Tactics in cRPG, a guide

[Phazey]

Old thread on old forum: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,146417.0.html

Merc_Phazh’s ‘Art of War’ ;)
Or just a quick guide on following and using tactics in cRPG.

Playing as a team is not hard. In fact, it’s usually easier to go with the group than make up your own plan. The intention of this guide is to help people apply tactics in regular cRPG battles.

This guide consists of three parts: quick pointers for everyone when using tactics, a quick overview of the basic strategies we use most and a few tips on commanding.

Do not be scared by this wall of text. You do not need to read it all. Here are the main points, intended for the average player:

   1. Follow the red flag
   2. Participate in making the plan
   3. Stick to the plan
   4. Communicate
   5. Play smart
   6. Fight as a group
   7. Do not chase enemies
   8. If the leader dies, improvise

1) Follow the red flag
Always join battalion 1 (press P once) and follow the red flag (or banner) around. It's the main rallying point.

Be careful though: when attacking, the red flag is often used to point to the next place to attack. It might be swarming with enemies there, so don't assume it's a safe place to stand. But always try to push towards the red flag.

When holding an area or camping a house or other cover, the red flag is used as the main rallying point. When pulling back or regrouping, the red flag can be used to indicate where to regroup or pull back to.
Keep in mind that the red flag can be controlled by anyone (F1) and that the flag can get stuck sometimes. Follow, but not blindly.

Feel free to join another battalion and make your own (sub)groups. This helps with sticking together and also adds an intimidation factor.

2) Participate in making the plan
Please, feel free to offer suggestions on what tactic to use next round. The best time for this is when you’re dead. Participation is good. Try to reach a consensus before the new round starts though! Then repeat the plan once the round starts, just to be clear.

Agreeing to the plan is also important, because it creates confidence in the plan, thus making it more likely to succeed. So even a ‘yes, let’s do that’ can help create the domino effect that leads to victory. Confidence is key.

3) Stick to the plan
When the round starts, the plan is posted once or twice in chat and then almost never changes later in the round. This is because not everybody is able to keep an eye on the chat once the killing starts. Changing the plan mid-round is dangerous and can result in your team splitting up, which is bad.

This is where the flags come in. By using the flag, you can indicate a new direction to attack or a place to regroup that’s easy for everybody to see.

4) Communicate
Even though it's bad to have several people shouting different orders in chat, it's still a good thing to communicate during the round. Instead of shouting orders, inform your team and leader of the situation (e.g. 'they are going left') or even what your own plan is ('I'm flanking left to attack their archers on that hill'). Don't get killed while typing though. (this often happens to me :>)
So repeat commands your teammates might have missed, but don’t spam.

Some commonly used phrases that are quick to write are “CAV” and “INF”, meaning cavalry and infantry. Also: “INC” stands for incoming, but is often omitted and only the troop type is used.

Direction is also useful to report, so “CAV LEFT” would warn about incoming cavalry charge from your left. The directions are given from the perspective facing the enemy spawn from your own spawn or facing enemy group from your group.

Non verbal communication also works. A quick look at a teammate and a few steps towards your goal. Maybe a jump, maybe a whistle... there are many ways to communicate without typing. You can even use your weapon to gesture with (blocking upwards for example).

Whistling often means: “look up, (cavalry) incoming”! Or “enemies over here!”. Do not use whistling too much, only when there is a real need. Jumping and looking at someone can mean: “Come, over here, this way!”. The main thing about non verbal communication is looking towards the player you are trying to communicate with and making sure he is actually looking at you.

Also consider joining the Teamspeak server(s) while playing - it can be great fun! Remember to still use team chat and flags, because not everybody uses Teamspeak.

5) Play smart
Don't stop thinking. Try and follow orders, but treat the orders as an indication... an objective. If you're dead, you can't help. Stick with the group and stay alive. If the order is 'CHARGE!', try to push forward but keep an eye on your team. Don't get separated. Often, a charge starts out great; enemies get overwhelmed and your team kills a lot of them... but then after 30 seconds or so, everybody ends up chasing different enemies and your team gets scattered.

