I Used Robert The Bruce's Tactics To Dominate The Battlefield!

[@waleedkhalid7486]

Wow. This makes me want to play the commander role more in battles than the usual Elite warrior role I usually play.

[@Strat-Guides]

I know what you mean! I went through the same progression - I only wanted to be a warrior for a long time and then slowly switched to being more of a commander. Combat is just too fun in this game, hard to give that up :)

[@kalziumbones1557]

Awesome!

[@lineasevenadam5009]

@@Strat-Guides Especially if you wield a big ass norse axe :D

[@CharliMorganMusic]

Yeah, I get that, but why not just play total war at that point.

[@Mowraq]

@@CharliMorganMusic Because you still can get into the heat and change the tide of the battle. I also like to be the commander but sometimes I just can't help it and flank the attacking infantry with my trusted twohanded axe and a few line breakers. Epic. Try that in TW

[@tailung1006]

i love this concept of reproducing historic battles in bannerlord, this game is so realistic and has so much tactical depth with the different units and terrain

[@Strat-Guides]

I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to do it earlier lol Oh well! I'm working on Battle of Cannae next, which should be a good one

[@celticballer]

​@@Strat-Guides I just heard about that battle yesterday. It was brutal defeat for Romans. I can't wait

[@lethalslaughterband5498]

@@Strat-Guidescould you do any early modern battles?

[@reileyscoyote7976]

@@Strat-Guides PLEASE DO CANNAE. I cannot WAIT to see Hannibal’s Masterpiece

[@Strat-Guides]

@@reileyscoyote7976 working on that one for next week!

[@lordulberthellblaze6509]

I kinda laughed when I first saw the thumbnail describing it as a Schiltron. Because in the Total war games, this formation is also used and is lovingly called the "Noob box"

[@Strat-Guides]

Haha yeah I should change the title to Noob Box :)

[@thecoolbyzantine24]

honestly in medieval 2 if the spears are in the front in a thickness around 3-5 men supported by 50-80 swordmen each behind them with archers in the center the formation becomes a generally good idea if the enemy lacks any artilery units

[@GAMER123GAMING]

In the total war games there is aalso a formation called the schiltron where its actually a unit formation not an army formation and the unit basically forms up as a circle with spears pointing out on all sides

[@handlesarecringe957]

@@GAMER123GAMING There's also the spear square in Shogun and Empire/Napoleon's infantry squares

[@NGCS-ej4lz]

And yet it was used as a last resort by every one of the greatest commanders in history, starting with Bruce.

[@vaasmontenegro481]

Robert the Bruce. The First man to use the noob box

[@Nick-hi9gx]

Small nitpick, schiltrons are more ovular than square, sometimes circular. Which is where it gets its name, "schiltron" is a hedgehog. Small, circular formations of large spears (kinda JUST on the cusp of becoming pikes) began to be used in Scotland maybe as early as the 12th, Robert Bruis made them far more effective and by that point pikes were beginning to show up. He figured out a way to drill his men effectively in moving the schiltron to reposition it. Prior to Bannockburn, they had been used to guard flanks, or as static position defense. In fact, it was probably the inability to move the schiltron that cost Wallace his battle at Falkirk; they got shot to shit and then charged as they broke from the arrows. The history of the schiltron is interesting. There are currently two primary theories, that the Scots either learned it from the Swiss or the Brabantines. Both were early adopters of pike formations. This is a Hollow Square formation, used by Romans and Chinese. The Romans made use of it famously at Carrae to keep themselves from being shot and charged on flanks. Didn't save Crassus. Or poor Publius.

[@Strat-Guides]

Damn you know your history! I did read up a bit on the subject before making the video, but you've explained it much better and more succinctly than others.

[@Nick-hi9gx]

@@Strat-Guides I am a historian, in fact. Roman, but I have a fondness for the Scots as well. I did a paper on Robert in my first or second semester of undergrad. It is a shame that pike formations, and spears/pikes in general just don't work that well in Bannerlord, even with RBM. Works decently with RBM with real people playing, but the AI can't use a pokey stick for shit.

