3. The battle map
3.1 Basic aims
-When attacking
-When defending
3.2 Unit types
-A quick rundown of what is what and a link to a source of more detailed information
-Morale
-What are those little flags visible on each unit?
-Charging
3.3 The landscape
-Height
-Trees
-Bridges
-Desert
3.4 Generals and kings
-Killing and preserving
3.5 When to fight and when to withdraw
-Running for it with grace! Know when you cannot win and when you can win
3.6 Sieges
-Both defending and attacking strategies
3.7 Tactics and fighting styles
-Catholics
-Muslims
-Orthodox

3. The battle map
This is the most spectacular, and in my opinion, the most rewarding part of the game. The degree of realism and importance of tactics is nearly unmatched by any other game out there. The battle mode can stand alone as a whole game, which would be worth paying full price for. Unfortunately for the beginner it is even more complex than the campaign map. The first thing you should do is play the tutorials as they will give you a grasp of the basics. After you have finished all the tutorials you should play custom battles with different factions and units as both the attacker and defender. This section of my guide will give you the basic knowledge you will need to win battles. It won't teach you any really advanced stuff; there are links for that kind of thing at the bottom. I will not go into the stats behind combat, as it is too complicated for this guide. Instead I will just note bonuses and penalties.

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3.1 Basic aims
You might think that the only aim of the battlefield is to win; if you think this then you are wrong. There are more ways to win than killing your enemy. For example you may be attacked in the campaign game by a superior army, which you cannot hope to beat. A fighting retreat will cause some damage to the enemy without getting you pulverised. As long as you cause a lot of damage without taking many losses this is a victory. The highest form of victory on the battlefield is gained without spilling a drop of blood. If you position your troops correctly and drive the enemy back by out manoeuvring them they will eventually withdraw from the battlefield, you win without fighting. However generally speaking the aim of a battle is to kill enough of the enemy to cause the army to rout off the field leaving you the victor. Whether you are attacking or defending in the battle will alter your aims.

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When attacking
The main aim of the attacker is to manoeuvre his army so as to force the defender to abandon their position before the fighting begins. When they have been forced onto lesser ground you should engage them and try to cause as many casualties as possible while being careful not to lose too many yourself.

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When defending
When defending the main aim is to stay on the high ground, keeping the advantage and using it to defeat the enemy without taking many losses.

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3.2 unit types
Total War uses the old rock -> paper -> scissors style of each unit being strong against one kind and weak against another. You must learn this formula if you want to win.
*Spears beat cavalry
*Cavalry beat swords
*Swords beat spears
*Archers beat anything that is at a distance but lose in close fighting.
*Foot ranged units beat cavalry ranged units as they are more accurate and have a longer range.
*Camels beat horses.  
There are very rare exceptions to this rule. For example some archers are good in hand-to-hand combat, like the longbowmen or Janissary infantry. Cavalry can beat spears if they charge them from behind and cause the unit to scatter, losing the bonus spears get from ordered ranks. Generally as long as you use common sense you will know when a unit stands a chance of beating its counter. To find out which archers are good in hand to hand fighting look at their stats in the unit tool noted in chapter 1.1, or check their entry in the unit guide. Any archer with 2 or more in attack will do reasonably in hand to hand, although you shouldn't expect wonders as melee is only their secondary job.

