The Cardinal Rules of War

[IceWolf]

1) Never lead an attack with your General
2) Never get into a street fight against hoplites or General's Bodygaurds (heavy cavalry)
3) Never let your archers use all their arrows knocking peltasts and light infantry off a wall when there may be hopltes inside the city
4) Never charge spearmen/hoplites with cavalry
5) Never let your army get spread out when the enemy has reinforcements coming from multiple directions

C'mon everyone, share your wisdom, it's fun

IceWolf

[Poulp']

- never charge into a town square if you can shoot the enemy to death

[paul_kiss]

- Do not make your armies a motley from different types of units. Find the 2-3 best and focus on them. You army fill be firm as a rock and powerful then.

Yeah, it's fun, looks like the Murphy Laws.

[Shieldmaiden]

- Have a Plan

- Have a Plan B

- Be precise! Being hit by friendly fire kills troops just like enemy fire.

- Be careful with troops. You'll appreciate Veterans later on.

[Caius]

Rear Charge is good

Charge when Romans reload pila

[professorspatula]

Never have your elite soldiers stand in front of enemy siege towers equipped with rapid fire machine guns when you're defending a settlement with large/epic walls.

Never lead your chariots anywhere near an enemy phalanx unit, unless that unit is routing.

Never believe your expensive war elephants enjoy the smell of burning bacon.

[paul_kiss]

- Be thou prepared to have your troops knocked out from a city by a rebellion when population reaches ±30,000. Once outside, there's no other way to pacify the city except assaulting and the MASSACRE that follows. Your people will not ever appreciate all good things you've done for them.

[il-principe]

1) Never lead an attack with your General
2) Never get into a street fight against hoplites or General's Bodygaurds (heavy cavalry)
3) Never let your archers use all their arrows knocking peltasts and light infantry off a wall when there may be hopltes inside the city
4) Never charge spearmen/hoplites with cavalry
5) Never let your army get spread out when the enemy has reinforcements coming from multiple directions

C'mon everyone, share your wisdom, it's fun

IceWolf

I've to admit that I regularly violate rule 1. I often charge with my general backed by two equites (if available) and try to destroy soft targets like archers, peltasts, wardogs or try to weaken the enemy cavalry. When my general cause enough havoc, the rest of my army will follow.

As hoplites or heavy spearmen are very vulnerable from the rear or behind I often charge with cavalry and violate rule number 4....

[YENKO]

Well, recently i was hiring alot of Hoplite mercenaries to use them vs the Julii (me Brutii). It looked to me that they still would suffer rather high casualties from enemy Legionary Cohorts. So i arranged one custom battle: my 4 units of Legionary Cohorts vs 4 units of Armored Hoplites, all units with 3 copper chevrons, and copper weapon/armor upgrade, reflects more-less my early Brutii games with awesome Temple of Mars available, while the enemy has less exp, but oh well.

In all the experiments the hoplites were badly mauled by the Legionaries. Without pila-launch they managed to do some damage, but WITH pila-launch they simply were stomped. No flanking, no charging from the rear. The Hoplites would start to melt more and more and rout.
Now i am puzzled, what did i wrong? The only thing i can think of is that the Legionaries must have more Attack and even more defense, thats why they win. Now i use the Hoplites only vs. peoples who are heavy on Horses, camels and chariots. For all the other uses my Legionary cohorts are more than enough. Where is the catch here??

Y.

[CvC]

Never say "never"...never say "always"...

[moderniconoclast]

dont attack chariots with cavalry

never turn your hoplites back to archers

do your best to avoid phalanx vs phalanx

[paul_kiss]

§ When playing for Egypt, do not train chariots - they will not help you to win your enemies.

§ If you have a whole in your stonewall do not fix it up - leave it as it is, put all your spearmen in front of it leaving no gap btwn soldiers and the wall: the armies led by AI will not storm your gates (even if they have rams), they'll rush on that hole alltogether and will find hundreds of your spearmen there. The archers on your walls will help you to finish the thing fast.

[guineawolf]

i always send my cavalry to take out chariots....

Just don't go through it's front,attack those chariot's back when they charge into your infantry,your cavalry will only get heavy casualties when they fight face to face with chariots.Dun't fight with heavy chariots and scyth chariots,dun fight with them with your heavy cavalry,fight them only with your light cavalry,coz the scyth blade beside their wheels will cut anything down very easily(it is the scyth blade bring you death!),even the armored elephant....

i use cavalry base army to against Britons and egyptian those chariots base factions(just use the cheapest cavalry is oredi enough even the cavalry auxilia,mostly 1 cavalry can take out 2 chariots),and it works perfectly!

