Raising troops in provs w/o forts?

PhilD · #1 April 15th, 2004, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cainehill:
So ... the AI building lots of cheap troops is actually one of the smart things it does, you're saying? Since if it manages to take 2 or 3 provinces in the time it takes you to recapture one, it whittles down your economy over time.

An AI beating a player, or making his life miserable, is not a smart move. Smart AIs lose gracefully, after putting up a fair fight that makes the player proud of themselves.

love crime · #2 April 15th, 2004, 09:34 PM

heh, the answer is that: yes attacking from many places at once/harassing is a very good general strategy. It wins economically, especially if you try to counter it by playing defensively (eg tracking down all the various attackers). The best defense against this kind of attack is to mass your troops, and march them straight for the enemy capitol (or nearest convieniant castle)... assuming you start with a comparable force of troops, you should be able to defeat his fragmented forces in any province of your choosing... eg his home, and this is usually enough to combat the economic losses of his pronged attack.

SelfishGene · #3 April 15th, 2004, 09:48 PM

Some of you guys must think im complaining by the tones of your responces. I was just relating that i find it much more difficult to deal with several medium sized crap armies than one or two large ones. If you divide your forces to counter properly you would also more than likely start to take proportionately higher casualties due to 'fragmentation' (to use the term as it was coined w/ regards to RTS games). I was just wondering whether or not this was an effective tactic vs. human players as well.

Oh and ...

Quote:

Never let an enemy army into your succulent innards -think clam-!

I like that line

. I'll have to remember that. Clam up! Or is it Clam down...

and also...

Quote:

It's also good to make sure you have spare commanders/armies so you can split forces when the enemy border has more provinces than yours, and you can reinforce armies with part of another army and not have completely neglect the latter army.

Thats wise advice (though i tend to have lots of commanders in mustering the army anyway). I guess i need to move away from designing my armies from an top-down empire view and consider more the more subtle composition of grouping into differentiated, self contained fighing companies.

[ April 15, 2004, 20:55: Message edited by: SelfishGene ]

HotNifeThruButr · #4 April 15th, 2004, 10:06 PM

You'd be amazed at how well your armies fare against most AI troops/nat def... excluding Ulm who always manages to pick off my commander with a stray Arby shot.

BTW, that clam statement has nothing to do with the Clam of Pearls, it's about normal clams

Edit: Me no type good

[ April 15, 2004, 21:07: Message edited by: HotNifeThruButr ]

Gandalf Parker · #5 April 15th, 2004, 10:16 PM

No extreme is ever correct. I find that a balance works best. Yes its good to create elite armies and move them around. And yes it can be a good tactic to build junk armies. The smart thing is to use both.

I build "junk" armies in just about every province that has any resources. A mix of infantry and shooters if possible. They are ready to move fast wherever I need them, and they are expendable.

That way I dont need as many elite armies. They have time to get somewhere if the other guy shows up with an elite army.

HotNifeThruButr · #6 April 15th, 2004, 11:33 PM

Actually, the main problem for my strat is when an AI overpowers with one huge elite army. But it's solved when you have spare commanders able to deliver troops to potential targets for said army.

Tris · #7 April 16th, 2004, 12:36 AM

Could this tie in with the "light infantry really do suck, it isn't just another case of someone not realising how to use something in Dominions" thread?

If raiding bands of light infantry can fight a successful economic war against a nation focussed on one or two big armies, then Light Infantry can be really useful.

"You can walk right up to my castle and starve outside the gates, but by then you'll be cut off, provinceless, and I'll have used all your income to build the army you're just about to meet, marching out of that castle..."

At the very least this would force your opponent to guard each province, and spend more on PD. And if you can spend less on LI, you come out ahead.

I guess this depends on whether a small band of LI (powerful enough to overcome medium PD) will be more cost effective than equivalent HI. But if the LI get strat move 2 that makes them better for raiding, as they are more unpredictable......

It's a real shame there isn't a "Flee Threshold" in the game. I'd want my LI raiders to fight against 10 militia, but flee against 400 Niefel Giants. There isn't a way I can do that at the moment, is there?