Battle Tactics

[DeletedUser]

I have searched and haven't really found anything related to battle tactics. I understand that short range are usually the best i.e - slingers, archers, cross bow, etc. perhaps in a combination with light or heavy melee to protect them. I understand the terrain advantages as well as each units strengths/weaknesses against different units, but as far as strategy goes I am not so sure. There must be a 'system' against the AI that will win most times right? What are some common tactics to use against the AI?

 

[DeletedUser]

Hey,

Did you already take a look at the General Offensive/Defensive Military Guide? I found it very useful when I was just beginning to play.

It contains some very good advice as to how to use the military units in an optimal way and which combinations work best.

 

[DeletedUser]

Yes I read that already. It does really mention any tactics DURING battle though...

 

[DeletedUser3157]

Maybe you are looking for smth more like this guide? http://forum.en.forgeofempires.com/showthread.php?8920-Warfare-Guide

If that is not enough, I recommend reading all the posts I have ever made in these forums. One can become from noob into total expert within hours by doing so.

 

[DeletedUser]

Tactics also depend on whether or not you have offensive Great Buildings.

If you are in CA and have a small (but significant) offensive bonus from Great Buildings then you can start (ab)using the fact that Grenadiers also count as ranged troops so enemy ranged troops will target Grenadiers if they are closer to them than your other ranged troops and the Grenadiers have enough defence (thanks to the GB bonus) that enemy ranged troops do not have enough damage to hurt them significantly. If you then use Field Guns (or other long or possibly short range troops) to support the Grenadiers and use them to shoot-to-wound (and don't waste shots killing heavily wounded units that aren't in range of your long range troops - since if a unit has taken damage then the damage it will deal others is reduced so poses even less risk to Grenadiers) while keeping your army back and letting one or two Grenadiers take the damage then you can take on most CA armies.

One Grenadier and seven Field Guns (without having an offensive GB) can deal with some CA armies consisting of half or more ranged or heavy infantry troops if you are (very) careful. With +20% offensive bonus then you start to find enemy field guns do 0-2 damage to your grenadier and wounded field guns do zero damage; +35% offensive bonus (if I remember correctly) then wounded enemy musketeers only do 1-3 bars of damage to your Grenadier; with +50% (maybe less) offensive bonus then a field gun can regularly 2-shot a musketeer (you don't need this much bonus to take advantage of this tactic but by this point is starts getting pretty easy); and with +70% offensive bonus I am now finding I can do most CA battles (where the opponent has a large contingent of ranged or heavy infantry troops) without taking any damage at all (even if the opponent has +50% defensive bonus).

(Note: No diamonds were used in the construction of any offensive GBs mentioned in this post.)

 

[BamBamIsGod]

OK my thoughts, use every aspect of the military system to your advantage. So units should be fighting in the terrain that gives them maximum defensive bonus. The further to that is to deny the enemy (the computer) their bonus, so force its light infantry to fight on the plains and its heavy infantry to not fight in the plains - so deploying in the middle of woods is great if you have Soldiers against Legionaries.

Another basic plan is to split the enemy up, start well to the back so that the enemy split up in their advance, so you can fight horsemen first, soldiers second and then the legionaries. An enemy unit only fights back against one attack after its move, so throw in your first attack from the best defensive terrain you can manage and mob the enemy with multiple attacks until it is either dead or so weak as to not be a threat.

Do not be afraid to retreat in the face of a slower more heavily armoured enemy to gain better terrain, there is no time limit on games.

And if you know you are going to lose, surrender, no point throwing the lives of your troops away.

 

[DeletedUser]

fast units are pretty much a waste of time until later in the game. You can pretty much cruise with archers and light units for a while. Horse archers aren't very good though (except maybe defense depending on age you are in)

 

[DeletedUser]

The AI has changed many times in this game, and so have the winning strategies to exploit its weaknesses. What I suggest you to do is to start learning in steps:

1. BASICS: learn how to "read" the control bar. this is the most important thing to master. being able to simulate a sequence of turns from both your and enemy troops in your mind is a key to every victory.

2. MANUAL BATTLE: play your battles manually and slowly in the begining till you learn how AI moves and what are its preferences. Sometimes it will target the closes unit in range, sometimes it will target a unit of certain type in range, sometimes it will target a damaged unit and sometimes it will skip a turn if it has no units which it can reach in one turn etc. Move your units accordingly checking for range of enemy troops.

3. AUTO BATTLE: after figuring out how AI moves in certain situations, you can apply that knowledge also when doing autocombats. It is the same AI that moves your units in attack when you click autobattle, identical to the one which moves the defending units. This is the way you will be doing most of your battles in later stages of the game so dont be afraid to experiment especially if you have a strong military and attack/def boosting GBs. This knowledge will save you hours of time every day.

This is a beginners Guide I have done for my guild long time ago where I explain one basic tactic which I called "Side Hook". I honestly dont know if its still up to date with all the AI changes that have been introduced subsequently. However it explains well the APPROACH to battle tactics one should have in my opinion. It is in italian, but I think it's quite understandable if you googletranslate the page.