Tips on battles with Factions (Rome)

[Spart]

I usually find thatif I use the same strategy with two different factions with two different units (i.e. Romans and Greeks), I get slaughtered. This only just when I get too tired to remember who I am playing as; Brutii or Greeks.
The purpose of this topic is for all the serious strategists and tacticians to help out all those who struggle by posting their methods (or as much as they would like to) to help those less able and have resorted to auto calculated battles (almost no point when the game is about the actual battles [empire builing yes, but more for the battles])

In the intrest of keeping it easy to find which Faction in which Game (Rome, Medieval, Shogun), I am going to try open three different posts unless of course the moderators decide to link them up. Please Don't, I am just trying to make searching easy for people.

This Is for Rome

When playing as The Greeks:

Since the phalanx is a very difficult thing to manouver I let the other side attack me (I force them to). When it comes to placing the troops I always place them in a corner phalanx in front, missile second line, cavalry third line. I let the battle begin, I keep the same formation but I now place the infantry on the edge of the battle map and the rest behind them, same formation, now all I have to do is let the enemy come to me and as they cannot outflank me the can only get impaled on long and pointy spears. (A cowards mother does not weep, I prefer to keep my men alive than to pointlessly throwing their lives away, also saves money)

Big Tip: Let the Brutii take care of Macedon, their pikes are too long for you.
Medium Tip: Use your cavalry to take out the artillery) I find that the AI only sends a small contingent to try stop them and yours should have the numbers advantage
Small Tip: Many archers help a lot.

I achieve the above by having: 12 units hoplites (nothing less than a hoplite [militia hoplites have poor moral a rout by them might cause the rest to rout])
4 units archers (get archers with long range missiles they are your only hope against factions that can recruit long range missile units).
4 units cavalry, you need these to chase down routing units (increases experience [slowly] stops them from rallying, becomes more expensive for enemy to retrain them, much experince is lost owing to raw recruits)

[Roman_Man#3]

nice tips.i have one or two. when using hoplites, put them directly in front of a bridge or a gate. the hoplites should hold this massive blob of enemy troops, while, on a bridge would be archers, a gate would be boiling oil(yes i know, omg you use boiling oil.) this tends to kill everyone. especially on a bridge, because the enemy tends to rout to your side, so cav can kill the enemy that gets by the hoplites.

and when as the barbs(that is gaul, germania, or briton.i think it should work best with germania.) when facing a numerically superior army(preferably romans), set camp at the side of a forest. put some good troops, preferably anything that can hold(when i said germania, spearwarband would be the best unit for this) in a line outside of the forest, but pretty close to it. and hide some good units(axeman, chosen axeman, swordsmen, chosen swordsmen, woad warriors, naked fanatics, stuff like that, high attack[but can really be anything) in the forest, ahead of your main force, but not so close to the edge, so that when the enemy comes by, your guys stand up. when the enemy engages your holding troop, charge your hiding troops into their rear, and watch a quick rout ensue. keep the troops that were hidden together, and just keep charging them into enemies rear, thet other troops track down the routing enemies. that should be it

ps. for the last strategy, you need good cavalry, and never use plain warband, except when against a bad enemy.

hope it helps, and is not too confusing.
RM3

[naut]

Usually I don't have to do that much to win. The battle maps are so basic and generic, that you have spear units as the mainline. Behind that assault infantry as a reserve. Finally cav to flank and hit the rear. Easy, boom. Enemy routs in 10 seconds.

Just my opinion

[Roman_Man#3]

ya, buts its always fun to go all out and to try and make a tactical win using, well, superior tactics than the enemy

[Aleric]

When playing as the brutii it's simple to overcome a phalanx, Just wait til it gets close use fire at will on it from the side then run around the back during the confusing and attack. The only phalanx that it's not so good on is Spartans as they are tough but not that tough.

[Orb]

The essential general tips:

Attack. Flank. This seems to work for me, with slight variations, for every army that is not mostly horse archers. Mobility is OP :D.

Using skirmishers well can be key to fighting phalangites (particularly the Germans early on) with Barbarian factions.

[Caius]

Kill the Spearmen in the rear.