Bannerlord Guide - How I Lead An Army In Battle

[@richardsylvester4518]

"F1 plus F3 works everytime ... except the last time" - Napoleon (probably)

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol!

[@laurentiumiu751]

Napoleon Dynamite?

[@F2P_Akainu]

​@@beardedguy8357 you prolly get your history books from demons

[@CactusAmigo]

@@beardedguy8357 bruh what kind of drugs are you smoking

[@snugglecity3500]

Napleon actually was known to do the all f1+f3 trick towards the end.

[@calebcantrell9115]

Imagine fighting in a war for your kingdom and as you engage the enemy you hear the faint voice of the commander explaining in detail how he's going to bind macros to his infantry commands to wipe you off the face of the earth.

[@FallenSaintAl]

😂

[@Ray-yv7kn]

Necron moment.

[@B.Miller]

I feel like the top down should be an option in the base game. Even in a realistic setting, troops would have standing orders for engaging and it's not realistic to have the commander micro manage from the front. Especially when they also have group leaders to reinforce the orders.

[@user-wq9mw2xz3j]

Or rather just give us the option for more advanced commands... maybe pre battle tactics such as in some warband mods, but better.

[@Tethos]

There is a mod that lets you do this.

[@snarfbomber298]

Yes Rts camera should be in base game and on console

[@user-wq9mw2xz3j]

@@Tethos oh really ..

[@markj2305]

@@snarfbomber298 does Steam have the RTS mod?

[@brycekiller1]

I wish bannerlord had warbands unit setting. I wish i could make specific units on a specific number without having to use filters, but instead in the party menu.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I agree, I don't like how they did it. I prefer the older system they used to have

[@riptrojans7237]

@@Strat-Guides Yeah with the old system i could micromanage my palace guards to attack at the right time when my legionnaries have already made contact with the enemy troops and just go ham on them and split cavalry for both flanking archers and rushing down infantry. Shock troops were phenomenal when used correctly for defeating larger enemy armies now it's the opposite. If the enemy army is larger they are less usefull cause they are forced to go along the legionarries and get shot down by the archers. Sad change.

[@VladTepes44]

​@@riptrojans7237 using the filters like Strat showed at around 0:30 you should be able to get close enough. I would not mind having more filters though because most of the time you have to use the opposite of what you want: no filter for low tier troops, you have to use heavy armor to take out higher tier troops.

[@jamoecw]

@@VladTepes44 yep more filters would be a good idea, but that is because you can't micro them so you need a filter for every desire. take crossbows and archers, or short spears and long spears.

[@naminus9080]

They had it in the beta. Wonder why they removed it.

[@axeltavarez1367]

This new total war game is pretty cool it's nice that they let you choose commanders for individual formations.

[@Derp_Moo]

yea great feature

[@frozenice9634]

Finally CA do some good job

[@joshuatacheny3342]

not total war

[@whoopontrose2517]

One big thing to remember is: To use that many groups etc, you need to ahve a certain battle size able to run on your device.

[@drone_photography42]

I realised that :( my dumbass has an army around 180 but most of the time my army is not big enough considering the oppossing team is capping it.

[@ltbingus]

Bannerlord really needs more troop organization, I should be able to have a wall of pikes in front and shield wall behind.

[@VladTepes44]

Seeing how bad vanilla troops use spear always makes me sad.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I agree. It used to be half-decent back in the day but they changed it. Everyone hated it, but they never addressed it again lol RIP

[@iayylmao7627]

I’m like 90% i seen a taleworlds post about this being a feature now

[@jamessauls7533]

​@@VladTepes44it's not even the ai, it is just how the spear works, it is completely useless unless you are mounted

[@Sheqhal]

The fact that you know about Khalid Al-Walid really show how deep is your knowledge on medieval warfare strats. Respect brother.

[@leoalvarez1880]

Khalid Ibn Al-Walid is one of the very few generals to never lose a battle and his first time being in command was in the middle of a losing battle. A fucking underrated goat

[@arenas4641]

A genius

[@zawarudo5673]

Khalid ibn Al-Walid is already famous and known to anyone who is interested in History (which is often the case for people who play medieval or strategic games). There are a lot of edits about Khalid (especially from Arab or muslim people on the internet) and his story has already been told by a lot of video makers on KZbin and TikTok (plus being told by absolutely every single muslim speaker: I know what I’m talking about, my brother is muslim and he loves to mention him whenever he talks about the sahabas or the first muslims). Khalid is not infamous, he is famous and it is no surprise that a lot of people know

[@Alex-tx2em]

@@zawarudo5673 I think he means from the western perspective, the Muslims aren't glorified as honorable enemies like the Carthaginians under Hannibal because in the end Hannibal loses and they come out on top, the only exception is Saladin, because even though he retains Jerusalem, the main goal of the Crusades, he loses against Richard. Another figure in the crusades, Baibars, is also often overlooked because of the fact that were was simply no rivalry, it was a one-sided campaign.