[@stephenlyon1358]

@@Nick-hi9gx Robert caught the arogant english on the backfoot at bannockburn - he used his soldiers like the greek anvil but didnt have a hammer. They penned them into area surrounded by water and pushed them back. English cavalry could not deploy and the english archer had no clear shots. Cavalry and archers was the english win button and bruce robbed them of it. They pushed against eaechother and at the moment of greatest need, the Scottish common folk who had been travelling with the army, took banners and makeshift weapons and joined the fray for freedom. Never underestimate how useful arrogance is when it comes to strategy XD And the English are the most arrogant of all :P They would give the Romans a run for their money XD

[@003milo]

Nick, thanks for pointing that out! I love what Strat Gaming does, but the first thing out of my mouth when I saw the formation "This is not a schiltron." That's okay everyone can make mistakes and he takes the information you pointed out like a champ.

[@chrisburgett165]

This was really cool to read

[@c.w.simpsonproductions1230]

The battle of Falkirk showed the glaring flaws with the schiltrons. Yes, it's fearsome against calvary and infantry, but when Wallace's calvary deserted the field, King Edward I sent forth his archer force and the archers, crossbowmen and slingers began raining projectiles on the inexperienced and poorly-armoured Scottish spearmen. The schiltrons were an easy target; they had no defence and nowhere to hide. If the force isn't heavily armored, they'll get cut to pieces and run down by calvary.

[@joshuaheidepriem8457]

Cavalry

[@handlesarecringe957]

This also is a glaring weakness in the gunpowder age. Cannons will tear through a square easily.

[@taylornox]

Everything you just mentioned has nothing to do with the formation lol, lightly armoured troops unsupported by calvary, always get eaten alive by archers, regardless of their formation. Wallaces mistake was believing that he could just stay hunkered down and Edward wouldn't risk shooting his own infantry and Calvary in order to also hit the Scots, unfortunately for him Edward didnt give a fuck.

[@HeadlessHorsemanProductions]

THIS. On my channel dedicated to advanced Bannerlord tactics, I often use the adage, static troops are dead troops. Early in that battle, a good commander would have found appropriate shooting spots, surrounded it and wasted it with ranged units.

[@todddias4125]

I just looked up this battle. So interesting how it played out and how ineffective they “hedgehogs” were against ranged units. . Any other cool battles to look up.

[@JD96893]

You know mount and blade has come a long way when these real life tactics really work.

[@Strat-Guides]

It's pretty cool to see! Much better than Sun Tzu F1 + F3 lol

[@JD96893]

@@Strat-Guides yes! Would be cool to see a smarter AI as well, but at least the mechanics are on spot for the most part.

[@Randomer2]

Man im still playing warband, too broke for bannerlord..

[@renaultmckinnon]

You are by far my favourite Bannerlord youtuber. You're videos are consistently top quality and really interesting. Keep up the awesome work!

[@Strat-Guides]

I really appreciate that! Thank you for the support :)

[@anylco]

I hope they add bigger battle maps, and better AI tactics. I love this tactic videos

[@Strat-Guides]

For sure, it would be cool to see more focus on improving the AI. Thanks for watching!

[@ShacolateClown]

seems like ai is still the same as early acces. when outnumber you they rush you. and if you outnumber them they try to get high ground or circle formation for some reason.

[@anylco]

@@ShacolateClown They have 2 group of cav, 1 HA, 1 INF and 1 ARC afaik. I wish they have more options, like 3 inf with 2 arc, while they bait you with cav etc.

[@feelingnether158]

It’s probably a nightmare to code new AI.

[@damianstasek8946]

The AI is dog shit.

[@crimsonlight4205]

Fun fact, if your outnumbered by a lot of cavalry, the ai npc will actually tell you to surround the archers with the infantry to keep the cavalry from getting to them. It was super effective for me.

