First off get yourself a nice large party, lot of extra swords help, alot. Then when you deploy its best to press '1' to order your troops to hold this position. When the enemy arrives they'll come in dribs and drabs and your boys can easily overpower them. Also when in combat look for when your enemies are going to attack and use your shielf to block their attacks and then counterattack. If you are getting swamped try running backwards as they'll usualy follow you and you can deal blows out whilst they very rarely can all hit you together.

Oh and get your riding skill up, save up and buy a charger and a balanced great axe. Then let the good times roll!

Also to all of you who are saying the horse doesn't knock the enemies over you need to get a faster horse with a much better chrage rating. I guarantee you that if you get a spirited charger you will be able to knock groups of 3 or 4 enemies flying with as much as 20 damage depending on your speed.