Zorn
11-14-2004, 23:44
OK, I know it is a little poor to boost with a victory over the AI, especially over such a weak one... but nevertheless, that was awesome.
I was defending Messala against the romans. The Scipii had their usual army - lots of Hastati, some velites, very few cav. Mostly Hastati, so hey were much better equipped for a street fight then I was. They had more men than I had, about 2:1 if I remember correctly. And, on top of that, a juli detachment would also join the fun.
What I had was 4 units of round shields, 4 iberian infantery, 2 mercenary scirmisher, one unit of mercenary hoplites, a long shield cav and elephants both at half strenght and a general. Not so bad, but nothing that would stand up well in a long fight against the roman masses.
The city had only wooden walls, so I decided not to defend them at all.
A straight road lead from the gate right to the center.
At the entrance of the center, I placed all my infantery. It was really crowded, with 5 units in the same place, but I had to hold the line.
In the middle between the gate ant the center, there was a road entering in the street. There I placed all my round shield cav. If the romans would send all their troops right to center, the would be stopped at my infantery, at least for a while. Then my round shield cav can charge out of the road and hit them right in the flank/rear.
The romans did act as I wished, a seemingly endless stream of red and blue soldiers pouring throug the road at my lines. They charged in, pushed my lines back a little, but they held. Now it was all about timing. If I send my cav in too early, the romans morale would be still intact and my charge could not break them, and I would surely lose the following melee.
If I charge too late, however, my infantery line will be broken, and I might rout a unit or two, but that won`t be enough by far.
You might have guessed it - my timing was perfect. ~:)
When the first units in the front started to flee, the cav hit home at their rear, causing the well known multi rout.
So far, there is nothing special - trapping the AI, charging with cav, causing multi routs. We all have been there and done that. What makes this one special is that it happens in a very narrow road. I play with huge unit sizes, and I tell you, you cannot beliefe the slaugter. The romans led right into the charging cav, wich filled the road from one side to the other. I don`t understand why they didn`t fight to the death, since there was no way out, but I was quite pleased they didn`t.
The killing speed was incredible. I thnk my cav extinguished 6 or 7 units in 5 seconds. They died faster than I could watch it.
The one moment the whole street was crowded with romans - and the very next moment there was just my cav standing on a bloody carpet with this "did we do that?" look in their eyes.
I was defending Messala against the romans. The Scipii had their usual army - lots of Hastati, some velites, very few cav. Mostly Hastati, so hey were much better equipped for a street fight then I was. They had more men than I had, about 2:1 if I remember correctly. And, on top of that, a juli detachment would also join the fun.
What I had was 4 units of round shields, 4 iberian infantery, 2 mercenary scirmisher, one unit of mercenary hoplites, a long shield cav and elephants both at half strenght and a general. Not so bad, but nothing that would stand up well in a long fight against the roman masses.
The city had only wooden walls, so I decided not to defend them at all.
A straight road lead from the gate right to the center.
At the entrance of the center, I placed all my infantery. It was really crowded, with 5 units in the same place, but I had to hold the line.
In the middle between the gate ant the center, there was a road entering in the street. There I placed all my round shield cav. If the romans would send all their troops right to center, the would be stopped at my infantery, at least for a while. Then my round shield cav can charge out of the road and hit them right in the flank/rear.
The romans did act as I wished, a seemingly endless stream of red and blue soldiers pouring throug the road at my lines. They charged in, pushed my lines back a little, but they held. Now it was all about timing. If I send my cav in too early, the romans morale would be still intact and my charge could not break them, and I would surely lose the following melee.
If I charge too late, however, my infantery line will be broken, and I might rout a unit or two, but that won`t be enough by far.
You might have guessed it - my timing was perfect. ~:)
When the first units in the front started to flee, the cav hit home at their rear, causing the well known multi rout.
So far, there is nothing special - trapping the AI, charging with cav, causing multi routs. We all have been there and done that. What makes this one special is that it happens in a very narrow road. I play with huge unit sizes, and I tell you, you cannot beliefe the slaugter. The romans led right into the charging cav, wich filled the road from one side to the other. I don`t understand why they didn`t fight to the death, since there was no way out, but I was quite pleased they didn`t.
The killing speed was incredible. I thnk my cav extinguished 6 or 7 units in 5 seconds. They died faster than I could watch it.
The one moment the whole street was crowded with romans - and the very next moment there was just my cav standing on a bloody carpet with this "did we do that?" look in their eyes.