A field battle is instigated when an army attacks an enemy army. The terrain on which the defending army is situated, determines the battlefield terrain. Generals may use ploys in battle.

Field Army Strength

The strength of an army is determined by the number of troops in an army, the category of the unit, and 3 statistics. These statistics are:

Training
Morale
Equipment

Training
The training statistic affects discipline, offensive capability, and defensive capability of troops in an army.

Morale
An army with very low morale may disintegrate. Troops in a disintegrated army will rout.

Equipment
The equipment statistic affects the quality of weapons, armour, and shields of troops in an army.

Army General

The combat proficiency statistics of a general may affect the strength of an army.

The primary weapon used by a unit determines which combat proficiency statistic of the general affects the lethality of a unit. For instance a general with a high polearms statistics who leads troops carrying spears, inflicts a higher number of casualties on the enemy army.

Naval Battles

A naval battle is instigated when a fleet attacks an enemy fleet.

Casualties in a naval battle are amongst the crew and marines of a ship, but also include units being transported on that ship.

Sieges

The defenders in a siege are the drafted soldiers present in a settlement.

The attackers in a siege are the levied soldiers present in the army that is laying siege to the settlement.

The defender loses a siege, if the number of drafted soldiers in a settlement hits 0.

Recruitment

Army units can be recruited in settlements.

Draft

Draft increases the number of soldiers present in a settlement. The leadership statistic increases the efficiency of the draft command. These drafted soldiers will be townwatch in the event of a siege.

These soldiers can be trained and their morale increased. Morale can be increased with the rally command. The efficiency of the rally command is determined by the charisma and leadership statistics of a character. The training of the soldiers can be increased with the train command. The efficiency of the train command is determined by the trainin statistic.

The drafted soldiers present in a settlement can be levied into an army. A levy decreases the number of soldiers present in a settlement and transfers those soldiers to an army unit.

Siege Engines

When you lay siege to a town, you may construct siege engines.

Unit	Construction Costs (per piece)
Battering Ram	40 Deinari
Scorpio	50 Deinari
Onager	50 Deinari

Bodyguard

Each general gets a personal bodyguard of 10 units. This means that the first 10 units of an army do not have to be levied. Rebel characters too have a personal bodyguard of 10 units. You can choose what kind of units the bodyguard is made up of. The culture of the character and his equipment determines the available choices.

Culture	Infantry Choice	Cavalry Choice
Arabic	Arab Swordsmen	Camel Archer
Britonic	Celtic Champion	Celtic Chariot
Celtiberian	Celtic Champion	Spear Horsemen
Gallic	Celtic Champion	Riders
Germanic	Germanic Champion	Riders
Hellenic	Silver Shields	Bodyguards
Iberian	Swordsmen	Spear Horsemen
Illyrian	Swordsmen	Spear Horsemen
Italian	Legionaries	Equites
Libyan		Numidian Cavalry
Persian		Cataphract
Phoenician	Swordsmen	Spear Horsemen
Scythian		Horse Archer
Thracian	Swordsmen	Spear Horsemen

Mercenaries

If an army is not near a settlement and its ranks need to be filled with soldiers, then a general of an army can recruit mercenaries into an army. Mercenaries are expensive. Mercenaries cost 50 Deinari more than levying soldiers.

Regional Mercenaries

What kind of mercenaries are available in a particular place is determined by the culture of that place. Each place belongs to a particular cultural region.

Unit	Category	Culture
Mamertines	Melee Infantry	Italian
Celtic Spearmen	Melee Infantry	Gallic
Illyrian Footmen	Melee Infantry	Illyrian
Shield Bearer	Melee Infantry	Hellenic
Thorakitai	Melee Infantry	Hellenic
Iberian Swordmen	Melee Infantry	Iberian
Celtic Champion	Melee Infantry	Gallic
Germanic Champion	Melee Infantry	Germanic
Etruscan Champion	Melee Infantry	Italian
Balearic Slingers	Missile Infantry	Hellenic
Rhodian Slingers	Missile Infantry	Hellenic
Cretan Archers	Missile Infantry	Hellenic
Babylonian Archers	Missile Infantry	Hellenic
Sardinian Archers	Missile Infantry	Italian
Agrianes	Missile Infantry	Hellenic
Etruscan Skirmishers	Missile Infantry	Italian
Germanic Skirmishers	Missile Infantry	Germanic
Eastern Skirmishers	Missile Infantry	Persian
Numidian Cavalry	Melee Cavalry	Libyan
Riders	Melee Cavalry	Germanic

Covert Actions

Players can send spies to enemy settlements. Spies can be used to gather information or to commit sabotage, spread rumors to lower morale, or incite revolts.

Battle Ploys

Ambush

This is a regular battle ploy. Your forces lie in wait hidden behind bushes, shrubs and trees and take the enemy forces by surprise and thus cause increased casualties to your foe. This ploy can only be used in terrain with dense vegetation.

Attack Provisions

This is a regular battle ploy. Take provisions from your foe. Soldiers with no provisions will begin to rout.

Beachhead

This is a regular battle ploy. A beachhead is established by an attacker during an amphibious assault. This tactic reduces casualties for an attacker in an amphibious assault.

Beguile

This is a regular battle ploy. A small portion of the enemy troops defect to your side.

Beserk

This is a regular battle ploy. Use your naked fanatics and work them into a frenzy. This ploy causes increased casualties to your foe.

Cantabrian Circle

This is a regular battle ploy. Horse archers or mounted javelin throwers form into a single-file rotating circle. The effect is a continuous stream of arrows or javelins onto an enemy formation. This tactic is useful against enemy infantry formations and helps to decrease your casualties whilst at the same inflicting more casualties to the enemy.