Always try to regroup after the initial charge. If your commander wants the charge to continue, he'll probably say so by repeating commands or moving the red flag further forward.

Surviving and helping your teammates is key to good team play. Try to be aware of your teammates’ positions and don’t try to be a hero. And use the flags.

6) Fight as a group
Keep your teammates on your left and right side and try to assist them in their kills. Always go for 2 vs 1 or better. If it's an 1 vs 1, see if you can get a teammate to help or just switch to another target. Skilled players can defend against one enemy player easily, but against two enemies it's impossible if they manage to surround you.So protect each other. Guard other players flanks, help them outmaneuver enemy players and engage enemies together. Never go in alone.

If you are under heavy ranged fire, spread out as you move forward and dodge. As soon as melee fighting stats again, make sure you have your team close.

As an archer, consider following close at the back of the melee charge for safety and for easy up-close shots. Don’t stray too far from the main force and keep the main force between you and the enemies.

It’s a team game, so use that to your advantage. If you find yourself outnumbered, regroup and pull back. A controlled, fighting retreat can be very effective.

7) Do not chase enemies
Do not chase enemies away from the main group early in the battle. If someone runs away, do not give chase unless you are faster. Remember to regroup often.

Special word to the highly skilled and the cavalry: although you probably do well engaging the enemies straight away, do consider sticking with the team and waiting for the main melee group to engage, especially early in the match. It’s no use to kill half a dozen enemies in a round only to find out your team has been slaughtered behind your back. And also: distracted enemies are easier to kill.

At the end of the round the reverse is true of course. Chase all you want. Like with all the other tips and instructions, use your own judgement and common sense. If you can assist a teammate in making a kill, do that and chase that one fast running enemy later.

8) If the leader dies, improvise
Stick together and play smart. Feel free to take over, direct the flag yourself and give instructions in chat. If you are not receiving any orders for more than 30 seconds, assume the leader is dead and do what you think is best to try and win the round.

The most important thing is to stick close to teammates. Follow the group and victory will come, even without orders or a plan.

Now I'd  like to discuss a few basic tactics we often use and comment on what can go wrong and what works. Feel free to stop reading here.

The basic tactics are:

   1. CHARGE
   2. REGROUP
   3. LEFT or RIGHT
   4. HOLD

Less common tactics:

   5. FALL BACK, then CHARGE
   6. CHARGE, then FALL BACK
   7. FLANK FAR RIGHT and FLANK FAR LEFT

CHARGE (or ‘go MIDDLE’):
This means attack the enemies and push forward. It’s used both when defending to indicate the right time to push back and when attacking to indicate when to start pushing forward.

The big risk with this is that it might disperse your team. Everybody might end up chasing different (groups) of enemies and get separated, lose cover, get shot in the back and killed by getting outnumbered and outmaneuvered. A good counter to this tactic is to do a controlled retreat. Falling back to good defensive positions makes the enemies stretch out and get separated and allows your team to control the fight.

I often use it to get everybody to attack at the same time, thus overwhelming the opposing team and forcing them to retreat and disperse. Very effective, but use sparingly or it will lose it’s effectiveness.

At the beginning of the round, it means: ‘lets go straight towards the enemies’. A red flag and instructions in team chat are often used to indicate the main attack direction.

REGROUP:
Often after the initial charge wears out and people get more spread out, it’s best to regroup. If you ain’t charging or flanking, you should probably be regrouping. Look at where the most players are and go there. The red flag is usually used as a rallying point.

LEFT or RIGHT: These commands are often used to indicate the direction of the attack around an obstacle such as buildings. A danger when using such plans is that when everybody pushes right, the left flank might collapse if the opposing team pushes harder. Also, players not paying attention to the chat and flag might be caught unaware. Archers could get caught off-guard and get killed without infantry to defend them. It’s usually best to try to stick with the ‘main push’ and not get left behind.