[@zawarudo5673]

@@Alex-tx2em I think I see what you mean and I agree. If I understood correctly, you are saying that Khalid didn’t get as much attention as Hannibal or Saladin because the Byzantins and Sassanids didn’t win and so they didn’t glorify him to flex about their victory (like Rome against Carthage) and he didn’t have any rivalry. I think it’s true, but I think that another reason that may explain why Khalid ibn al-Walid is less famous than Hannibal or Saladin in the West, is because Khalid didn’t fight against westerners. He fought against the Byzantins (who have a different culture, History, language and civilization than the people of Western Europe) and the Sassanids. It might explain why the West didn’t mention him so much on their traditional medias (books, common culture, TV): as Khalid is not part of the western History and didn’t meet any western ruler (unlike Saladin who took part in the 3rd Crusade and fought against Richard Lionheart), the western medias don’t mention him so much (although he is often mentioned in History channels and on some historical documentaries, meaning that anyone who learns about History will know him). By the way, I wonder if the modern Greeks (who are the direct heirs of the Byzantins - or at least are the closest heirs to the Byzantins because of their culture, language, genetics and location) know the story of the wars between Byzantium and the Sassanid Empire and the wars between Byzantium and the Arabs. I wonder if those parts of History are commonly discussed in their country.

[@seventhsuns3580]

Thank you! For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to separate my shock troops till now

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nobrkt]

same here :D 615 hours in bannerlod.. i couldn't separate them perfectly. i wish Devs would change the way you manage those groups, so you could do it easier - so you could pick exact warriors in groups instead of random slider.

[@ESFAndy011]

It's counterintuitive crap. An alternative is a mod called "partyscreen formations", which essentially brings back the group enumerating system from 1.6.x. It's a little janky, but you can work with it.

[@MusMasi]

@@nobrkt the current system is so clunky and hard to use.

[@Loromir17]

The Total War: Medieval 3 we never got (although, this is more like Barbarian Invasion 2). Genuinely that undelivered promise of "every soldier actually fights with a physical weapon, not just two abstractions playing animations at each other until an arbitrary hidden number decides one of them loses."

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol yeah I always thought that was a little odd, although I understand why they did it. This game does suck up a lot of your CPU because of all the units

[@Loromir17]

​@@Strat-Guides I guess that's as good as it gets - I mean, say, Skyrim and The Witcher 3 have combat systems straight outta an rts (just hidden under the layer of animations and timings), and those games would kill your PC if you tried to spawn 1000 units, while Bannerlord actually simulates collisions and manages to pull this off even on mid-tier CPUs.

[@somecallmejorge2462]

Having RTS engaged makes this so much easier not just to control, but to also to visualize and explain. As any good warlord knows, this is a lot to take in when commanding from a 3rd person view and trying to fight yourself. So, don't beat yourself up if you forget to order a charge command or overextend into reinforcements and lose the battle as a result. Derthert will do that for you ;)

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I know what you mean - I personally don't use RTS camera mod in my campaigns but it's really helpful when making videos for YT.

Ohhhh so this is a mod? And I thought I was playing the battles wrong for half the game...

[@shawnwolf5961]

@ He said it was from a mod in the video. There is a camera mod and a commands mod as well.

[@bigbirdwithbigbread6067]

​​@@Strat-Guides which RTS mod are you currently using.I cant find a working one for the current game version.

[@Arkangel630]

@@bigbirdwithbigbread6067 if you're not running the beta Norvibar's release of RTS Camera on github works for me, though I think Command doesn't

[@WolfbloodJakeWilliams]

With cav, I tend to give them the 'follow me' command, put them in skein formation, and then run up and down their archer line. I mostly use heavy cav (cataphracts, mamelukes, and banner knights) with a few skirmishers mixed in, so keeping them on the move in formation lets them hit with speed bonuses and makes it difficult for the AI cav to engage properly.

[@Chadius_Thundercock]

How do you use cavalry properly? I try to use them to try to scatter the Calvary charges the AI always starts with but they just end up as sponges while I’m doing the real work

[@redcrown5070]

Do not use skein or scatter, always cube or shield tight formation

[@abas656thegodemperor9]

i usually use loose formation for cav, it works well enough for me atleast ​@@redcrown5070

[@audreyrewinded]

@@redcrown5070 would've been awesome if you did any explaining as to why

[@markdevlin150]

In total war I would switch formation with Calvary all the time. Skein looks like it would do a piercing charge into an enemy line and go 3 rows deep depending on if its light heavy or shock cav. You'd switch formations to get the most out an attack. loose formation so you dont get pelted with ranged attacks. Switch to a tight formation or whatever its called for breaking that enemy line. If a player is smart they would set archers to loose formation on an impending charge or versus archers to minimize casualties. There are reasons formations are important. But who knows how Bannerlord does it. or if it is effective.

[@johnmute6865]

You can middle click an enemy formation while you have selected your formation so your unit targets a specific enemy unit. You dont have to place them next to them and charge.

[@russko118]

in vailla or with the mod he was using?

[@CitizenSnips314]

@@russko118 With the mod. RTS camera + RTS Camera Command System

[@jillokuranja2410]

@@CitizenSnips314 RTS camera command no longer works well with the base game since Taleworlds added the new formation targeting mechanic though

[@WeLoveToEntertain100]

meanwhile (1.2 beta) also in vanilla. select ur troops, hover over the enemy icon (bow for ranged units for example) the icon immediatly gets green arrows around it, and if u give the charge command, ur units focus on that specific enemy group@@russko118

[@tonyisaknight3550]

How do you do that on console

[@massimessa1663]

the fact that you named your character khalid ibn al walid , what a legend

[@lukegibson6044]

For console players you can change line length by using LT to enable the free camera and RT to drag the line. This is much harder once in battle since you don't have free camera but still doable.

[@parlon9383]

Thank you… you might have saved me a battle

[@giorgioosiris3216]

Thanks dude, not a lot of decent info for Xbox players out there.

