TOP 10 Battle Tactics of Antiquity and Medieval
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มิ.ย. 2024
- We have always been fascinated with tactics of the past and the ways generals were able to win the battles against the overwhelming odds. In this video we list 10 antique and medieval tactics and formations that we consider most interesting.
Timestamps:
00:40 - Oblique Order
01:39 - Concentrated Center
02:35 - Hidden Flank
03:31 - Inverted Wedge
04:19 - Crescent Formation
05:17 - Feigned Retreat
06:25 - Hit and Run
07:39 - Single/Double Envelopment
08:40 - Schiltron
09:32 - Triplex Acies
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Sassing ye olde narrator with not a care in the world.
What about the ancient Chinese pike and shot
I've always been interested in the logistics of how armies were supplied in the field. Roman armies were well organised but how did Medieval Armies operate for long periods of time?
Great video but the music is to loud.
Kings and Generals should
I once thought that these tactics were deceptively simple, and many people in idle conversations slam this or that King and General as "not being a genius" by using very simple tactics. However, now knowing more, there are 2 things why things are simple. The main reason, as Clausewitz put it: "In wars, the right things are simple, but even the simplest thing is difficult in war".
First, any time you can put together any number of men and not having the group spontaneously collapse from ill-discipline, logistical problems, lack of supplies, diseases, etc ... can already be considered an achievement. Armies and bureaucracies spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with this and precisely this. Feeding and keeping a large number of men healthy in the days before canned food, refrigeration, modern transports, and knowledge of sanitation, was no easy task. Armies melted away without a single fight for this very reason.
Second, observation and communication. Unlike in games when observation and communication are instant, IRL, these things are slow. Generals were most likely on top of some hill, squinting their eyes trying to decipher what the hell is going on. You can only communicate with your subunits by the means of riders and messengers. You might hear that your flank is about to collapse and decided to send a messenger to dispatch the reserve; but then when the reserve arrives your flank has already collapsed and now half your force is running away.
That is a great comment! Indeed, when you think about it, even recruiting and keeping an army together was a big challenge. They had no census lists, no computers and no modern administrative power of the state to draft new recruits.
And, yes, communication during the battle was, probably, a hell. So, keeping it simple was indeed a wise decision. :-)
Nice comment, go up!
Xuan Vinh To you are spot on.
Your comment reminds me of an old PC game called Legion. Basically, you would set up your units, give them commands before the battle began, and then press "play" and hope for the best.
I imagine war games looking like your description in the future.
Xuan Vinh To that's why you lead from the front and make sure you have competent leaders in every portion of your army. Center, flanks, reserves, etc and make sure you have a few other competent men ready to take command incase you fall
GOOFY LUCK holy crap I remember that game. Good times
Nothing gets a nomadic warrior more excited than feigned retreat.
It depends on the perspective, I guess. :-) Maybe, it was their enemies who initially got excited seeing the nomads retreating. :-)
@@KingsandGenerals they were indeed. Battle of Mohac was one of the last examples
@@KingsandGenerals it also becomes last thing to feel excited about for nomad's enemies, just before they die even before they understand how did they die
Genghis Khan used Feigned Retreat to great effect in his battles. It was his favorite tactic. Of course as the Mongol empire expanded they adapted to new tactics and new weapons- they learned from their enemies...
Yes Feigned Retreat was their favorite tactic early in their expansion..
True, that is the way Normans won at Hastings.
1. Oblique order
Create local superiority on one wing to break it faster and to create a possibility of attacking from multiple sides. Protect the weaker portion of the army by keeping it from the enemy as long as possible.
2. Concentrated center
Create local superiority in the center to break it faster and to create a possibility of attacking from multiple sides.
3. Hidden flank
Create local superiority on one wing to break it faster and to create a possibility of attacking from multiple sides.
4. Inverted wedge
Protect the weaker portion of the army by giving it space to slowly retreat without breaking. Attack with superior forces on the flanks and encircle the enemy.
