This is a brief guide on how to use "barbarians" units properly on the battlefield for the best effect. "Barbarian" infantry, by this meant the whole aggregate of units from "Barbarian" factions, have a quite peculiar way of fighting that is of their own and should not be confused with the infantry of more "civilized" people, and when I say that, it is because it really applies to all or most of them. "Barbarians" have different uses on the battlefield, and different tactics too.
First, barbarian units rely on shock. Every infantry, cavalry and so on is geared around having a powerful charge, and if you realize it, a powerful charge is the crux of the issue here at hand.
Most barbarian units are poorly equipped - the whole Gallic and Sweboz roster has very little armour, for example, unless for the very expensive top tier. This means that "Barbarian" units are very vulnerable to missile exchanges, and while they might have the capability to skirmish in a prolonged fashion, that isn't really their main role; barbarian infantry isn't there to fight a prolonged battle either, for the matter, because they'll suffer far more under exhaustion than "civilized" units due to their lower average discipline and their excessive reliance on skill for defense, as opposed to armour.
On the contrary, if you are to fight with a "barbarian" army, you must forget every one of your "Greco-Roman" or "civilized" notions of fight - these factions have the adequate troops to hold the enemy and to win by attrition. They really don't have an exceptional fighting capability, but they can defend themselves very well, and they are often very well armoured. "Barbarian" units are the contrary: not only they are badly equipped, as we have been told, but they are numerous and the brunt of their strength is in their charge. It goes on that every "barbarian" unit, from the lowest Gaeroas or Doryphoroi to the best elites is at the core an assault troop. All of them have the highest "charge" values in the whole game, some units like the Gaesatae having a charge close to sword cavalry numbers; with enough mass to make it even more fearsome.
Another important notion is that for many "elites" and even for many line troops, the formations lack the sort of cohesion and tightness that one would expect of more "civilized" troops - that is not to say that there are no barbarian units which are disciplined and have tight formations, only that they are relatively rare and play a smaller role, especially if you're playing factions such as the Celts. These units have instead an "offensive" focus. Historically, they would probably lack the cohesion of a mass group at all, and might be in only as a "formation" because it is impossible to represent them as individual guys running around the field. The disadvantage in defense is addressed by the fact that while the most disorganized elites might not be really suited for absorbing anything, they are superb offensive troops which keep a tight mass to ram the enemy. During combat itself they might be able to keep very shallow formations, allowing every man to be properly close to the enemy and fight as opposed to stay as a reserve inside the formation, as with more "civilized" troops.
The battle-winning solution for "Barbarians", then, is the Charge. The "ideal" battle should be short, brutal and decisive, consisting of a massive frontal ramming of the enemy with your troops which will cause enemy lines to melt under pressure - ironically, this has the best effect on other "barbarian" factions too, although "civilized" units centered around defense can also rout fast in the ideal circumstances which the player shall ever pursue. IF the player keeps this in mind, he will find out that even the seemingly lowly and crappy roster of lower tier barbarian spearmen (Gaeroas and Doryphoroi) can perform very well in a battle, and suffer less casualties - again, charge, and make sure they are not facing any sort of prolonged resistance, else they will die and rout way too easily.
====================PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF BARBARIAN WARFARE==================
I'll run a test battle as the Casse to demonstrate how the principles above can be applied into the game. I'll use a specific tactic which may apply to every other "barbarian" faction, and correctly used has an enormous power.
This is what I found to be the "ideal" Barbarian battle line, and historically accurate to boot. It is composed of three lines, all of them very shallow: the Champions lead the army on the first line, the Swordsmen and other professional warriors are deployed on the middle, and the younger and less powerful warriors (in this case the Spearmen) are deployed behind.
The "historical" rationale behind this is that Celts always deployed their very best warriors on the front - these men were battle eager and had to prove themselves. In-game this means they are on the front and will be leading the charge; while they may not be necessarily composed of "Champions" all the time for every faction, they should be your most powerful troops with the highest charge values. Kluddargos, one of the units here, has a Total Charge of 10, which makes it a very powerful and fierce impact unit more than a can opener due to the AP attribute. The other units, Eiras and Calawre, have less powerful charges, but they are also the most heavily armoured, equipped and trained forces in the roster. These guys have the gut and the power to charge first and stay on the front without routing or dying quickly, something you should expect less of the semi-professional bulk of your forces. As such, while it might apparently be imprudent and expensive to place them in the first line, that's really the best way it works - the lower tier units die much faster even behind, so you'll actually have more champions than levies if you fight too many battles without reinforcing even if your champions carry on the bulk of the action - plus - your charge won't be as effective without these elites, which can be decisive to victory or defeat.
