Fighting at forests

**NikosMaximilian** · 05-17-2011, 05:14

Hire Germanic/Celtic regionals and local mercenaries, forget about battle formations and chaaaarge! chaaaaaarge! chaaaaarge!!!. Maybe leave in reserve the FM, another cavalry unit and some skirmishers to flank the enemy and shower the ones with no armour with javelins (if possible in the ensuing mayhem).

**Power2the1** · 05-19-2011, 21:12

I do not mind, when playing as the Celts or Germans, fighting in forests. It's the 'barbarian way' and historically they are excellent hit-and-run ambusher types with large pitched battles as a secondary fighting preference.

Still the huge trees are somewhat of a nuisance.

**antisocialmunky** · 05-20-2011, 05:32

What about chariot + auto calc?

**eo9o** · 06-10-2011, 18:08

To fight in forrests was dificult yesterday and now a days too! Take a look on Vietinã war to remember that...
My advice is:
Put your infantry in loose formation and attack them like animals! try to flank them with your cavalary or round the enemy lines and attack them behind.
Use this formation to enter in a forrest:
10 heavy infantry, prefer swordman units to spearman;
5 light infantry or spearmans;
4 heavy cavalary;
1 General.

In a jungle, fight like animal, defensive formations or organized attack don't work like in open fields.

**Kromulan** · 06-12-2011, 08:59

This is one of my pet peaves with this game... No ancient commander fought in forest... They used the forests to define the battlefield.
Did Boadicea's army march through the forest to flank the Romans? No! The Romans used the forest to cover their flanks and force the Britons to attack their narrow front. Forests should be impassible on the tactical map, like they were to armies historically.
Anything other than ambush in a forest is totally ahistorical and I do not participate in this BS.
I march to my Greek enemy and attack him. He sets up his phalanxes in a.... forest??? Reload, march 1 depleted skirmisher to contact, auto-win, move on...
This is the reason I don't play Celts or Germans in this game anymore.

**eo9o** · 06-14-2011, 18:39

Originally Posted by Kromulan

This is one of my pet peaves with this game... No ancient commander fought in forest... They used the forests to define the battlefield.
Did Boadicea's army march through the forest to flank the Romans? No! The Romans used the forest to cover their flanks and force the Britons to attack their narrow front. Forests should be impassible on the tactical map, like they were to armies historically.
Anything other than ambush in a forest is totally ahistorical and I do not participate in this BS.
I march to my Greek enemy and attack him. He sets up his phalanxes in a.... forest??? Reload, march 1 depleted skirmisher to contact, auto-win, move on...
This is the reason I don't play Celts or Germans in this game anymore.

I not agree... Ambush using florests as camouflage was used at past end still in use today. The buttle's tatics need to be change to fight in florests it's the unic thing to take care.
To your self improvement, take a look in this link, You will see real battle reports form the anchient age in forests:
http://www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de/index/getlang/en
http://www.livius.org/te-tg/teutoburg/teutoburg01.htm

But, usualy generals avert to battle in forests.

**Ca Putt** · 06-15-2011, 01:02

generally large armies "met" for a battle and thus choose terrain that favors their troops(or is to the likeing of their troops). So restricting movement would be the wrong way to go as armies DID move through forests, eventho they preffered roads. A "solution" would be to restict all non-ambush fights to open plains on the battlemap which I think is totally impossible :D

btw, yes those hellenic battles in a ~~hilly~~ mountainous and forested spots are really annoying no ~~Greek~~ general in his right mindwould fight in such wooded canyons as you see them in EB western greece. When two armies(of similar tradition) meet they set up camps and fight on a field where they can deploy all their men without the fear of loosing some in the woods or due to cliff-hangin. Sometimes a army assaulted the enemy camp without first defeating the Army (meggido).

**Titus Marcellus Scato** · 06-16-2011, 15:07

Originally Posted by Kromulan

This is one of my pet peaves with this game... No ancient commander fought in forest... They used the forests to define the battlefield.
Did Boadicea's army march through the forest to flank the Romans? No! The Romans used the forest to cover their flanks and force the Britons to attack their narrow front. Forests should be impassible on the tactical map, like they were to armies historically.
Anything other than ambush in a forest is totally ahistorical and I do not participate in this BS.
I march to my Greek enemy and attack him. He sets up his phalanxes in a.... forest??? Reload, march 1 depleted skirmisher to contact, auto-win, move on...
This is the reason I don't play Celts or Germans in this game anymore.

If you attack an AI army, and it sets up in a forest where you don't want to fight, then get the AI to come out to you.

Set up your general with a couple of other units as a 'sacrificial decoy' force in a wide clearing, or outside the forest. Then hide all your other units deep in the forest, on the edge of the map, allowing a wide unit-free route between your general and the enemy. This should draw the enemy army out to attack your general. Once you have drawn the enemy army out into the open, and ideally pinned them down in hand to hand combat so they can't redeploy, your hidden units run out to take the enemy on the flanks and rear. The trick is, your decoy force must be weak enough to entice the enemy out to attack, but strong enough to engage them just long enough for your hidden flanking units to come to the rescue. In the worst case scenario, your decoy units might take very heavy losses, but that doesn't matter as long as you win the overall battle.