5. Crescent
6. Feigned retreat
Keep retreating slowly in order to stretch and break the enemy forces to smaller chunks, attack them from multiple sides and defeat with local superiority.
Grunwald
Provoke the enemy to expose his flank and then attack it from multiple sides with local superiority.
7. Hit and run
For missile units. Protect your forces from a stronger enemy by keeping them at a distance and slowly weakening the enemy from the distance.
8. Envelopment
Create local superiority on one or both wings to attack from multiple sides.
The general pattern here is to prevent the enemy from using his superiority and to attack in a manner that allows you to create local superiority (of quality or quantity) in one or in many places.
You stopped and thought about it. :-)
a bit
+STOP and Think Lol yeah, me too, just a little... like the vid narrator, I may be all kinds of a mess when older but I will never forget my battlefield glories...
Most of the above is also knows as: "Defeat in detail".
The Romans had a trick, you kill my army I'll come back with a new, improved one.
Yep. They did that a lot.
.
Yes and defeat their enemies with the same tactics that defeated their own previous army. Romans were really one of a kind. Adopted strategies quickly and always employed them better than even the creators of said tactics could ever do.
@@LazyCrazyGuy what ever happened to the italians. Was napoleon the last hereditary italian competant general?
@@ottovonmlgbismarck9882 i would like to know more about that too
@@ottovonmlgbismarck9882 Napoleon was Italian? Ok... Cezare Borgia was a very skilled general.
Using triple axis in Rome 2. The next thing you hear is "our troops are running the field of battle, this is a shameful display"
Yep, unfortunately, for all of its good things, TW sometimes fails to represent the tactics of the past. Then again, they tried to create a symmetrical experience so every faction would be equal.
That's 1 of the things I like about TW:Warhammer, some factions play alike but some are so different.
Actually ive made triple axies work in rtw2 before sure the broke down into more of a square at some point but hey its that originale cohesion beuty were after.
Lol. A lot of tactics and strategies fail to work in TW, aside from envelopment or Hammer and Anvil.
vlad Too true!
"One day I will grow old and forget my wife's name, my credit card pin and the password to my favourite pornsite, but I'll still be able to talk about Romans for hours and hours" LOL I can identify with this 100%
Are you Syd Barret
Acid Trip I was dying when he said that
+James Chebahtah can't lie. :-)
🤣🤣🤣👏🏻
Beautiful. Robert Graves, near the end, actually believed he was in Ancient Rome.
97% of the viewers came from the total war series
Possibly. :-)
exactly
I came from age of empires 3 ;)
True
I came from medieval 2 lol
we're the only people left using these tactics
Wow , Beginning of an era on youtube!!!😀😀😀
Current war tactic: the one who press button first is the winner
Yes
It doesnt even work that way because of submarines :D
Whoever has a button loses
Column formation, wedge formation, staggered column, shift fire, bounding. Modern tactics are just as interesting/cool as the ancient stuff.
@@franciscoguerrero9719 any channel you would suggest with modern war tactics content?
For 2000 years from Scythians to Ottomans, "Feigned flight" dominated the open battlefields so that would be my choice.
If you have mobility and lack numbers, it is a way to go.
Actually.. no. not if your enemy is using combined arms (without making grave errors...), or has overwhelming firepower or superior range... + there's always siege...
Joe Blow Turks in general used the hilal/Wolf Trap tactic,Its the best tactic if you are in an open field,If you are in a siege etc its useless, and FUN FACT;Ancient turks learned and improved this tactic via observing wolf packs hunt. One of many battles that this was used was manzikert
Personally, I wouldn't fall for that. If I were a commander I would as a rule never chase retreating enemies. Not even if it's a rout.
Roderic Kingfield Here is the thing,usually when this tactic was used a lot of soldiers got hyped and disobeyed orders and chased the turks then got right in to a trap,Even if your army is really diciplened there is going to be some soldiers that always got adrenaline rush
I studied history in school, but had little interest in military minutia beyond what was needed for a macro view. Thanks for the videos. It's helping my RPG and war gaming skill.
At 2017,a legend was born.
0:00 legend is born
Thanks for these videos. You do a fantastic job of hitting the main point without overwhelming the viewer. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your support. I hate verbosity and tautology. :-)
Kings and Generals thx for giving noobs tactics now
This was both entertaining and informative. Thank you.
Thank you for watching :-)
Where is corner camping? down vote for historical inaccuracy
I think that we have finally found a person who didn't suffer enough from the corner camping :-)
Corner camping? Call up the archers and siege equipment
@@quantumimmortality551 spam war dogs.
@@quantumimmortality551 ah yes. Nothing like bunker busting.
OUR GENERAL IS UNDER ATTACK
Hammer and anvil?
Yep, also very effective.
Just a variation of envelopment really.
Number 7 was The smartes and seencitiv tactic, thats why they had suck greate territorium 😣
+Joe Blow Hammer and Anvil *IS* a form of envelopment. The mechanics are identical, except you hit them in the rear instead of the sides.
_"According to the United States Army there exist four types of envelopment:_
_A flanking maneuver or single envelopment consists of one enveloping force on a flank. attacking one of the enemy's flanks. This is extremely effective if the holding forces are in a well defensible spot (e.g. Alexander the Great's hammer and anvil at the Battle of Issus) or if there is a strong, hidden line behind a weak flank (e.g. Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) and Battle of Rocroi)._
_A pincer movement or double envelopment consists of two simultaneous flanking maneuvers. Hannibal devised this strategy at his tactical masterpiece, Cannae. Later on, Rashidun Caliphate General, Khalid ibn al-Walid applied the maneuver in decisive battle against Sassanid Empire during Battle of Walaja. Early in World War II the Germans frequently employed this tactic and encircled huge numbers of the enemy during the Blitzkrieg attacks on both the Western Front during the Battle of France and during Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front._
_An encirclement whereby the enemy is completely surrounded and isolated in a pocket. The friendly forces can choose to attack the pocket or invest it (to stop resupplies and to prevent breakouts) and wait for a beleaguered enemy to surrender._
_A vertical envelopment is "a tactical maneuver in which troops, either air-dropped or air-landed, attack the rear and flanks of a force, in effect cutting off or encircling the force"._
[ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envelopment ]
Hammer and anvil is over all strategy, which deals with stuff outside of the battle field
To not have a massive route take place when employing the inverted wedge when the center got hammered is insane. Hannibal was an outstanding leader of men and general
"Hit n run tactic with Missile cavalry"
Just hearing those words...
*Tired foot soldiers sounds intensifies
I know right? From Crassus to Romen Diogenes, why would anyone want to face missile cavalry with infantry?
Edit: If anybody know actually how to win against horce archers I would happily listen. I play barbarian invasion and keep loosing to huns
@@hannibalburgers477 large onagers says hello
@@gabrielnugrahaandika1519 Sorry I forgot to specify R:TW 1 BI
*testudo formationing until those freaking horse archers run out of ammo intensifies*
*laughs in Frankish*
I could listen to this stuff non stop - please make a whole never ending series on battle tactics and examples. awesome job!
*Hannibal's Inverted Wedge at Cannae in #4*
is my favorite one.
Funny fact: Shaka Zulu {also known as the African Napoleon} used the same tactic and called it the bull horn tactic.
Hannibal's strategy is many times more intelligent than what is given above. It is mobile strategy combined with skill, leadership, planning, alertness and situation awareness
Love that self-reflection that after forgetting everything, you will not forget about Roman strategy, particularly Triplex Acies. I feel that I'll one day be in a similar situation and be that crazy old grandpa that talks about ancient battles whilst forgetting his email password XD
It is good to be a bit ironic about oneself. :-)
Love this video guys. I would love to see other battle strategies used or battles done in a campaign by a single figure, such as Alexander the Great or Hannibal
Good idea, will do, thanks!
