Cavalry calamity

[littlebktruck]

Hi all! I just got this game on Saturday, and I must say it's easily one of the best I've ever played. Anyway, while playing a campaign as the English (on normal), I started a war with the Spanish. This was a stupid declaration for a number of reasons, but that lesson has been learned and that has little to do with my main problem. After my attacking force was annihilated I settled into defensive mode. The problem was that the armies they sent at me were cavalry heavy. I managed to defeat them a few times (with huge casualties on both sides; I probably would have lost all the battles if they hadn't been careless with their generals.) However, I had a lot of problems with them sending their cavalry far out on the flanks. This presented quite a few problems:

1) I had to send my cavalry to meet them, so I couldn't use them for support;

2) They usually had better cavalry than I did (Jiinettes, royal knights, and even a couple of crusader knights vs. mounted sargeants for most battles);

3) Their movements stretched the field quite a bit, which is especially troublesome for a new player like me.

After a last staggering defeat (with about 800 killed/captured per side), I finally gave up. So, my question is: what should I do to keep their cavalry from running amok?

[Productivity]

What are your defensive armies like? We need to know what we have to work with.

[ichi]

Welcome to the Org littlebktruck

If I understand you correctly, these were battles where you were defense. If that is the case, then my simple answer is to not go looking for a fight and keep your cav close to support your infantry and missile troops.


I turn the battle timer off, and on defense when I am outcaved I simply wait for the AI to come to me. Stay tight and if the AI sends less than 16 units at you at one time use your cav to fight the guys right in front of you - don't go looking for a fight off on the flanks.

As the English you can build two of the best faction-specific units - Longbowmen and Billmen - both of which can be deadly against cavalry.

If you're worried about getting committed and then having the AI cav commit to the main fray, hold a cav or good anti-cav unit back as reserve.

ichi

[Kommodus]

If you're the English and are on the defensive, you have a simple enough solution. Include some units of billmen in your army, and place them on your flanks. Try to arrange your army in such a way that the enemy cannot get behind it, and instead must come at it from the front (on a hill at the back of the map works well, if possible). They will still try to attack one of your flanks, but if you group the whole thing and alt-right-click, you can rotate your whole army to face them no matter where they come from. Since the AI almost always places cavalry on the flanks, your billmen will be well-positioned to meet them, and will cut them up. You'll do even better if you have some longbowmen to thin their ranks as they approach.

As for holding the center, use the best spearmen and swordsmen available to you (or just use more billmen). It doesn't sound like this will be much of a problem for you, since you said that cavalry, and not infantry, was your problem. Just watch out for enemy knights trying to charge down your swordsmen. The key will be getting the matchups that you want - meet their cavalry with billmen or seargants.

Since your cavalry is lighter than theirs, don't try to use it to go toe-to-toe with enemy knights; instead, keep it in reserve and prepare to chase down routers or hit soft targets as they present themselves. If you're on the defensive, infantry will win the battle for you, and cavalry will simply make your win a little more decisive.

When you go on the offensive, you'll have to modify this tactic, but the principles remain the same - destroy enemy cavalry with billmen, and use your own cavalry to hit soft targets. Eventually you'll get heavier cavalry and you'll be able to send it against stronger targets, even meeting enemy cavalry (although this is not the most efficient use). Billmen are best for that - in fact, billmen are a great all-around unit, with no serious weaknesses against anything. They easily beat spearmen, and can even hold their own against swordsmen. Just keep them away from arrows if possible.

As the English, billmen and longbowmen should form the core of your army. With a few other units for support, it's an almost unstoppable combination - easily one of the best in the game.

[TonkaToys]

Welcome to the Org littlebktruck

Whilst Billmen and Longbowmen are fantastic, you should note that you cannot build them immediately. IIRC you need Wales (or is that just for the bonus), have to wait for a certain date & need a master bowyer to build Longbowmen; and similarly to build billmen - build them in Mercia (I think) to get the best bonus.

As for early armies, you need to think about the terrain and use that to your advantage.

Like Kommodus says, use the rear-most part of the field to position your main army, that makes it difficult to rear-flank you. Try to position a flank against a wood or an impassable object (rock / cliff) so that one flank is protected.

Give your archers as much time as possible to pick off the oncoming enemy, but don't leave them out to dry as they may rout straight through your troops and cause them to break (which is really bad if you are at the back of the map!)
Don't forget that your archers can fire over your own troops, but that you should avoid firing into a melee for fear of friendly-fire.

Try to keep some troops in reserve, especially fast ones like your light cav; these can be used to bolster weakened areas of your line, or if you are lucky can be used to run out wide and encircle / flank an engaged enemy.

Use spears against horsemen, swords against spearmen and cav against swords.

Finally, if you are on defence, you can leave the timer on (sorry Ichi) and try to delay them so that they lose on the basis of time - even if they wipe out half your army, hide a bunch in a wood (not the general as he cannot hide - look at their troop icon and if there is a tree showing that means they are successfully hidden) and keep them away from the enemy.


Good Luck!

[Odin]

Unit types (as mentioned) is the major element for your defense but dont underestimate the ability to pick your position. As the defender you get to pick where your units deploy. That little bonus is often crucial when defending against superior numbers.

Specific to cavalry, put a few spear units in the woods and use a high value unit (royal knights) to lure thier horsemen into the woods, you will shread them.

Also use place ranged units on higer ground supported by cavalry and bait them into range. Worst case scenario you have enemy horsemen charging up a slope to engage your forces. At that point you use your reserve horsemen to charge down and hit them hard. (remember to stop your ranged units fire once your engaged).

the advice on units the other memebers have given is excellent. In addition to that take a few minutes at the start of battle and get the lay of the land and position your troops accordingly ! More emphasis on your initial deployment is an important factor for defensing against superior numbers, even if its AI on a low setting if you just slap them anywhere you'll be flanked and routed.

[edyzmedieval]

Welcome to the org!!!

Firstly, to defend against heavy cavalry you need some serious spearmen, halberdiers, pikemen or Billmen.... The Swiss(one of my fav factions) have the best pikemen in the game...Those Swiss Armoured Pikemen are (I mean they are the best!!!) .......We need to know what armies did you have....Otherwise, we can't give much help than giving you info on the best spearmen and pikemen.....

[Eternal Champion]

There has been given a lot of good advice for early. Most new players start off in early (before year 1205) so I assume you did the same based on the fact your main cav is mounted sergeants. In early your best defense against cav is spears, in ranks three or four deep, on hold position and hold formation. This is very important as they will receive bonuses on defense. The enemy cav will now have a difficult time with your spears, once they are engaged you can flank them with urban militia or better yet your cav and charge them in the rear. Also do not discount the value of plain archers especially in early when everybody's armor is light. Archers can reach out pretty far and you can take down alot of your enemy before he even reaches your line. Defensive armies should contain lots of spears and archers, a few sword/axe units and just a couple cav units to help cover flanks and run down routers. Another thing nobody mentioned is high command generals make a huge difference. The more stars a general has the harder and longer his troops will fight. This can make a huge difference as can your general going down.

Also look at your tech tree and always use the best troops you can afford and build. Once you get accustomed to what you need to build different types of troops you'll be surprised how quickly you can tech up.

[bretwalda]

Spear units in the woods are not always a good idea as their rank bonuses are negated by the trees. (You can see their lines broken by the tree trunks...) Why not Halbs or other armor piercing?