Each unit type has an optimum deployment type:
-Spear armed infantry = a minimum of three ranks deep, preferably four. All spearmen get a bonus (+1 defence, +1 charge for each supporting rank and +1 attack for every two ranks). Spearmen can only receive support from two ranks; therefore they get the full bonus only when deployed in ranks three rows deep. The forth row supplies reinforcements so the unit can take losses without losing its fighting power too quickly.
-Pike armed infantry = they get the same bonus as spearmen, but they also get support from four rows as their weapons are longer. Therefore deploy them in ranks six men deep, five at the least.
-All other melee infantry = deploy them two ranks deep. Only spears and pikes get rank bonuses so you get better use out of your unit by placing them in a long, thin unit where the maximum number of men can engage in combat quickly. The longer length of the line also allows the unit to wrap around its opponents flanks giving it a bonus. There are occasions where a deeper formation can be useful, mostly when your unit is about to receive a cavalry charge. Depth gives more resistance to the charge, making it harder for the cavalry to fragment your unit’s formation. However these occasions are generally not something you want to be worrying about as a beginner, the information can be found in the unit guide when you want it, just look under polearms, swords etc.
-Missile armed infantry = ideally you want these guys in ranks of two so they all get a clear shot. This increases accuracy. If the unit is in loose formation you can put them in ranks of three without receiving accuracy penalties.
-Gunpowder infantry = Leave these guys in ranks of three. They will use a rotating formation where the front rank fires and then moves to the back to reload while the next rank fires. They will only do this if they are in three or more ranks, if they are in two or less they will fire one big volley and take forever to reload.  
-Melee armed cavalry = If your cavalry is going to be fighting hand to hand then it should be two ranks deep for the same reasons as melee infantry.
-Missile armed cavalry = Ideally they should be in ranks of two, however this is not always practical as the purpose of missile armed cavalry is to skirmish which is more effectively done in a compact formation. I use them in ranks of three, as it is a good compromise between accuracy and manoeuvrability.

As for the engagement options hand-to-hand units like swordsmen should always be on engage at will, as should most melee cavalry. Spearmen need to use hold formation to keep their rank bonus, never take them off this setting. Missile units, both infantry and cavalry, can use the skirmish setting, which will pull them back from their target if it gets too close. Skirmish only works on the target not all enemy units and it can be very unreliable. At beginner level missile cavalry should use this most of the time, as their speed is good enough to get them out of the way. Just remember to keep an eye on them at all times and be ready to take over if they look like they are getting in trouble. Infantry archers are trickier. If you have them in a protected position you should turn skirmish off in favour of hold position. This will stop them leaving the protected position. If the unit is not protected you should probably leave them on skirmish, but remember that foot units are less effective skirmishers than cavalry because they are slower. Again this applies to beginner level tactics, there is quite a lot more to missile engagement modes, but you do not need to worry about that just yet. As ever the information can be found in the unit guide when you feel able to expand your horizons.

A special note on the gunpowder troops: (hand gunners, arquebusiers and Mamluk hand gunners) don’t bother! The accuracy on these units is so low they will only kill 4 men out of a formation of 133 in three volleys. They are pathetic. If you want them to have a use you must mod their accuracy to be better, you can find instructions in chapter 5.3. Well I suppose they do have some uses in damaging enemy morale, but that is more advanced than this guide is aiming. I shan’t repeat myself by saying tactics for gunpowder units can be found in the unit guide…oh, wait – I just did repeat myself yet again!

Javelin units also need a special mention. If you can use them effectively they are deadly, however they are one of the hardest units to use well. Javelins are short-range missiles that go straight through armour, making them one of the best-ranged units for killing heavy cavalry and generals until arbalesters come along in 1205. The short range means that any unit of javelins left on skirmish will never throw their weapon, as the range is below the safety threshold and they will pull back. So to get any results you need to take them off skirmish and put them on hold formation (engage at will tends to send them into melee fighting before using much ammo) and control them yourself. Attacking head on is not a good idea, you will only get one throw, and if you are against cavalry you won't even get that. Instead you must send the unit around the enemy’s flanks once they are engaged with your melee infantry and order them to throw when they are behind a unit that is already fighting. You will lose some of your own men to friendly fire so don't do this if you are using expensive troops to pin the enemy in place. You can also try placing your javelin units behind your spearmen and ordering them to fire over the spearmen’s heads. I find I lose more of my own men doing this than I do by flanking, but you should give both a go and see which you prefer. The key to using javelins is practise, so load a few custom battles.

A helpful note on cavalry: To increase your cavalry’s effectiveness when chasing routers don't order them to attack, order them to move! Double click past the routers so your cavalry will gallop through them on their way to the destination. This will cause your cavalry to mow the routers down without stopping, increasing their effectiveness nine fold! This tactic is less useful when the enemy are not routing and the effect has been toned down due to the fixing of the so called swipe bug in patch 2.1, it remains useful against routers but should not be used against anything in a position to fight back.

