Tactics: Principles, Tips, Tricks, and Traps

[Ironhawk]

I disagree with a lot of what you have to say. Some of your general advice is ok but a lot of it is also naive and will lead noobs down the wrong path.

Uh-Nu-Buh said:
2. Place your strongest defense/armor/resistance units in the middle. This is where the majority of arrows and spells hit.

Like this for example. Why would you put your heaviest units in the place where they are likely to take the most fire? This is where your chaff goes.

4. Missileers. You can put these forward on the flanks and tell them to fire 3 times then retreat.

Don't ever do this. The fire and flee command effectively causes the units given that order to rout, making them next to impossible to collect when the battle is over as they will be scattered all over the adjacent provinces. This will be particularly disasterous if you are on the offensive.

6. Mages. In general put these in the middle of packs instead of to the rear. They can augment nearby troops, send out lightning bolts and fire darts, and not get as targetted.

Not true. Troop blocks actually draw MORE fire, not less. If you really want to protect your mages you put them with 2 bodyguards in a large empty area which is bordered by blocks of troops. In this way you trick the AI targetting routine into not firing at them because they are too loose of a target.

8. Mages. Giving field mages personal gems can make them far more powerful.

Path buff spells are the more commonly used and less expensive route to increase magical power on the battlefield.

13. Elephants. Elephants and other big units that are powerful, but lightly armored should be protected appropriately.

Reasonable advice here actually but the key thing with Elephants (and any trample) is morale, rather than position. You need to make sure that the squad containing tramplers has a morale which is next to unbreakable by adding in really high morale units. Helps if they are really slow to so the tramplers outdistance them and the "morale base" of your squad cannot be attacked.

Generally speaking tho, if you want tactical advice you should just go back to the dom2 forum and do a search. There are reams of data there from old veterans on all the tried and true tactics. 95% of them still apply to dom3, trust me. Additionally, going to the IRC channel will be exceptionally useful for new players to get gameplay advice

[KissBlade]

Pretty much echoing what Ironhawk says, Elephants work remarkably well with vine ogres by the way. Also learning HOW to raid and how to bait an army is much more important advice. Troop placement is actually very simple. Archers behind heavies, chaff out on front followed by heavies. To use fliers without them getting murdered right away, just keep a commander on hold hold attack closest while the fliers on guard commander. Mages should ALWAYS be spread out otherwise you risk a lucky spell smacking them all. Best strategy tip, come to mirc and chat witht he vets.

[Graeme Dice]

KissBlade said:
Pretty much echoing what Ironhawk says, Elephants work remarkably well with vine ogres by the way.

I don't believe that mindless (morale 50) or normally unbreakable (morale 30) troops are counted when determining squad average morale. Otherwise lobo guards would be the ultimate morale booster.

[dirtywick]

Ironhawk said:

Like this for example. Why would you put your heaviest units in the place where they are likely to take the most fire? This is where your chaff goes.

Against most archers this isn't a bad idea depending on what nation you're using and who you're fighting against. Crossbows are a problem, but most of the time against other types of bows they'll march through with little to no damage.

For instance, if you set your light infantry to attack rear and put them on the flanks of your heavy infantry, often what they'll do is surround the units engaging your heavy infantry. This isn't a bad idea in some cases. Why kill chaff if you don't have to? They'll need to be replaced which can slow you down.

[KissBlade]

dirtywick said:

Against most archers this isn't a bad idea depending on what nation you're using and who you're fighting against. Crossbows are a problem, but most of the time against other types of bows they'll march through with little to no damage.

For instance, if you set your light infantry to attack rear and put them on the flanks of your heavy infantry, often what they'll do is surround the units engaging your heavy infantry. This isn't a bad idea in some cases. Why kill chaff if you don't have to? They'll need to be replaced which can slow you down.

Hahaha ... maybe indie archers but you obviously have never played against any humans. Flaming arrows, xbows, longbows will make you wish you had a few chaff in front to be arrow catchers.

[dirtywick]

KissBlade said:

Hahaha ... maybe indie archers but you obviously have never played against any humans. Flaming arrows, xbows, longbows will make you wish you had a few chaff in front to be arrow catchers.

And that, my friend, is why it's not a bad idea in some cases, not all the time.