Why am I not able to win the Orania Map ?

[Ironhawk]

Arker said:
Generally I do quite well with battles, it seems. Lots won without a loss. But, so far, every game eventually ends with another nation bringing in an army so much bigger than anything I can field that it becomes hopeless... or else I lose my pretender, loaded with enchanted items and on top of the hall of fame, to a storm-castle command that doesn't work despite outnumbering the enemy by 10 to 1 with heavier troops, in which case I throw up my hands in disgust and quit.

First, keep in mind that the AI focuses on quantity, not quality. So even if they field what appears to be an overpowering force, it probably isnt as powerful as you might think. And if you are really having manpower shortages, its like just because you are playing resource-heavy Ulm. Just build hordes of hoburgs or militia or something to take up space on the battlefield and ease the burden on your powerhouse troops.

Losing your pretender, or a prize SC, that is totally decked out is just the way things go. It happens even to veteran players and you shouldnt beat yourself up over it. Just call him back, rearm, and get out and fight again.

As for losing seiges with 10-1 odds, you really shouldnt be surprised. After all that is the purpose of walls, is it not? To allow few soldiers to defend against many. The trick with walls is that your ground troops must fight thru the Gate. And the Gate allows so few troops thru that even tho you have 10-1 odds, you are fighting the battle with only 1 of your men against 2 enemy while the rest of your army sits around and gets shot to hell. The trick to winning seiges is to negate the value of the Gate as much as possible. Some tips for doing so:

1) Put your absolute best troops in the attack position. If you can breakout here you will be able to employ your numbers. Heavy Cavalry work well cause they have high prot, high morale, and many strong attacks.

2) Use way, WAY more archers. During a seige you should have something like 2/3rds of your army as archers since they can fire over the wall and do not need to go thru the gate. Place them as far forward as possible.

3) Additionally, as above, use mages. A couple of well place fireballs or blade winds will clear a path for your vanguard.

4) Lastly, if you have them available, flying troops are incredibly valuable in a seige. If you are incredibly brave, they can attack on the first turn and possibly stop the enemy from even getting to its own Gate. Otherwise you can use them to flank or attack the enemy rear, regardless of the protection of the wall.