[@jaybiddy955]

I just did this today 800 vlandian calvary troops/archers vs 500 empire Archers/Infantry the AI set this up on its own and told me to command the archers yo the middle we won too

[@TorJohan-kj5cr]

You're not your

[@floran20]

please do more of this. historical battles emulated in M&B is what should've been done a long time ago

[@Strat-Guides]

Will do! I'm already working on Hannibal's battle of Cannae tactics, but it's a really hard one to pull off so far

[@SirAtesh]

​@@Strat-Guides in reality key for reverse crescent was highly trained and very disciplined troops. Good luck pulling that off in bannerlord :D

[@SirAtesh]

Center must withstand while slowly falling back, i hope some modders are crazy enough to attempt some kind of template commands to pull off things like these

[@jammonkey6249]

interesting fact: the English were well famed for their powerful longbows able to shoot farther than any other bow at that time period, when William Wallace tried using a schiltron to fight against the King of England with this strategy in an open field the longbowmen simply shot from afar before the English knights swept up the last of the remaining Scottish peasants who were rebelling and captured William Wallace, not long after this event William Wallace was tortured and executed

[@jordin1909]

@@jammonkey6249 skill issue

[@7Tyler21]

@@jammonkey6249 My exact thought! All chill until the enemy takes advantage of range at a stationary target.

[@HeadbutKneecap]

When you first leap over your soldiers was pretty badass. I could already tell you were gonna win

[@ryanwood6006]

Legend has it, this game is the entance test to West point academy

[@ansonbock4669]

Love seeing all the different factions he plays as in these, was not expecting to see the Rodoks

[@Strat-Guides]

I've got the De Re Militari mod on for this one and the Rhodoks are as strong as ever :D

[@sacredlegion7407]

Loving these tactics. Good video!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I'm working on the Battle of Cannae tactics next (Hannibal)!

[@arthurarmour5480]

The “noob box is very easily countered by anyone who knows what they are doing you can crack right in and usually is the downfall of most inexperienced players in total war games

[@eleumas]

Loving this kind of videos, hope you get the support you deserve!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you so much! It will take time, but I'll keep working hard either way :)

[@manmanderson]

This is probably the most unga boonga brain tactic ever. "Enemy can't flank if we no have flank" but you know what i can't argue with results.

[@alexmagana2416]

Seeing the effectiveness of real world tactics in banner lord is pretty dope, hope you do more of these

[@alphacentauri3069]

Watching these videos show me just how bad of a commander I am. Gotta step up my thinking!

[@davidnewton93]

I'm really enjoying this series of testing historic formations. A lot of games real world tactics don't often translate well to them, so it's a beautiful relief to see them work as they should do. Mirroring what someone else said, these videos have made me want to be more of a commander and less of an elite warrior in battles. It sure gives you a lot more time to make decisions and observe the battle properly... until you get an arrow to the face :'D

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you, I'm really glad people are enjoying these! Haha yeah they've got a sniper on their side

[@DJMavis]

I used to be an commander like you, until I took an arrow to the face.

[@billylionisnotagoat]

the amount of control you have is wild ...i cant even imagine doing that on the xbox haha

[@evantyler8647]

Loving these tactic videos, they are my favorite and I watch every single one!

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice, I've got a bunch more in the works! Currently I'm trying to get Hannibal's tactics at the battle of Cannae to work, but it's difficult to say the least

[@KroM234]

More commonly known as the "Noob Box" formation.

[@z34rk79]

Don't you love it when a plan comes together

[@pixelezio]

Also known in the Rome Total War multiplayer community as the 'noob box'.

[@wesonparsons9762]

I just recently discovered these videos and they’ve helped my Bannerlord performance SO much! I’m by no means as good as you, but even basic tactics are amazing against the AI. So THANK YOU!🎉

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice, I'm happy to hear my videos are being put to real use :D Thanks for the support!

[@Fernando-qk9fd]

That is the reason I love this channel to improve my gameplay.

[@GoodNight0wl]

Your video has made me a better player hands down. I just won a battle against The Empire 1800 to my 1000 by doing this strategy. We literally had exactly 69 soldiers left at the end, but we completely wiped them out. Unfortunately there was an army of 500 coming right up on us after, but I escaped, by disbanding the army, and letting my fellow vassals get chewed through. Still, we did far more damage to them.

[@archerious1972]

The infamous Total War noob squares :D.

