

Check the MTW table of contents (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=20;t=6092) and there are some sections that deal with Almohad strategies and troop types for the campaign. Be sure to send Cheetah a "thank you," for his hard work in putting it together.