Cavalry Charge

This is a regular battle ploy. All melee cavalry except chariots and war elephants cause increased casaulties to a foe.

Double Envelopment

This is a regular battle ploy. Simultaneously attack both flanks and inflict more casualties to your enemy.

Dread

This is a regular battle ploy. Strike fear into the enemy forces and lower their morale.

Elephant Charge

This is a regular battle ploy. War Elephants cause increased casaulties to a foe.

Encirclement

This is a regular battle ploy. Your force surrounds the enemy on all sides. The surrounded enemy is isolated and cannot be resupplied or receive reinforcements. The surrounded enemy must break out or fight to the death or surrender.

Extraction

This is a regular battle ploy. The enemy officer is kidnapped, leaving the enemy troops without a leader. The enemy forces simply melt away, while the enemy officer is captured.

Feint Attack

This is a regular battle ploy. Misdirect the enemy and let them think you strike at one place whilst in reality you strike elsewhere. This ploy is used to crack open the defense of an enemy force and thus inflict more casualties to the enemy.

Fire Arrows

This is a regular battle ploy. Your archers use fire when they shoot their arrows. This ploy increases the damage to your foe and lowers the morale of the enemy troops.

Flying Wedge

This is a regular battle ploy. This ploy can be used for both melee infantry and melee cavalry. Your men are deployed in a triangular formation. With a limited front the strength of the formation is concentrated and the tip of the formation is used to break the enemy line. The enemy thus receives more casaulties in this assault.

Fortify

This is a regular battle ploy. Your army sets up a fort or fortified camp. The defenses such as ramparts and entrenchments causes increased casualties to the attacker.

Hammer & Anvil

This is a regular battle ploy. Spear infantry whilst in a defensive setting cause increased casualties to the attacker.

Incinerate

This is a regular battle ploy. Set fire to bushes and shrubs and use the flames to attempt to wipe out your enemy. Be careful though as the winds may turn. This ploy is more effective in dense and dry forests.

Infantry Charge

This is a regular battle ploy. All melee infantry cause increased casaulties to a foe.

Inverted Wedge

This is a regular battle ploy. Leading parts of your formation advance abreast and envelop the enemy left and right. It is effective for encircling an enemy. The enveloped enemy must break out or fight to the death or surrender.

Misinform

This is a regular battle ploy. Attempt to trick an enemy and try to escape from battle.

Parry

This is a regular battle ploy. Block an incoming attack and thus reduce your casualties.

Parthian Shot

This is a regular battle ploy. Horse archers and camel archers cause increased casualties to a foe.

Perfidy

This is a regular battle ploy. Capture and overpower enemy soldiers by deception. The enemy men are captured in a ruse, by either feigning an intent to negiotiate for a truce or surrender, or to feign incapcitation, or to feign civilian status.

Raid

This is a regular battle ploy. A raid is small scale attack with the intent to demoralize, confuse and exhaust the enemy. It is also used to capture people, free prisoners and to ransack a location.

Rally

This is a regular battle ploy. Increases the morale of your troops.

Scipian Defense

This is a regular battle ploy. A good counter tactic against an Elephant Charge ploy or a Scythed Plow ploy.

Scorched Earth

This is a regular battle ploy. With a scorced earth tactic the defender destroys food supplies and poisons wells. The intent is to inflict deaths on the attacker through starvation or dehydration.

Scythed Plow

This is a regular battle ploy. Chariots cause increased casualties to a foe.

Shield Wall

This is a regular battle ploy. Infantry with shields have their shields interlock and form a defense against the Cavalry Charge ploy.

Split Columns

This is a regular battle ploy. A good counter tactic against the Swarming ploy. Infantry forces are split up and fortify the surrounding area to cut off the resupply points.

Swarming

This is a regular battle ploy. Horse archers surround the enemy melee infantry force, staying out of range of their melee weapons, and fire arrows until they have no more. The archers will then withdraw to a supply point and attack again until the melee infantry formation is broken.

Taunt

This is a regular battle ploy. Your troops cry or gesture in order to incite or demoralize the enemy.

Testudo

This is a regular battle ploy. Infantry with shields have their shields cover the entire unit. This ploy reduces casualties to your troops from skirmishers and archers.

Turning Movement

This is a regular battle ploy. Attack the rear of the defender and seperate the vanguard of the defender from the rear and the support wagons. This ploy lowers the morale of the enemy and inflicts more casualties to the enemy.

Volley

This is a regular battle ploy. Foot archers cause increased casualties to a foe.

Siege Ploys

Chelone

This is a siege ploy. Infantry with shields have their shields cover the entire unit. This ploy reduces casualties to your troops from skirmishers and archers. It helps to reduce casualties in a siege event. This ploy is the siege variant of the Testudo ploy.

Circumvallation

This is a siege ploy. A line of fortifications is built by the attackers around the besieged place. It protects the besiegers from a Sally ploy and blockades the besiged place. The intent is to starve the enemy into submission.

Contravallation

This is a siege ploy. A second line of fortifications outside the circumvallation is constructed, facing away from the besieged place. The contravallation protects the besiegers from attacks by allies of the defenders in the besieged place and enhances the blockade of the enemy fort by making it more difficult to smuggle in supplies.

Sally

This is a siege ploy. The defender in a siege attacks and harasses vulnerable attackers before retreating behind the walls. The ploy is used to decrease the strength and preparedness of a besieging army, by capturing or destroying their siege engines.

Sap Walls

This is a siege ploy. This ploy is useful when laying siege to a settlement. It causes increased damage to fortifications and city walls.

Naval Battle Ploys

Clash

This is a naval battle ploy. Use the ram of your ship and attempt to sink the enemy vessel.

Grapple

This is a naval battle ploy. Catch an enemy ship and inflict more casualties to the marines on board that enemy ship.

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