Help needed regarding tactics

[speedythefreak]

Hello all !!!

I'm far from being a great tactical commander, in fact i'm quite a newbie at it. I've a major question regarding the greek cities in battle mode. Since the greeks have a really weak cavalry, what should I do to protect my flanks against for example roman cavalry or legionary cavalry, they outflank me all the time. I've seen some other thread talking about horseshoe formation, how does it look like ???

Thanx in advance

Speedfreak

[Razor1952]

I've had the same experience, those phalanxs are sooo slow in the open , the enemy cavalry just take out your peltasts and weak cavalry leaving your phalanx helpless.

Obviously if you have a big enough army postion those peltasts behind your phalanxs arranged in a semicirle to guard your flanks. If not....>

Alternatively alt- attack with your peltasts to engage (not skirmish) the cavalry close to your phalanx and attack with your phalanx(break phalanx and run if necessary ) but engage that cavalry.

If you have cavalry, circle your phalanxs with your cavalry (with theirs in hot pursuit) till your can engage their cavalry with your phalanx. The use your cavalry to flank attack (alt- attack if missile cavalry).


In summary its all about getting your strong units to engage theirs and flanking with your manoeverable ones.


Horseshoe formation looks well ...like a horseshoe with phalanxs pointing out and your weak units protected inside.

[fabuloso]

if all else fail try recruiting some mercenaries there must be some thracian and bartarnae units available on the greek peninsula-they're fast enough and can engage the roman cavalry effectively at your flanks

[R'as al Ghul]

When playing the Greecs, your main force against Cavalry are your phalanxes.
Against the threat of being flanked, you obviously have to position your phalanxes on the flanks.
What I do is to position them in a long line. Now I rotate the outer units at 45 degrees. This gives the second unit, the one that faces the enemy directly, a good flank protection.
If you face massive Cav, rotate two units at the end and deploy some Greek CAv behind them.
It is very important to micromanage this flank when attacked. To receive the charge I put them in deep formation, very close to the neighbouring unit and turn guard mode off. Once engaged by enemy CAV, flank them with your Greek Cav or a Hoplite unit which is not in phalanx mode. It's sometimes helpful to not have them in phalanx.
It's also important to weaken CAv units before they reach you. Bring some archers and concentrate your fire on the charging Cav while they're out of melee range. Once engaged make your archers shoot at his other units to prevent friendly fire.
Basically you just need to stay put when you want to defend CAv with phalanxes. They always need some time to settle into perfect formation, so think before you move them.

R'as

[Salfin]

One thing I've noticed that is very difficult with Phalanxes is after you've engaged your enemy it's very easy for your line to dissolve very quickly, as different Phalanx units turn and move out of their line as the enemy units run about, change positions and flee.

I've found a number of times, especialy when fighting the Romans as the Greeks, that after I meet them with my Phalanxes, or just before their Cohorts will run all around, making it difficult to create a solid line. It's very useful in times like these to make good use of the Phalanx formation button so you can move your troops around quickly and rediploy them. Don't be afraid to take them out of formation, just do it carefully. Also make good use of peltasts, and heavy petlasts. If and when your line breaks appart, and the battle turns into chaotic group fighting, they can move from battle to battle, both flanking and guarding flanks.

The most important thing is, if you can to keep unity, you will gain the day. :)

[Vulgarius]

The key to using light or "poor" cavalry is to keep them in their domain. By this I mean since they are not tanks like Cataphracts, do not try to use them as such. Since they are relatively weak you will have to use them in a combined arms fashion. By this I mean your cavalry units will have to work with other unit types to bring about the desired result....which in this case is to get the unit to rout first while it is relatively intact and then destroy it which is what light cavalry is best at.

That being said, how do we get to this result. We know from the game mechanics that units suffer morale penalties when there are enemy units on certain flanks I.e side or rear.

Chose your unit mix to include unit types that are good at holding an enemy units attention. The Greeks are ideally suited for this with their Phalanx units. They also have excellent Peltasts which are excellent at drawing units out of line. If you have javelin armed cavalry this is good to. I'm not sure that the Greeks have those though. Anyhow the idea is to disorganize the enemy lines with a line of skirmishers such as but not limited to Peltasts and archers or slingers. These units rout easily but recover on their own easier. Try this Pseudo Canea for example:

ENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMY




SK SK SK SK SK SK SK SK SK


CAVALRY PHALANXPHALANXPHALANXPHALANX CAVALRY



Your skirmishers wil yield and retreat backwards, left and right untill they get behind your Phalanx where the enemy gets stuck on the end of the Sarissa. Like this:



ENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMY
CAVALRY PHALANXPHALANXPHALANXPHALANX CAVALRY

SK SK SK SK SK SK SK SK SK

Next. Deactivate skirmish mode for your skirmishers. They are now light fast Infantry so split them left and right and have them follow your cavalry like this:

SK CAVALRY CAVALRY SK

SK ENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMYENEMY SK
SK PHALANXPHALANXPHALANXPHALANX SK


Now have your Cavalry and Skirmishers pounce on the side and rear of the enemy formation. Even good quality units will often break when being charged from 3 sides...even if the charging units are wussies. That was text book and worked for Hannibal but in actaullity it often looks like this:




ENEMY ENEMY ENEMY
ENEMY ENEMY
CAVALRY PHALANXPHALANXPHALANXPHALANX CAVALRY

SK SK SK SK SK SK SK SK SK


Of course this could change due to the enemy's force make up so be prepared to be a little flexible!

Good Hunting!
Vulgarius.

[Vulgarius]

Looks like the spaces did not all print so it looks funny...If someone can edit this so it looks a little better centered. THX

[ichi]

If your main line won't hold head-to-head against the enemy, then holding the flanks doesn't matter.

If your main line can defeat the enemy straight on, and you are only vulnerable to a flanking manuever, then one option is to use cheap, large units in an attempt to slow down the flanking. RTW fights seem to be decided relatively quickly and if you can simply impede the flanking attack then you might have time to win the center and turn to face the flank.

Alternatively, use a Phalanx facing the flank to hold and then use the light fast cavalry to flank the flankers. Even if your flank falls it will take time and the residual flankers will be greatly reduced.

Positioning is also important - if you chase cav with inf you won't be successful often. Place anti-flankers close in behind the line close to the end of the line (as opposed to further out on the flanks) and let the enemy flankers try to make a move then block. But don't go chasing.



ichi