[YENKO]

Ah how marvellous idea, that hole-in-a-wall tactic!
Might be fun! I hate it when the enemy attacks me and soon turns tail because it suffered heavy losses from my archers on the walls. Then i find them in the next battle again!
How can i punch a couple holes in my own wall? Maybe exit the town, let it riot and then attack with onagers? Might be useful to reduce (exterminate) part of the populace while i am at it? Ah, onward to let Alexandria riot!
I hope the Pharaoh won't stab me in the back while i am 'dealing' with my future rebellious city!

Y.

[LuckyDog Trojan]

- never charge into a town square if you can shoot the enemy to death

I second this - motion carried.

The 'leaving the hole in the wall' trick does sound interesting.

Adding my own two cents: keep plenty of diplomats in the back-water regions of your territory (with watch towers for illumination) to bribe off all those annoying rebel armies that constantly pop up. This keeps your main armies free for continued conquest and you don't have to fight all those little, time consuming battles (if you don't want to).

To everyone else: as always - a plethora of sound ideas and strategies.

[paul_kiss]

Maybe exit the town, let it riot and then attack with onagers?

Exactly! Although I did so maybe once or twice. I discovered this trick in Siwa (I played for Egypt), I dont recall exactly where that single hole got from, either from pacifying a riot or an assault, but this whole in the might walls was saving Siwa from the Scipii for decades... if not longer...

I usually had some 7 units of pharao's guard and some 5 pharao's archers. That was cool. So much Roman meat... "Meat King's Party", yeah. It's essential to have lots of spearmen, the more the better. They must stay there firm ("holding position"), shoulder to shoulder, like a wall.


§ Might sound simple, but sometimes you may want to try to position your troops very deep on the battle map, so that the enemy has to cover hell lot of distance; as the result his troops will be 1) exhausted and 2) dispersed.

[paul_kiss]

I may be repeating myself but...

§ Sabotate the enemy's economic might by bribing his towns. Once done, do not feel like it's your home for years to come. It certainly won't be this way, the population will return to their previous master the next turn (in 90% of the cases). So do not waste your time - demolish everything you can in the town!

The next turn, when your enemy returns to his town, he will find a ruined town instead of his previous "megapolis". He'll have to build it from the very beginning.

Just 2 requirements: 1) you are to have immense income 2) this tactics gives its fruits only if applied to many enemy provinces.

So, 1) develope your trade 2) use your diplomats.

[professorspatula]

From the 'Alternative Cardinal Rules of War' scrolls......

Never use the opponent's war elephants as shade for your troops to shelter from the boiling hot desert sun. Those elephants aren't generally appreciative, plus their crew usually shoot arrows at you rather than politely asking your men to move away. Show your disdain for their lack of compassion by launching a tirade of spite in their direction, followed up by several volleys of flaming arrows. Then laugh whole heartedly as the elephants go berserk and trample everybody to death. Do this immediately in siege defenses to see the AI's army suffer huge casualties from the very beginning.

Defeating Cataphracts: The heavily armoured Cataphracts are vulnerable to large magnets placed on the battlefield. Unfortunately in vanilla RTW, this advanced tactical device isn't available. Tin openers are another highly effective and more compact anti-Cataphract device. Head Hunting Maidens and other cataphracts come with such a tin-opener, cunningly disguised as a mace or axe.

"General who attack enemy general army before enemy general army attack own general army is wise general. That way enemy general army be docile like dog drunk on gin." More poorly translated words of wisdom from Sun Tzu after he played RTW in 6th Century BC. Always be on the offensive if possible as the AI will tend to sit back when defending so you can position your troops better, engage in skirmish battles and disturb his lines by using artillery. The AI will indeed play a bit like a dog suffering from a hangover.

[Poulp']

on the strategic map, when you send your precious onagers to the front lines, never let them do the trip alone, always have at least a few meat shield accompany them, especially if you consider blitzing some walls in a heavily wooded region.

I'll always remember what happened to my onagers: I had sent my forces from Osca to take down Massilia, on the way they encountered some Julii, I decided to split my forces and pushed them into gallic Lugdunesis, my onagers sere left alone for a turn. Gauls in Narbo decide they want a punic war rather than a punic alliance, spring out of some forest and attack my onagers.

I lost my onagers, my forces were delayed in the taking of Massilia, reinforcements from Italy came, my double attack on post marius Rome from North and South was not so perfect after all.

[Stuperman]

I second this - motion carried.

The 'leaving the hole in the wall' trick does sound interesting.

Adding my own two cents: keep plenty of diplomats in the back-water regions of your territory (with watch towers for illumination) to bribe off all those annoying rebel armies that constantly pop up. This keeps your main armies free for continued conquest and you don't have to fight all those little, time consuming battles (if you don't want to).

To everyone else: as always - a plethora of sound ideas and strategies.

