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Warfare (Guide)

From Crusader Kings II Wiki

The previous installment described how to get a Casus Belli. In this installment it is elaborated how to use them, that is, how to do well at warfare.

Contents

1 The Basics

2 Combat Statistics

3 Improving Your Army

4 Tactics

5 Summary

The Basics

In a battle, each side has up to three flanks. These flanks will generally fight separately against the same flank on the opponent's side. Each flank has a

commander, and its own units. To have more than one flank you need multiple armies, though they can be merged into one. An army composed of the

soldiers from a church, city, and castle in the same province will suffice, but a single mercenary band will not.

Combat is divided into three phases:

1. Skirmish

2. Melee

3. Pursue

All battles will start in the Skirmish phase. This is when archers and horse archers excel, and they will be the only ones doing any major damage. After a

few days, it will switch to the Melee phase, where melee oriented units like heavy infantry and pikemen excel. Do note that flanks not necessarily have to

be in the same phase as each other, and they'll usually enter Melee at slightly different times. When the morale of a flank reaches 25%, they will startretreating, and combat will switch to the Pursue phase. This is where light cavalry truly excels, but heavier cavalry does well as well. After 5 days, the
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flank will be removed from combat.

When a flank no longer has an equivalent flank to attack, it will help another flank instead. It will now also get a flanking bonus of 10%, meaning it does

10% more morale and troop damage. The enemy flank will now be under attack from two flanks, thus taking more damage. However since the stats of

all the troops in a flank are stacked together it is almost always better to put your entire army into a single flank.

Combat StatisticsEach unit type has base statistics. These statistics are further modified by certain technologies and buildings, but generally they'll be quite similar for both

sides. The base stats are as follows, in x/y format meaning attack and defense:

Light Infantry

Morale 3

Skirmish 2/3

Melee 3/3

Pursue 3/3

Heavy Infantry

Morale 5

Skirmish 0.5/5

Melee 6/4

Pursue 2/2

Pikemen

Morale 6

Skirmish 0.2/5

Melee 5/8

Pursue 0.2/2

Light Cavalry

Morale 4Skirmish 2/5
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Melee 3/3

Pursue 10/8

Heavy Cavalry

Morale 10

Skirmish 1/8

Melee 10/8Pursue 8/5

Archers

Morale 1

Skirmish 8/3

Melee 1/2

Pursue 2/3

Horse Archers

Morale 7

Skirmish 7/4

Melee 3/4

Pursue 7/7

Attack controls how much damage an unit does, while defense controls how much damage it takes. The higher the morale of an unit, the more damage is

needed for it to retreat.

As you can see, only two units are any good at skirmish, archers and horse archers. This means that an army with many of these units has the advantage

of damaging the enemy severely early in combat, which can at times make the difference between victory and defeat. Further, heavy infantry and cavalry

excel at melee, which is generally the largest part of combat. They're also not very vulnerable to the skirmish phase, and as such they can often win you

the battle. Light cavalry on the other hand are only good at pursuit, so are as such only useful if you've already won the battle and want to inflict further

casualties.

For the most part you and your opponent will have similar unit compositions, so this generally won't come into play much. However, when hiring

mercenaries you should pay attention to what units you're actually hiring, and try to avoid mercenaries that are high on light infantry and archers, instead

going for heavy cavalry and infantry.


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Further, commanders have a moderate effect on combat. Every point a commander has in the martial skill increases the damage of his flank by 2%. As

such, you should before important battles ensure that your flanks are using your best commanders so as to maximize your enemies' losses and reduce

your own.

Improving Your Army

There are five ways to improve your army:

1. Construct army buildings, covered in further detail here

2. Research technology, covered in further detail here

3. Strike the right balance between levy law and vassal opinion, covered in further detail here

4. Improve your commanders

5. Make your vassals happy

As the rest is covered in other installments, I'll focus on the last two points. The first, improving your commanders is relatively simple. First, you need at

least Limited Crown Authority, as that enables you to assign commanders. Once you have that implemented, you can invite high-skill commanders toyour realm, either via inviting them normally and giving them some land or a councilor position, or by marrying them into your realm. Then you just have

to make sure that the best possible commanders are appointed before any major battle. This could improve the damage your army does by several

percent, making it easier for you to win battles, and reducing your losses. It will also decrease how much attrition you take, and you'll also get someone

great for the Marshal position. This tactic is seldom necessary for a large realm, as you'll then generally have good commanders available already, just

make sure to assign them.

