luring tactics

[middy]

Well the toutorial told me that the enemy could be lured into attacking a weaker units and then you could outflank them with your stronger. But in that toutorial you had a nice gorge with trees on both sides and units in hiding.

Can this tactic be used at all?.. I always end up charging head on or holding at higher ground.

[Exile]

I've never had an ambush quite like in the tutorial

I find that horse archers are most useful for luring the AI to attack.

If you are defending, you have some more options. I am not a big fan of splitting up my force, but I will hide troops in nearby woods if available. In the real game the AI 'sees' the hidden units from a pretty far distance So some of my attempted ambushes have turned out ugly

[econ21]

I started a thread on this topic some time back on the main forum. The lure can be an immensely effective, even cheesy, tactic against the AI. If he is entrenched on a hill, as the attacker you can set up on an opposing hill. Send out a unit to act as bait, retreat it as he pursues and then smash the pursuers as they approach your hill. That way you can turn a difficult offensive battle into an easy defensive one. The best part is, the AI often acts piecemeal so the pursuers are just one or two units you can easily take down. When they are in trouble, the AI then reinforces failure and you can defeat his army in detail.

Someone told me the key to attacking in MTW is to make the AI move; the lure is one such tactic (flanking another).

[Rob The Bastard]

Have your cavalry at the outer edges of your formation, from there they can flank or make feints to entice the enemy. when defending they can roam behind the enemy and attack the catapults etc. and charge the enemies rear. I try to gauge where the attack will take place on my lines and manuvoure troops that are away from the contact point around to flank the enemy while my spear units hold position. There might be several smaller skirmishes going on at the same time and I use the cavalry as a rapid response unit to wreak havoc whereever I can bring them to bear without to much risk to their lives.

[ichi]

Middy:

I agree w/ Exile that Cavarly Archers are good for this, but in some Early Period games some factions don't have access to them. (in STW the Horse Archers were one of the best units and easy to get).

Peasants make nice bait. Send one of these cheap units into harm's way and sometimes the AI will attack. If you have horse units on the flanks (hidden in trees or just over a rise) then you can smash into the sides of the units that have been lured out.

ichi

[Herodotus]

I often fight my battles 'uphill' and I find it a very winnable tactic. The AI is such that it sees fighting downhill to be a major advantage (which no doubt it is). I use a few expendable 'blockers' to take the brunt of the downhill charge then flank with heavier units that have been slogging it up the hill, the light (fast) units are sent running around to claim the high ground and then fall into the rear. As long as the blockers hold their ground the tactic is viable (if they break it can be a disaster&#33. This tactic should not be used to close to the edge of the map as you may get enemy reinforcements coming over the hill I should mention that I always try to fight a profitable skirmish before closing in such a battle.