When used at the beginning of the round, these commands indicate the general direction the group should go.

HOLD or CAMP:
Many maps offer great defensive positions. High hills, mountains, roofs, ruins... even whole castles with gates and walls.
Holding or camping is the most basic of all tactics. Easy to follow and an easy plan to stick to. Great for archers and other ranged units.

The main danger when camping, as I see it, is passivity. Players sometimes stop looking for kills, especially the somewhat bored melee units.

Another danger lies in the fact that by camping, you effectively give away the initiative to the enemy team. That leaves you open to getting flanked or getting overrun by a good charge. Don’t camp a weak position several rounds in a row. Switch it up.
Camping is often used when a team loses and can help to get players to stick together.

More advanced tactics:

FALL BACK, then CHARGE:
This is a good counter against a enemy team charging. This only works well if everybody knows it’s the plan to fall back while fighting! Archers can take safe positions to stay out of the melee fight and the melee fighters can slowly move backwards, using the retreat to swing at exposed enemies. Make sure everybody knows the plan by talking about it while dead and at the beginning of the round.
It’s hard to plan this, because the charge or ‘pushing back’ might depend on how well your team is doing. It helps to have someone shout “CHARGE!” at the right time.

CHARGE, then FALL BACK:
This can be a great tactic against a camping team in certain situations. For example: the frozen lake map gives the defending team a good place to camp (the roof and forested hill behind it). Charging them, engaging in cautious melee and then slowly pulling back onto the ice ensures that your archers get a lot of easy shots and your cavalry gets to slaughter the enemies as they storm onto the ice. Again, it’s very important that people know the charge will turn into a retreat. Make sure everybody knows and agrees with this plan before trying this. You don’t want people to charge and be caught alone as the falling back starts.

FLANK FAR RIGHT and FLANK FAR LEFT:
These are commands used to indicate going wide. It’s a long walk and thus it’s not very likely to get the whole group to participate. That might result in the team splitting up as a part just charges the middle like they are used to. Also, exactly how wide one has to go is never clear. It might help to add a few landmarks in the commands, to make sure people know where to go. Use the flag to indicate where to go or carry it into battle leading the group when doing this.

It’s a rarely used tactic, because flanking wide and far takes a long time. Also the people that don’t follow the plan and attack normally get caught heavily outnumbered and far away from friendly fighters. It’s riskier than just going ‘middle-leftish’ or ‘middle-rightish’. Flanking wide can be good for smaller groups intent on attacking their archers and attacking their main force from behind. 

There are many, many other strategies. Did I miss an important one? Please post it!

If you’re not at all interested in trying to lead or making and influencing plans, feel free to stop reading here.

Tactics in cRPG; a quick how-to for leaders.

1) Keep it simple.
Anything more complicated than 'HOLD', 'CHARGE', 'Go LEFT' or 'Go RIGHT' often fails.

2) Consensus is king. The mob rules, not the leader.
See what most players do and reinforce their 'plan'. So if most go right, we go right.

3) Announce or discuss tactics for next round when dead.
This helps the team reach a consensus and increases the chances people follow your instructions. Remember #2: don't plan any tactic that people won't follow.

4) Don't do the same plan twice if there are good alternatives.
Even without a leader, the other team reacts. So if you all charged right last round and won, it's often a good idea to go left the next round. In some cases the enemy team has no leader and doesn’t adapt at all. In those cases, repeating the same plan once might be a good idea, but it’s often a bad idea to use the same tactic three times. Even the slowest teams will adapt.

Then again, if you are having trouble getting everybody to stick to the plan, changing it can cause a split up. So make sure you announce this while dead and at the beginning of the round. It’s a tricky balance between trying to keep the opposing team guessing and getting your own team to work together as a unit. However, if your team is used to changing the plan every round, switching it up often is a good thing.

