Horde Strategy

[weegee]

Boy those guys sure move across the map fast. It won't be long till we're butting heads in Hungary or maybe Bulgaria. Stupid Byz has been in a 30 year war with me and refused to take my cease fires several times. Now they're getting squeezed from me (Italians) from the west, Polish from the North, and The Horde from the east. Poland seems to have retreated into a tight circle in the hopes of defending. Byz is clueless and has most of its armies squared up against me. Meanwhile Horde is swarming and swooping their lands.

Anyway, I noticed most of the horde units are horse units. So would fielding a large force of ILI be a good strategy to match up against them. I have about 20-25 ILI units total on my eastern front (Hungary, Serbia, and Greece) and have just started introducing Chiv MAA (5 or 6), Arbalaestors (3 or 4), and high era Royal Knights (about 3). The ILI hold their own very well, and many of them are +1 and +2 armour, extra earned valour, etc.

I figure I have about 3 or 4 more turns before I'm face to face with the Horde. So what troops should I pump out over these next turns to give me the means to make a good fight of it?

[mikkele]

Good spears like ILI, halbs, billmen or other units with good defense stats (especially against mounted units) and/or AP ability are a good match for the non-missile GH cav units. Take the GH cav charge head-on with the spears and flank with the AP units.

The GH HA units are best countered by foot missile units (arbs, xbows and normal bows). If you can place your arbs in an elevated position and protect them with your spears, these guys can really rack up some kills. Pavise arbs/xbows units are especially good in such a missile-unit-shootout.

CMAA units and other 'ordinary' foot units are perhaps not so hot in this scenario.

[BAD]

Make sure to have a few fast cavalry units to chase down the routers (Mounted Seargeants or even Valoured up Horse Archers will do nicely). Then you can reap the rewards of ransoming them back to the mongols, who will have a massive treasury .

[Procrustes]

Be careful of those routers - the Horde troops are sturdier than the ones you are used to, I've gotten slaughtered a couple of times when I left my positions to chase routing GH warriors only to have them turn around and eat my men alive. Also note that many of their troops have bows.

I also follow the advice that was given above. ILI are great troops but have some heavy swords ready as GH warriors will chew them up if they make contact. I use halbs whenever I can against the horde - they are armored and very effective against their cav and their heavy infantry. Get some arbelasts if you can. Fight defensively - use elevation and especially woods - they will try to pepper you with arrows, draw you out of position, and will eventually charge. Woods will protect you from arrows and take the advantage away from their cav.

[weegee]

When they first appear, do they show their entire hand (i.e. their whole army) or do units continue to trickle on the board over several turns. I'm trying to gauge when to strike because ideally I'd like the Byz to take the first brunt (so far they have been retreating without a fight), that way both Horde and Byz are weakened, and then I come in and swoop the provinces. So I'd like to make an estimation of how far they can progress before Byz will start to turn the tide, but I want to make sure I know what I'm going up against.

[desdichado]

When they first appear, do they show their entire hand (i.e. their whole army) or do units continue to trickle on the board over several turns. I'm trying to gauge when to strike because ideally I'd like the Byz to take the first brunt (so far they have been retreating without a fight), that way both Horde and Byz are weakened, and then I come in and swoop the provinces. So I'd like to make an estimation of how far they can progress before Byz will start to turn the tide, but I want to make sure I know what I'm going up against.

if it were me I wouldn't want to know. prefer the surprise.

[Kommodus]

When they first appear, do they show their entire hand (i.e. their whole army) or do units continue to trickle on the board over several turns.

I believe that it's their entire army that shows up at once. If any new units enter the board, their numbers are insignificant.

So I'd like to make an estimation of how far they can progress before Byz will start to turn the tide, but I want to make sure I know what I'm going up against.

It's unlikely the Byzantines will ever turn the tide; in fact, they may never commit significant forces to fighting the Horde (strategic AI can be stupid like that). However, the Horde is unlikely to conquer the whole Byzantine empire either, since it doesn't know how to properly deploy its forces for both conquest and occupation. Frequently, one big Horde army will move about illogically, leaving few soldiers (if any at all) to occupy new conquests, and opening the door to peasant revolts and loyalist uprisings. In this way the vast numbers of Horde troops can dwindle slowly over the years, while the Horde's conquests stagnate.

The one thing I'd like to remind you of is this: you have little reason to fear the Horde. If you follow the tactical advice others have given (armies of halbs, arbs, ILI, and a few cav using high ground and forests), your armies will crush the Horde without much trouble. Be prepared for some frustration when attacking, since MHA can be quite difficult to pin down, and you will face a lot of them. Also, guard the flanks of your units extra-carefully, since a cavalry-based enemy can more easily threaten you from multiple sides, and a morale collapse will be disastrous for you.

Happy Horde hunting!