blocking tactic

[snorky]

While playing Egypt, a crusade was launched to one of my cities, Constantinople. And before i could gather some strong units i found myself surrounded by 4 stacks of crusading armies with nothing to fend them of except 800 militia. I also had some Trebuchet's but i never find them very useful during a city defense, so i used them for another purpose, i used them to block the road. Although i lost any way because of my serious lake of useful units and because i was completely outnumbered, still the blocking tactic helped destroying there formations and take a hole lot more enemies with me. Anyway this tactic worked out pretty well for me.

this is a screenshot from the blockade

[Budwise]

I might try that, thanks.

[icek]

I wonder if this would work if you block road just after stakes so elephants, rams and so on cannot destroy stakes.

[supadodo]

Use this against Mongols on bridges
Haven't managed to try this yet because those Mongoloid bastards keep avoiding my tempting bridge garrison and wander around stupidly.

[Towwb]

Heh, I remember doing the reverse of this in EB. During a siege, build ram after ram until every infantry unit, archer or otherwise, has one. When the enemy sallies, use the rams to form a pocket sealed on one side by melee infantry with archers inside, like this:

_____Gates_____



____RRRRRRR____
____RAAAAR_____
____RAAAAR_____
____RAAAAR_____
____RIIIIIIIIR____

The AI wastes so much time going around that the archers will wipe out most of them before melee ever begins.

[hoetje]

Heh, I remember doing the reverse of this in EB. During a siege, build ram after ram until every infantry unit, archer or otherwise, has one. When the enemy sallies, use the rams to form a pocket sealed on one side by melee infantry with archers inside, like this:

_____Gates_____



____RRRRRRR____
____RAAAAR_____
____RAAAAR_____
____RAAAAR_____
____RIIIIIIIIR____

The AI wastes so much time going around that the archers will wipe out most of them before melee ever begins.

I find this one actually quite good :)

Nice find ! =)

[Magraev]

A bit silly though

[Ramses II CP]

Put a ballista or cannon in front of your gates before the enemy ram arrives in a siege, the crew may be lost but the gates won't be.

Put a Great Cross or Italian Standard behind your gates, or at the foot of a bridge. Your men will fight to the death, and the enemy will be scattered when they attack.

Even if the enemy doesn't bring cavalry, put down archer stakes in front of your infantry line. The enemy infantry's charge will be broken by the stakes, and they won't be able to form up effectively.

If your spearmen have to take a charge, put rocks or trees five meters in front of their line, to disrupt the enemy charge.

[Matty]

Put a ballista or cannon in front of your gates before the enemy ram arrives in a siege, the crew may be lost but the gates won't be.

The crew won't be lost - they'll fight for a while before routing back through the gates, opening them for the enemy to pour through.....

[Ars Moriendi]

A bit silly though

Silly ? I remember reading (pre-release) about some type of battle wagons or some such mobile fortifications. It didn't made it in the released version, but it looks like creative people can simulate it pretty well with what's been given to them.

[Magraev]

Silly ? I remember reading (pre-release) about some type of battle wagons or some such mobile fortifications. It didn't made it in the released version, but it looks like creative people can simulate it pretty well with what's been given to them.

I think the battlewagon is in the files, but I don't know if anybody have modded it in?

I'd like to have an indestructable movable roadblock - only it would make all sieges an automatic win for me = no fun. Maybe that's why they took it out?

If you can park a trebuchet in a chokepoint, it should be possible to destroy it for the attackers (and the ai should choose to do so). Also the loss of the treb should equal a loss of that unit imho. Don't bring siege weapons you can't protect. Apart from one or 2 specialists I suspect most of the crew vere only muscle used to operate the device.

The suggestion about placing an infantry line behind boulders or other natural obstackles is a good one though, and I use that myself.

In the end I don't care if you mod all your units to have 5 hp's. As long as the game is fun I say that everything goes!