[@arthurarmour5480]

Lmao fr

[@booradley6832]

One of Robert the Bruce's best friends was chivalry- the fact that other people had it. He murdered John Comyn, the other claimant to the throne..... IN A CHURCH. When they defeated the English at Bannockburn, he had a spectacular duel with an English Knight. Knowing the knight as the lesser was bound to run at him headlong or be considered a coward, he sat still as the knight charged at him, dodged at the last second and split his skull with his axe, complaining that it damaged the best haft he had. Giles d'Artengan, an English retainer of Norman blood, considered the third greatest knight in Christendom (behind the Holy Roman Emperor and Robert himself, because royalty) carried the English king from battle and then, because he would not disrespect his code and be known a coward who fled, turned around after leading the king away to rush back into the Scots alone and die. One of the best warriors in the world who trained for over 30 years, with the ability to make men fight far beyond their normal resolve with his legendary status.... dead because "muh reputation." Needless to say, Robert was a great warrior and leader, but he got helped along by just how caught up in superstitious character development people were.

[@DJMavis]

Illiterate horse bros, as my favourite history podcast calls the chivalric knights. A whole lot of dumbassery.

[@Oxtocoatl13]

Also Robert was just not above getting his hands dirty. When he was still a guerrilla leader, he regularly raided and extorted his own people to fund his war. After Bannockburn, he subjected Northern England to a decade of continous, annual raids to maintain pressure on the English. Chivalry wins you friends, but ruthlessnes wins wars.

[@mrkitcatt2119]

The Bruce's were Norman

[@reece42069]

Bruce realised if you play people better then you at their own game they will win So he played by his own rules

[@Ruberg89]

Awesome video I really like the "history meet bannerlord" approach Keep it up man! 👍

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I'm working on Hannibal's tactics at Cannae next :)

[@Ruberg89]

@@Strat-Guides i'll be looking forward to be watching that! 💪 You're a great content creator, hope you'll keep supplying us for a long time 🤞

[@telesphoros]

"Just an unstoppable shield wall. Now, there's gonna be a few that get through. You can see a few of them streakin' through right here... not a problem. You can't stop everybody." 1:08

[@Strat-Guides]

Hehe in my defense, the wall held :)

[@telesphoros]

@@Strat-Guides Lol, You actually had it under control. My army tactics would die to that wall for sure.

[@Themattster97]

I appreciate the effort and creativity you do making the videos!!! Thank you for sharing and please keep up the fantastic work!!

[@Strat-Guides]

I'm glad you like them :D I appreciate the support! I'm working on Battle of Cannae for next week, hopefully I can get it to work! It's giving me some issues though lol

[@jamestalbot1647]

@@Strat-Guides hi mate, you do to much first person… I preferred your video that got millions of views because it was Birds Eye and more informative

[@FadedResolutions]

Yah know... there's a certain wealthy individual named Crassus who did the same exact thing in Carhae around 2000 years ago... except he got utterly slaughtered by an army half his size consisting of purely horse archers. Crassus was captured and had molten gold poured down his throat ending his life. They then cut off his head and shipped it to the leader of the Parthians.. who then had his own general Surena executed because he was jealous of his glorious victory over Crassus. I guess nobody really does win in war..

[@AlyssMa7rin]

For every successful implementation of a tactic, there are dozens of failures!

[@Alex_Vir]

@@FadedResolutions Yeah, but Crassus had a bit of a different enemy, archers on horseback, not like here cavilary and later infantry with archers.

[@halonate1429]

Had huge struggles with defending started watching you and learnt a lot I’ve been able to take outnumbered matches without getting curb stomped

[@Strat-Guides]

Wow nice! It's really cool to hear my videos are being put to good use rather than just fun to watch :) Thanks for letting me know!

[@gurdergames6854]

Absolute annihilation, but I'm still in early stages of the game and only have an army of about 150. I'd love to see smaller army tactics!

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah for sure! I'm also thinking about doing a video using only low-tier troops that I think might be helpful. It takes a different style to commend them!

[@km_loop]

Love how you have the AI comparison at the end, really shows how well the tactics work.

[@aaronjaeger6861]

Effective against just cavalry too. I've been using this formation on a much smaller scale(50-70 infantry, mostly tier 2 and 3) to do caravan ambush and escort missions. I'm using RBM and DRM so I'm going up against about 40 tier 4 melee cavalry instead of the much weaker and more annoying combination of lower tier melee and horse archers.