5) Use flags.
The red flag (or banner) from battalion 1 is the main rallying point. It's often used to indicate where to attack or where to camp. Sometimes extra flags are used. The white flag from battalion 2 is often used as a secondary charge or flanking group. The flag from battalion 3 could be for the cavalry.

And, flags also add a bit of intimidation to the game, which can help win a round. When playing with friends, a flag will help you stick together.

6) You can prepare a message by typing it and then clicking.
It closes, but if you press team talk later on, your message is still there and you can press enter to send it. This way you can prepare instructions while dead and only send them at the start of the round so everyone receives it.

7) Confidence helps.
To get people to be confident in the plan, get people to agree in between rounds. Shout 'CHARGE' only when the time is right. Try to get a feel for the group's confidence. Charging when several enemies have just been slayed helps. Also, confident comments like: 'we got this' really help. Use sparingly though.

8 ) No tactics at all can sometimes be better.
Too much tactics and failing plans can make people lose confidence in the plans. A round with no plan helps to see what the group does and forces players to think for themselves. Sometimes, just sometimes, people play better with no plan to stick to.

9) CAPS or no caps.
People dislike large amounts of caps, so use caps sparingly. I try to use caps in long sentences for the main objective (e.g.: next round we all go LEFT around the house) so people can see the objective (LEFT) at a glance without reading the whole sentence.

A short word on the intimidation factor:
In cRPG battles, intimidation and fear are powerful tools. A group that sticks together closely and moves as a unit can strike fear into the hearts of your opponents. So displaying team play by moving as a tight group, using flags and other displaying can help demoralize the opposing team.

That’s it for now. I enjoyed writing this. Hopefully it helps promote the use of group tactics and team play in the regular cRPG battles.

I’d like to thank my fellow Mercs for contributing to this guide and sharing their thoughts: thanks Vargas, Burrick, Noctivagant and all you other Mercs.

And thank you, the players. Thanks for playing cRPG with us, thanks for trying to follow the sometimes crazy orders we give and thanks for giving your opinion and helping make the plan for the next round.

If you got this far: thank you for reading this! Feel free to add your own thoughts on the strategies and tactics used in cRPG and how we can improve on that.

Any feedback is welcome.

Further Reading (somewhat outdated):
If you like to read more about tactics in cRPG, there have been two threads recently about that: Joker86’s “The culture of teamplay” (http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,138255.0.html) and the “Tactic and formations guide” by Warlord(s) (http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,145689.0.html)

P.S.: If you wish to add to this thread, please take the time to do a proper post. Don’t use it as a chat. Thanks lads!

[Joker86]

The proper handling of bottlenecks:

First and only rule concerning bottlenecks: the team which attacks through them or tries to defend them (= waiting in or a bit in front of it) will lose! I witnessed this a hundred times (and I directed my attention to that!), and in 90% of all cases this prediction will come true. It's easy to explain why:

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As you can see, the purple line is the frontline between the two teams, and it's abvious the yellow team members are outnumbered on that frontline. And don't forget the red archers in most cases being able to shoot from everywhere around the bottleneck exit on the yellow team.

As this seems quite obvious on maps like the one with the castle (where the attackers sometimes try to counter by hiding in that courtyard house), and in most cases the team acts instinctively right. (Although I saw yesterday the defenders charge out of the gate of the inner circle. The outcome was clear, an attacker's win!)

On village maps the common player behaviour is somewhat different, probably to psychology. A castle has strong walls, and everyone knows, a castle is there to protect you, so you hide. Villages look weak, and often they make players feel like they had to "protect their homes", and if you protect something, you put yourself in front of it. Like this:

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But as you can see, the yellow team again walks into the bottleneck trap. You have to ignore your instincts and hide INSIDE the village, and let the enemies come in.