To stand any chance of victory you must use a balanced army. An army of nothing but knights may look good but it costs a fortune and will be massacred by spears and pole arms, both of which are substantially cheaper. Make sure you have all four groups represented in your army: spears, swords, bows and cavalry. When you get better you can try leaving out spears in favour of something like pole arms but it takes experience to know what you can swap with what.

For more specific and in depth information on units try looking at the Complete Total War Unit Guide.

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Morale
Morale is the make or break factor in battle. If your morale gets too low your units will start to run. Each fleeing unit gives a morale penalty to friendly units that can see it, unless they possess the disciplined or elite status and the router doesn't. To keep morale high you should act as the tutorial showed you: Keep your units together, protect their flanks, don't make them turn their back on an enemy, make sure they are winning without taking too many losses. There is more on morale in chapter 2.3.

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What are those little flags visible on each unit?

The little triangular flag highlighted by the box represents a single point of valour. The unit in the picture has four little flags so that tells you the unit is at valour 4. The single large flag in the middle is the unit’s standard and represents nothing except the location of the unit’s leader. If the man carrying the standard gets into a fight the rest of his unit will try to reach him, generally the standard bearer will try to keep pace with his unit so if most of the men are engaged in combat he will wander over and join in. If a unit only has the standard and no other flags this means the unit is valour 0 and easy pickings.

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Charging
A common misconception is that you need to double click on the enemy to get your unit to charge. This is not true, all you need to do is single click and the leader of the unit will order a charge within a certain distance of the enemy. By double clicking you are ordering your unit to run, which is a different thing from charging. Allowing the unit to walk saves energy and micromanagement, so for best results just single click and let your officers do the rest.

To charge or not to charge, that is the question. There is no simple answer to this question, there are times when you should charge and times when you shouldn't. The basic rule of thumb is charge with everything except spears whenever they are going to enter combat. This gives the unit its charge bonus and gives it a better chance of doing damage in the first few seconds of combat. Spear units are the exception for a good reason - they need to stay in ordered ranks to receive their rank bonus. Charging disrupts the ordered ranks, even if the unit is on hold formation. Worse still is the fact that a spear unit will halt its charge the moment a single man comes into contact. This means that only one man gets the charge bonus for less than one second, while the formation is disrupted causing a loss in stats. Spearmen only get a small charge bonus anyway and their job is to hold the enemy in position while other units do the killing by flanking. So basically you should charge with everything except spears, until you can recognise the times where the exceptions to this rule take place.  

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3.3 The landscape
To find victory you must use and understand the landscape. I will give a basic rundown here but if you really want to know the tiny details find a copy of Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War'. This book is the original and best guide to conducting a war; reading and absorbing its contents will improve your game immeasurably as Total War was designed around it.

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Height
Height is critical. To put it bluntly the person with the high ground has a much better chance than the one on the low ground. Any unit on high ground gets a +2 morale bonus and attack bonuses against any unit lower than it. All ranged units gain extra range and damage. Any unit fighting up hill will get penalties and get tired faster. No matter what you do you should never attack up hill unless there is absolutely no option. When you are defending you should cling to your hills and refuse to be drawn down off them. If you are attacking height is much more tricky. You should try flanking your opponent while remaining out of range. This can cause them to move to a less advantageous position to avoid being hit in the rear. If they don't move then you will have some slight reduction of the height penalties because you will be attacking from several sides. You should also look for any high ground nearby and try to attack from it, as you will reduce the height penalty by reducing the height difference.

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Trees
Cavalry and spearmen are both at a disadvantage in trees. Cavalry receive a big penalty and spearmen are prevented from getting their supporting ranks bonus. Therefore you should try to engage these units in forests if you need to fight them with unsuitable units like swordsmen. You must keep your own cavalry and spears out of the forests unless you really want them to die.

Trees also provide cover from missile fire as the trees catch the arrows. Some arrows will inevitably get through but many will be stopped. If you are fighting a missile heavy army try hiding in the woods until they use up their ammo. Putting your own missile units in forests and expecting them to do much damage is stupid.