[@algorix8420]

Your content has always been very good, but you are still stepping it up. I hope this kind of video gets the views it deserves!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you for your support! I really appreciate it. It's been a bumpy road for sure, but I feel like I'm finally starting to understand it now :)

[@yabs9642]

feel like this tactic would be REALLY strong with a death unit in the middle, ppl with greatswords/two handed axes/glaives that can reach around the shield wall and or get stragglers. or in real life tactics they could create a shield wall with the idea of letting the enemy create a triangle in the line and the point of the triangle will purposely give in for the death squad to go wild. wonder if you can do that in bannerlord

[@arthurarmour5480]

I would not suggest a strategy similar to this while playing any multiplayer war games though it most often ends in defeat on your part. In total war it goes by the strategy of the “noob box formation” because your weaker depleted units will be charged by shock infantry and weaker units will hold your other soldiers in place so it is very easy to crack through and once they do crack it you have lost

[@tednash5440]

"sir they have archers!" "well shit"

[@Strat-Guides]

Haha exactly! Even worse if it's horse archers

[@tednash5440]

@@Strat-Guides could you do inverted crescent tactic if you haven't done? (make a wedge then the centre feints a retreat to encircle them)

[@Strat-Guides]

@@tednash5440 That's a really tough one! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iouXXnZqrbNkd9k&ab_channel=StratGaming

[@butters4204]

Beautiful. Is there any way to command without having to control a character? Would be fun to be able to birds eye view it without worrying about where Im trotting to

[@flavivsaetivs5738]

There's something called the total war series

[@Hurb2]

RTS MOD

[@alexmsc5753]

@@butters4204 you could play it and just let your soldiers do everything but unfortunately no creative fly mode On the other hand it’s extremely modded so take a look there maybe 😊

[@Biomirth]

Great vid Strat. This is the meat of tactics that I enjoy most. I particularly liked how you regrouped when they reinforced, something I have a lot of trouble with (probably need RTS camera to see better as well).

[@Strat-Guides]

RTS Camera is a great way to train actually! I don't use it in my campaigns, but I've used it a lot in testing and I think it's improved my skills on the ground as well

[@fedggg5481]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿scottish approved!

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice!! My family on my dad's dad side is Scottish, from the Mackintosh Clan :D

[@AugustSchroif]

Sturgian Heroic Linebreakers want to know your location.

[@erensahin5447]

Would be really cool to see you do a feigned retreat tactic

[@Strat-Guides]

I've got that one on my list :D

[@erensahin5447]

@@Strat-Guides I am looking forward to it

[@nilsmuhoza6470]

Bruuuh this is soo good and such a cool concept please make more of these videos

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I'm working on battle of Cannae tactics this week :)

[@Mowraq]

What I'd love to see is some kind of choke point tactics. There are some maps in Bannerlord where you can defend on multiple choke points like the oasis village in southeast aserai territory or the riverplains north of epicrotea with it's many bridges. And in history there probably were more than enough of such battles. That is, assuming you didn't already do something like that, i just recently found your channel.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you for the feedback! I have not made a video on it for this specific series, but I do have a 2nd channel and few battles exactly like you describe: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqqyknmmlLifq5o&ab_channel=StratPlays Skip forward to about 9 and a half minutes to get to the battle!

[@ywe176]

this just turned into a whole different game you are great dude love your video

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying them :)

[@DrBrule-ht2ms]

Funnily enough I’m in the middle of a Robert the Bruce campaign right now. Guess I’ll have to incorporate this in a few battles for the fun of it. I’ll try for an outnumbered bridge battle as well, a la William Wallace at the Battle of Stirling Bridge

[@Strat-Guides]

Nice! Perfect timing :D Good luck on your campaign

[@giorgioosiris3216]

Lol, I started my very first playthrough on console last week, my character is a battanian modeled on Robert the Bruce, his name is Bob the Deuce...