Another point is archery: often one team spawns on open plains, the other team inside a village. Instinctively archers think "Wow! Targets on open range, this will be like Omaha Beach!", but unfortunately it won't. A rifle bullet flies with more velocity, precision and impact, you have a higher rate of fire (even with repeating rifles, not to mention the 1500rpm MG42  :roll: ), and the G.I.s had no shields and armour or were fast moving targets due to horses under their butts. So this simply won't work. I am not really a successfull archer (PD 9 was a bad idea, although 2 shots for a destrier was sweet  ), but the easiest and safest kills are on short range, while the target is distracted, isn't it?

So better place yourself in second line, and just let them cross the plains, you won't score more than a single lucky kill anyway. You can try your luck, but don't forget to fall back as soon as they reach the village.

If everything is done properly, the defense will look like this:

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No need to explain what will happen to the red squares in the center of the picture within a few moments 
Notice the archers on the roof of the house in the center at the bottom. I am pretty sure they will land a lot of good hits and a few kills.

There are only a few defenders on the first houses of the village to prevent the enemy of seizing the roof and shooting down on the defenders. As soon as they set up a ladder break it, no fighting needed.

[Joker86]

The best unit for defense in cRPG: Cavalry!

"What the...? Cavalry is THE attacking unit, what are you talking about?" many people will think now. I think otherwise.


A defending player waits. If the whole team is defending, his fellows around him will wait, too. He will stand there, with the exact knowledge of his sorroundings, be it players or landscape. Short: he is aware of his environment.

An attacking player is under pressure, once the team started to charge. He tries to reach the defenders, and focuses on them. He is moving, and everything and everyone around him is moving, aswell. He has no time for turning around much, as he needs to close the distance to the enemy as fast as possible. (And many players don't know about the tilde key left of the [1]...). Next to this he will attack without formation, and probably much distance to other players, as most teams tend to spread out while charging.

Picture:
An attacker will be focused on the main enemy force awaiting him at their position (red arrows), and will try to cross the way as fast as possible (green arrow):

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(Also note the comment by "Peasants_are_revolting" ;) )

Short: a defender is aware, an attacker is unaware. So for cavalry players attackers are ideal victims, as long as they will stay away from waiting defenders.

This is how attackers often spread out:

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On the other hand, would a skilled cavalry player charge in here?

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(Btw Phazhey, that's you on that horse on the right side  )

So everyone knows these views. Notice the timer, it's the beginning of the round:

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How can I prevent this?

Well, the easiest way to do so is to be aware of your sorroundings even while charging, and using the tilde-key left to the [1]-key to look around you while running into the same direction.

The more important part of my essay is following thing:

The distribution of cavalry in the teams determines which team is attacker and which defender!

If you see the enemy has (noticeably) more cavalry than your own team DO NOT CHARGE!

You will lose most likely.

Better look for a well defendable position, every hill does fine, and wait there. Be patient. Be the smarter player/team. BE THE WINNER.

In most cases their cavalry will charge anyway due to lack of better (=easier) targets, and will get dismounted way faster with having caused much less losses to your team. As soon as they have few or no cavalry left at all: charge! The loss of their (bigger) cavalry force will have weakened the enemy team quite well, so your chances are good you can decide the round for yourself! If your cavalry (hopefully) was patient enough to stay out of action until your infantry reached their infantry, YOU will be the team with the bigger cavalry force, and as your infantry already distracts their infantry (and probably most archers), your cavalry will have an easy job of killing many opponents.

This is especially recommended on "unbalanced" maps, which in most cases are villages being attacked from the plains or mountains.

The most basic rule repeated once: Do NOT charge blindly after spawning if the enemy team has more cavalry than yours. Even if you have more cavalry, try to wait and take out theirs first, then charge. If you can't help it, try at least to keep one eye open for cavalry, better both.

[Joker86]

The right hill defense

I think I noticed a slight increase of tactics on the servers, which is a nice thing, and I was always wishing for, but I spectated one thing I want to mention: the right defense of a hill.