You can spring ambushes from trees; this is covered in the tutorials.

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Bridges
If you are defending then a bridge is a fantastic boon. If you are attacking then it is your worst nightmare. Units can only cross bridges slowly and in single file. This makes then a big fat target for missiles. When they are coming off the bridge they are still subject to the penalties for being crowded together. This makes them easy targets for the enemy's hand-to-hand units. Crossing any bridge is a bloody job, which will cost many lives. There are ways to reduce this though.

Firstly use units with very heavy armour, preferably above 6. This will protect them from the missiles better. They will also be able to hang on in the close fighting on the other side for longer, giving you more time to get extra men across.

Secondly you should bring your own missile weapons and try to lure the enemy onto the bridge by sending a rubbish unit like peasants out onto the bridge. When the enemy sends a unit to attack pull your men back. Hopefully the enemy will get into missile range and you can shoot them. Keep doing this until you run out of missiles.

Thirdly you should know that in MTW the AI will only defend one bridge if there are several in the map. Send a detachment around to the second bridge to flank the enemy before you begin to cross.

Fourthly bring plenty of troops; you will need at least 2-1 odds in your favour, probably more.

Fifthly, on the campaign map, you should send overwhelmingly massive armies to bridge provinces to try and force the AI with withdraw without a fight. This is the only way to win a bridge battle without substantial losses.

Defending a bridge is easy. Bring plenty of missile units and some good hand-to-hand units like men at arms. Shoot the enemy while they are on the bridge and send in the melee fighters as they are just coming off the bridge. You will hit them while they are disorganised and still crowded with a penalty and should be able to do plenty of damage before routing them. When the enemy rout you should pull back and do it again. Never be fooled into chasing across the bridge or you will be subject to the same crowding penalties and missile fire.

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Desert
This one deserves a special mention because it provides a bonus to camels and tires any unit with more than 5 armour out much quicker than usual. Camels are deadly in the desert, especially to horses. They receive a penalty if you take then to a lush province though.

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3.4 Generals and Kings
On the battlefield a king is always in some kind of heavy cavalry unit like royal knights or Ghulam bodyguards. A general can be any kind of unit but they usually appear in more expensive units like knights. Generals and kings both have more health than any other unit on the battlefield. It takes more than one hit to kill them. This can lead to some unbelievable situations where a king or general will fight their way out of an army single-handed. This phenomenon is called 'Jedi Generals'. The best way to kill a general or king is to attack him with ranged units. Only two men are allowed to attack a man in melee but there is no limitation on missiles shot at a man. Therefore a units worth of arrows provides a greater chance of hitting for damage. If you can't shoot the king you should surround him with his counter unit and keep attacking, you will probably get him eventually.

A general or king can bestow a valour bonus on his army by way of his stars. For every second star a general has all units under his command will receive a point of special valour. This valour only gives +1 attack +1 defence, it doesn't give a morale bonus like regular valour.

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3.5 When to fight and when to withdraw.  
This is something you will need to learn from experience. There are occasions where your army doesn't stand a chance so you should withdraw on the campaign map without entering battle. These occasions are often obvious e.g. you have a single unit of peasants against 12 units of knights. There are other occasions where it comes down to a personal decision based on circumstances, I can't help you there. When on the battlefield taking part in a fighting retreat or quick attack designed to damage the enemy army rather than defeat it the time to withdraw is a very delicate issue. If you pull back to soon you will not do much damage, if you leave it too late you will be run down by the enemy as you leave.

The first thing to note is that you withdraw by pressing control+W not control+O, which is tied to rout on default. Routing is a panicked flight, which will earn your general the 'good runner' vice (not a good thing) if he uses this method personally to leave the field. All control over a routing unit is lost unless it rallies, either by itself (not helpful if you want the unit to go away as the unit will just stand there doing nothing) or by your order (not reliable so it cannot be guaranteed to recall previously unwanted units to the battle). Withdrawing is a calm process that caries no penalties. However it is slow and you lose control of your troops once the command is given unless you first order them to halt.