I like to use those small battle to raise the quality of young generals.

[IceWolf]

New Rule-If you're playing a HA civ like Scythia, if you're beseiged and hopelessly outnumbered, have any HAs in the town sally forth out of an unopposed gate, then do a flank attack on the advancing beseigers. This will let you take down as many of the swine as possible before the defeat.

[paul_kiss]

...This will let you take down as many of the swine as possible before the defeat.

Hm, a nice idea...

§ If you're besieged and your walls are of firm stone and high, sometimes it's wise not to set your troops in on the walls and near the gate. Get everybody on the main square or somewhere in that area, let the enemy get exhaustes and suffer losses from your wall towers shooting.

[LuckyDog Trojan]

New Rule-If you're playing a HA civ like Scythia, if you're beseiged and hopelessly outnumbered, have any HAs in the town sally forth out of an unopposed gate, then do a flank attack on the advancing beseigers. This will let you take down as many of the swine as possible before the defeat.

I second this (again) - motion carried (again).

Nice one to point out IceWolf. I often do the same thing. This is a tactic I've been using in my current campaign as Briton - in this case, an 'end around' with my light chariots (archers). As you state, it helps to take some of the enemy down with you - or - has actually turned the tide in my favor on more than one occasion.

[Celt Centurion]

When you sally against a siege,

If, at the beginning of the deployment stage, you find your army at say, the 9 o'clock position, and the enemy outside the gate at the 12; you may find your archers and slingers quite useful clustered on the wall at the corner of the wall at about 10:30. More often than not, the enemy will march around that corner to meet your infantry (which if sent marching out the 9 o'clock gate will usually "draw" them on around.) Skirmishers sent running after the enemy from the 12 will also increase their casualties. This can be quite helpful when your own army is small, and you find yourself besieged by a full stack almost every turn. You may not break every siege this way, but two or three sallies will cut them down to a really weak assault force when they do attack.

You do not have to engage with your infantry. Their mere presence near short of that corner will cause enemy casualties as archers and slingers, and even towers cut down their ranks. Save actual infantry contact for when siege towers are unloading and they are coming up the ladders. When you have a small army of 8 - 10 against a full stack, no lives can be thrown away.

If the way is clear, cavalry can finish off what the missile has whittled down, but don't send them to fight what the enemy has sent to block the cavalry. If you cannot run around them to cut down fleeing enemies, save your cavalry.

If you can draw their archers and slingers away from their spearmen, turn cavalry loose on them, but keep a hand on them to pull them out if they get too close to spears.

"Grouped" infantry will usually do well even if left alone. "Grouped" cavalry, even with your hands on them, will do what they feel like doing, usually with disastrous results. Example, I sent grouped cavalry to cut down archers. While one unit of four went after the archers, the other three units went right after spears, which had been a safe distance away. Fortunately, I saw what they were doing and realized they were "grouped" and "ungrouped" them fast. Then they did as they were told.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Warmaster Horus]

One tactic I use when I'm besieged is to let the attackers assault, and I retreat to the main square. It permits me to concentrate my forces on one or two precise spots. Also, place the missile throwing troops in the rear, so they may do it, even after the engagement.
I remember once in BI as the ERE, I was besieged by a full stack of hording Sarmatians. I only had 6 or 7 units. Let me tell you all, that tactic up there works great.

[Poulp']

New Rule-If you're playing a HA civ like Scythia, if you're beseiged and hopelessly outnumbered, have any HAs in the town sally forth out of an unopposed gate, then do a flank attack on the advancing beseigers. This will let you take down as many of the swine as possible before the defeat.

on the contrary, of you're playing against a HA civ, ignore (as much as possible) the open field battle and aim where it hurts: take their towns instead of dealing with the horses.
Eventually, you'll end up dealing with groups of rebel HA

[Gaius Terentius Varro]

Never use greek general's bodyguards in melee. Had a unit brush past in full galop against town watch and contact was made maybe between 2 soldiers. Presto: dead faction leader on turn 2 in campaign. And not the only time either

[paul_kiss]

A simple rule:

§ If you're up to break a wall through, take at least 4 pairs of onagres.

[Celt Centurion]

A simple rule:

§ If you're up to break a wall through, take at least 4 pairs of onagres.

I've done it with three lots of times, but 4 would be better. Once I have a breech, I aim them at whatever poor fellows are on the wall. The 4th would give extra "clean bad guys (or in some cases, good guys) off the wall ammo."

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Poulp']

if you have my kind of luck, never, under any circunstances, put your general between your onagers and their target.

I have seen an onager shot missing by 10 degree to the left (and shooting about 30m instead of 200m)

guess what it hit
No, not my general, but his 40 men strong unit was suddenly reduced to 6 guys.