[@ThatFontGuy]

Don't forget to skin Hugh de Cressingham when you are done at Stirling. I think thats the guy, been a while since I read up on this period. His skin was turned into a baldric for William Wallace - the Scots really didn't like the guy it seems :P

[@yajrobot]

Awesome video. You control your troops in a handsome and brutally realistic way. I'm waiting for Cannae.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you!

[@MrCreation0099]

Because I play on console it’s quite a bit harder to make complex formations so to counter that I tend to use tedious commands and feint attack I use cavalry to flank with myself at their side I tend to take a more cautious approach to any battle I go into and when I have superior troops I’m able to take on massive armies with my own personal warband of around 130 warriors

[@MrCreation0099]

For an example with my elite force of 54 legionaries 25 fian champions and another 25 imperial elite cataphracts ( with some mixed in miscellaneous troop types I like have a bit of diversity on my armies ) I can take out armies nearly 3-5 times my size

[@manliestwife]

Think its worthwhile to remember that Robert the Bruce utilized a mobile Schiltron at bannockburn, the major flaw of the schiltron is its immobility, leaving it heavily vulnerable to archer fire as seen in Willy Wallaces's rebellion, a mobile schiltron provides the mobility to get too close for archers to be of threat but it requires alot of coordination from both men and the commanding force. The immobile schilltron was also often seen in a more circular formation whilst the mobile schilltron was always rectangular like the one seen here. Great video though, awesome to see stuff like this in M&B

[@O.LEO.N]

It would be so cool and fun if they added an option to let us start with FULL level 330 in any ONE of the skill trees in the character menu in every new campaign/sandbox. As a reward for conquering all of Calradia at least once. Either with or without helping another official kingdom. That way, we could skip some of the grind and just have fun!

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I know what you mean. If you're on PC there are some good mods to do that or even the console commands

[@O.LEO.N]

@@Strat-Guides Sadly, i'm on PS5. So that would be so awesome! 😁

[@UEemperor]

Good job dude. GOOD. JOB. dude. Its awesome to see channels like these. Ive been doing modern small unit tactics and survival tactics in games for a long time, and its a shame theres not many who actually try to (casually) implement real life tactics in a way that they WORK, instead of awkwardly cosplaying/LARPing them. Theres absolutely NO reason NOT to use real life tactics in games as they only help to reduce random deaths, frustration, and lost time. Really good to see these tactics being used, and absolutely awesome that bannerlord is realistic enough to support it. Looking forward for more.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks! I know what you mean - they do work but often times are overshadowed by "the meta" like Fian archer spam. I enjoy challenges so making these work are right up my alley!

[@Kingdomkey123678]

Robert the Bruce used the shiltron as a mobile fortress that pushed in on the English. Effectively using it as a Pike square

[@taytayshanay9]

Best bannerlord KZbinr. You've been super helpful in my campaigns too

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad I could help! Thanks for watching :)

[@DestroyerOfOgis]

vlandian

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol they got stomped. Also make sure you catch the Amir Timur episode today if you have not yet :D

[@joshuaries4843]

Always look forward to your videos! Thank you!!

[@Strat-Guides]

Glad you like them!

[@bones1765]

Solid video, liking this short formation tactics videos

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks! A lot of people seem to be interested in this style so I'm going to keep running with it for a while :)

[@niezlykretik]

great gameplay man! feels like a real battle really could have been

[@Bucky2Times]

love this game, and watching these. that shot to the face at the end lmao

[@colinmcintyre1769]

Robert the bruce is soo cool! Im so happy to see you do this, this is why i play the game 😂. I love role playing as Robert against the empire ❤

[@zivgann1808]

Every single video of you is something new and interesting. Amazing job brother

[@Strat-Guides]

I appreciate that!

[@SharpTiger14]

Hey man! I've been watching your work for a while now, and you always produce high quality videos. Please keep it up!

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[@JoblessJoshua]

Thanks for this guide, its the most fun I've had playing bannerlord. I've been using my custom swiss pikemen unit in the 1100 Europe mod. Its fun setting up the pike square and easily skewering enemy cavalry while I finish them off when they're dismounted Do you have a playthrough series where you play like this? If not, I wouldn't mind seeing a robert the bruce pikeman playthrough, since I find infantry battles to be more fun than cavalry

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks! I don't yet, but I did quite a bit of testing in preparation for a Robert the Bruce campaign :) Hopefully I have time to run it in the next month or so

[@gravygraves5112]

That was really cool! Been messing around with formations more in battles and it's been a game changer for sure. Been able to go into battles against more numerous foes and minimal losses.