Ideally you want to use up a lot, if not all, of your missile ammo before telling your missile units to withdraw. If you are fighting to cause as much damage as possible to a superior foe before leaving the field with as much of your army intact as possible it is at this point you will then send in the sacrificial melee units you bought to hold up the enemy while the bulk of your army leaves. Try to keep your melee units fighting in good order so they last longer and do more damage. Remember their job is not really causing a lot of damage; that should have been done by your missile units – anything you get from those sacrificial men is simply a bonus.  

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3.6 Sieges

Unfortunately sieges are pretty dull to fight. If you are the attacker you should bring along the best artillery you can as well as many tough, well-armoured hand to hand units. All cavalry can dismount in a siege; this is especially useful in the case of the various knights as they become powerful infantry able to slaughter the defenders en mass. Why dismount in a siege? Simple, the main use of cavalry is speed and manoeuvrability. Neither of these attributes are needed in a siege as the enemy is nicely penned up in the castle or stood around just outside. The horse just makes cavalry a bigger target in a siege. Most missile units are useless in a siege, the walls block the shots so leave them at home.

You should knock several holes in the walls before sending anyone in to attack. Use up all your ammo before moving in; try to destroy as many towers as you can to limit defensive fire, but only target the towers when you have at least two ways to get into the castle. When you attack through the breaches do it quickly and from several directions to force the defenders to split their forces and maximise your chances of breaking through on at least one front. Send in as many men as you can, as quickly as you can, and overwhelm the defenders.

When you are defending you should also dismount your cavalry and forget missile units for the same reasons as mentioned above for the attackers. Wait for the enemy in the centre of the castle, force them to walk past all the towers taking casualties. When they reach the centre you should try to swarm them in a cramped area, like when they come through a gatehouse or breach.

Sieges aren't over until the last defender dies or the last attacker routs.

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3.7 Tactics and fighting styles.
Ok, this is only going to be a basic run-through of some of the ways to fight. If I did a comprehensive list it would be longer than this entire topic! I'll divide it by religion as most religions hare similar units and styles.

Catholics
Catholic armies are made to slug it out in a relatively conventional manner. There are not especially manoeuvrable (by this I mean that most of their units have average speed for their type) and most of their units really suffer in the desert due to their heavy armour. You should always use a core of infantry to hold a stable centre and launch other attacks from. A line of spears with archers behind and swordsmen on the flanks is a very versatile formation, especially in early before the appearance of polearms. Place your general in the middle or on a flank at the back where he will be protected and can provide a morale boost to many units at once. Cavalry should go on the wings. For example:

The whole thing should be able to move forward together, keeping everyone well covered. The cavalry can easily detach to charge around an enemies flank or intercept a flanking attempt. The spearmen will engage the enemy in a line and the melee infantry are positioned to flank the enemy easily when the spears are holding them in place. The ranged units are protected and will be able to fire continuously, however in some circumstances you may find it beneficial to send the archers forward so they are in front of the rest of the army. Times where you may want to send your archers forward include when you are expecting heavy incoming missile fire (let the cheap archers take the damage, rather than more expensive units), when you will be shooting at units with a significant height advantage (if the enemy are much higher up their ranged units will have a very significant range advantage over yours, sending your missile units forward lets them absorb the damage, and also allows them to advance far beyond your army to conduct the missile duel without endangering your better units), or when you have many missile units and want to lay down a rain of arrows (stick some missiles in front of your army and some behind the spears), or when you do not mind more micromanagement and wish to give your archers the best possible view of their targets (deploy the missiles out in front, let them shoot and then manually pull them back behind the spearwall at the last possible moment. This takes practise and experience to do well, as you have to know how long it will take your men to fall back, and how long it will take the enemy to reach you). This formation can handle both attack and defence. Most factions can use it successfully as long as they can provide spearmen, heavy cavalry, melee infantry and archers.

