10 Tips for Combat and Warfare


 * A quick way to get recruits into a city that has none is to build a unit in a city of the same faction and then send it over. Once the unit arrives in the city, you can change its home city in the command panel and then disband this unit. This will give you new recruits in this city.


 * If you don't want to let the experienced officers of your early game units go to waste in the later game, when they can't hold up to more advanced unit types, then you can research the retraining skill in the skill tree (military section). This will allow you to retrain any unit to any other unit that this faction has to offer without loosing officers.


 * A priority when on campaign is to keep your units well fed. One way to do that is to set a food priority to camps and bridges on the front line. In any camp or bridge you can set a stockpile target in the trade tab (right besides the resource picture e.g. fish or wood). The supply system then will prioritize stockpiling this resource in the camp or bridge. now any unit in supply range of the building can be ordered to load food in the units cammand panel.


 * Keeping a mixed army with fast and slow units (like infantry and cavalry) is usually beneficial. The fast unit is good for flanking and for pursuing beaten enemies to capture or execute them.


 * You can always detach a general from your unit and send him to capture fleeing enemies, while your combat unit is fighting. Just make sure, the general doesn't actually get into a fight himself.


 * Experienced units show up with a golden frame around their icon, which represent officers. You can invest a considerable amount of experience to level you units up and in the end you will be able to create a general from your officers which you can even detach from the unit. The best way to get a new general is to push up one type of officer only instead of building a well-rounded unit with various equally weighted officer types.


 * Changing the stance of a unit in the control panel, e.g. from battleline to skirmish mode or ranged support mode, will allow the unit to move faster across the map. just remember to change the stance back, when the units arrive on the battlefield. However, not all units have these stances.


 * Another quick way to get more recruits to a city is in the city trade tab and click on the conscript recruits button. This will increase recruits for the cost of population growth and increased rebellion level.


 * Winter is the ideal time to lead raids against your enemies. You can't really go on long campaigns, because your troops will consume a lot of food. However, if your enemies find themselves without any food in Spring, then they will face problems. This is a very good way of winning a war without even fighting.


 * Many units rely on their formation for their strength, e.g. battleline formation for hoplites. This is why fords present a chance to weaken enemy units as they have to leave formation to traverse the ford.

Based on the Tutorial video by Horath Drak: