Battlefield Commands Guide - Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord

[@italianspartacus]

Hey guys, Fanatical just put up a purchase link that you can use. I get 10% commission if you want to help out the channel! www.fanatical.com/en/game/mount-blade-ii-bannerlord?ref=italianspartacus

[@Jasta85]

I don't think F3 charge makes all units attack in melee. I'm running an archer army consisting of horse archers and regular archers and then I press F3 the the horse archers circle the enemy while shooting at them and archers seem to move into range of their bows and then fire.

[@MattandSadieBug]

I didn't know the double w and double s thing. That's awesome! Thank you!

[@MattandSadieBug]

@@Jasta85 did you confirm that? This would help me a lot.

[@italianspartacus]

@@Jasta85 it might be a bit buggy because, since your comment, i've tested it a bit more and it seems to be random if they do it or not :/

[@connorboyle2585]

@@Jasta85 the only issue i've seen is horse archers getting stuck on a cliff/rock outcropping/dense clump of trees and melee units catching up. otherwise yeah they seem to circle rather than charge, though occasionally one will decide to charge lone units/small groups it can push through. the AI seems really smart in bannerlord.

[@Mercator26]

"F1, F3" -Sun Tzu, probably

[@byShinzoh]

One of the funniest comments I've seen lmao

[@jitterbug726]

LOL good one

[@timothyhouse1622]

"F3, F3, always F3." -Napoleon, maybe.

[@Baleur]

"One must know when to F6, and when to F3, F2."

[@stupidperson9250]

F4 though

[@pavkatam]

After a few days of playing, it's super annoying for the voice to scream "Infantry" when you select the cavalry. I hope they fix it. The game is great!

[@eliteexpression]

Put your companions in another unit, he'll scream cavalry again

[@fittenticker3695]

For me it doesnt safe when I assign troops to a new group. I wanted falxmen for example to be a extra group so I can charge them around.

[@bergonius]

@@fittenticker3695 same for me

[@borissukoi564]

Yea and the text at the bottom seems to say archers when talking to cavalry

[@Han-fu9hw]

Yeah same here, it bothers me during the combat...

[@buckrodgers1162]

Main thing I miss from Warband: On the campaign map, the option to 'Accompany' an army/caravan so you match speed and stay with them and keep moving without the stutter pause.

[@marcoswole-o8953]

Idk I like the former armies but if you want to control your troops and not be a commander of a single group I understand

[@buckrodgers1162]

@@marcoswole-o8953, Well mainly it only applies to caravans now. with the armies merging into one group. But the caravans move slow as hell, and most the missions that are easy and good for starting out a game doing; Are those 'escort caravan missions'.

[@buckrodgers1162]

@@ArchiesShorts, "You can" What? I was saying that you can select to 'follow' a caravan or army in M&B Warband. You can't in Bannerlord.

[@00yiggdrasill00]

@@buckrodgers1162 i do hope it gets added. Would make thos escort missions much easier and help coordinate my attacks with allies.

[@buckrodgers1162]

@@00yiggdrasill00, Well with armies it's one big pack now. So if you join a army: The leaders that have joined control a type of unit, cavalry, melee infantry, archers, or can opt out and just add their troops to the pool and go wild in the fight.

[@AssassinFOURnolan]

Misinformation on the charge, archers and horse archers will not engage in melee, horse archers will circle with ranged and archers will shoot until they reach melee range. Idk how skirmishers work

[@RexOedipus.]

My lads shoot then draw their swords after advancing

[@paulaustin2633]

Absolutely correct. In my Khanate PT my HA cav circle and skirmish the enemy when charge is selected. But only the closest enemy, so I find if an enemy lord charges ahead of the main force my HA will circle that lord lol

[@Ericpaulvogl]

Not always correct with horse archers, some of the heavily armored horse archers(hybrid archer/heavy cav) will use their lances if told to charge and not join the other horse archers.

[@paulaustin2633]

@@Ericpaulvogl I see, well I've only played as the Khanate so they definitely skirt around, which faction are you talking about I'd like to try them out, Lance's sound useful!

[@Ericpaulvogl]

Paul Austin the Kahnate actually, it’s the last tier of horse archers that the tribesmen can turn into.

[@cmdr_thrudd]

Dude! I've got 50 hours clocked up and I didn't know about being able to set troops to control groups in the party screen. Thank you😁

[@Selfg12]

Same, and same. I even saw the roman numerals on my companions, but the one time I went to click on it, I got no reaction... honestly I probably missed. lmao

[@scottyalto]

It doesn't appear on my game. I'm on console. Is missing for console?