Often you can really make teams defend a hill, and often this tactic is successful, but sometimes (or, to be honest, in most cases) it's done (a little bit) wrong. I think it is important to get this right, as too many failed hill defenses could end in a lowered tactics use again, which would be really bad. So here it is.

- What's done wrong?

This has to do with psychology, as the "king of the hill" is always sitting ON the hill, the flag on Iwo Jima was placed on TOP of the Suribachi, and so on... so in most cases the team seizes the top of the hill and tries to defend it by placing themselves in front of it. In most cases it looks like this:

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(In this case the team acutally didn't perform a hill defense, but the "frozen" picture shows pretty well what I am talking of. The enemies approaching are marked red).

As this is already a good position, and you've got an advantage over the enemy, you can still improve your chances. Especially if the enemy has got more archers.

- How is it done properly?

Easily. This way:

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What's different? The team is standing behind the hilltop, instead of in front of it. So it benefits from additional cover! (That's why I mentioned the enemy archers before). I see too many shielders placing themselves in the enemy fire, and being shot into the feet for nothing! Stay behind the hilltop, hide yourself, you are still defending it if you do so!

As Microsoft Paint is great fun for me, I made a few graphics, as usual 


This is the way how it's done in most cases, and how it's... well... suboptimal:

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The team is standing on or in front of the hilltop, waiting for the enemy and being shot all the time. The enemy charges uphill, and has got the momentum. I would say with this you can increase your chances by about 5-10%, from 50% win chance to 55% or 60%. This calculation already considered your cavalry being able to attack the enemy approaching on the open ground while the hill slows down their cavalry!

So better place yourself this way:

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As you can see, the hilltop provides you with cover, while the enemy is approaching. As soon as the enemy team reaches the foot of the hill and is approaching the hilltop, it's time to charge:

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This way you negate their momentum, and as you charge downhill you will probably have a slight momentum advantage. A team charging has always better chances of surviving as a team being charged. (Unless there is no bottleneck or other special circumstances). Also the enemy will be in greater disorder than you, and finally there is the psychological aspect of chargin uphill an enemy who is charging you downhill 

There should be no need for coordination, as most players wil lcharge by default when the enemy is approaching the hilltop. Just take care he doesn't actually reach it. WIth this tactic, I would say you increase your chances up to 70%!

So this time I can keep my tactics post rather short:

Stay in cover !!!!BEHIND!!! the hilltop, wait for the enemy to approach, then charge him before he reaches the top! Everyone who is no archer has to stand in second line, to grant a free line of fire!

Advantages:

- You have cover from their archers
- Your archers can shoot more arrows, as noone is dancing in front of them. Noone is dancing in front of them, as noone thinks, they need cover and could use a shield or two, as the hilltop already grants cover.
- You keep the momentum

Together with all the other advantages a hill provides with. Just place your pikemen at the flanks of the hill, and you will utterly crush any enemy force! 

[Kafein]

Great work !

To write a uber short tip :

We see more and more dedicated pikemen, and that is a good thing. Remember your best ally against cavalry is sticking with those guys. Start moving, and your protection will vanish. It is possible to keep a good protection against cavalry when moving, but it requires much  practice and more importantly, voice coordination. If you see your team has a lack of cavalry, allways plan your moves with caution. Find the anticav and stay close to them.

[Joker86]

Could someone please sticky this and then delete my post? Otherwise this thread will just disappear between all the beginner question topics 

[Mala]

The new C is P.
Anyway, i thought that - run to the next cover and then pew pew pew away- is the most common tactic for every situation.

[kinngrimm]

Phazey and Joker86 great strategic tipps and thinking behind it.