[@don_alilionheart151]

That's how total war players chill in mount and blade. Some magnificent epic strategies like this! Great stuff

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you for watching!

[@ivanstojanac7752]

Can't wait for the next one. That will be very cool to see

[@Strat-Guides]

I'll be working on Battle of Cannae all week! It's a tough one to pull off though

[@rignanroach1775]

It's interesting the cav did seem to find the weak corner.

[@Strat-Guides]

I wonder if that was intentional or coincidence?

[@rignanroach1775]

@@Strat-Guides My limited experience with their flanking is they tend to like to take a corner at an angle. Probably a little of both. Picked the right corner for some reason. It's interesting though they came at that back corner that was a little thin. They may filter for thinner lines.

[@BB-nn9en]

Really cool video! I love it

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks so much!

[@XDbored1]

the main weakness i think would be your rear line getting shot in the back by longbows, but you could make a more complete shield wall if you had to, and just having more archers then the opponent is also a good archer defense

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I agree - this formation breaks down against archer-heavy armies

[@CallofDutyBlackOps28]

this is the first time i've seen a box formation in this game; let alone something work this *GOOD*

[@JEDIMIKETTV]

This style of video is awesome! Excited for Cannae

[@sebbes333]

*@Strat Gaming Guides* (minor detail) 0:29 I would have put the archer lines as 2 diagonals, like / \ or as \ / (but more angled, about 45* ) depending on where the enemies are expected to attack, and such that they don't shoot themselves. And as a diagonal, they can reach 2 sides even faster to reinforce where needed.

[@saulgoodman9135]

Can we have a full playthrough?

[@declanandrewbell]

fantastic video. not remembering to deactivate Hold Fire is indeed a mood.

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol it's sad that I did it twice in the same battle :P I wish they had a warning beep like when you don't put your seatbelt on in the car...

[@declanandrewbell]

@@Strat-Guides or even just text lines from unit captains like when you've joined an army

[@saulgoodman9135]

​@Strat Gaming can we have a playthrough which works as a strat book.it would show all your knowledge in a playthrough, the tactics in war and best combos of weapons and army comp

[@Strat-Guides]

I've got a few up on my second channel, might be worth checking out - www.youtube.com/@StratPlays

[@saulgoodman9135]

@@Strat-Guides Thanks, Ive always wanted a full playthrough so I understand your tips in more depth Also thanks for responding, one of the bonuses of following smaller youtubers.That being said you deserve more.

[@DaBirdOfHermes]

If they had a large archery corp you would have been destroyed. The Romans formed a schiltron at the battle of Carrhae against Parthia and were slaughtered nearly to a man…

[@drach420]

Oh, hell yeah. This is that content that gets me to pick up the game again.

[@Strat-Guides]

I know what you mean - the game can get really stale if you do too much of the same thing and they don't really explain how to use troops well. Glad everyone is enjoying these :D

[@drach420]

@@Strat-Guides I think I mentioned on one of your polls that "I would watch hours and hours of tactics videos". I wasn't lying.

[@Tryk0n3x]

There are times I spend way too much time in RTS camera just giving orders. There are times I enjoy to give F6 to my army and just go with cav and wreck havoc. Both are great, and seeing what you can do with some tactical approach. It was great to watch 🔥

[@Strat-Guides]

Thanks for watching!

[@Tryk0n3x]

​@@Strat-Guides any tips against khuzaits?

[@mnspstudioLOST]

"Follow me. Spread out. 150 meters out, Charge." The trick is to lower your difficulty and enjoy being a master strategist with no work.

[@liam-398]

Wait isn't this what modern strategy calls... the noob-box?

[@CaeridLock.]

Was just thinking the same thing, haven't seen this bad boy since Rome total war

[@cheddars2]

could have sworn you were at 77k subs like, 1-2 days ago, some solid growth!