[@hypetelevision]

im xbox we need tip videos

[@patrickdurst9623]

THX

[@adamgerald849]

Thanks. I have it on Steam deck and it runs great but hard to command people or remember all of the controls.

[@pizzadeliveryspringtrap9152]

I... I think I'm gonna stick to charge.

[@crackpotmike]

I love your videos, very informative and you have a relaxing voice too. I've used several of your strategies and most recently used you siege defense strategy to defend against an army of 1800+ with just over 400 troops. Thanks alot for your content!

[@Strat-Guides]

I'm happy to hear my videos are being put to use! Thank you for the support :D

[@DresGarB]

Newcomer to the series, I got the game for PS5 a couple of weeks ago. Awesome stuff. Doing the campaign on Bannerlord difficulty and your video and the resulting data about cavalry formation effectiveness was great help (as I soon realized letting the AI control my troops often resulted in a loss). Yesterday it all appeared to click as I was finally able to win an outnumbered battle against those dirty sturgians. Probably the best advice was how good shield wall is and how awful troops perform with the charge command.

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice! I'm glad to hear my videos are being put to use :)

[@richardballan2013]

i found that enabling the slow motion effect when selecting groups helped me a lot as a beginner

[@quarkchild]

i cant believe people would ever play with this off lol

[@polatyilmaz3547]

Step 1) create an army, step 2) name your main character Khalid ibn Walid step 3) Win

[@eyjafjallajokull1130]

I think the RTS Camera Command System is very useful, sometimes you need to attack certain units. it would be handy if the commands worked on archer tho

[@MrSquigglies]

This is really interesting because it is drastically different from how I usually control mine. I keep all of my infantry in a single group and split my archers and cavalry each end too and my horse archers are in their own single group. I push forward with the infantry and then flank with the archers and cavalry. Then again I also don't really use shock troops that much I prefer to use just durable shielded infantry with some pikes mixed in.

[@waluigisnuts683]

sturgian heavy shield, khans guard & elite cataphract is a good combo of troops for that play style. fian heros are just as good but i like the mobility of the mounted archers

[@toniodu371200]

Vlandian sarge or imperial legion have both pike, shield and sword with a good armor making them very useful in any line vs line situation. I never use the pike only, they mostly have trash resist, no shield and fuck up the shield wall just dying like retards on the first volley they take. Not saying their blatant unusefulness on sieges. Bow cav are good on packs until you fight vs the khans. Their cav is bullshit, they always have hundreds of them and will destroy your light cav and bow cav by sheer numbers. Most of them are light cav so you can easily stop them with arrows but the best tactic against them is make a spanish tercio and maximum heavy cav like cataphract or barons, works like a charm... CQC cav in the flanks is a good idea but won't do much if not micro right into enemy archers and make them cycle charge on the back of the line attacking you Actually that's a good overall tactic for a backline commander but need a lot of micro and if your character die, they will just start doing shit and die like retards. Also with bows only, your ranged anti armor is clearly lacking. It could be nice to get some vlandian crossbow, low fire rate and won't get a chance against any infantry but hits like a truck.

[@MusMasi]

@@waluigisnuts683 I like to use both foot archers and mounted archers with shield infantry and some cavalry. Often two groups of horse archers.

[@Biomirth]

Strat did some testing with infantry (by some I mean 'a lot'). I don't do 4 groups but I do always do 2 if it's at all a tight battle. Having your shielded units separate from you shock gives you the chance to not throw the heavies away and also keeps your shield wall a perpetual anvil against which everything else can be a hammer.

[@juanignaciocaballerogarzon977]

I my experience what you is statistically better that what he does. Splitting is cool but in this game is not efficient, you want you infantry to rush the line of the enemy, the longer the easier to flank. In the video it shows the problem, the middle of the army suffers a lot of casualties that could have been avoided if the troops at the sides had flanked. I only split in two, heavy to keep the line and light to flank, and do not overcommit in the flank. Still, the problem is when you face armies with better quality than yours. Then the strategy fails when the troops barely stand the ground...

[@mikear.4062]

This is just like Total War Rome 2 but with a bit more details. I did not expect it to be so simple to control your units. Thanks!

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah it's pretty similar! I think in the TW series they treat each group of units as 1 blob instead of 200+ individual units, which is what I think makes Bannerlord so unique!

[@DragonSlayer-706]

@@Strat-Guides That difference definitely hurts me, mainly cause I'm used to TW a lot more so I still think of it that way. And there's the aspect that usually you're not in a bird's eye view while also trying to fight.

[@naturalbornpatriot6369]

F4 from move command is “Engage”. This is much more efficient for cavalry over charge. They keep formation and engage only one other unit (seems like it’s the closest enemy unit they are that they engage). It’s much more difficult to do it from character level, I will certainly have to try it out with this RTS mod.

[@PlutoC17]

I usually use 3 infantry groups with the first 2 being shields the 3rd being shock troops. I try and get the enemy infantry blob to split up and attack my shields. Once they split up I run my shock troops up the middle to flank one side and wipe out one of the groups. Then my free infantry can help the other side or go after the archers or whatever I need. I do use the RBM mod though so I have time to leave one of my groups isolated longer without taking bad losses.

[@javier68duarte]

One thing you can do when you are trying to isolate units is mouse over the troop number in the group but not click on it. It will show you how many infantry in your army fall under the filter which makes it easier to isolate your units.

[@russko118]

in the pre-battle?