Basement Entertainment
We also need more Khalid bin Walid. He's the most underrated of all the generals
Huh, it's funny how many of these tactics I've accidentally found myself using across the Total War games. A favorite tactic of mine in Shogun 2 was a mix of feigned retreat, hidden flank, and envelopment. I made a main line of yari wall with fire bomb throwers on one flank to bait out an agressive charge from an enemy against a short-range unit that is relatively weak in melee. If possible, I'd hide a unit of no-dachi samurai (shock troops with incredibly powerful charges, in case you haven't played it) nearby. When the enemy got close, the throwers would launch one volley of fire bombs, causing enough chaos in the enemy charge for me to pull the throwers back and charge with my shock troops while the enemy was still disoriented and out of position because of the bombs. This would cause even the most elite unit to rout, at which point I would use my shock troops to charge the nearest enemy unit engaging my spear wall, surrounding and breaking them, causing a routing cascade as I envelop the enemy. It was always so satisfying to pull off.
I think Oblique Order is very intuitive in Total War as well.
you should use each tactic in a battle against a friend or computer and make a video out of that.
Yes, that is the plan, thanks for your support :-)
no.9 Scottish pikes... pike box being a legit strategy confirmed(against cavalry anyway)?
+auto27user yeah, it worked, unless enemy has advantage in missile units.
the double envelopment at least is the most basic and efficient strategy against a computer, works as long as your center doesn't break. It also requires some patience because it's best to wait until your ennemy's out of amunitions to pull it off, unless you want to be shot in the back. I'd say against humans the most efficient is to hide some troops, but timing is crucial there ! Especially since players have an aerial vue of the battlefield, which Generals did not have back then. great work by the way, I discovered your videos two days ago and am currently binge watching them ! :)
moar werk?
Roman and Greek and Hannibal's tactics are my favourites. Haven't used concentrated centre yet in Rome 2 TW. I could watch a long video about any of these. Let's hear about artillery, and light infantry too.
We will make one eventually. Tactics and army evolution should become our secondary series, whenever we finally get our act together. :-)
RoginauldsWarFiles ipppppp is the day
I've often used an oblique line in tabletop and it's surprising how many opponents fall for it.
Thanks for the vid.
Awesome video! Please do more like this and I would love to see you break down these tactics in detail. Keep up the great work!
my favorite one is have you ever heard Battle of Walaja?
its one of Khalid ibn Walid most stunning victory...
its perfect double envelopment maneuver are lead general A.I. Akram to likened the brilliance of Khalid to Hannibal in battle of Cannae
@david edbrooke-coffin Alexander the Great
Sargon of Akkad
Ashoka the Great
the other 3
@david edbrooke-coffin He's like the only person, who got the title 'the Great' because of his pacifism.
Yes 😍😍
Would've loved to see Barca's reaction at the sight of his elephant units being annihilated. At that moment, I'd probably start thinking 'cntrl, alt, del'.
Awesome video and narration.
Thank you! :-)
I play games a lot with my friends and came looking for some strategies that generals used in the past because im my team's strategist. I found everything i wanted and a man with a sense of humor, noice.
Simple ideas conveyed with useful diagrams and historic examples. Great video.
Spasibo! This is a great video. Love the comment about Triplex Acles...hours and hours.
There is no more glorious thing as Scipio pulled a Hannibal on Hannibal.
Zama was perfect, Scipio defeated a veteran army as well
Hannibal crushing army after army without securing a decisive overall victory forced an odd case of artificial selection which created some of the best generals of all time.
@@josecipriano3048 True, best upset ever.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- veteran??
@@naiad5043 Hannibal had more hardened troops than Scipio
i played the total war games for years, developing many of these tactics on my own through trial and error. now i finally know what they're called! thankyou!
Thanks for watching! We are slowly making more detailed videos on each of them. Here is one on the oblique order: th-cam.com/video/UXDIFec0VCo/w-d-xo.html
Just realized I was here at the start of your channel! Good job guys!! All the way at 3 million subs I remember watching this and the Sassanian war video. Cool I found y’all from a total war video
I'm just here after seeing the 'tactics' displayed in GoT
Ruined the entire show tbh
same
Fuck off it’s better tactics than canne
LOL “Tactics”, that’s generous.