[@timsearle5837]

I dont have it either and im on PC. I think they have made changes to the party screen since the video. @@scottyalto

[@TheOathkeeper36]

Woah, that double w/s key tip is quite the game changer, this will make initial charges/retreats so much more dramatic!

[@Tremeslay]

I don't know you did but this MUST be in the Steam Guide page. I was like "ah cmon I know all these" and from the start I was learning new stuff. Great job man, thanks a lot.

[@italianspartacus]

Thank you so much man :) that's some high praise

[@lukeg607]

Lol don't press ALT F4 like I did while trying to figure out the command system 🤣🤣

[@LordDamo]

XD

[@viannaude3455]

@@LeeroyFan101 2nd this, for me i got abit more fps aswell

[@CharlesLijt]

Ctrl+w will turn on internal cheat

[@stevenrobinson2047]

😂😂😂

[@MetalGamer666]

I laughed out loud.

[@tysonc4479]

I’ve clocked 19 hours in 2 days of this game, safe to say quarantine is going well lol

[@italianspartacus]

Dude i'm up to 42 hours since last week. I can't stop

[@tthuter]

I am at 42 hours after 3 days of playing

[@MrCrankyNYC]

Yeah, my wife usually likes it when I leave her alone and let her do her own thing ("Stop pestering me!). I knew I was going way overboard with Bannerlord when she started complaining that I was leaving her alone. 50 hours since I got the game last weekend. Quarantine is great! lol yikes

[@boom8474]

Those are rookie numbers

[@Redharp]

00:13:09 When you place units together like shieldwall + archers, hold ctrl. it will stack one behind the other :) its still useless since they stack so close that archers cannot fire at enemy closer than 100 but hey, its in the game

[@kint87]

Maybe a dedicated and manually made group of command with a 50/50 mix of archers and infantery will work? I havent tried, but maybe this work

[@Jasta85]

what I've done is have a line of archers just in front of the infantry, and when the enemy is approaching order the infantry to advance or charge. Gives the archers time to shoot until both armies are about to clash and once the melee starts they can usually pick out targets. Doesn't work so well if the enemy is charging with cavalry though since they tend to just punch through the lines.

[@Selfg12]

@@Jasta85 That's what the game's AI does too. Although I was shocked a few hours ago, the game AI had the archers set themselves on a cliff, and the infantry had a shield wall on the only entrance to the archers. It made me love the game that much more. lmao

[@masonarmand8988]

Archers? you fool just make a shield wall of spear throwers like a real psycho

[@pallandoromestamo8861]

@@Selfg12 I've also seen the AI use a circle of infantry with the archers bulked up in the center

[@danielrobertson2154]

I noticed the circle formation is really useful when heavily out numbered even by infantry. Helps to keep any one man from being outflanked too easily. Try this tactic if you find being out numbered results in your defeat or unacceptable losses. Start battle infantry in circle, archers off on a flank. Lead all cavalry in a circling harassment charge before the enemy reaches your infantry. Retreat to your line but position cav for a flanking maneuver. Once your schiltrom is engaged lead your cavalry to their rear flanks and watch them panic.

[@frederik7338]

also circle is a great defensive formation for archers, especially if you place it in a wood-line. horse archers/cavalry trying to harass you, will find that they cannot ouflank you, and cavalry charging you will take a few hits before impacting you, and find themselves bogged down in the middle of your formation, after.

[@danielrobertson2154]

@@frederik7338 hell yes i did that last night out of necessity and desperation and it worked like a charm. Those damn horse archers were slaughtering my archers cuz they kept trying to face the enemy and wouldn't shoot cuz they couldn't keep up. So i thought a circle would solve that problem and it did!

[@jasonissel217]

This is one thing I am struggling with being good with myself and running an army at the same time, all in real-time. What I would kill for a pause.

[@adf286]

Bro you do a great job of clearly explaining and getting to the point. So many youtubers suck at that. They’ll ramble on and repeat the same point like 5 times. So great job man. I’ll def watch more of your videos

[@italianspartacus]

thank you so much brother :) i appreciate it

[@SuperFlipperFlapper]

The column formation has your troops follow your trail of movement specifically. I think it'd be useful when trying to get footmen close to a bunch of enemy archers while minimizing their exposure to arrows by making a path that has cover

[@fatterpillar]

Sounds good for horse archers as well, I usually have them follow me and I'm a bit faster so sometimes if I'd end up positioned behind the enemy and they'll try pathing through the mobs

[@danielbionupem]

You can get crushed by heavy cavalry though

[@SuperFlipperFlapper]

@@danielbionupem yeah, I would say the column formation is best when the enemy is camping out on some hill. Definitely a death sentence if they're charging with cav though

[@danielbionupem]

@@SuperFlipperFlapper It was a nice strategy against caravans when I managed to kill their cav first

[@Balion1976]

pro tip: when your infantry is being charged and you wait in a shieldwall (or whichver formation) hit F4, so they won't waist their precoius javelins on max range; hit F4 again, when charging enemy is near; then every able javelin equipped infantryman will throw and most likely hit, first row of attackers will most likely fall instantly; when enemy closes in, your infantry will grab their close combat weapons to defend themselves; this saves javelins in long battles, when you micromanage your infantry med range weapons use, try it, it works beautifully!

[@Zarincos]

This was really helpful; thank you for making it.

[@satch5471]

Be aware: Every time you reload your save right now formation groups reset, skirmishers get lumped back into infantry for example. Personally i set my troops up like this 1. Shielded heavy infantry (centre) recruits are also thrown in this group untill they are upgraded. 2. Pike wielding/two handed troops, not carrying shields, so they are safe from missiles. This also allows you to setup a dedicated anti cavalry circle/square/line. 3. Archers, no explanation needed. Plop them behind 1. And have 2. Protect their rear. And you are golden. 4. Skirmishers on foot, set them to auto or on advance and they will go forth and chuck spears while running backwards. 5. Cavalry, early game i might split them over 5/6 for heavy and light cav. 6. Horse mounted skirmishers, same for foot skirmishers. It takes a bit of extra time, but i found the AI to react much better with this setup, as even a single differing troop type can bug out the formation AI

[@ether23-23]

Wonderful, I'll try that out. Thanks!

[@drbeanbeanbino5746]

As someone who found himself getting a bit bored having 100 horse 40 infantry and about 30 archer and just spam f1 f3 this is gonna be huge information for me I salute you and thank you for your service sir as this is the exact type of formation that shall fit me I plan to slam down the horse men to about 50 and crank up my infantry using pike men shield men and I always throw a few skirmishers in the mix I think ur formation will work out great thank u again!!!

[@drbeanbeanbino5746]

Don't get me wrong when u have 100 horse men f1 f3 does the job but it's the same old dance cav destroys 90% of them then archers start shooting right as they are getting ready to flea and my infantry gets to kil 1 or 2 guys while my car finish off the rest fleeing EVERY SINGLE FIGHT even out numbered by 100+ men

[@ayeejiff9847]

the community is great. i think your first tip was really useful i played this game so long and havent even noticed that LoL. i was going to make both my companions as body guards by making them horse archers and then dismount them on foot and follow me but i can just give them a command unit now, easyy

[@coach_ralz_royce]

Thank God you made this cause all i know how to do it press F1 and F3 to charge...cause it was in the tutorial lol

[@infinityfabrik]

A lot of the battlefield stuff has been a tad overwhelming. Thank you so much for explaining it in a straightforward way that really speaks to my learning style. I've been loving this game but there's so much to learn. You taught me to play CK3, my second most played game and a game that I adore. Thank you so much for all the joy you've helped me experience with these games. That's noble af in this world, in my humble opinion. Grateful for you.

[@SingaporeLyfe]

My tips: 1. 0 is a default button to select all groups 2. Cavalries can also do shield wall, so if you are playing turtle (i always do so), just put archers on the high ground and counter charges with infantry shield wall and cavalry shield wall+follow me to maneuver vs enemy cavalry 3. If you charge all units, your ranged/skirmish units will continue to fire while charging until they run into melee or run out of arrows. If you need an all melee charge (to rush enemy out of position or similar), you hold fire all then charge 4. It is always better to command your ranged group to hold position than to not command them at the start as they may run out of formation when enemy charges if you did not assign a command at the start

[@andrewquilpa4901]

Something I used to love doing in the original (still effective now!) is setting a group of archers with a different formation group from your regular archers (for instance, Vlandian sharpshooters). That way, you can create some serious firing arcs by having archers split on different sides of the map to help attack unshielded sides of infantry formations.

[@italianspartacus]

That's an awesome tactic

[@slick242]

Wow my archers will just be separated from my fellow crossbowmen for no

[@andrewquilpa4901]

@@slick242 Regular archers stay behind infantry ;)

[@Gustavo-hn3im]

Hmm. im gonna try it

[@oranjeiii9848]

@@Gustavo-hn3im aeeeee não sou o único falante de português por aqui Vc é de qual país? Considerando números, deve ser Brasil, como eu, mas não tenho certeza

[@Jazzwind011]

Very VERY fulhelp. Thank you for making this video. One would think after (only) EIGHT years of developing this game, there would have been more helpful instruction like a tutorial section. Well, thankfully they didn't, so YOU did. Mucho Apprecianado'd, mate.