The second line is made of "Swordsmen". In-game they aren't really different from the "Spearmen" except for the fact their charge is higher (8) and they are a little bit steadier and more prepared to fight. These units will be the bulk of your forces and also the bulk of your charge - while they may not be the best or the fiercest, they can pack quite a punch and are numerous. They should, like the Champions, be packed in very shallow formations - no more than 4 or 5 lines per unit. This increases the number of men charging at the enemy at the same time and allows for better flanking, much like cavalry should be handled.
The third line is made of "Spearmen" - your lowest tier units. Their charge is the lowest, but they should be deployed in the same manner as the other lines. Their main role is add extra mass and push to your infantry, something they do well enough for their cost and size.
Eventually, if you have deployed units in this manner, you'll find out that the divisions become quickly confused as the battle progresses - the Spearmen start getting on the front and so on. The main role of the "three lines" is to make sure your best troops are charging first, and exclusively for it. Later on, you'll want the number and power boost that the extra units make on melee, in case you're facing fiercer resistance, which should be limited if you're doing it well.
You can deploy misc troops as you like. Intimidation is also a crucial feature of "Barbarian" warfare, and as such you should always have chanting or intimidating units close to your line - here there are only "Cidainh" because I wanted a small battle, but in a large scale engagement it's not rare to have an entire legion of intimidating troops: Uirodusious, Gaesatae, Pictone Neitos, Drwdae, Chariots and the like. Most barbarian factions get a generous selection of such troops. Combined with the actual charge, having scary looking fellows facing you should be enough to rout a lot of men in contact and melt the enemy line, our goal here. Don't neglect them!
=========================BATTLE EXPERIMENTS==============================
So, to the battle properly. Here I'll be brief... You should be quick and decisive - don't let anyone behind, and in most cases don't even bother with throwing javelins at the enemy. I've read that most Celts carried at most one javelin, designed to be light and thrown on the run immediately before the charge. This cannot be replicated with the TW engine so just charge them.
Make sure you concentrate your forces. Always have many and many units charging one "section" of the enemy line, as opposed to distributing it fairly. A fair fight is not what anyone should seek, let alone a "barbarian" army. In fact you should have quite a lot of units ramming the enemy frontally, so that the cumulative effect of their charges can be overwhelming. This is very important!
Finally, be sure to catch the enemy unprepared. Here the AI is still deploying their forces - if you manage to charge the enemy without a proper countercharge or bracing, their units will die much faster.
Many units on the enemy side should now be "Shaken", or having plainly routed in contact. Properly done, and you can rout even the most powerful enemy units in an instant during the Charge phase, and that's what happened in this battle - the enemy Neitos and Gaesatae got rammed from the front by Kluddargos and the rest of the infantry (most of them just Botroas), their morale went down quickly and they routed with barely a fight. Having Cidainh or other such intimidation helps, again.
The second phase is the mopping up - most of the time some of the best among the enemy, or the most numerous, will tremble but not rout. In this phase you should use your (hopefully superior) numbers to surround them and destroy them while you pursue the routers. Most importantly, make sure that your men are not facing superior or determined opposition; you'll be surprised at how fast they can rout and die, especially if they're just the lower tier of your troops. Concentrate your troops, that's the best advice.
The rest is about winning the game. By now the enemy should be running for the hills, even the elites, your units should be in quick pursuit and your troops regrouping. Avoid having them run and detach themselves from your line lest they might face locally superior opposition and rout.
And... That's all! Having a proper charge is the best way of winning as a "Barbarian" faction, even against seemingly superior and invincible troops as Gaesatae. It makes your lower tier far more powerful and should be your focus on every campaign - remember! Short, brutal and decisive.
Here are the results I got from properly charging my troops and following the above strategy (against the AI):
...And much more. Provided your faction has good shock troops, you'll go high and win many such victories. I've tested this with the Aedui, the Casse and the Sweboz, and for all of them it worked very well!
Barbarian Battle Guide (Pic Heavy!)
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Originally Posted by SwissBarbar
, but I can assure you it works if the units have a "powerful charge" (e.g. 8 or more).
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