GoT? Game of thrones?
"This video has gone on too long." I watched a 22 minutes Kings and Generals video about the Jewish rebellion in the Roman empire this morning. Hindsight is a funny thing.
Yep, 20/20
@@KingsandGenerals If you keep replying to my comments, I'm going to start to think I'm special haha
Keep 'em clean and I will do my best
Love this video, keep up the great work! I look forward to your next video.
Thanks! :-)
And by this video, a legendary channel was born
Yeah. That was really good. It gave an over view of these basic tactics. Very well done.
What would also be good - as you mentioned - was a more in depth discussion of the vagaries of these tactics and how one played on the weaknesses of another. Showing where a tactic succeeded in one case but failed in another would be interesting.
For example the double envelopment used by Hannibal at Cannae - only worked because of two things. First, a lot of ancient warfare consisted of the main bodies of troops pushing each other. Their front ranks shields would come together and the guys behind would push, trying to make the enemy fall over backwards or at least fall back. Here having more guys in a deeper formation made you better able to do that. So - Hannibal had his line thinner so it could wrap about the Romans but he had it bowed out towards them so that it could fall back into a bow the other way before it broke. The deeper the Romans pushed the farther they went into the Carthaginian trap. Once surrounded the Romans were pushed together into a mob who couldn't raise their arms to swing their swords they were so jammed up against each other.
The next thing that happened is that the Numidian Horsemen Hannibal had - routed the Roman horse man - but then, instead of chasing them the way cavalry usually did - they came back to hit the Romans from the rear and complete the envelopment.
Here you had a Strong Center vs. an Envelopment. The Strong Center COULD have won if they'd broken through the enemy line before they were enveloped - but the Romans had made the center to strong at the expense of the flanks - and that did them in. You want to have a strong center - but not get enveloped.
At Carrhae - Crassus had an unbalanced force. He didn't have enough Cavalry and he didn't have enough missile troops. Standing Missile troops have a greater range than horse mounted missile troops because they can put their whole bodies into hurling their missiles - whereas the mounted missile troops are only able to do so from the waist up. With heavy infantry protecting them - standing missile troops could have shot over their heads and hit the horse archers. Crassus just didn't have enough. When the Romans got their revenge for Crassus - they had more missile troops and operated from terrain that mitigated against the Persian Cavalry's strengths. Here - while Crassus had been able to put down Spartacus's slave rebellion - he was no match militarily for the Parthians. Caesar or Pompeii would have done better.
.
What do you mean by the bow? As in a long cord that carthaginians wrapped around the unit who were pushing? How could they not realise?
@@WoWMalazar 3:35 Bow In The line. Watch how the bow in the line starts off being towards the Romans and then bows away from them as they push against it - while the flanks come up and wrap around them.
.
Thank you, finding stuff this dense and high quality about military tactics is hard, probably because it's not much more useful than regular history, at least those are fun to try in games.
very well done video. And really these are timeless tactics. The oblique order served Friedrick and his beloved Prussia well.
And we was said to have been inspired by the very battle you mentioned.
Thanks for watching. I really like the fact that gunpowder era generals were so fond of ancient tactics. Obviously, ancient generals did not have gunpowder units or artillery, but it is more about ingenuity than anything else. :-)
I am planning a documentary on the Seven Years War. It should be released sometime in August, so, stick around. :-)
Thank you! This is for my Army in my School while fighting Cone Army.
Great video. I really liked how you presented the schiltron. I was wondering if you did consider the combined-arms-approach that was favored by the English during the Hundred Years War. After all, the strategy of combining the firepower of archers with the staying power of melee infantry and the shock element of cavalry was one of the most important tactical options for Classical and Medieval armies when on the defensive.
Thanks! Again, a very good point. Combined arms did not make the top 10, in my opinion. Maybe, I need to make a second list. :-)
the issue with the 100 Years war and the combined arms approach....is that the English lost!
