How to get field battles?

[Kadagar_AV]

In my campaigns, I noticed that 90% or so of the battles are sieges, either attacking or defending...

This is kind of boring... Problem is, it makes most sence to defend in citys/castles, and it's the citys/castles you want to get...

So, are there any advice to get more field battles? Without doing stupid unrealistic things...

[Ramses II CP]

The incompetence of the AI generally prevents the player from fighting good field battles, as the enemy won't train quality troops and won't organize armies intelligently. You have two basic options, you can use the console to spawn stacks for the AI, or you can play a mod (Like Broken Crescent) which helps the AI out with it's field stacks.

You can also wait for the Mongols and Timurids, as they provide pretty good field battles.

In my experience you can get some okay smallish field battles out of Turkey, Poland, Byzantium, and Hungary in the early game (first 30-40 turns) and by then you're not far from the Mongols. Try playing Venice and going east?

[Shadebeard]

Great advice Ramses. I'm gonna check it out, since I'm also hungry for field battles.

[Old Geezer]

In Kingdoms campaigns, retrofit, and LTC I have been having mostly field battles. I rarely am defending, however; and often have to chase the enemy down. If your army is percieved as being smaller/weaker the AI may be more apt to come out and attack. Often I see it massing to attack a settlement but then it will chicken out when I send a few reinforcements in. The AI is usually, slow, stupid, and cowardly. A good example are the Timurids have been the biggest disapointment ever in my current game. As the Scots I have been eager to stick those elephants with my pikes but with 4+ stacks the Timurids can't breach the walls. They refuse to use their big guns. Two rocket units do 51 percent damage to Antioch's walls. The stupid elephant's walk up to the gates and sit there (firing? causing no damage or casualties) until the fire arrows make them run amuk or they are all killed. The one tower they build burns or their men can't take the wall. The battering rams just sit there and never move? After being reduced to 2 stacks with their bombards intact they just wander around separately and apparently aimlessly until I put them out of thier misery out of boredom. I hope Stainless Steel is better.

[ataribaby]

Like Old Geezer I've been playing Kingdoms and Retrofit, but I've noticed a definite improvement in the constitution of the AI's stacks.

I've not once seen a majority-artillery stack and there seems to be a better mix of cavalry, missile and melee troops used. The AI even seems to combine troops recruited from castles with stacks from towns to form its armies.

I'm not saying it's perfect (spammed all-cavalry armies can be a pain), but there's definitely some improvement in AI stacks in the rebalanced game.

[Old Geezer]

Last week I noticed that the AI had recruited a stack of Spanish troops which was mostly jinetes! My men took more than usual casualties. I sure wish that I could hire some as mercenaries, but I am even happier that the Mongols can't hire them - or for that matter the Milanese or the English (when I'm not one of them). By the way, you can tell when the Mongols are on the way down when you see them hiring mercenaries.