[@mthunter90]

I’ve been looking for a guide like this and this was exactly what I was looking for

[@nickpalmer54]

I highly suggest getting voice attack and the mod screamerlord it allows you to vocally command your troops and it does it well! Makes immersion so much better to me :)

[@Ghostdoge]

Awesome, thanks for info. I had no idea this was even a thing. Just googled it, and it looks fun :)

[@GiantSavage117]

Wait, what? Why do you need a mod if you already have Voice Attack? I'v been using V.A. in Warband for years, never needed a mod for it to work properly. Edit: Never mind, just Googled it. It's a custom profile for the third party Voice Attack program, not a mod for the game itself. Thought that should be explained. Voice Attack is an awesome program BTW and well worth the price if you play a lot of games with a lot of controls meant to be used in the heat of battle. I love it for games like Mount and Blade, Arma, and the Silent Hunter series of submarine games. Makes me feel like an actual Commander barking orders at my subordinates.

[@attila2246]

Yeah I'd be careful. With everyone in home quarantine you may drive some people crazy.

[@VicenteAG]

@@GiantSavage117 voicemacro is free. Thought it doesn't recognize voice very well sometimes, but it's free.

[@GiantSavage117]

@@VicenteAG Thank you for that information, does it use the default Microsoft speech recognition to understand what you say? I ask because that's what Voice Attack uses. You can train the speech recognizer to recognize your voice much better, making it almost 90-95% accurate. Voice Attack has some other great features as well that free programs may not have. Voice Attack was only $8 USD when I bought it, its only $10 now, well worth the price in my opinion. That program you mentioned may be better, but im usually of the mind that you get what you pay for. Also paying for Voice Attack gets you regular updates with bug fixes and sometimes new features. Free programs are unlikely to get updates and new stuff without some sort of income. This sounds like an advert, sorry, i'm not sponsored or anything, I just like the program and felt it was worth the money because of how much use I got out of it. To all those who are looking for a Voice Recog, do some research, a free program might have all the features you need and its free, but if it doesn't have the features you want, look for a cheap alternative, such as Voice Attack.

[@maximemnonimus2645]

Dude as someone brand new to the series, this was super helpful. Thank you

[@italianspartacus]

Glad it was helpful brother! :)

[@pallandoromestamo8861]

I like to delegate (F6) my ranged troops while manually controlling my infantry. This will usually make the ranged troops use strategy "skirmish line", where they always stand a few steps in front of the infantry. This way you can command both groups in a nice formation together. Additionally, when the enemy comes closer, they might decide to fall back behind the infantry.

[@MJ-fs4ne]

Most of this new battlefield system looks familiar to me because I'm a fan of the Total War series. I'm excited for this one. Will get it soon. Been a fan of this series since the early phase too.

[@artruisjoew5473]

Yeah I hope they add in proper moral system so an entire section of enemy would break if, for example, they get charged in the rear by cataphracts or peasant levy gets charged by heavy knights.

[@eyecheech]

If you liked total war than you're going to really enjoy this one

[@MrNiddogh]

@@eyecheech Exactly my situation rn. Been a total war player since Rome I. Good experience so far.

[@chadlawson8248]

Again I have almost 80 hours or more in this game and I learned so much from this video, well done!

[@Diceslice]

Damn, 80 hours in just over 4 days is impressive. Guess you played the beta then?

[@WonderWeezul]

@@Diceslice impressive isn't the word I would use ;)

[@chadlawson8248]

No this is my first mount and blade but I'm working from home due to covid so I have alot of extra time

[@Beletang]

OMG! Your Advance feature explanation is a HUGE game changer! Love the videos!

[@CarvellFenton]

Really appreciating your videos! Having never played the first Mount & Blade, I was clueless starting this one. And the tutorial to start the game was... well minimal I'll say. Your video info and style are great! Subbed! Keep 'em coming!

[@italianspartacus]

Thank you so much brother. That's the best type of praise :)

[@elite6657]

Yess I finally know how to get the circles bigger now instead of a small little cluster

[@findiwindles]

I like your videos ItalianSpartacus. The info is clear and easy to follow. Great stuff.

[@warhammerguy]

It is basically Total war, but you are actually on the field as the general instead of a flying god commanding troops. So some tactics like hammer and anvil, flanking, positioning and using the terrain to your advantage still works here. Especially since the moral system is much like the total war moral system. A good hammer and anvil might break the enemy, but if you dont chase them down they will return to the battle unless they break completely or mass rout.

[@sierra7534]

are you able to setup your troops before the battle begins like in Total War games? Because that would be super helpful before the AI suicide rushes you.

[@xSintex]

@@sierra7534 yes you can, it is a talent in the tactics tree, I believe. Let's you set up pre battle. But honestly I find you get enough time unless it's a village skirmish

[@warhammerguy]

@@sierra7534 No, but the time it takes for the enemy to reach you there is plenty of time to survey the nearby area and set up your troops.

