Bodyguard Question

Joonie73 · #1 November 14th, 2003, 03:18 PM

For extremely valuable commanders, how many and what kind of body guards do you use?

I put 4 Emerald Guards on Barthlomeu, the level 5 priest. Is this too much?

Joonie73 · #2 November 14th, 2003, 04:22 PM

What the heck?!!!

I had 5 Emerald Guards protecting Bartholemeus & 3 Vans just flew over and killed him with ease before my Emerald Guards could even react. How the heck do I avoid this? Would 10 Emerald Guards have done the job? I am sooooo mad!

apoger · #3 November 14th, 2003, 04:27 PM

Rather than use guards, put a sizable block of troops a bit rearward. Start the person to be protected inside the troop square. Order the troops to hold and attack. Incoming enemies will get hung up on the troops that are waiting around the 'protected' character.

If you must have guards, place them behind the troop square. That way when the troops move off, the guards move up and surround the character.

Joonie73 · #4 November 14th, 2003, 04:32 PM

What do you mean behind the "troop square"? Also, how many body guards and what type (elite troops or just any troops) of troops should be used?

Quote:

Originally posted by apoger:
Rather than use guards, put a sizable block of troops a bit rearward. Start the person to be protected inside the troop square. Order the troops to hold and attack. Incoming enemies will get hung up on the troops that are waiting around the 'protected' character.

If you must have guards, place them behind the troop square. That way when the troops move off, the guards move up and surround the character.

Yojinbo · #5 November 14th, 2003, 04:40 PM

I guard my "loved ones" with 5 STRONG troops of any type (whatever I can afford) AND 10-15 lesser troops. This prevents "first strike" access to him/her.

The trick of surrounding them with regular units also works. But keep the bodyguards in case of assisination or magical attacks.

Yojinbo likes bodyguards.

apoger · #6 November 14th, 2003, 05:01 PM

>What do you mean behind the "troop square"?

If you have many troops in a group under a commander they form a "square" on the battlefield (if there are enough troops). If the square is large enough you can place characters inside it, and they will start surrounded by friendly troops.

>Also, how many body guards and what type (elite troops or just any troops) of troops should be used?

Depends on what I am facing and what I am protecting.

Frankly I don't use guards often, and rely more on blocking up the area with troops (as in the square mentioned above).

If an enemy starts using assassins, I put five infantry with the character. Also I pack lots of junk commanders (lvl 2 priests work good) into the same province as my army in order to soak up assassination attacks. Offering many targets is sometimes the best way to defend against anti-commander nonsense.

Psitticine · #7 November 14th, 2003, 09:40 PM

The simple answer is "the best you can afford" when it comes to choosing a bodyguard force. If they are important enough to guard, you shouldn't skimp. I stress durability above all else when it comes to bodyguards. That means, for me at least, the best may not be the most expensive; just the harder for the enemy to clear out of the way.

If you are going to guard somebody, it is hard to justify having fewer than 5 guards. 5 bodyguards will "accompany" their commander into any kind of assassination attempt, which can make a huge difference. If you equip the commander with the right item, he will have 10 guards at such times, and there is (again) no reason not to make absolutely sure he has at least that many available if he is worth guarding at all.

I tend to aim for 5-20 of my most durable troops as guards, and always place the commander dead center in their midst during setup.

Oh, and I sometimes give lesser commanders a Soulless escort. The Soulless aren't too tough and are prone to Banishment, but their various immunities make them useful in many circumstances. I wouldn't trust really important commanders with them, but they are cheap enough that I will use them to surround fellows I wouldn't normally bother guarding.

Soulless . . . aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish the mindless walking dead did?

[ November 14, 2003, 19:46: Message edited by: Psitticine ]

LordArioch · #8 November 14th, 2003, 11:32 PM

I used a 2 hoplite guard on machaka's mages against the ai. 2 hoplites will beat any standard assassin...and the ai had been killing my mages. Also I think that 2-3 will kill any standard assassin, and if you're facing a particularly customized assassin that can kill 3 units it can probably kill 5 units, unless you feel like using hunter spiders or niefel giants as bodyguards.

I often even just assign one elite infantry to mages so that they have some chance against unequipped assassins.
Also in combat I've decided on the flank and back or just back, not near archers ever as the best mage placement. Back so arrows don't hit and not directly behind troops or near archers so attack rear and attack archers don't work. Of course they can still be flanked so keep something on your flanks.