I do acknowledge that the English lost the Hundred Years' War, but what I am talking about, with the example of the English forces, was the fact that the combined-arms approach is one of the most common in history. Other great examples are Alexander the Great's army, the Late Roman Empire Legions, and even the Norman forces commanded by William I of England.
+Matthew Kuchinski as Nurrrik always tells me, don't be result-oriented, it is about doing it right. :-)
Loved the video. Subscribed immediately after hearing about growing old and what you would or wouldn't remember :p
:-)
I mostly loved the Single/Double Envelopment tactic. Amazing video!
I was looking this for gaming, and the tactics are wonderful. Keep posting more
Excellent, very good.
Glad, you enjoyed it. :-)
I'm in love with the feigned retreat, even because it might happen spontaneously like it happened to William the Bastard with his left flank led by the bretonnians in the battle for England
We will cover it in more detail in future :-)
I believe it happened more than once at Hastings, the first one being an actual retreat by William's left, and then a feigned retreat was ordered after the response of the English to the actual retreat had been observed.
yes please produce more on this please. great video.
Great new series!!!! Tactival situations are overlooked as credit goes to the historical CO gaiking victory.
I remember playing as ottomans in mediavel 2 where during a crusader invasion the very elite, equiped with silver grade armor and weapons, led by a high starred prince of France. While I only have a mediocre Turkish horse archers, I wanted to use like how the Roman fell with horse archer but the discipline was intact until I killed the prince & all discipline completely fell. Pretty much capture all the army
Pov: you clicked "oldest first"
For some reason it got recommended to me. It's not the oldest video they ever produced, but it's certainly the oldest video available on their channel for viewing.
I love these videos and I love your enthusiasm. I share it with you. Keep going.
With the animated presentation the Hard work done enables the mind to grab content and green thank you thank you
Thank you!
U know who else were masters of hit and run and feigned retreats?
The Mongols (cue the mongoltage)
Ill like to any who gets the reference.
John Constantine Sam O'Nella obviously
John Green ftw
Also Vietnam
Hahhahahahaha
Mongols were the best, but what the Parthians did to Crassus and his army was unspeakable for the Romans.
Tactic in theory: use units to engage the enemy, and spread out to separate the enemy units until the enemy is spread very thin. After this use reserves to overwhelm one side and move the active troops to the other side to do the same
Could this work in practice?
Parthian Capitalist you would need a well organized and disciplined army along with more men than the enemy in order for this to work but other than that I like it.
TY for this video, I find it helpfull as a miniature wargmer as well as being appealing to my history buff tendancies
+Percy Barbarossa thanks for watching! Never been a wargamer myself, so that is a very interesting angle for me. Do you often use real battle tactics?
Very good presentation of very important aspect of strategy, awaiting further series and also guerrilla warfare
Oblique order is my favorite wargaming tactic by far. Many times my opponents will spread their forces across the battlefield. My goal is to have 70% of my army overrun one enemy flank then wheel towards his center and roll up his line. As he turns to face his failing flank, his opposite flank units are too far away to get into the battle in time and typically come in piecemeal allowing me to slaughter them. I will many times sacrifice light units on his far flank and center to delay those heavier units.
When I face someone who is using Oblique order and I have not, I will turn and march my flank facing his strong flank towards my center rear while rapidly advancing my opposite flank driving off his lighter screening units. This will wheel my battle line 90 degrees. For example, if my battle line was stretching east west facing the enemy it ends up stretching north south and facing the enemy. Sacrificing one or two units to delay his strong flank can buy you needed time to reorganize your battle line.
The faster you identify your opponents formation the better as you have more time to reposition your forces. Scouting concealing terrain features is of critical importance. You need to know what is behind those hills and in those woods!
Subbed just based on that “one day I will grow old...” bit. 😂
We have far better videos now. :-)
Thank to whatever supreme being that gives us KingsandGenerals & Total War Series.
Great video. I didn't know Pavel Chekov narrated videos on youtube! Keep up the good work!
