looking for help with general battle strategy...

[sox73b3]

I just got the game and I am wondering if anyone could share how they go about battles when invading or defending.

For example; do you create an army and just set them to aggressive and let them go, while creating another reinforcing army? or is it better to micromanage the battles?

There seems to be a big need for micromanaging sea battles, I was wondering if anyone has some tips for this type of battle.

I apoligize if this is a simple question but I am finding that the battles in this game can be fast and hard to control.

Thanks

[Bridger]

In the earlier game, i have 2 infantry groups, 1st infantry made up of Light/Heavy infantry, 2nd made up of archers. Once i hit enlightenement this switches over to 1 for light/heavy and another for machine guns (when i get there).

Cav goes into 2 groups in early game, light and heavy cav. Heavy cav may get their own general (for flanking ambushes).

Seige+2 supply wagons go into 6th artilery group.

2 generals+2 supply wagons into group 7.

4-7 civilians inot 10th support unit. (group 0).

I use the 1st infantry as the hardline defending my seige/making assaults on cities. 2nd infantry supports (if at all posible, from the flank to incure extra dammage). The 2 cav units work independantly on either side of the enemy to incure the flanking bonus if i can, or they charge headlong into an enemy without heavy infantry. The Seige hits the buildings of course, and the generals in group 7 follow the battle to give the armor bonus and also create decoys when they can.

Oh, and don't forget to bring along a few scouts (group 8).

That's my general strat. for army maintinence.

[la0tsu]

Everyone is going to approach this differently, but here's my approach:

I usually play defensively until industrial/modern, keeping a small army of 10-15 LI, 5-10 HI, 5-10 RI, ~5 LC, ~5 HC, ~5 RC, and 3-5 Artillery. When attacked, I will confront the main force with my Cavalry and Infantry. With my artillery, I gun for Supply Wagons, Generals, and Artillery, in that order. Some people prefer to go for generals first, and I can see why. However, I don't think a unit's defensive rating affects how much attrition damage it takes (I could be wrong on this - anyone know more about it than I do?), so going for the supply wagons ought to be a bit more effective, especially if you are outnumbered. Just yesterday, I fought off an invading force of 20-30 units with 1 infantry, 1 cavalry, and two artillery by killing the supply wagons and letting attrition do its thing. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't advise that scenario (why didn't they attack my artillery?). However, it is surviveable.

On offense, I am a big fan of air supremacy. I like to keep my fighters flying from the get go. I put them to quite a few uses. First, I use them as scouts. Second, when I know where my opponent's forces are, I'll go after the supply wagons, generals, and artillery (once again, in that order). This is quite effective in keeping attacks at bay. Third, I'll take out merchants at rare resources. After I get to the Modern age, Bombers are key in reducing economic structures to rubble. I like to go for oil first to slow their progress towards the Modern and Information ages. After that, it's universities and military structures.

Finally, when I'm ready to launch my attack, I'll start bombing the crap out of the city I have targeted. I usually like to go straight for the capital, but sometimes that's not my best move.

As for the ground units on offense, I usually build two (three if I'm playing against more than one opponent - the third being for defense) big, well balanced armies. My 1st army is usually my biggest single force, and my 2nd army is a good sized one. I usually attack with the 2nd from the most obvious attack route. After they have dispatched their forces, I'll bring in the 1st army for the capture. Once my targeted city is captured, I may dispatch part of the 1st army to help the 2nd with cleanup.

As with most things in this game, while this works well for my play style, your mileage may vary.

Note: Edited to clarify syntax of last sentence

[HalfLotus]

Theres a boatload ways to control your army. One of the simplest ways is to have your whole army set to #1, and your cavalry (~4-8 of em) set to #2. When the battles line are drawn, select your cavalry and move them to flank of their Archers, Siege, or Supply Wagon and attack. Flanking is relatively simple and very devastating. Its the first bit of micro that Ive used to consistent good effect.

As you get better you'll want to control each unit type such that they attack the appropriate counter unit.

[Signa]

I'll got some good writings about land and air warfare in these:

------------------------------------------------------------

Air Warfare:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88743

General City Attack Strategy:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89010

[Lord Sun Ce]

I usually boom until Medieval (kinda risky, but it works). Since I'm Inca, I can get up a good group of Heavy Cav. to raid invading armies. This normally continues until I get bombers, in which all **** breaks loose. Of course, if one of my cities is close to one of theirs, I attack early on. I build up seige to attack to the city, archers to protect the seige, and use cav. to attack everything else. Once in the Enlightenment Age, heavy cav. have a bonus to attacking ALL gunpowder inf., which basically is everything. Once I hit industrial, I have enough gold to buy out the market of oil (i love mining gold & metal at the same time), and I upgrade to light tanks. Nothing gives me greater joy than seeing my 20+ heavy cav. turn into tanks in the middle of a seige... Anyways, if I Play defensive, my games last to about an hour, hour and a half, but if I attack Medieval, I end in about half an hour. Just remember- Bombers RULE!!!!