All melee armys?

[Katasaki Hirojima]

THats my kind of army.I'v found that if you make all melee,you can often flank the hth lines of a more balanced army,crush them,and make the archers run with the Samurai.

I make mostly Yari Sam and some Warrior Monks for a elite,line breaking core.I use the Samurai as frontal chargers,since arrows don't hurt them so bad,then have Monks come in as a second wave.Going around the melee line and attacking on the flanks,almost surrounding enemy forces.

If I can get his melee lines boxed in like that,They will be crushed and nothing chould save his 5-6 archers who have been sitting around waiting for a clear shot.

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"I maintain none the less that Yin-Tang Dualism can bo overcome.With sufficent enlightment,we can give substance to any distinction:Mind without body,north without south,pleasure without pain.Renember,enlightment is a function of will power,not of physical strength."-Shang-ji Yang,essays on mind and matter.

[ShadowKill]

hehe now plz as soon as you get a chance come over to my game and do that and see how it works on me http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Fear not the sword to your front, but the blade at your back.

Clan Shades
Shades (http://www.geocities.com/shadesofshogun/index.html)

[Tachikaze]

I think armies like that can work. Here are two reasons why:

1) Players usually practice tactics against mixed armies. Surprising them with an unusual force can make them confused or even panic. All-cavalry armies can have the same effect.

2) Though using all melee creates weaknesses, it also creates an imbalance in the battle. Imbalances can work in an attacker's favor, much like putting your strongest troops on the left flank. The right flank is sacrificed to give you an advantage on the left.

The main foe of melee units is missiles. But when too many melee units charge them, they can only get off a few vollies before they turn tail. Once melee units engage most of the enemy's cavalry and missile units, they've won. The enemy's only chance is to keep them at a distance.

Sure, if you know someone is going to make an all-melee army, you can find a way to counter it. But if your opponent surprises you, especially on a forested map, I'll give at least even odds.

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A murky puddle becomes clear when it is still.

[This message has been edited by Tachikaze (edited 01-14-2001).]

[ltj]

"tah-chee-kah-zey", with emphasis on "chi"? :|

[This message has been edited by ltj (edited 01-14-2001).]

[solypsist]

Hmmm...I've been surprised a few times by facing all melee armies, and on the surface it could work, but a good general will usually use such limited abilities to his own advantage.
For example, most people like one or two cavalry archer units, and with no opposing enemy missile fire, the CA are free to sit back and fire away at any elite units (monks, etc.) So that by the time this all-melee army reaches it's destination, it's in poor shape indeed. I do it all the time, even to more evenly balanced armies, and so far it's a formula that works.

[leoknite]

Ha that wont work, everyone it's a dumb tactic and only muscle heads would use it, simple way to beat that set samurai and archers on the front keep strong units on the flanks use you archers to block flanks, then cavalary and muskeets flank em they will be morally reduced, and run like there was no tommorow!! ITS OVER!

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Ronin alliance our power lies in our seperated nature, and united we are as strong as any clan, honour to alliance!

[Anssi Hakkinen]

All-melee armies are a very serious proposition in SP campaign games, where the opponent doesn't whine about you tipping the odds in your favor before attacking. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

I've enjoyed repeated spectacular successes by replacing the normal army's archers/teppô with YC and then flanking the enemy archers in heavy fog or heavy rain. Strong wind also completely confuses any enemy who counts on archer power to whittle down your assault troops. Nowadays, whenever I can afford it, I maintain separate Line Korps (deliberate spelling, I use Wehrmacht organization http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif) for normal battles and Shock Korps for maximum HtH combat punch in favorable weather conditions. The latter work like charm in bridge battles... http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

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"Understood the Sword his meaning, / Understood the hero's question, / And it answered him as follows: / 'Wherefore at thy heart's desire / Should I not thy flesh devour, / And drink up thy blood so evil? / I who guiltless flesh have eaten, / Drank the blood of those who sinned not?'"
-The Kalevala, Poem XXXVI, verses 327-334

[This message has been edited by Anssi Hakkinen (edited 01-14-2001).]

[ShadowKill]

IM A muscle head hehe and i must never win http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Fear not the sword to your front, but the blade at your back.

Clan Shades
Shades (http://www.geocities.com/shadesofshogun/index.html)

[Bushido_Bandit]

leoknite in retrospect it is always easy to counter an army after you know what style it is and what units are in it. However, when faced with not knowing what the enemy is going to field I'm sure that you would be suprised by a formation of an all melee army, as I'm sure that your own personal army is not formed just for the task of breaking an all melee army. In essence, you can counter any type of army as long as you have the right balance in your own..........but first you have to know what the person is thinking.......

[Soapyface]

Anssi
I'm intrigued by your Wehrmacht organisation. How does that work then?

[Anssi Hakkinen]

Oh - it doesn't, actually. It was a joke. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

I just tend to name units in order to be better able to tell them apart: the daimyô's army is the 1st Guards, the heirs' are the 2nd and 3rd Sturm, etc. It's another way of bringing some additional interest to the game, and it does clear up the map a bit. The STW strategic modeling doesn't allow much unit structuring. I do this mostly because I don't have a life. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

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"Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, / With the very bluest stockings, / On the ground the haft set firmly, / On the heath the hilt pressed tightly, / Turned the point against his bosom, / And upon the point he threw him, / Thus he found the death he sought for, / Cast himself into destruction."
-The Kalevala, Poem XXXVI, verses 335-342

[NoFearKokoro]

I have tried one time all-melee units in MP game and that was incredible fun. I had 16 WM's and divided them into two teams. One of them was used to support my ally and the other was used to delay the other opponent's supporting force. And eventually my trick worked as the opponent followed my other 8 monks and left out his ally fighting us alone. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

[wigwam86]

i have found rushing the enemy on totomi, 5000 koku (could do less), with an army of ND can get him way off gaurd and cause him to panic. this works very well in fog and heavy rain.