I want to add a role, the tasks and problems of

-----------------------
"the Skirmisher"(Plänkler/Tirailleure)
-----------------------


general advice on skills, gear and tactics:
-----------------------
- high athletics 7+ - you are speedy gonzales
- nearly weightless gear, again speed  wins
- a shield bcz of archers , a pike to keep the cav away, if possible
- depending  on terrain choose your clothings color so they match the main color of the map. You shouldn't be spotted too early but you want to be spotted at some time, its your job.
- you are not a ninja even if sometimes you get the chance to get unnoticed behind ennemies, dont mess with them too early, if your are not certain you will win and have still time todo your job(your job "is not" to kill in the early stage)
- switch between zoom and normal view often in all directions, so you can see who is aproching you and how many
- look back and count your troops and position and try to imagine where they are going
- Be aware of the ninjas and perhaps other Skirmishers, on your site as well on the enemies site, look what they do try to counter those psychological effects what are not wanted they are pulling, if youcan't on your own try to announce them in chat.
- DON'T get into fights in the early battle if you can avoid it or get to get a "careless Archer only skilled" easy target
- One main problem of a Skirmisher, people are sometimes follwoing him when not wanted to, that is not good. They misunderstand his intentions and the tactics behind go just wrong. So announce your job in the beginning because you are special ;) just by typing "=Skirmisher", if they ask point them to this  thread.

early battle
-----------------------
what: form enemy lines to our own advantage, spot the enemies intention and give if needed and time for it short information

how: again depends on terrain
sometimes it is to our advantage to keep them in close formation so our troops can surround them, so circle them, keep their awarness away from the front and our cav can flank/backstab them easiely.
sometimes it is good to spread them, but then in away that they get farther away from the main battle and do not create a flank out of itsown. Means bring them to retreat without noticing them. Mostly they will think aaah easy pray and they go after you, thats the plan. Afterwards just circle arround them and tryto reach your troops. Still no killing if not necessary, easiely or inevitable.

early to mid battle
-------------------------
what: lure out unpatient folks into our charge or lure big chunks from the defender away from the main battle so they are defided

how:The lines are in shouting range and all are looking for targets, be aware of your own commrads where are more of us and less of the ennemy , aproach the later and lure them to the former, there are allways unpatient folks who fall for that or good players who think they can handle that. We gang up on them.
If defending and you know where is a trap, the ennemy wants to flank in opposite direction aproach and bring them back on the road to defeat.

mid to end battle if still alife
-------------------------
what: your the guy in their back, if you are lucky you get to strike the final blow
how: again through your overwhelming speed flank and circle them, they become uneasy and  make mistakes.
Kill foot Archers who are still left on your own, you can match their speed.
Gang up only against the havy hitters and very skilled players. Try not to aproach fights were the ennemy is allready out numbered from eitehr our own good players or in aratio1:3+,  you are the fast support troop who helps the struggling who is on its own.


I tried to include the timing but its often a blur, so read the battle and decide for your own when to use what.
And again , it allways depends. A lot may allready be said but i wanted it to be in the view/context of the role of a Skirmisher.

If you are still alife, job well done.


So what do you think?

[kinngrimm]

up and +1 for sticky, if the later please delete this reply.

[DesertEagle]

Any feedback is welcome.

You forgot to mention how actually to pick up the flag ( become a leader ). By pressing "P" I just get a mark on a flag and that is all. And can I create a flag with a picture of my banner?

[Phazey]

And can I create a flag with a picture of my banner?

No, not that i know. The flags have fixed colours.

You control the flag's location by looking somewhere and pressing F1. Look at your feet and press F1 to carry the flag, but remember that as long as you carry the flag, others can't control it. So it's often better to plant it somewhere.

[Phazey]

I'm thinking of making a shorter version of this guide, just explaining the very basics of flag useage and making minimal plans (left, right, hold or charge). Would that be worth the effort?

I was kinda thinking maybe a few new players haven't read this stuff yet. Yesterday evening several people asked about how you can use the flags and the batallion system...

It was kinda cool to see three new guys waving banners around on my team as i tried to lead the troops with the red flag. 

[Eugen]

just pushing this thread up! cool thing

[Son Of Odin]

Nice thread.

[MR_FISTA]

Jokers tactic pictures need a sticky