Field of Glory II – Beginners Tips

Tips for Newbies

Pay attention to unit capabilities and points of advantage (POA). You can display them by pressing left mouse button on a unit, while holding CTRL. It will display which bonuses that unit gets against other unit types. Try to attack those enemy units, which your unit has advantage against.

Also, pay attention to terrain. Some units get disordered or even severely disordered in some terrain types, which significantly reduces their fighting abilities. If you hold CTRL while hovering mouse cursor over the map, you get information which units are disordered in the specific terrain type. For example: heavy infantry is disordered in rough terrain, but medium infantry isn’t, so in rough terrain medium infantry will be much more effective against heavy infantry, than in the open. Cavalry is generally bad in any terrain other than open. It can really have big effect on combat. For example, a good lancer cavalry will likely completely crush massed archer unit in open terrain, but if archers are in rough ground, they have decent chance at winning.

It is generally good to avoid sending units to disordering terrain if they can be attacked by the enemy. Sometimes, however, it may be beneficial. That’s because disordered units generally inflict less damage to the enemy. So, let’s say you have heavy cavalry unit and you are going against better enemy cavalry unit. In such case, it may be actually better to lure enemy into forest or rough ground and fight there. Both your and enemy unit will be disordered. Enemy unit will still have the advantage, but because of this, statistically it will take much more time for it to defeat your unit, allowing it to buy time for the rest of your army. As a general rule: if both units are disordered in some terrain, it’s more beneficial for the defender (combat is going to take longer).

  • During the battle try to charge enemy unit in flank or rear, while it’s in melee with your other unit; that’s the most reliable way to rout them (rear / flank charges cause automatic lose of cohesion level if unit is in combat). Remember, that for it to count as flank or rear charge, your unit has to start it’s turn on the flank or rear of the enemy.
  • If you try to charge normal unit with skirmisher unit or if you try to charge cavalry with infantry, the enemy will not automatically lose a cohesion level, but it’s still better than charging from the front.
  • Sometimes if the enemy unit is in melee with your unit, it’s worth to be patient and wait a turn or two to move your other unit, so that it’s positioned for flank / rear charge, instead of immediately charging from the front.
  • Cavalry / chariots are generally better suited for flanking the enemy, because they are faster, but you can also do it with normal infantry.

Cavalry / chariots are generally good in the open terrain when they have a lot of space. They are also generally better at charging, worse at melee. When you charge enemy infantry with your cavalry / chariots, make sure that there is free space behind your unit. That way, if the charge doesn’t disrupt the enemy, your unit will automatically fall back. Otherwise, it may be stuck in melee combat and suffer unnecessary casualties.

  • For ranged units (javelinmen / slingers / archers) it’s generally better to concentrate fire on a single enemy unit with multiple of your units.
  • That’s because if a unit loses some portion (about 10%) of it’s soldiers in one turn due to enemy ranged attacks, it has to take a cohesion test.
  • If, let’s say, you have 3 archers and enemy has 3 infantry units and with each archer you attack different units, they will take some light damage and that’s it.
  • If you instead attack single enemy unit with all of your archers, there is a decent chance it will lose more than 10% if it’s strength in one turn, which will cause it to take a cohesion test. If it’s disrupted, it significantly weakens that unit. You can attack and finish it off with your other units then or continue firing at it in the next turn.
  • If enemy unit loses a cohesion level due to ranged attacks, it cannot lose another level due to ranged fire in the same turn. So, if you disrupt / fragment an enemy unit and still have remaining archers, it’s better to attack different unit in the same turn then and maybe get back to the first unit in the following turn.

At the start of the battle, if you roughly know what types of units enemy will have, check the map and try to formulate the plan: what units you want to buy, where you want to fight, etc., taking into account your and enemy unit capabilities. If, for example, you have a lot of medium infantry and enemy has a lot of heavy infantry, it’s generally better to fight in rough ground or forests. If you have a lot of cavalry, it’s better to fight in open terrain, etc. Also, pay attention to hills, it’s generally better to fight from higher ground.

  • Don’t underestimate skirmishers. They are kind of a unit that seem weak at first, but after you get customized with the game, they prove to be very useful when used correctly. Because they are fast and can avoid enemy attacks, they are very good at harassing enemy infantry. If you concentrate fire (as described above), with roughly 3 skirmisher units on one enemy infantry unit, they have decent chance at disrupting it. If enemy infantry tries to attack them, it can disrupt enemy formation, which may be very useful. If you have advantage in skirmishers, it can also provoke the enemy to attack you, which may be beneficial if you hold good defensive ground.
  • To reduce chances of getting caught, try to keep archers and slingers 2 tiles from the enemy. It’s not really possible for javelinmen, because then have only range of 1, but sometimes you can keep them at enemy flanks / rear.
  • Skirmishers, however, should avoid cavalry in open terrain.

Skirmishers can evade enemy attacks, but they can do it only once per turn. So, if you want to kill enemy skirmishers, try to position your units in such a way, so that when enemy unit evades, it lands within range of your other unit, that can then charge them again. Light cavalry is probably the best to pull that off, because of it’s speed.

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