[@MooneShadow]

This game is so crazy good! It's complicated and so detailed! I just started playing it and I have a huge amount of information to learn. I didn't realize how complicated this game can actually be! It's definatly a game with an allot of depth to it. Wow just wow!

[@ronoshmago1938]

I love how thorough your guides are! Even as a 3 year-old video, this is still GREAT! Thank you!

[@Noxxys]

I've already played Bannerlord for 45 hours, but I still learned a lot of stuff from your video! Thanks a lot.

[@cdm1972]

Most helpful MB2 vid I've seen yet.

[@ClanHawkins]

@ItalianSpartacus I’ve watch all you’ve put out on this amazing new alpha! I must say however that this video is by far the best most informative tutorial I’ve yet seen in this. I’d keep praising it but I have to go watch it 3 more times before I play again tonight! When I stream or record this I’m gonna look so smart now thanks to you!

[@delphidelion]

You should do campaign tips. One of the biggest one is to make parties and then you can army up with(little 3 flags button in lower right) them for 0 influence. This allows you to have massive armies of your own making. Another is to trade basic mats from their villages when they're green value. Villages cannot adjust their price, so if you buy at a town first, then it will be pricier. You can buy a 150 stack of wood for 15g without the inflation. Sell it at Razih

[@delphidelion]

Furthermore, releasing your parties from the armies will allow them to go recruit on their own as well.

[@Krumpulous]

Me: SCATTER! Infantry: Form a line! Oh look, a giant comet headed right toward us. The line was a good idea, guys.

[@hestiashearth478]

Me: SHIELD WALL!!!! Infantry: again?! Archer: We don't even have shields! Cavalry: lemme guess, follow you and form skevein? Me: CHARGE!!! all: wtf?!

[@Matt-um5sb]

Hey man, it's great to see you're covering Bannerlord. I followed you for lore and WH2 content but this is a welcomed addition man :)

[@Rhunzzz]

THANK YOU. Such a valuable tutorial. I found the F9 to return to previous menu particularly cumbersome since I would have to reach over with my left hand for that

[@alphaspartan]

Thank you for always making good tutorial videos ItalianSpartacus; you helped me with Total War and now Bannerlord! You're doing the Lord's work.

[@lukebower3227]

just a point about shield walls currently the game dosnt seem to distinguish your pesants and those higher teir infantry with sheilds so pesants can end up in the fron line defating the whole point of said shield wall

[@MSTrusAgent]

Infantry, defend the shields! They are too expensive...

[@norfangl3480]

The peasants ARE the shields

[@gustavotriqui]

you could solve this if you asign the heavy Infantry formation to your infantry with shields (or to the peasants, for that matter. Just 2 groups, with the shieldless guys being given "Line" formation instead of Shield Wall)

[@neochotomy]

Wow, this video is actually useful, and not annoying! 10/10

[@italianspartacus]

hahah i CAN be annoying though ;)

[@lonodel]

Just discovering f6 is such a game changer. There are formations that the AI will do that you can't really do yourself, or are a pain to set up.

[@bazej1080]

Your guide was actually really useful comparing to other guides I've seen in YT.

[@jamesthefront2246]

Legit learned sooo much from this! Thanks heaps. I thought I had a good handle of the system, but it's so much more complex. Love it

[@italianspartacus]

Start up a custom battle from the main menu! that's how i learned :)

[@GamerDrood]

very useful summary, answered a couple of questions that I already had having watched a lot of KZbin gameplay. Thanks.

[@NerdletteGaming]

Just started playing this today... thank goodness for this video. My first couple of battles didn't go great lol I learned how to use it eventually but not this in depth. Well done! :D tyty

[@larsalbagubrath]

Man, amazing video, love to see that its not all polished up. You also make tiny mistakes, but it's really clear, and you speak with a nice voice. If I could like the video twice, I would ;) Keep it up big man

[@milkybekele3969]

Cured my f3 today 😁😁 !! Thanks ...

[@Maxx5Studios]

I am totally new to this type of game and this was SO helpful, thank you!

[@richaragonzales1355]

Two mods are out which I already reccomend. 1 of them makes a cap on the number of troops a bandit party can spawn with. Right now when a Lord is defeated they spawn back on the map with 1 soldier and constantly get kidnapped by looters and bandits. This is why once a kingdom loses 1 significant battle it can never recover and wining kingdoms start to snowball. This 1 mod holds back snowballing. Mod number 2 fixes the stats and ability tables of many troops. For example there are crossbow men who have skill points in archery instead of crossbows. Or skirmishes with 100 in polearms when they use javelins on foot. As a bonus, this mod fixes the groups units start in! No more "knights" logged as skirmishers. This helps because the custom assigned groups in game do not carry over between saves. These mods are on nexus!

