How do YOU play tactical combat?

[Winetoo]

Hey, i would like to hear on how do others approach combat (and with what tomes, if there is a difference) from the strategic standpoint.

I have tried these combinations in my 7 playthroughs: Astral/Nature, Order/Shadow and Chaos/Nature

but no matter the roster, i always devolve into same strategy when battling - i make a big clump/thick line of units and stay back, sometimes even going backwards for better cover, and wait for the AI to come to attack.
I love going heavy on magic and casters, so this also gives me time to put out summons and buffs, with some slowdowns for AI like Towers or Thorns spells.
I keep shields, pikes on the frontline, and usually keep 1 support per army, just for the warding and occasional heal/buff, and then i throw magic with hero and casters and rangers from behind, shock units on sides for slight defence or occasional hammer and anvil.

This strategy so far worked great, and i recently came out of 2000/2300 (me/AI) with just two dead units (playing on normal).

However, having played some Total War games, i have to say, it feels a bit weird that AI just comes to me, even when i initiate the attack, and every battle comes out feeling kind of same-y, even the sieges.
So i was wondering what other strategies people use to switch it up and keep it fresh.

[AnemoneMeer]

I'm currently refining my feudal morale killer tank build. Shield wall of defenders with some bannermen and a light splash of archers. Run the enemy down and tackle them with your front line. Focus attacks on the flanks and try to force the flanks into an early rout with joy siphoners, then collapse them.

Once you start mixing in faster units than just T2's, send your cavalry around the flanks and slam into their ranged units. Tyrant Knights shatter ranged units extremely fast.

It's a very high durability, high aggression build. I rarely wait for the AI to come to me, and aggressively run them down.

[Midas]

They didn't used to, so I wonder if that changed. Normally, if no one deals damage for enough turns, the battle ends with the attacker losing, and the AI will hang back and just wait for you if you're the attacker but you're being passive.

[darkholyPL]

Hey if it works it works. This is the most optimal general strategy since, unlike AoW3 and PF, the AI doesn't seem to be willing to just sit back and wait for you to come to them.
Because of that I'm not even sure if the 'battle will end if no dmg was done in 5 turns' thing is still in effect in AoW4.

[Chthonic Guardian]

I look for nearby choke points due to obstacles etc. and then send my brawlers and tanks to block them up so the enemy has to come through them.
Position magic users, ranged units and support units behind them (leave some space so you don't get nuked as a group or something.

Be wary of the flanks and enemies coming around, so maybe have a spare unit or 2 that can respond if it is a large scale battle. eagle riders are great for this, and also for circling around enemy flank and coming in from behind.
proceed to wreck enemy army.

I do hope they fix the AI where the enemy doesn't just come for you no matter what. It wasn't like that in 3, so I assume they will eventually fix it.

[Terrkas]

Op, if you havent tried yet, go for Story mission 3 if you want to get forced to mix it up. The battlemodifier can mess up defensive playstiles quite a lot.

[Fendelphi]

I am currently having a lot of fun with mounted Industrious Bastion units. Such beefy units on a 48 speed mount, with Wightborn and a bunch of ways to further increase it Defense and Resistance is pretty good. And due to the wolf mounts, their damage is quite good as well(+20% damage for each adjacent unit with Pack Hunter).

Sitting back and playing defensive is definately possible, but it is slow and is more about you reacting to your opponent, rather than being proactive.
And if you are up against a faction with a lot of spell casting, such an approach will also mean that you risk taking more damage in the late game(where spells are more powerful) if you allow the opponent 2 extra turns.

[Elgareth]

In my last game playing as astral mystics I found the Phasing Ability from an astral tome extremely powerful. When attacking a stack, the enemy ran towards me, usually just far enough that the 3-tile-phase (which is a free action) allowed my spellbreakers to unleash their 6 tile AoE on the enemy on the very first turn, heavily crippling their melee units right from the get-go.

[Winetoo]

Originally posted by Terrkas:

Op, if you havent tried yet, go for Story mission 3 if you want to get forced to mix it up. The battlemodifier can mess up defensive playstiles quite a lot.

Yeah, i'm here right now, and its not so fun.
I gave up after some 50 turns - was trying new build and got my face rekt.

On the other hand, the AI had as much problems as me, because i was waiting for it to come, which usually took long enough for them to berserk themselves.

So far, i'm really not fan of materium. Some crappy playstyle that is, bleh.

[AnemoneMeer]

Originally posted by Winetoo:

Originally posted by Terrkas:

Op, if you havent tried yet, go for Story mission 3 if you want to get forced to mix it up. The battlemodifier can mess up defensive playstiles quite a lot.

Yeah, i'm here right now, and its not so fun.
I gave up after some 50 turns - was trying new build and got my face rekt.

On the other hand, the AI had as much problems as me, because i was waiting for it to come, which usually took long enough for them to berserk themselves.

So far, i'm really not fan of materium. Some crappy playstyle that is, bleh.

Start Materium at T1 with Feudal, then go for Doomherald and Artificing at T2. Then Subjugation and Transmutation at 3. Then Golden Realm and the Angelize tome at 4.

You have now taken over 50% of your tomes as materium, and are playing angels who are absolute brick walls that destroy the enemy by crushing their morale and recruiting the fleeing army.

[Winetoo]

Originally posted by AnemoneMeer:

Start Materium at T1 with Feudal, then go for Doomherald and Artificing at T2. Then Subjugation and Transmutation at 3. Then Golden Realm and the Angelize tome at 4.

You have now taken over 50% of your tomes as materium, and are playing angels who are absolute brick walls that destroy the enemy by crushing their morale and recruiting the fleeing army.

Woah, didn't even think about jumping from tome to tome like that. Normally i tried to pick only two affinities and stick to them with the tome picks. I'll give it a try. Probably not on caldera tho .. don't want to get my a*s handed to me again.

[discodog]

In 3 stack vs 3 stack battles against the AI I like to move all my units to the top or bottom of the map and bunch up. The AI gives you a turn or two to do it because it loves to buff units, then it will come at you in waves instead of all at once. It's cheese but it works.