Hammer and anvil is one of the greatest and simplest attack strategies to exist. Should’ve been on here
I think we showed the variants of it.
Awesome video, very informative. Just one thing, though. It's difficult to understand what the narrator is saying in some portions of the video due to the volume of the music. I couldn't understand the last sentence in one section (I think it was the Hit and Run section) because of this. Maybe dial it back a bit? Otherwise, good work. ☺
Thank you for watching! We have improved quite a bit since then, and each of the tactics described in this videos will be covered separately, in detail. We have released the first video in this series: th-cam.com/video/UXDIFec0VCo/w-d-xo.html
Love the video, I would like to see more on the roman tactics, training and maneuvers that gave them the edge.
Thank you! Will need to come up with a new format.
Love your documentaries, keep up the splendid job you do! ;-)
Thank you very much! :-) Please, consider sharing this video in your social circle.
Hannibal actually had the least experienced troops in the center. At least during the "Battle of Cannae". He fought in the center with them to assure them their lives weren't being forfeit.
Basically saying "I'm here with you. Do not retreat. Bend but do not break. You job is to give not be over run."
Loved this video. =)
Working on the next ones. :-)
Glad to hear that. =)
I'm looking forward to them. ^^
I'm a fan of K&G since it was called Nurrik & Phoenix. It's nice to watch the first videos with Phoenix's narration once in a while. So bad the Total War series is not available anymore.
This helped me a lot in Total War :D
Only missing the echelon/ refused flank. Gualgamella is a version of this
Good one! That is why I have this love/hate relationship with the "top-10" videos. :-)
stuka80 yeah! I know :) then mentioned it twice, but didnt mention the echelon. It is such an important tactics, so it definitely deserves a mention :)
so this is his voice lol
Could you do a specific series on battles where outnumbered armies won the battle, and what tactics they employed to do so?
I need more this was mind blowing
I like to charge part of infantry line a fraction before the rest and i ride my general and 1 other shock cavalry unit out through the centre with other cavalry manouevers on either flank (support with a unit of spears as your cavalary is split up x3). It takes alot of micromanagement but really effective for me in legendary and multplayer total war
+Dakka1968 that is a great tactic! Philip and Alexander used elite infantry the same way
Got s8 e3 should have watched this video
They also should've watched it before 6.9, Battle of Bastards. Wait, maybe Ramsey watched it... OMG someone tell John to stay away, it's a trap ! Lol
Enjoyed it, looking forward to seeing a vid on the Spanish Tercio square
I suggest that you could remake this video. Your later videos have been of great quality, and I think a remake of this would turn out very well.
I'll always be a fan of the good old hammer and anvil. Fix 'em in place with infantry, and crush them with a cavalry charge to the rear.
Yes, it works. :-)
That's your basic Marlburian 'find, fix and destroy'... only he could use it flawlessly as base for or to react to anything else (Blenheim, Ramillies) or as a finisher to a successful catch up from behind (Oudenarde) as on it's own it can turn into a game of attrition (Malplaquet) Shame that the all round outstanding British commander in history (with Wellington close behind) did his thing so long ago.
That one historical tactics that does not fail you in Total War games :-)
"This video is already too long" indeed youtube tends to like10 mins.
Love your channel keep it up.
You should make a video about what happened in karbala
At 0:18 I see four pictures about different documentries, but I could find them at your playlist and also in the upload. Can you tell me the names of the corresponding videos I'm interested to watch them all.
"this video is already too long"". 2020: 2 hour long videos :)
Ok mounted archer cavalry. Also, almost all these strategies employ yielding before attacking. Very Taoist and tricky.
Yeah, never give your enemy a good target. :-)
Cool stuff, as usual. But in the battle of Mantzikert Byzantines were winning and deliberate treason was the main reason of their defeat; hence not a good example to prove efficiency of a tactic...
As for Grunwald, Teutonic knights lost a lot of time chasing fleeing Lithuanians, plundering etc.; the battle did not look so neatly ordered as you showed. Also, many other flanking attacks were implemented there.