[@BOBSAGET508]

i belive there was a patch today that handled this "snowball effect" from this happening. im not sure 100% tho.

[@delphidelion]

@@BOBSAGET508 It was because the ai were not grabbing their garrisoned soldiers to replace their losses. So they'd start trying to fight with recruits. Patched today.

[@viperarum5538]

I noticed that horse archers set n a charge will not engage in melee and circle around the enemy while shooting

[@s.g.3898]

They will melee if you stop them firing. Good for running down fleeing enemies

[@viperarum5538]

@@s.g.3898 if you dont have much more melee cav like me xD

[@Assassin026]

Yeah, I picked up a quest which required me to kill 3 groups of steep bandits. As I expected, I got completely buttfucked because I have no heavy infantry and they just circled around me and finished off my troops.

[@viperarum5538]

@@Assassin026 at least you could do sth for your quest :D When I take an army of pouchers quest its instantly after leaving the city/village failed with decreased friendship and I cant do anything about it ^^ For heavy cav I recommend you the Imperial Cataphracts You can get them ezly in the beginner zone in the villages of Canoros, Morenia and Canterion (got here more of the t3 Imperial Heavy Cavalry)

[@Assassin026]

@@viperarum5538 The game's pretty buggy as of right now. Thanks for the tip, I will definitely try get me some calvary.

[@GohanSSJII]

Thank you for the video just a little suggestion try to write or put the key you pressed on the video that help a lot

[@italianspartacus]

Ugh that's on me dude, I'm sorry. I usually am really good about vocalizing that, but I got ahead of myself there. I'll do that on the next ones for sure :)

[@GohanSSJII]

@@italianspartacus thank you for the quick reply but after I completed the video I think there is a lot of key to put so you can skip them if you want I don't you to take time in unnecessary things

[@vikpolyak]

Thanks for making a video that’s to the point and calm. Don’t usually watch video game stuff and too many of the videos I’ve watched about this have been some dude pretending to be SO AMPED and overreacting. Good video.

[@robertboss2581]

best command.... f1 f3 .... CHARGE!!!!

[@Selfg12]

I did the same, now I know better. you want F1, F4. That way the archers don't go into melee.

[@masonarmand8988]

nah f3 f6 "FORM A SKEIN!"

[@siphes]

f3 f3 f1 f3 is the best one

[@miclo20011]

I do a slow trott for about 100m then yell LEEROOOOY JENKINS....F1,F3!

[@rochmel1409]

A brilliant guide. Thank you. I am new to the game .Did I miss something? How did you get the enemy to pause? I never seem to have enough time to assess the terrain and sort out my tactics before I am set upon. Thanks.

[@tomwallen7271]

If they add group formations like in Total War Shogun, where you can have default formations with Cav on the flanks, Shieldwall in the front with loose archers behind, it would actually be game changing.

[@Baleur]

4, F6 is a great opener to any battle. This sends your horse archers to skirmish. And putting them on Column formation first helps keep a "train" of circling archers around the enemy. Also, you DONT have to press F1 to bring up the command menu. Just press any number key and it will popup. (1, 2, 3, etc) Pressing F1 everytime you wanna give orders only complicates the steps by a bad habit, because then you have to switch around or press backspace to go BACK from the "Move" category if you wanna switch formation or whatever. So dont make it a habit to press F1 to bring it up, just press the number keys 1, 2, 3, 0 etc

[@iamplay797]

thanks o get all messed up in commands from using f1 all the time, i didnt even know i had to hit escape to reset everything 👍✌

[@DankuJIM]

This is awesome, thanks for the guide. Really helps to see it visually without a ton of clutter. Thanks!

[@keirvr3318]

I had no idea you could assign the types in the party menu. Thanks for that!

[@Dingo232]

Your commentary and structure is 10/10 thanks man

[@mrnarason]

All these commands make me really appreciate total war command system

[@eliteexpression]

You're not on the field in total war and units are limited in what formations they can form. Infantry can't form a wedge for example.

[@Siegberg91]

@@eliteexpression Still it would be nice you create a battleplan before battles. And then only take control as needed. Controlling so many units were not done by a commander alone even back then.

