Playing Syle

[IrishMike]

Well due to a suggestion over in the Patch Thread, I decided to make a thread were we could all discuss and give tips about playing style. So...Whats you playing style and how does it work for you?

I am a old infantry commander from way back in the early days of MTW, and that carries over to RTW. In my battles I don't rely on archers or calv to win the day. Its the infantry that carries me, and I must say when it comes to Horse Archers I don't have a clue how to use them. They are my greatest weakness.

[Dooz]

I love the infantry battles.

Currently playing as Macedonia. Usually have a pretty balanced stack. 10 phalanx infantry units, 6 cavalry units, 3 archer units, and a general to lead the way.
Phalanx infantry all lined up of course, cavalry on the rear wings, archers behind phalanx. Works like a charm.

[_Aetius_]

I rate myself as a jack of all trades really I suppose im a Infantrymen at heart but im more than capable of controlling armies of cavalry/archers/horse archers etc.

Actually thanks to MTW and playing every faction alot i got the skills necessary. My weakness on MTW was my use of archers and skirmishers id usually forget about them and theyd play a little in the battle, on RTW i can now since archers friendly fire alot less and leave them on attack at will, confident that theyll cause much damage.

Which from the after battle statistics they clearly do making up about 1/5 of all enemy kills on average.

[Baiae]

I'm very much also an infantry-heavy player. As far as I'm concerned I use the infantry to do all the actual work and just use the archers and cavalry for softening up/mopping up the enemy.

[Kaldhore]

I like using balanced armies.

But now and then I will set up a force that is totally cav, to be a qwik response to rebels and stray enemy armies.

I find full phalanx forces difficult as most of the AI armies will try to flank them now and I usually end up engaging the enemy with cav on the flanks rather than the inf in the middle.

[NightStar]

I adapt to what faction I am playing and who I am fighting. When I fight the scythians I use lots of archers. When I play as the greeks I rely almost solely on infantry. Gauls I just love those Foresters, mixed with noble cavalry to break the enemy after they have been shot to pieces

I guess I like to try something new, it is easy enough to win so I like to experiment with different armies.

Right now I have been exploiting an autocalc "bug" to train my armies so I have been relying on 3 gold chevron Archer auxilias as the Julii with gold weapon upgrade which gives missile attack 21. 6 units of those archers usually wins the day...my legionaries just stand and watch until they run out of ammo because then it is mop up time

[FURRY_BOOTS]

playing as barbs i always use the charge like everyone just CHARGE
try to overwhelm your enemy, as so called civilized factions, you have to use the head a bit more, as simply charging will get you killed
my style would be to send in the skirms, wait & see whats going on, when their spent , i then send ithe hastati, its kinda difficult to get them to throw their pilums all togeather, its a shame it wasnt scripted so that roman units couldnt throw their javs while running, im sure they must have done this in real life, because you still have the momentum of the charge
as soon as i see wavering in the ranks i pull them back, yeah i know you loose numbers, but its just my way, i then send in the big guys the princs, these guys tend to hold there line more, very reliable, & of course the romans had a saying " right down to the triarii" so these vets if have to be used just destroy all thats left(if used wisely) & the cave mops up
thats my wat, anyway

[Somebody Else]

Back in my MTW days, I had this irrational dislike of knights - so as far as I was concerned, cavalry were only used to chase down routers, and reinforce the main infantry battle line. I also prefer sword armed troops to spearmen - I like my battle line to be hard hitting and manoeuvrable. Archers I regard as a necessary support section.

In Rome, I've swung towards using more cavalry - still to flank, unless hot on the heels of an elephant charge, or into some inferior non-spear unit. More of a combined arms commander now, which isn't a bad thing. Where possible, I do try to demolish the enemy at range - no sense in getting my men killed, is there?

[Titus Livius]

Fortunately the AI in both MTW and RTW are unable to counter the same tactics over and over again, so I stick to the same scenario:

12-15 Heavy Infantry forming the center line, with one company placed in reserve behind both flanks.

4-6 Cavalry, half on either flank behind and slightly to the to the right and left of the infantry column

2-3 Archers, behind the Infantry, preferably on a hill.

If attacking, my tactics are simple: Close with the enemy using the Infantry, then flank with the Cavalry. When the enemy routs he'll find his retreat cut off by the Cavalry.

Note: I only play civilized factions, so these tactics may not work overly well when playing Barbarians (but they work beautifully when against them.

[Wishazu]

good old fasioned phalanx player here, i just like to get stuck in and stick my spears in peoples faces :)

[Minos]

going all the way back to STW, i play a definite defensive war, almost to the point getting myself destroyed due to my non-agressive stance. I base my armies around archer units on the high ground, protecting them as my main plan. This sucks the enemy armies into my heavy infantry in front of them and allows what little cav i have to flank them.

[Metatrone]

Cavalry reign supreme on the battlefield, and make up the bulk of my armies. Play it defensive with a ´thin´single line of infantry (4-5 units), 2-3 units of archers (preferly Aux. or Creatian), then mass the rest as medium/heavy cavalry (~11 units) on ONE flank a bit off (group into two lines).

Your enemy will advance towards your battleline under fire from your archers, causing some to break, they will clash with your infantry and get stuck there for a while. Once the enemy is heavly engaged with your infantry, let your massed cavalry swing around from the flank (and some distance) and start smashing into the enemys rear formations from the side, then turn towards charging towards your own line of infantry. This generally result in huge casualties for the enemy, lots of routing units that can be cut down, a reasonable intact infantry.

[screwtype]

Playing STW my armies used to look more or less as follows:

4-6 archers (preferably with honour/weapon upgrades);

4 buddhist monks as assault troops;

6-8 (cheap) spears to hold the line and counter possible enemy cav charges;

2 spear cav to clean up the routers.

My technique was to concentrate all the archer fire at once on an elite enemy unit till it was thoroughly depleted, then move onto the next. Alternatively, just concentrate fire on the closest attacking enemy.

Once the enemy had been sufficiently worn down in numbers and morale, would then charge with my spearmen and monks, usually causing the enemy to quickly rout and then putting my cav to the chase.

I've found in RTW I've had to modify my strategy, due to the Romans' lack of either a decent spear or missile unit.

So my Roman RTW armies look like this:

Maybe 2-3 units of cretan archers or rhodian slingers at the front;

6 equites/generals cav units, evenly divided on the flanks;

The rest made up of Roman infantry, mercenary hoplites or merc inf.

Cav has now become the decisive arm, basically I try and use it either to ride down the enemy cav, or else to ride down the enemy missile units. By that time my infantry is usually engaged and the cav in position to deliver the decisive blow in the enemy's rear.

[Azi Tohak]

I try to match my strategy to who I use. When I use the romans, I use the checkerboard pattern for those lovely little infantry. With my Seleucids (my favorite faction), or Macedonians, I have one long line of pikes, some good quality archers and medium infantry (like the Thracians or basternae) to back up the middle of my force.

For cav, I use what I can get. I really like the Light Lancers, speed kills, but I have one hammer wing (usually right) that has the bulk of my cavalry. I like the skirmisher cav on the opposite wing to keep the baddies at bay. When we close I send my hammer wing out wide and then crush them against my pikes. But mind, I don't usually do this with the Romans. I don't include enough cav to do so!

Azi

[Senta]

well, i find at home playing with my favourite Greeks, with infantry heavy units... especially spartan hoplites with cretan archers support plus some merc cavalry added in the mix :)