Second, you can make your vassals happy. As mentioned in the installment on levies, the higher your vassals' opinion of you, the more levies they'll

provide. As such it can be a good idea to send out gifts and honorary titles before raising levies so as to maximize how many you can raise.

Tactics

There are certain tactics you can employ to improve how well you do in war. Many of these tactics are common sense, but I'll mention them anyway.

One tactic that is useful for reducing how annoyed your vassals get with you, is raising troops from a minimal number of direct vassals. If you only need

the troops of a single vassal to fight a war, only raise those troops. This vassal will now be the only one getting annoyed at you, while the rest will

continue to be happy. The other vassals' levies can then be raised later if ever needed. If you're rich enough to support it, you can also consider using

only your own levies, as then no one will be getting annoyed with you.

Second, you can use the bait and switch tactic. You offer up a small, easily beatable target to the enemy so that he attacks, then immediately once
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combat has started, you send in your larger army from a province away, thus winning the battle easily. This means you won't have to spend half an

eternity chasing the army down, instead being able to quickly destroy it in a single or a series of decisive battles.

Third, if it is obvious you'll lose to an incoming enemy due to either a lack of troops or a lack of morale, consider sacrificing a small number of men to let

the rest escape. Let a few men remain while the rest go to another province where they can hopefully recover or merge with a larger army. Make sure

you leave more than 1/25 of the enemy army, as anything less than this will be destroyed instantly, and as such will not slow the enemy's advance down.

Fourth, you could try to bait the enemy into a province where they'll take attrition. Using an army smaller than theirs you can continuously pull back,leaving them in a province where their units will slowly die. Only works against large armies.

Fifth, if you can target a part of an enemy's army while it is split up, do so. While you might not be able to defeat the entire enemy army at once, you're

likely to be able to defeat half their army, and the rest is then easy to mop up.

Sixth, always go for the wargoal first if you have the opportunity. Occupying wargoal holdings will give 75% more warscore, and once you hold every

wargoal holding you'll slowly get warscore. This can ensure a quicker victory, and as such less losses to combat, sieges, and attrition. On the other hand,

never let the opponent take the entire wargoal if you are the one being attacked, for the same reasons. Do note that the moment one side reaches 100%

warscore, it can force victory.

Seventh, you should almost never split your army up into pieces smaller than the total size of the enemy army. If you do you risk losing a large part of

your army, and being reduced to a position where you can no longer fight back. If you have a really good reason to do so, go ahead, but make sure you

keep the rest of your army close.

Eight, if you're a coastal nation, utilize the mobility ships give you. You can transport units much faster by ship than on land, which can enable you to

quickly strike at isolated enemy armies, then retreat back to sea.

Ninth, avoid attacking across rivers and into hills if possible. You'll get a moderate combat penalty, which could make a major difference. These penalties

don't matter much if you outnumber the enemy by a lot, though.

Summary

By outmaneuvering or overpowering the enemy you'll be able to win most battles, and eventually the war itself. Overall my tips are these:

Construct buildings to increase the size of your army. More detail in the guide on construction

Research relevant tech, it can give you the edge you need. More detail the guide on technology

Appoint good commanders. Gain good commanders through marriage and invites

When hiring mercenaries, go for heavy infantry and cavalry
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Keep your vassals happy

Strike the right balance between levy law and opinion. More detail in the guide on levies

Don't raise more troops than you need

Ambush the enemy if possible

Slow down the enemy's advance by sacrificing units if needed

Go for the wargoals first

Go for 100% warscore ASAPDivide and conquer

Utilize the mobility ships give you

Avoid attacking across rivers and into hills

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