Battle tactics

[DEB8]

@ Matt

Start with an easy faction (it's also 'fuzzy memory' for me to recommend which), start on easy difficulty until you get a good feel for tactics, and raise the bar from there.

From the Beginers Guide : For the Medieval game try the English (nice location, good units with even better ones available when the clock hits 1205, reasonable income), the Byzantines (no need to worry about the Pope, awesome units which slowly become outdated, potential for massive income), the Egyptians (no Pope, isolated position which is easy to protect, potentially large income), the Danes (only one province to manage) or the Spanish (really good units, small at the start so they are easy to manage, can expand into Muslim territory easily, quite rich and they have easy access to iron).

[ For reference my single MTW campaign to date was : the English. I am currently playing the Saxons ( Wessex ) in the Viking Invasion variant. ]

Anyways...use the weather to your advantage when you can. If the enemy is archer heavy, fight in the rain---it reduces archer effectiveness. If the enemy is cavalry heavy, fight during the winter---cavalry tire much faster than infantry in the snow. Need to force a bridge crossing---fight in the fog.

I fully agree with the first two here ; the third is a new one on me - I must remember that one !!

[ReluctantSamurai]

the third is a new one on me - I must remember that one !!

Not fool-proof, no bridge crossing is, but mostly it works like a charm

Refine it even further by lining your side of the river with your own projectile troops (archers, guns, etc.), send across your sacrificial lambs to get decimated, and when the enemy gives chase to your routers...baadaboom Rinse and repeat until you are out of ammunition or sacrificial lambs. Congratulations, you've probably eliminated 30-50% of the forces opposing you.

I know this is the MTW Forum but worthy of note, but an absolutely hilarious scene is this:

Sometimes I play STW using non-historical units, Kensei & Battlefield Ninja being two. Have a Kensei general, and the rest BFN. Attack in the fog...send all your BFN across the bridge (fire-at-will is off, of course) and get into position. Then have your Kensei general step forward onto the bridge (the only visible unit in your army), turn fire-at-will on for the BFN, suggest to your Taisho that he light up his best cigar, sit back and enjoy the murder, madness, and mayhem