[@skylarkaljaha2918]

Get the Voice Attack mod so u can just scream commands into your mic to order your troops. Me: "HORSE ARCHERS CHARGE!!!!!!" Roommate: wtf is this guy on Would also like to add: MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE THE ALT KEY TO SOMETHING ELSE. F4 is hold fire the amount of times i Alt +F4 is to many :(

[@bepponen]

I heavily recommend everyone thats not total M&B pros to watch this video! There is no real tutorial on any of this in the game. 53 hours in and i barely knew any of these things. the stuff with the horse and formations, what a gamechanger :D

[@hawkshot867]

I strongly recommend the square and the circle, especially in no-win scenarios and last stands. Not only is it cinematic, but it works incredibly well. A square of heavy infantry will ruin a calvary charge's day too, as the calvary get swamped down and hacked to bits by the square when they try to run through it. The things you learn in the Sturgia vs. Khuzait conflicts lol

[@richaragonzales1355]

I accidentally made a giant circle formation the other day and was so confused as to why lol. Thanks for the informative shortcuts

[@herp_derpingson]

Here is a trick I learnt in Warband which works in Bannerlord too. When facing light cavalry (Khergit/Khuzait) just ask all your infantry to form a box formation and stay in one place. The AI is dumb enough to make the light cavalry and even cavalry archers charge into the box. Then its harvesting season.

[@rreojs7455]

you mean square formation? gonna try it out lmao

[@TheRumbles13]

New sub thanks for your hard work!

[@italianspartacus]

Thank YOU for watching! Welcome to the family brother

[@PendlayRoe]

Wow thank you so much! I didn't know charge made archers run blindly to their deaths. So that's why panic charges against Forest Bandits always killed off most of my army. I will try to unlearn the habit of F1-F3

[@deanwolstenholme6991]

Thank you for making an easy step by step guide!

[@jacobytrainwreck5590]

really needed this video, cheers dude. i wonder if yo can assign say the archers to act independently whilst you can control the rest etc

[@italianspartacus]

yes absolutely! put the archers in their own group, and have them Advance, then command the troops as needed. One thing another viewer posted was to split your archers into two groups and put them on your flanks, when the main line connects, move them up to the flanks and have them enfilade into the enemy

[@jacobytrainwreck5590]

Good thinking, will definitely have to try that!

[@magicturtleult1481]

I tend to use archers/crossbows + infantry. The basic formula goes: If I have a hill, line of infantry up front and ranged in the back in a loose formation. Make sure to manually face them toward the enemy so they dont wheel the entire line if 1 cab comes in. Use my cavalry (which I dont recruit purposefully) to follow me and try to lead enemy cavalry into running in front of my archers to die. Preferably before the enemy infantry arrives. Charge with infantry and cavalry when the enemy infantry is close to engaging my infantry. If I'm on a flat area: I still make a line of infantry and loose line of range, but the range is up front. I still try to get the enemy cav to run in front of them (and facing is still important). When enemy infantry is as close as I dare before they contact my ranged units i charge my infantry. For army composition I tend to want as many archers/range as possible. They deal the most reliable damage and the infantry/cav/me are just their protectors to let them get their damage in.

[@Nick-zm2vm]

I hope you don't use Imperial Crossbowmen, because last I checked their Crossbow skills were bugged and much lower than the rest of their skills or compared to other faction's Crossbowmen. The same actually applies for their Tier two archers as well,

[@magicturtleult1481]

Nah. Vlandians. For some reason they also only wound enemies...which makes them great for farming influence

[@arttemis5]

@@magicturtleult1481 All crossbow bolts are currently blunt for some reason. If they get changed back to pierce it'll be a damage nerf if the numbers aren't changed to compensate because blunt ignores 50% armor if it's the same as warband.

[@feepin2058]

I recommand voice attak to be able to control your troops by voice :D

[@frenchbaguette123]

Idiot's guide to play every faction(on field) : Vlandia:just get all the calvary u have and charge on field Sturgia: get infantry and archers, form a circle with ur infantry at the front and let ur archers shoot away Bittania: sieg monsters but not that strong on field from wat I can tell. Get some good mix of infantry do prioritise throwers and their archers are beasts. If things go wrong on the field just retreat and reset. Empire:if ur lazy u can just do the same as vlandia(tho u will be less successful) or u can get a mix of infantry archers and cav (prioritise cavs) bait out the enemy cav charge with ur infantry on the front and charge their cav with ur own and continue on towards their infantry and archers. After killing a good amount of their foot units reset the cav position and help out ur infantries rinse and repeat. Khuzait: get infantry and horse archers let infantry advance and when infantry starts to engage charge with ur horse archers and lancers Aserai: do the same as khuzait. obviously not fool proof but this should get u started and understand how to command troops on the battle field

[@Ghostdoge]

Cheers mate.

