Early Arcoscephale - Ephebophilia incarnate

[Gandalf Parker]

A couple of points from my playing in case they havent been mentioned..

If you only have a few chariots then they can be very effective set far to the flank and told to "Hold and Attack, Rearmost Enemies". And the effectiveness of this can be expanded. Have someone on the far other flank rush to draw the front-line units that direction before the other flank attacks rear.

If you have heavily armored troops sometimes its best to let the enemy run to you. Put your frontline on "Hold and Attack" so they other guys gain the fatigue of a long charge. Dependent on who you are attacking of course.

With Oreiads you can improve their seduction by gaining a spell such as "Charm". People often overlook the seduction spells because they are hard to use on the battlefield. But when an Oreiad misses seduction a charm can often give them the commander anyway (though only for a short while since he isnt delivered but immediately attacks his province instead). And especially if the seducer chose a female to try and seduce. You will still get the "assassin" effect if both seduce and charm fail but I feel this is worth slipping in between the two.

I particularly like the point at the end about the purpose is to survive long enough for research and gem benefits to kick in. Sometimes people feel that Arcos is "weak" because they play them wrong or on games that are too small to make use of Arcos strongest benefits.

[thejeff]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

If you have heavily armored troops sometimes its best to let the enemy run to you. Put your frontline on "Hold and Attack" so they other guys gain the fatigue of a long charge. Dependent on who you are attacking of course

I didn't think movement caused fatigue? Just casting and attacking.
That said it's still often worth "Hold and Attack" to allow more buffing and to bring the enemy front into easy range of your archers and mages while keeping theirs at long range.

[chrispedersen]

One of the best use of Hold and attack, when you are set at the rear - is to string out non-homogenous troops.

Ie., if your opponent is fielding troops of 7 and 11 movement, hold and attack from the rear will separate those troops into two distinct groups.

If you are playing small number of units, (which I usually prefer) this helps to prevent your units from being overwelmed by numbers, cutting down on the dfensive penalty of multiple attacks.

[chrispedersen]

Movement doesn't usually cause fatigue, unless you are berserk or flying.

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by chrispedersen

One of the best use of Hold and attack, when you are set at the rear - is to string out non-homogenous troops.

One of my favorite things to do against mage-heavy armies is to set all my mages and troops to the back of the field, with the troops slightly in front and set to Guard Commander on a thuggish unit. The enemy troops on Hold and Attack will eventually reach you but they'll do so piecemeal, and will be quickly gobbled up by your solid mass of troops and mages (and skelly spam, etc.). Unless they're just too tough, of course, but then you would have died anyway. The worst case is that your enemy does the same thing and hits you with long-range spells until you die (or BEs like Rigor Mortis/Fire Storm/Wrathful Skies), so just make sure you've got some long-range spells too.

-Max

[vfb]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

A couple of points from my playing in case they havent been mentioned..

If you only have a few chariots then they can be very effective set far to the flank and told to "Hold and Attack, Rearmost Enemies". And the effectiveness of this can be expanded. Have someone on the far other flank rush to draw the front-line units that direction before the other flank attacks rear.

Archer chariots will actually fire rear if you've got them on "Hold & Attack Rear". This can be useful, normally you can't fire rear.

...
With Oreiads you can improve their seduction by gaining a spell such as "Charm". People often overlook the seduction spells because they are hard to use on the battlefield. But when an Oreiad misses seduction a charm can often give them the commander anyway (though only for a short while since he isnt delivered but immediately attacks his province instead). And especially if the seducer chose a female to try and seduce. You will still get the "assassin" effect if both seduce and charm fail but I feel this is worth slipping in between the two...

But seduction checks Morale & MR, and if the unit passed the seduce check because of high MR, he's likely to resist Charm. I think you're better off just letting off a thunderstrike, unless you know your seduction targets are shock resistant. If you got to keep Charmed units from assassination battles, then it might be more worth attempting.

[Gandalf Parker]

[quote=vfb;664621]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Archer chariots will actually fire rear if you've got them on "Hold & Attack Rear". This can be useful, normally you can't fire rear.

Very good to know.

...
But seduction checks Morale & MR, and if the unit passed the seduce check because of high MR, he's likely to resist Charm. I think you're better off just letting off a thunderstrike, unless you know your seduction targets are shock resistant. If you got to keep Charmed units from assassination battles, then it might be more worth attempting.

Is it the same check? I sure seem to fail seduct more often than charm.

The charmed commander attacks the province. He usually dies. But it gives you a free view of what is left in the province. And if he was the last commander then you get to see him rout all his old troops. Very funny. And in that case (he was the last commander) you get to keep him and his equipment also.