The ultimate in Catholic defensive formations is the half-sexagon:

(NB: The formation is viewed from a slight angle, the long line made up of two units of spearmen is the front) This shape is formed with four spearmen. A unit of men at arms or other melee infantry is placed behind each set of spearmen and archers. Ranged units are placed behind the spearmen and need to be on hold position and hold formation to stop them moving. A group of cavalry is placed on each flank. Spare units can be placed in the middle of the formation for protection and later deployment. For best effects you should place it so the open edge is next to an impenetrable barrier like a cliff or the edge of the map. The spearmen should all be on hold position and hold formation. Don't ever tell them to do anything other than stand there. The enemy will approach while being shot up by the archers. They will charge the spearmen who will not move and will receive the full rank bonus. Unless the enemy is a sword type they will not win the fight, they will take losses from the spearmen even though they haven't been told to attack. The melee infantry can move out through the spearmen to engage the enemy or can be sent running around to flank. The cavalry is already positioned to flank the enemy the moment they are engaged. Generally the enemy will rout within a minute. This formation is very handy for when you are out numbered and desperate. It is only for defence; using it to attack will get you shredded. Other factions can use this formation but it is highly dependant on well-armoured spearmen, they need to be able to hold out with few losses for a long time. Using lighter spearmen will result in heavy casualties and a mass rout. Be warned that once a tiny part of this formation crumbles the whole thing will collapse very quickly – you will either win and survive or be crushed messily. Fortunately the formation is exceptionally resilient so it should hold together unless swordsmen kill your spears or your enemy has a large advantage in terms of technology.

From high era this formation can be tweaked with new unit types to expand the principle and become far more flexible, like so:

  Several of the changes are immediately obvious, but some of the other implications are only visible to the more experienced eye. Firstly the spears are gone, completely replaced by polearms, in this case halberdiers. Secondly the shape of the formation is now slightly different, the four halberdiers make up a single straight row instead of the half-sexagon shape the spears made, the sloped flanks are now made up of chivalric foot knights, another polearm unit. Why? Simply put halberdiers have poor morale and need their flanks protecting and guarding well or they risk routing. Chivalric foot knights have sky-high morale and excellent fighting capacity, so they make perfect anchors for the formation’s flanks. Remember also that most of the heavy fighting and morale sapping penalties will hit the flanks, as the enemy try to hit you at the weak point flanks often represent. Therefore the foot knights will both survive the worst penalties and ensure the halberdiers get a chance to stand and fight for a long time. Please note that you do not have to use foot knights to anchor the flanks, any infantry unit with high morale and good fighting power will do, however foot knights are the best of the best for the Catholics and can be obtained quite easily in a manner that makes your army more versatile – simply build chivalric knights and dismount them when you reach a battle where this formation is more use than the speed and mobility of cavalry. The longer frontline provided by the four halberdiers in a line also makes it harder for the enemy to swarm your formation. You may notice that the halberdiers are in three ranks, rather than the two ranks that will allow them to wrap about enemy units and cause more damage. This is because I am assuming (pretty much inevitable given the nature of this formation) that they will be receiving a lot of charges by both infantry and cavalry, therefore three ranks will give them a better chance of resisting the devastating effects of a strong charge on a thinly spread unit. Another immediately obvious change is in the position of the missile units – they are now deployed in front of the formation by default. This is because the appearance of the crossbow and arbalest has forced a change in tactics, unlike bows these weapons can only fire in a straight line, so no arcing shots over the heads of units in front. These crossbowmen benefit from being on hold position/hold formation so they do not move, ever. Instead of withdrawing them as the enemy get close you will take advantage of the polearm unit’s lack of rank bonuses and charge them forward – unlike spear units polearms have no bonus that is best maintained by standing still. It takes a bit of practise and experience to learn precisely when to start your men running forward (double click the target, remember this is not ordering a charge, just a run to get the men out to fight quicker) so they hit the enemy before your missiles get engaged in melee, but without moving too soon and losing valuable shooting time. The swordsmen, general and heavy cavalry are all in the same positions and serve the same purposes as they did in the spear-based version of this formation.

With the dawn of late the pike becomes available and a new type of formation along with it.