[@javier68duarte]

Yes! You can see this when you are setting up your forces before deployment. As an example: if your filter is for shielded infantry and you have 80 shielded infantry and 30 shock infantry, the unit number for the group will display 110. When you mouse over the 110, an info menu will pop up and display the breakdown of the 110 infantry (80/110 shielded). Knowing this info helps when your are dividing your forces during a siege defense because the game will always mix your infantry with your archers.

[@russko118]

@@javier68duarte i usually use auto defence during sieges, who do you divide them instead? do you give orsers or let the ia doing?

[@javier68duarte]

@russko118 this only works if you are partaking in the siege battle. For auto resolving, this doesn't matter.

[@K-Man123]

Hey Strat there is a mod called RTS Command that allows you to order any unit in your army to specifically target any enemy unit. For example you can order your cav to specifically attack the enemy archers.

[@jessevelazquez7088]

Oh God, I was just thinking of this last night. I needed my cav to charge the horse archers, but the units hit a 180 for footmen.

[@RealIgss]

they just added that now in the new 1.2.0 patch xD

[@ethanacton408]

I know this is a old video, but thank you for this. I always found these comands confusing and just resorted to f1 and f3. so you explaining it now will help me to actually win battle and not just lose every time the odds are not overly in my favor

[@lukasbusch2135]

Sometimes I wish that you could watch the battle from an elevated position to manage your troops, just like real generals in history.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah once in a while you get a good map for it, but usually you don't :(

[@michska53]

Then go play total war lol

[@RenanBarsaglini]

Hahahhahah just like god ?

[@nickthompson1812]

Find a hill. What do you think real generals in history did? Lol. If they weren’t fighting along side, they were posted up on vantage points

[@lukasbusch2135]

@@nickthompson1812 Do you regularly play the game?

[@Ariquetz]

Thanks for the great and informative content! I just got back into this game recently and haven’t played since release(console player). I was struggling at first because I didn’t understand a good portion of the changes from this game and warband especially with companions. I love playing the sturgians. But I was really mad that I was carrying the ai so hard in endless death wars and knew I was doing something wrong. That’s when I stumbled onto your companion playlist and the sturgian troop guide. Now I’m holding just fine on a new character that I consider a reboot and those filthy Vlandians cower in fear every time they see the squares of doom!

[@LCInfantry]

The squares are not good anymore. He even says it in the very next video, right after that sturgia video he made. Squares were good 9 months ago, but after the full release of the game(console release) they updated formations… square sucks

[@lukegibson6044]

Something kinda relevant I just found out is that you can assign yourself as a commander when you're in an AI army and get complete control of that specific formation once the battle starts.

[@laurentiumiu751]

Splitting your troops into more 1 line groups would have done wonders for me in the yesterday siege against their 2 catapults. Had twice the men and lost more than half before climbing the walls, the ret just routed. A few 1 line groups would have won the battle. I knew what I should have done, I did not know how. F1 F3, when it did not work: F6. I could have gotten another city / town, one of the attempts was really close.

[@jamoecw]

one thing to keep in mind that even though you can take on larger forces when you do you get less of your own troops and the AI might decide to not give enough of the shock troops to make this work. i tried a sort of pike block strat for the flanks while i had archers, crossbows, and javelins protected by heavy infantry one time. i didn't need many heavy infantry, just enough to hold the line at about 2 ranks deep, and less of the ranged can work too, but if the pikes get too few then the cav just ride right through them. you can use the pikes to roll up the flanks as well if need be, so long as the enemy archers are dealt with. early on before i hit the battle size limits i was able to take on 4 or 5 to 1 ratios at the upper end of the sizes, as the larger the forces the more efficient it becomes. it was entirely infantry so it was slow, so when it was caught with a simple 3 to 1 fight after i had expanded to about 400 troops i ended up with essentially no pikes to hold the flanks and cav just rode down the ranged troops and the whole thing collapsed. basically early on combined arms is great, but it is a trick and you should stick to a max of 4 different troop types and have good numbers of each so that when things shrink you can still use them in your plan. if any of your troops require a critical mass, such as anti-cav blocs then you should have them as either your most numerous or second most numerous amount of troops.

[@Strat-Guides]

That's a good point and I probably should have made a comment about the settings for reinforcements - you can have all the high tier units come first, which would be good for this situation. Sometimes I like to lead with the low tier though, more of a challenge :)

[@MarinoFrana]

Now do it without RTS camera 😅

[@Vok250]

Yeah none of this works on console because the new controller scheme is total balls. Wish we could choose the warband controls instead.

[@iamdanieloliveira]

My go to is 1 infantry formation in shield wall to draw the enemy and soak damage, 2 horse archer formations to the sides to envelop the enemy when they engage the infantry, 2 heavy cav formations to engage enemy cav/archers and protect the horse archers. 20% infantry (any troop with a shield), 40% horse archer (any), 40% heavy cav (any with good armor). It works well against most armies and can be done with mixed troops of all cultures. Only downside is that you need to be very careful with enemy reinforcements, otherwise they can spawn right next to, or sometimes inside of, your stationary cav formations.

[@jamesrahe5287]

I love how much strategy can go into a battle!

