Wardogs strategy

[Maltz]

Hi there,

I am not at all a good doggie master, so mostly I only carry one or two unit of wardogs with me, and most of the times they weren't really useful anyways.

What I usually do is, I set loose the doggies before my main charge, so the dogs are kind of like free meat pads (if I pull back the masters). However, they don't really kill a lot this way, and I rarely see them causing an morale devastation. They also takes up space so my army has less engagement line to the target, thus killing/routing them slower.

I also found wardogs with limited value after its initial target has been routed. They just keep chasing the routers of their original victim all the way out of the field. Is it possible to ask the doggies to charge a second unit? I know it is impossible to bring them back to the "leashed" state.

Beast masters, please provide your valuable tips and experiences.

p.s.
Last night I faced some Scythian horde on the field. Soon after the battle starts, the chosen archers (long-ranged? forgot) marched forward, obviously trying to shoot me. I then released my wardogs directly towards them, followed by an all-out HA + melee cavalry rush on two flanks.

To my surprise these chosen archers routed in a few seconds! I have never seen AI rout in a few seconds during a 1 vs. 1. I wonder whether wardogs are always a deadly weapon against foot missle troops because "they can only aim for the keepers"...? :)

[Shottie]

Im not a doggie master either, but all I do is send my dogs at the center of the line, or the flanks, or a weak spot. Sometimes I will send 2-3 units to one side of the enemy formation, then send my Calvary to the other side, while archers pour fire into the center, its usually works lol

[drone]

Free meat pads, good one! I find them useful for absorbing charges from cavalry, especially for protecting skirmishing foot archers. I think I saw a post that they can pin chariots (possible bug), haven't tried it though. Once they pin a unit, you can feel free to shoot into the melee (pull back the handlers though). They are disposable, although this may offend (R)SPCA types...

If they rout a unit, they will chase it until it is dead, or they will chase them off the map. If the routed unit dies to a man, they seem to head for the nearest enemy unit and attack. If I have a spare light horse unit, I usually send them to finish the routing unit off before they hit the red line, since the dogs are a little slow. Killing off that unit sends the dogs off to the next enemy. I think they are gone once they go past the red line, but they do keep killing routers all the way to the map edge, I don't think any other unit does this.

I'll have to try pinning chariots tonight, and maybe test the archer range issue as well. If they can pin chariots, I think it raises the cheese factor some. Let slip the dogs of war!

[drone]

After doing a bunch of tests, here is what I found:

The dogs are under control until they enter the charge animation. The handlers and dogs seem to start this animation at the same time, once this has begun, the dogs are out of your control. This is a good time to pull the handlers back behind your lines. Once the dogs are loose, it doesn't look like they will rout, even if the handlers do the dogs will continue to fight.

If the enemy charges your wardog unit, they will go after the handlers. It seems that cavalry can drive through the dogs and get to the handlers, but infantry get pinned by the dogs. If charged by cav, get the handlers behind a decent unit for survival.

Archers do not shoot the dogs, all arrows go towards the handlers. Keep the handlers back and it's not a problem. The archers will melee the dogs, which leaves them open to a charge from other units. In my simple combats, horse archers would break through the dogs and chase the handlers, if you can run the handlers behind a decent infantry unit, they should be safe, and the dogs will come in behind them once they are engaged.

Chariot units seemed to enjoy chasing the dogs around. They will go for the handlers, and are not pinned by the dogs at all. It did seem to take them a while to kill the whole unit, this might be because the dogs don't rout. Not sure what would happen in a large battle (target-rich environment), maybe the chariots will pick other targets instead of focusing on the handlers.

[pyrocryo]

Usually I use my dogs when I open a cavalry battles. The dogs are effective enough to disrupt enemy cavalry long enough for my cavalry to adjust their line of attack and maximize the charge bonus. After that, if lucky, my dogs will nip enemy infantry and again my cavalry can reform and ready to charge.

[Ziu]

Dogs are great for halting a charging enemy unit. Infantry or cavalry.
Any unit that you want to keep out of the main fray are a good target for dogs.
Keep an eye on the handlers though they sometimes run off to fight with the dogs even though you have told them to get back behind the front.