  The core, and real fighting power, of this army comes from the 6 units of pikemen right in the centre. They will be doing most of the work; everyone else is just there to support them. This formation replies on several key things, and if any of them fail you are in a bad situation. The good news is that this formation works equally well for both attacking and defending and can be quite devastating when everything goes well. It all focuses on the pikes and how they work, keep them in a position where they can do their job and you should be fine. What do the pikes need to do their job? Protection, [purely and simply their flanks must be guarded at all times and they [I]must[/I] stay in tight, orderly formation as all the pike units advance and fight [I]together[/I] in a wall. Reach unit of pikes needs to be in a minimum of 6 ranks, and deployed as close as possible (but not so close the units automatically start to move away from each other) to their neighbour on each side. Leave no gaps, make sure the line is straight, only move as a group and keep that formation dressed! Always but always make sure your pikes are in hold formation, don’t order them to run (as that will increase the chances of them losing formation and even a slight disruption really matters here), and try to let them stop frequently to redress their formation. The unavoidable flanks at the far ends are protected by a unit of swords (or polearms, or another unit of high morale and good combat power infantry) and a unit of heavy cavalry. They present a strong force that discourages the enemy from harassing your flanks, as well as being strong enough to see off most flanking attempts before they pose much of a threat to the pikes. They can also move forward to engage the enemy’s flanks when the pike wall has engaged the main enemy body. The general’s unit and the third unit of swords are there to plug any gaps in the main line, or to go fight at trouble spots; in essence they are your reserve. In front of the pikes you can see two units of arbalesters, they will do as much damage to the enemy as possible before the pikes reach contact. If you wish you can swap the arbalesters for gunpowder units, but this is not advisable – there are other units that are more disposable in this army and your arbalesters are practically required to handle any serious missile requirements. Gunpowder units will not be able to cause damage like arbalesters can, but with a lot of careful usage and some good luck they can cause severe morale damage to the enemy and encourage them to rout far quicker. I would say no more than two units of guns if you are absolutely determined to play with fire, swap two of the heavy cavalry units (the ones at the back in this formation) for the guns, and deploy your guns on the flanks of the pikes just in front of your swords. When the pikes engage the enemy let the guns fire into the enemy flanks at close range, they will do a tiny bit of damage and start causing big morale penalties in any unit they shoot – including yours, so do be careful of friendly fire! If those two units of cavalry are so disposable you may wonder why I included them, simply they provide mobility and extra protection for those oh so critical flanks, as well as being a highly mobile reserve and a ace in your sleeve as most heavy cavalry (particularly knights, and let’s face it if you are playing Catholic you will be using knights rather than the other types of heavy cavalry) will dismount into great infantry. Gothic or chivalric foot knights really pack a punch. This formation really does need flat and clear ground, as you may imagine hiking up and down hills or through trees disrupts the line, and then the enemy will start to exploit those gaps making your pike wall crumble to dust. If you can use Swiss armoured pikemen for this formation you should leap at the chance, as they are the best pikes in the game. Swiss pikemen are a tolerable substitute, generic pikemen are rather lack lustre and should be heavily upgraded in all possible fields (attack, defence, morale, armour) before you consider using them.

Catholics in the desert.

  

Cheetah has pointed out that the Catholics do have at least one type of ranged cavalry each, so it is possible to create a more cavalry heavy army in the same style as the Muslim and Orthodox factions. Personally I prefer the infantry route but you should try both and make up your own mind.

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Muslims
The Muslims are built more towards fast cavalry and missile attacks than toe-to-toe slugging matches like the Catholics. You need to play them with a more hit and run style. They should have more cavalry in the armies than the Catholics, especially cavalry archers. You can base an army around a line of six or so spear types which will hold a centre your cavalry can work from and retreat to.

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Orthodox
The Russians should be played in a similar manor to the Muslims as they share the same emphasis on skirmishing and ranged units. The Byzantines however can be played similar to both the Catholics and the Muslims due to their superb Byzantine infantry and selection of cavalry. A 50-50 balance between infantry and cavalry is good as it takes advantage of all the Byzantines special units, for example this army has 7 units of cavalry (including the general) and the rest is assorted special Byzantine infantry:

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