Archer/Infantry Tactic: Line Withdrawl

Archer/Infantry Basic Tactic: Line Withdrawal


Ever wondered why games like AoEO have 'snare' or some other effect that causes troops to slow down once they reach combat?

Well, its simply to avoid tactics like the one I will cover in this article. Although there are mechanics in place to try and stop this, in many cases they aren’t 100% successful and the tactic is still viable in play.
This tactic relies on the A I’s sheer determination to get in combat with a players troops, regardless of the danger involved. To use this tactic in game all you need is a standard set up of Infantry and Missile Troops.

For this example we will assume both sides are equal and both have a front rank of Infantry troops and a second rank of Missile armed troops. The initial set up looks like this.

In a standard fight, both sides Infantry will close to hand to hand combat, and the Missile armed troops will stand at their maximum range and fire.

However, we don’t want any of this. The tactic here is to withdraw the front rank of Infantry. As such,

The effect of this is to keep the enemy Infantry within Missile range of our troops, but our Infantry are now out of range of the enemies Missile units.
In other words, Blue's Archers fire, Orange's Archers don’t. Instead, Orange spends the entire turn moving forward. Which we reply to by again, withdrawing our Infantry line.

The same happens as last turn, Blue's Archers get another round of firing, while all Orange can do is move forward.

The end result is quite effective and a good way to gain an advantage in an even fight.

Thanks for reading.

Any feedback always appreciated!
Chris