[@barkspawn]

First of all thanks for your fantastic videos, I'm new to Bannerlord so they've been invaluable. The TW style camera mod is really cool, especially for explaining unit tactics, but I've had enough of that from Total War games. I adore the first person experience of trying to command my troops that Bannerlord provides (even though the units make highly questionable decisions if left to their own devices, it can be pretty hilarious when it happens) - nothing comes close to it for that atmosphere of hearing your horse's breath and the hoofbeats from your heavy cav around you while you charge into an enemy formation. I've found that using the Follow Me command with melee cavalry formation can be extremely useful for managing my cav instead of trying to give them orders from a distance, and occasionally telling them to engage/charge or hold if I want to split off for a moment to issue some commands to my other troops.

[@FulcrumHQ99]

I generally just put my infantry in shield wall, archers behind, and then delegate command to my cavalry. I find delegating command to cav is farrrrrrr more effective than controlling them manually. Giving them the charge order causes them to run off chasing single units, but delegating command causes them to repeatedly charge in and out as a group. First they defend your flanks, then when the flanks are safe they usually go for the archers, then the infantry all while staying as a group. Delegating command for cav has been a game changer

[@FulcrumHQ99]

@@ImKillingTime yeah try delegating the cav. I’ve tried telling them to follow me through an enemy line, but most of them don’t attack the enemy and prioritise following me. Charging makes them go in all directions, but delegating keeps them together and makes them prioritise protecting flanks, charging archers when there’s an opening, then repeatedly cycle charging enemy infantry. It’s very good

[@JackFrawley101]

On release I played a lot of bannerlord, was active on the forums and Reddit, posted a lot of minmax, troop evals and such. Haven't played in about a year, but I'm updating now 'cause I found your content

[@JackFrawley101]

Also, im not sure if it's still the case but the "horns of the Zulu" was consistently busted vs most ai/non horse Archer mobs

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice, welcome back!! They changed a lot of things since the game first came out so I think you'll be happy with the progress. I appreciate the support!

[@DarkSoul1992]

This was so good to see, thanks! Actually, I've dumped over 500 hours into Bannerlord but there are some questions. 1. Is there any solution to prevent cav from stopping right after they have hit any enemy group? Imho, cav should mostly charge through a relative thin enemy line and not just stop and get murdered in close melee fights where they can't use their lances and speed. 2. Referring to the first question, I usually tend to f1 f2 my cav, so they start following my character's movement without losing formation too much. Imho this is one of the very few options where I can micro cav to a kinda well effect. But it's risky if the character gets clapped and the whole army starts kamikaze everything in sight. Any better option? 3. If I'm not completely messed up, I'm damn sure that I've seen crossbowmen hiding behind their shield which they placed onto ground. Is this gone or was this a dream? If the first, how do I make them place their shields? Thanks a lot for you content!

[@platt_mallar]

I was trying to figure out how to sort off my two-handers, but couldn't. Thanks to you, I now know to sort off the shield guys.

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad I could help!

[@butterflyvision3084]

The new battle setup system is driving me nuts. The latest beta patch looks like an improvement with being able to micro where leftover companions go, but the sliders and priority toggles just don't give enough control over where the troops end up. Also how is there still no "Attack formation X command"?, there are many commands I want to see but that seems like the most basic one.

[@Paulunatr]

Yay, a "Bannerlord UI For Dummies" video! I've been wondering what all that mess is and now it makes so much more sense. Can't wait to tinker with it. Thank you so much!

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad it was helpful!

[@avivio0]

I personally like to use a 3 infantry formations, 2 archers and also horse archers and cav in one, works wonders, but there is small downside because army composition has to be very strict. 50% inf, 40% archers and 10% anything else, otherwise the efficiency is getting wanky. I think I will try your set up and see if I can at least make my army composition a bit more flexible. Thanks for great video, as always.

[@Haluziak13]

4 (actualy 5) groups 1. Infantry (preferably with shields and spears) form Shield Wall under hill 2. A lots of archers on that hill :) 3. Horse archers set on right side - skirmishing/harrasing enemy 4. Heavy cav on left sight - usualy after the battle starst I send them forward and further left to keep them out of combet before they are needed. (once enemy my infantry and my infantry met - cav charge to their backs>disengage> repeat) And now enemy come to papa 3:-) 5. Me and my bodyguars (the fifth group), best horses, best armor, shield, lance, bow and arrows (shame that I can only have 4 slots, they could give few slots on horse even if just ofr quivers) I can afford just moving behinde enemy lines harrasing them, tryinig to perusade them to turn their backs to my archers. PS: Never seen enemy cav to try circumvent my shieldwall to get to archers, they usualy try to run down me and my bodyguards. PPS: AI is still dumb as ... if I have the patience i can beat quite large army myself on horse with lance (if they are run out of ammo), just circulating them and picking the right target couched lance damage vs no damage to me or my horse. I also remember changing horses after my horse get beaten up.

[@Pk-yi3wx]

F1 f3 is Gods intended way of fighting in wars. Should i fall I'll know I'll be delivered onto his doorstep proud

[@vanthomias5538]

I hate the RTS-mod. It destroys the feeling of being the leader in a big battle. But it is good for videos like this, to understand tactics better.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I know what you mean. I've only used it for YT videos or when testing out new tactics - it's much easier to see what's going on top down and then when I make it to the ground level I can visualize it easier and give out relevant commands. But I don't think it would be as fun for a full campaign

[@akkoismydaughter3573]

Thank God I wasn't the only f1 f3 warrior, I remember first thinking how the game felt like there was only two commands and the whole army to do them with... Ironically enough playing online helped me understand more the importance of placement

[@auxcord0]

Battles would be so much easier if there was an order to attack-target a specific enemy formation, or even a general area, instead of micromanaging a formation's position and tactically issuing charge/move/retreat commands. Another thing that would be cool to see is command chaining, so you can order a sequence of commands like in ArmA 3 for example.