[@Calabresa022]

Battanian archers are monsters. If you position them just right on the battlefield, they will carve out the enemy. And the high tier ones are good at melee too with their 2h weapons, being able to stand against infantry and cavalry at melee (not against full charges, but they do pretty good against a small group). I was once in a 96 vs 96 battle against the Empire, I baited their army to advance on me and my archers alone killed 71 imperials before they could get to melee distance, by the time they were close, I charged my cavalry and infantry and they broke and retreated without killing a single battanian man. That’s why 1/3 to 1/2 of my army consists of battanian archers.

[@testales]

In my experience instead playing around with formations and getting overrun before you are even done, it is usually far more effective to simply ride ahead, soak up their javelins and disrupt their formation as much as possible without getting killed. That can take a lot of power out of an enemy attack. Having none of those currently OP javelins left when reaching your troops alone makes quite a difference in the number of your losses. At times you can basically split their army by getting most of it to chase you while single men who reach your lines get slaughtered. This hasn't changed much since Warband though I had hope that strategy and formations would play a bigger role. I remember Warband mods who indeed were able to improve the vanilla gameplay in that aspect.

[@austinmauger1724]

Bruh that ALT key trick really changed everything, been having to scout manually

[@italianspartacus]

glad i could help brotha! :)

[@Ralphinsc]

So from this now, F1-F4 is the new holy grail of attack. And F6 just leaves you free to yeet all over the battlefield while your army does army stuff. LOL! Good info though. I have been looking for a command tutorial since this came out. This one checks all the boxes

[@maxpowers1321]

By far, the best video about battlefield commands. Ty

[@jaceneliot]

Thanks a lot. I would never imagine so many things were "hidden" (the double W or S is just awesome). Same with mouse formation. I had no ideas. The system is a lot better than i thought. One thing miss me from Warband : call close soldiers to you, spread out/tighten ranks and advance 10 meters/go back 10 meters (Diplomacy mod i think but Diplomacy is kinda the true vanilla of Warband).

[@dznuts3286]

Thanks for this! Didn't know about the control group assignment.

[@Bang1324]

The magic 3; fun, intelligent and quality voice. Subbed

[@jakXDbaby]

This made my battles so much more entertaining! Ty

[@johncapslocke6009]

dude i couldn't have guessed the adance command omg, you are going to save me so many units haha thx

[@gnetix9987]

Hey at 13:30 You say the troops stay in one line, but if you pres ctrl in the move postion the flags will change so that the archers are behind the warriors

[@xenath1557]

I learned a lot from this video, although I thought the advance command was just for keeping them in formation while they moved not just a secondary charge, I could be wrong but that’s what use it for

[@doruktuncer]

This is the best explanation video so far on KZbin, thank mate. I subsed now

[@mikewazowski1776]

LMAO Thank you for this. I was using Advanced. And never even tried that drag and drop. Its funny how different the game is now. Cant wait for the inevitable Roman/Hellenistic wars mod :)

[@borissukoi564]

Nice work. I thought the battle command were a bit confusing before but now I see it was just me being a pleb. I wish you could give slightly more specific commands to units about who to attack, like cavalry target enemy archers! Enemy archers are usually the last to die and inflict decent damage on all troops. The only way to do that now is to have cavalry follow you and lead a charge into them specifically.

[@cszm5639]

Thank to this video I understood the difference between charge and advance, but can you decide what part of the enemy's army they attack? It's frustrating to send your cavalry to attack enemy archers and they decide it's better to focus on a single cavalry unit in the middle of nowhere

[@italianspartacus]

Ugh no.. I wish you could though. It's a bit ambiguous, and I want my cav charging exactly where I want!

[@Mrjerkkuu]

4.45 you don't need to press f2 first, you can just press the button which select the group. Like if you want to command cavalry, press 3 and it does same thing thar f1+3 but at least for me it's faster, because I know where the normal numbers are, but I need to check the keyboard if I want to press the f1

[@SixStringUk]

I don't see charge making ranged units go melee. It was working like you describe advance for them. They go into range and shoot. Charge for horse archers makes them circle around the enemy and shoot. At least from my experience. Maybe if it's a unit like the crossbowmen, which by default go to infantry formation for me then they actually do charge.

[@masonarmand8988]

yeah this was very useful can't lie and I've been playing everyday since launch

[@jasonmiller9549]

Great tutorial, for the new player like me! Thanks really informative.

[@italianspartacus]

Glad to be of help brother! :)

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

The moving pinwheel required so much co-ordination, that you can't realistically expect a warband to be capable of it. In other games, it was for steppe cultures - maybe mongolian formations that rode with each other for years and years, training in various hunts and drills.

[@larrikin7713]

For movement u dont need to hit F1. Just select the group you want eg:3 cav and left click the ground where u want them to go. So instead of 3-f1-left click-end you can just do 3-left click-end

[@italianspartacus]

I said that right at the end of the video and I wish I had said it earlier. You're so right man. Sorry about that