Great spot for killing the mongols - bridge east of Aleppo

[KARTLOS]

I found this bridge a good spot for taking on the yellow horde. on the the western edge of the bridge has banked hills which make it an excellent perch for your archers.

here is a few screenies of a battle I had there. It was total carnage with their horsemen charging into my spearmen in the confinement of the bridge whilst being rained in arrows.

This is the view from the westside:



This is the carnage left behind on the bridge - I think around 800 dead mongolians.



mean looking dismounted normans covered in blood watching the mongoloids run away:



end result - heroic victory ~ 1000 dead with losses of ~ 280



It is possible to have a similar result against twice that number.

You need to make sure you have alot of spearmen as you will suffer fairly heavy casualties- and after you have won one battle another mongol stack is likely to try its luck straight after - and when you run out of spearmen you are fucked.

for army composition i would suggest mostly inf and archers. you dont really need heavy cav- but a few units of light cavalry are useful for chasing their stragglers at the end when they route. Horse archers would be the best as they can chase down routing enemy units at the end, but are also able to serve a useful function during the rest of the battle.

before the battle arrange you spearmen around the entrance of the bridge. when the battle starts run a couple of your spear units onto the bridge and get them to guard- you dont want the mongoloids to be able to get off the bridge as they can overwhelm you with their numbers. as soon as the mongol charge hits start throwing in the rest of your troops from behind - it ends up being a chaotic mincer but it works.

[phred]

I tried camping on that bridge, but the Mongols wouldn't take the bait.
They went way out of their way and took a few turns to walk around that river.
I was annoyed that my plan didn't work but impressed with the improved AI.

[KARTLOS]

yeah they took the bait initialy - i pretty much fully destroyed their first invasion (~5 stacks) at this bridge. There second wave has stalled at the other side of the bridge now. I think it may be because the odds dont look so enticing to the ai - i have a full stack on the bridgge and another behind it for backup - if the mongols are only able to engage with two stacks themselves (which i think is the case at a river crossing) then the odds might not be comming out too favourable - they have been stuck there for about ten turns now and havent tried to go round!

[Vlad Tzepes]

I know that spot! I know that spot!

I was sooo happy when the battle opened and I noticed the heights on my side, what a nice spot to place my experienced longbows! Ooohh, let the carnage begin

But the Mongols deployed and never set foot on that bridge. I didn't dare to move over the bridge - basically thought to stand no chance and really needed that army, the last standing between the Horde and my beloved Middle East possesions...

The time run out and not a single shot was... well... shot!

Next turns, Mongols found another way.

[KARTLOS]

never sat foot on the bridge? that a shame - in every batle i have played therer they couldnt wait to get across - full on charge fro mthe entire army. i have to rush to get my spearmen in place.

[Blackboots]

But the Mongols deployed and never set foot on that bridge.

You need a bait unit. I haven't tried this yet with M2TW, but it's worked in the previous games. If the enemy won't come to the bridge, move one of your units to the other side. Keep moving it towards the enemy until they start to chase it, then move it back.

If the bait unit is expendable, like peasants, stop it in the middle of the bridge and let the enemy attack - they'll chase harder once your unit is routing. Also, you may want to take your archers off fire-at-will until the enemy are engaged with your front line, then let them rain death on the packed bridge.

You may need to repeat this multiple times to get a skittish enemy back onto the bridge if they back away quickly and reform.