[@actii01]

You literally made a total war game from bannerlord. Thanks for the video!

[@billyadaw7022]

At last the one issue i always had, thank you for explain it

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rasembers1831]

the click and drag is beautiful i wouldve never thought of it or looked for a control or anything

[@Strat-Guides]

It makes such a big difference once you start using that!

[@rasembers1831]

@Strat Gaming also didnt know that the mounted units actually mess up a formation i just thought the game was stupid, also i saw someone talking about formation filters and didnt they add that with the 1.1.0?

[@glenmarques1568]

great vid! even tho this video didn't really mention archers, I know from your other ones how archers ideally work. loose formation so they don't get pelted as a blob, elevated ground if possible, and have them be completely still to focus on firing. do NOT have them on engage the entire battle or else they constantly move and fire less. and being around 150 away from the enemy should be enough. if the situation allows it, move them up a little towards a flank so they can get clear shots on the enemy. love all the videos! they've really helped me enjoy the game more. keep it up! 🧈

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you!! Yeah I was trying to avoid using archers for the last video and I just reused the save file. I do plan on a couple videos incorporating them soon though!

[@MichaelVari]

@@Strat-Guides I was about to say, what about the archers? Bro neglected them or something... 😢😂. But great video nonetheless!

[@NotKelloggsCornflakes]

As a console player right off the get, I have no idea how you are doing what you are doing. I'm sure the vid would be informative if I did. Always love your content! Thank you for getting me back into KCD.

[@aryanwitheredone]

2:05 Wait a min, do they really ask for such thing?! Hard to believe 6:22 Here explained my greatest weakness in managing armies but it's faction based and different cultures need different strategies By the way I made a new Vlandian Army wanted to see how you rate it: 3 infantry groups, 1 & 2 with Shield and 3 with Polearm (Voulges and Pikes, Short bills aren't included) 2 Archer groups 4 & 5, group4 In the left with shield (Probably higher tier Crossbows with more 1 Handed skills) and group 5, lower levels 2 Cavalry groups 6 & 7 Group 8 for Possibly Horse Archers . First 2 groups are for engaging main enemy lines and the left one is meant to pull charging enemies, opposite clockwise (move command) so the crossbows at the left side would terror em, and if they get too close to my crossbows, it ain't a big deal as they are shielded and have fine one handed skills. That 3rd infantry group which includes pikes and voulges, are behind crossbow lines to take care of Cavalries charging at Crossbowmen, So pikes finally have a rearing the horse ready to get chopped by voulges, and Voulgers do five vs cav too, (this is why billmen are in main lines), they can engage in necessary too, 2 Cavalry groups fill the space between enemy archers and infantries and get charge command to divide and attack both.

[@nunyanunya4147]

all well and good but like skyrim you always end up making a stealth archer anyway. follow me. loose formation. back away slowly while firing. if you want to up your medicine skill have 1/3 ov the army as disposable heroes. square formation the dead legion. gather arrows to you. stand 100 yards back. back away slowly if/when the heroes die. at medicine 200ish your disposable heroes usually are wounded rather than killed so you can level em up and give em a shield!

[@Al4___]

It's a good Easter Egg that you had the name of your character as the best Muslim commander in history

[@Strat-Guides]

He's one of my favorite to read about! It's a shame he's relatively unknown in the west

[@Al4___]

@@Strat-Guides it's probably because he's not western I actually read about every single one of his battles and shockingly he always comes on top no matter the odds

[@LethalOwl]

This is kinda how I like to play it as the Empire. Huge infantry focus, but I don’t really bother with a shock troop. Instead I just use more groups of infantry, and use idle ones to flank. That said, I’m also a little addicted to go full Genghis mode of late and bring an army of mostly lancers and khans guard and just let them have at it. Not much micro required and I can have fun in the frontline without worrying too much. I only really have to micro the lancers from time to time to get them to charge from where I want to break dense enemy formations, so the khans guard has an easier time picking them off.

[@fraserbuchanan1083]

How I lead an army in battle: Meticulously spend twenty minutes setting up the perfect defensive positions and formation to hold the enemy in place while my Fians rain pointy death upon them with impunity...only to realize 45 seconds into the battle that I've once again somehow manage to forget that I'M the attacking army and the enemy has zero intention of going to go anywhere near my meticulously laid kill zone. Then press F6 and sulk while my infantry begins their long half-a-kilometer march towards the enemy formation.

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol! That happens to me more times than I'm willing to admit :)

[@nukesomething5518]

if your agaisnt a heavy horse archer army killing the horse archers is ussally enough to dislodge them from a defensive postion ive found

[@MoGazzar]

My man named his character "Khalid ibn al-Walid" from the beginning he decided to be unconquerable 😂

[@atspats112]

This game is an unpolished gem. Enjoying the gameplay relies on mods, but even then still lacks some.

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I agree. It's still a great game even in it's current state, but I think the potential to be one of the best of all time is in there somewhere :)

[@gobbo1917]

Yeah don't relate to this at all, vanilla bannerlord 30-year campaign atm 😅

[@Austin555661]

Thank you so much for the guide! This has been somethin that I was curious on for a long time

[@Strat-Guides]

No problem!