As for the hit and run, it is rarely won with huge numerical advantage of the "sluggish" army. This tactic is also not without its problems, as many batttles during the cusades showed; the "sluggish" army can be well armored and horses of the "agile" army get exhausted with time, exposing it to a decisive counterattack (especially if the "sluggish" army has agile units too). Also, the sluggish army can often possess better ranged weapons than their lightly armed oppressors, who are often not so well protected...
I just love your accent. So cool!
Thanks! That is the first. :-)
Punching the center didn’t work too well at Cannae.
I'd say, the Romans had more elite troops overall.
You want to have a Strong Center - not ONLY a center. Romans stacked their troops to deep and didn't protect their flanks well enough. They got enveloped - but then - they got pressed in on all sides so tightly they couldn't raise their arms to fight back and were just slaughtered. Numidian Cavalry driving theirs off and then coming back to cap the rear finished them.
This phenomenon of having one side get physically crushed together is what happened at Agincourt too. What the French didn't see - was that the battlefield gradually narrowed on one side as it got to the English positions - so that their soldiers were forced together so tightly by the terrain they couldn't fight and the English slaughtered them. Succeeding waves only made the matter worse.
This is the same thing you see in tavern fires or soccer riots, where everyone tries to get out at the same time and they get crushed, blocking the exit.
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The key thing in a battle is knowing your enemies strength and your enemies plan. That means you need spies in the enemy camp or very good scouts. Also, always take up positions that use the features of the landscape to your advantage.
Great video. In the future maybe you could put Battle of ilipa in there to showcase a combination of delayed contact and hidden wing, both described in your video.
Good one.
How many are here after Game of Thrones shit show of the battle against the Dead...RIP Dothrakis
Rip trebuchets
Last.
Hopefully, not :-)
I agree, surely a Mongolian Prince could never be last, even if ever wrongfooted... so many (including the likes of Nathan Bedford Forrest) owe the idea of 'gittin' thar fustest with the mostest' to Mongolian endeavours and glory. Just be careful around Mamluks ok?
Young Mongolian Prince i
The Mongols might well have trounced the Mamluks if most of the Mongol force hadn't gone home with the Ilkhan Hulagu to participate in the election of a new Khakhan after Mongke's death
Don't worry, I'm sure someone will kill your envoy.
Thanks, we are doing a minecraft war tomorrow, this will defnitely help XD
I will most likely used the inverted wedge with a mix of hit and run
Damn they have grown so much 🔥
Interesting fact about #4. Cannae maneuver is that it was used by a Chinese commander called Bai Qi at the battle of Changping 44 years earlier.
I really need to learn more about Chinese history. And make at least a few videos. It is getting embarrassing.
There is so much we need to know about Chinese history... In a way, China has always been around, so they are bound to have a fascinating culture. Language barrier is one hell of a barrier, though. As China becomes more mainstream (and less communist), we might start to see more translations around, or who knows, maybe Chinese becoming a more widely known language.
Wasn't this tactic also tried in Marathon?
Many brilliant commanders independently implemented and perfected the art of double envelopment and reverse crescent mainly as an effective counter measure against numerically superior foes. Another example is Khalid bin Walid
My imagination is insane..
No.2 was actually also done by the Thebans against Spartans at the Battle of Tygera.🤔
Probably where Phillip got his inspiration. This battle also inspired the use of concentrated massed troops, which other Theban generals emulated and developed further to address the result this tactic has of of weakening the rest of the line.
Eventually evolving into the oblique order employed at Luectra.
8.Single or Double Envelopment
This is one of my favorite in Shogun 2,and sometimes I used this without knowing in Rome 2.
I always has a Flank Defender,and Flank Attacker Units,and sometimes these 2 Units works together,and able to defeat the Enemy Flanks,and then the Flanking attacks begin,till it's more of a Rolling of units on both side.
Yep, that is a good one. At Gaugamela, Alexander placed spearmen behind his cavalry. Similar to your idea of "Flank defender-flank attacker".