[@DJMavis]

Hoots mon! That was epic. Now to get enough pikes or polearms to be able to carry that out

[@Strat-Guides]

It's actually still effective with regular shield wall troops like legionary or heavy axemen! The main goal is to stack enough troops (depth, not width) so that it slows the cav down to a stop. Once they get stuck, they are easy pickings!

[@Joviakus]

There is not way to know if the dev team thought these tactics would be implemented in their game. But seeing them in real time, not just some note in history is phenomenal

[@demomanchaos]

This is basically the old Rome Total War "Noob Box" formation which a player can easily destroy via cleverly picking the battles.

[@Strat-Guides]

Haha yeah the noob box!

[@EternalDog]

I feel like the biggest weak point for this formation would be archers shooting the opposite sides in the back. Maybe countered by shields facing in for the inner lines, however that would reduce the effectiveness of the outer walls.

[@madeingermany9445]

1:10 Unstoppable shieldwall... Enemies come in from one side. Reminds me of that video with the smol rhinoceros baby that walked between the steelbarrs behind the reporter xD

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol what?! I'm going to look that up right now, sounds like a hilarious video

[@madeingermany9445]

@@Strat-Guides pretty old video

[@Strat-Guides]

@@madeingermany9445 lol just watched it, very cute! I like how it went after the camera first

[@javaslapnervedjosh1877]

i cant stop hearing Shield-Tron. like its some power rangers megazord or something, beautiful video :)

[@archiebruce929]

as a Bruce who is a direct descendant i love to see how effective and well thought out his plans were

[@Strat-Guides]

Whoa, that's something you don't see every day! Thanks for watching and sharing :D

[@FG-ww8rc]

This worked pretty damn good. I bet some shock troops in the center would help clean up anyone that broke through

[@arthurarmour5480]

I wouldn’t suggest this strategy in any multiplayer war game though it’s not too effective

[@chocobee96]

Great video reproducing the formation. It would be great to see how these tactics and formation would fare against to F1+F3 and compare the loses.

[@Strat-Guides]

Thank you! If you check the very end of the video, I show you the stats from F1 F3 test (I actually ran it 3 times and this was the best results I could get).

[@monsterbuster1]

Strat gaming: using real strategy Me: i trust my sergeant

[@lincolnmyth1342]

well it works sort of. but in a real battle for example a napoleonic battle, once a couple cavalry men get into the infantry square it is usually over except for some rare cases. Ofc in this game it's a lot easier to get into the square.

[@Dbaby719]

Ahh the rodohk sharpshooter. Haven’t heard that name since 200 years

[@l1qu1dm3t4lIV]

Definitely going to give this a try. It's good to see you down there with the troops in this video too! I've been playing on the PS5 a lot lately and i'm always down with the boys on the field now (I spoke too soon. 😅)

[@Strat-Guides]

Yeah I got a lot of feedback about the top down view on the previous one, so I'm going to use the regular view from now on for these videos. It's much more immersive, just thought it might be harder to tell what's going on

[@archer5331]

I'm starting to think you leave your ranged units on hold fire just to flex how well the strats actually work. Well played Strat, well played.

[@DJMavis]

I assumed it was to make them just hide behind the shield more

[@archer5331]

@@DJMavis at first yeah. But this isn't the first Strat video in the last few weeks they have been left on "hold fire" far longer than intended. Lol

[@Strat-Guides]

Lol No I'm just bad at certain things! I've got a let's play channel and I catch flak for doing stupid things like this all the time!

[@IdeJebiga]

What's that mod called (if it is a mod) from which you are able to see amount of their men how far they are and what kind of a troop is in formation? Thanks in advance.

[@Strat-Guides]

It's actually part of the base game! When you're in battle hold down the left alt button and it will show that info. If you're too close to a unit, it will not show it, so make sure you're about 40m or so away for it to work.

[@IdeJebiga]

@@Strat-Guides Thanks brother didn't really know if you'd reply, I appreciate it a lot! ❤️

[@7jwj]

is there any horse archer tactics or just skirmish ?

[@Strat-Guides]

I need to work on that, I have a few ideas that I think can work well but we'll see! Horse archers are tough to counter.