[@blackcrazyking8983]

I literally didn’t understand anything what i should do

[@jordijordi6846]

@@blackcrazyking8983 hilarious 😂 you really cracked me up

[@jaredatchison7009]

Imagine if TaleWorlds made it where you could like chop down trees, use them to fall on infantry or stop a cavalry charge. Or if siege engines could be assembled on battlefields but take a long time to do so

[@Strat-Guides]

That would be cool to have battlefield structures and defenses!

[@fabilavooy]

''F1+F3" Sun Tzu

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol the old classic :)

[@bigbutterflyhater]

I thought those filters were who they target for some reason wow so helpful

[@nikbates23]

This game doesn't know what it wants to be

[@prophetmuhammad2274]

Amazing I've been playing and trying to understand this and in 5 minutes the cloud of war was lifted.

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice, I'm glad I could help!!

[@imlookingformyhome6025]

lmao I feel so bad doing f1+f3 it's my first time playing the game but hey atleast I charge down with my troops and not stand back. Absolutely loved the tutorial mate.

[@Strat-Guides]

It's all good, as long as you're having fun :)

[@hekfrosty9966]

Medieval cavalry knows two maneuvers: a furious attack and a stampede.

[@jj987987987]

so the main difference between charge command and move forward command is whether your troops move in formation or not. Once charge command is given, your troops just breaks off and went on their marry way to chase the closet enemy they see.

[@nikolaip2]

I recently started playing and what I do is get my archers in a high position with a shield wall protecting them. Cavalry is usually with me and we attack their archers and mounted archers. My archers hold fire until enemy is close (or if we are close if we are more than them) and then I just throw cavalry and then take them with me and repeat and repeat. It hss worked for me ever since I started actually planning battles (I play with bannerlord difficulty) and now I'm at 180 soldiers, truly a goated game.

[@RadishAcceptable]

Cool to see this kind of play. It's like a lesser version of a Total War game. I personally play 1st person only, so tactics end up needing to be a lot more simple. Can still win with about 1.33 to 1 odds regularly, and can win 1-1 odds with very few losses. Generally, I do the same thing with infantry and archers being 2 lines thick and a box of horses. Have the horses follow me, and do again, something similar, where as soon as they make contact with something I want them to stick to, issue charge. Tend to slow crawl the whole army up using cavalry using move commands on the field with the melee and archers, and as soon as you start taking arrow fire, shield wall the melee, scatter the archers, and engage with both while I either fight off horses with my horses, or wrap around the back to pincer, or wipe out their archers. Does good enough, and I obviously take a lot of swings or shots between issuing commands. Oh, loose formation usually for cavalry while running around, back to line formation shortly before making contact with anything besides archers (stay in loose formation for archers)

[@jglez96jg]

Ah man thanks so much for this info, I’ve always been curious how you did it sometimes, this is huge

[@eyazulul]

Man this game always unfolds so many times. So much stuff and im already 100 hours in

[@Tryk0n3x]

Do more of those. They are highly informative. I play a bit differently but I guess it all comes down to preference.

[@saudbassier9689]

Gotta take a second to appreciate the main character being named after Suaif ullah. Much respect

[@Strat-Guides]

He's one of my favorite to read about!

[@saudbassier9689]

@@Strat-Guides one of history's best strategists. I'm also interested in reading more about him

[@OnyxProducts]

Thank you so much for everything. It is so difficult to find a lot of information for Bannerlord, and you go above and beyond to condense the important information in a digestible manner. The game would be far less enjoyable without your content.

[@MAXIMUMintheHORMONE]

I've recently set up voice commands to control my troops. Your vids are awesome BTW!

[@Strat-Guides]

Oh nice, I've seen a mod that does that! It looks fun, but I feel like my kids would get scared hearing me yelling all the time haha Thanks for watching!

[@MusMasi]

@@Strat-Guides INFANTRY FORM A SHIELD WALL!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! NOT A CIRCLE YOU F***ING IDIOTS!!

[@ace_x3440]

Thank you so much! I tried close to exactly what you did and won the battle against the Empire with minimal casualties!

[@ashyguns8669]

I use F6, I delegate command, and i have a much higher win rate. I will follow this video on my next battle, thank you!

[@Strat-Guides]

I've got a video coming out in about 8 hours showing another useful tactic and I showed the difference between using F6 and commanding troops manually. It's such a big difference! 2.5 KDR and winning compared to 2KDR and losing!

[@rignanroach1775]

Mounted captain in particular screws foot troop formations (oh you mention that later, n/m!). Seeing you move the whole army as a unit and how you did that was hella helpful.

[@ItzFresh650]

I would love to see this guy play total war

[@Strat-Guides]

It's been a while, but I used to play all of them! I think the last one I played was Napoleon though, so I stopped after that.

[@nuster7816]

Or make it Easy. Bowman always Spred out. Put them in From of your Melee Infantry, if you have high ground put the Melee Infantry in front of Bowman. Melee Inf in Shieldwall. Horses at the Side so they can push in the flank or back. Horse Archer F1 F3. Done. Works always

[@alexander_al]

I usually make 2-3 groups of infantry, 2 groups of ranged, 2 cavalry, and 1-2 mounted archers (depending on the infantry and mounted archers numbers). 1) If there are a lot of cavalry - I build thick shield wall and slowly advance towards enemy lines, then send my ranged cavs into attack, one group after another. Then goes the cavalry. When enemy cavalry takes casualties - I order infantry to attack. Archers doing their job this whole time. 2) If there's a lot of hostile infantry - firstly I send my mounted archers, then close up so my foot archers could sting the enemy, then my first cavalry group charges from right flank, then second cav group attacks left flank. Then infantry ends up what's left of them. Actually, not much. Works fine everytime. I realized the tactics matter on the end of my first playthrough though. Lol! Used to F1-F3 earlier, when I just started to play.

[@lukejohnson7282]

This is complex and cool and all, I’m just gonna say that shield wall with archers behind or to the side while I keep cav following me around has yet to fail except against vastly superior forces. Just have a good chunk of archers and sit back to skirmish. Shield wall soaks up enemy fire while you chip away until they charge infantry at which point I charge mine seconds before they hit the line and then send my cav right into their backs. Archers continue to fire at the heaving mob and my infantry clean up. Also before any battle I do a mass recruiting to get 60-100 recruits. The way xp works is that it’s assigned to the unit type based on that types participation in the battle. As long as you have all the same type at a time they level up super fast because xp isn’t being split between several unit types. That way I always have a good chunk of heavy infantry who can last when my cav breaks up the fight and it becomes a mosh pit. Also if the enemy is trying to hold a position rather than charging blindly, it’s slow but pretty easy to pick their cav off with a lance one by one. Then finally in tough battles I will actually just charge my archers, either because they already used ammo or because my men are getting outnumbered in the mosh pit. You loose some bows but they are easy to replace when you play in a way that keeps your archers skirmishing for a while at the beginning of each battle.

[@tcprogamertr5928]

i use 3 square infantry and 1 archer with loose formation it works quite effectively

[@LethosMarvill]

This was very helpful! Thanks a lot. I would be interested in another video of that style which covers sieges and its mechanics

[@Strat-Guides]

Got it, It's on my list now!

[@LethosMarvill]

Thats great! Thanks for what you do

[@MusMasi]

yeah sieges would be good its so frustrating to get certain people to use certain siege equipment

[@restitutororbis675]

Cheeky little F1 + F3 with my main body of infantry along with some cavalry to attack the archers while sending a reserve line of infantry to flank the enemy behind when they engage

[@backend-cataphract]

you cannot put horse archers and calvary together unless you order the horse archers to stay melee, the main goal of the horse archers is to hostigate the enemy, the best choice would be to delegate command to the ai, or use them as archers.

[@KLRCAT]

I tend to build my army around my archers, as at least 50% of my army will be archers. Once in combat I try and manoeuvre my archers to a hill near the edge of the map to give them some sort of advantage and space them out in 2 groups, 1 slightly in front which will start firing first and a second group further back at the "Fallback position" at the top of the hill. About 25% of my army is infantry with shields, which only serve as a Shield wall to slow down any advance and protect the archers to give them enough time to take out the enemy. I usually place a shield wall both in front and at the flanks of the archers. The Final 25% of my army are horse archers which I lead. I then to use Kiting tactics running interference with any cavalry while staying out of range of their archers and breaking up any formations. This allows my archers to easily pick off any units as they will be so broken up and unorganised that they usually don't even meet the shield wall before retreating. The initial part of my plan that I use either before or during my run with the Horse Archers is to locate and kill any enemy commanders as once I kill them their units usually scatter or charge randomly. I do this by using my horse archers as a bait as I charge in and then suddenly send them off back to the fallback position, which causes the enemy cavalry to chase them, I then use my pole arm to pick them off from behind and take out their commander. I developed this tactic by using some "Cheese" tactics that TheSpiffingBrit and ESO were using. It's quite simple, usually quick set up time, and works in almost any scenario (except when you are facing overwhelming cavalry that outnumber you severely).

[@MercAgentVinny]

He’s playing total war in Bannerlord which is so cool that you can do this now :)

[@takuoku2546]

"F1+F3" -sun tzu, probably

[@jamiegladwin]

that mod turns it into some kind of total war game, i kind of like the challenge that Banner lord brings with you having to command from the actual view you would have. of course I guess in real life you would be able to give more complex orders before the battle

[@skyecloud968]

This gameplay of yours remind me of Total war series. I loved playing Total war games. It looks like how I had my troops organize.

[@markdevlin150]

im trying out bannerlord 2 and decided to watch this video to see if there was anything I needed or missed. Right away I can see the setting up before a battle to be frustrating. Total War does this so much better. This isn't a criticism on the channel or the video, but on the game itself. You can barely see those little green flags. They blend too much into the terrain. Captains should be part of the formation and should be shown in the blueprint. The customization goes in a depth on how much you want to change each regiment by adding or taking away, but because of how customizable it is, I don't see a save feature to keep the same setup. If you have to customize amount of units in each regiment for every battle I'd pull my hair out.

[@AlexanderAbel-w7z]

I love seeing the false gap tactic work

[@JosefaYT]

Hey bro thanks for the guides 😅 I hace been playing this on xbox since it came in game pass, this game can be harsh so noobs like myself really appreciate this ones. I would love a guide for figthing in numerical disadvantage against infantry, as soon they reach my units instalost💀

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad to hear you're getting use from my guides! For sure, I can add that to my list! I've got a solid tactic to counter a shield wall with archers that might be of help.

[@anubisftn]

What a great video idea! Lots of stuff for everyone. Thanks!!!!

[@mortache]

I'm pleased to say that my "no soldiers, only battle wives" harem run is going swimmingly lol. Named the guy Nimr after that Sarranid dude who got killd for seducing a Qild girl. Biggest hurdle is that the clan members cost a LOT of upkeep compared to regular troops