How do I git gud?

[Cyrus]

So this is my first Total War despite owning a lot of them, I just played this game for 36 hrs straight I am playing the Mortal Empires with Karl Franz, I play on normal and I suck at battles. I even lose to armies half my size and I have maxed out tech aside from artillery.
Even with the real time pause I just can't follow what is going on, I spend more time setting up for a battle than the actual battle, I just feel like I don't know what I'm doing and I can't follow what is happening like I send my cavalry for a flank, pull back my ranged behind the infantry, set my halberds for the incoming charge and then I just loose it in the next 10 seconds, my lines break up my cavalry is stuck my ranged is running left and right like headless chicken.
Like the first couple turns with the small armies are cool but when it's 20vs20 versus the vampires or skaven it's just an absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.
Literally I'm so bad I still have the first reiksguard in my army because I'm pretty sure half the time I just forget about them so they survive every battle xD
I'm lucky I'm good at the 4X part so I can roll everything with auto battles but hell I really like the action part but I'm just so bad.

[Reaper415]

I think you're trying to micro too much too soon, and most of it unnecessarily. Say, you start a fight with infantry, ranged, cav and two pieces of artillery in your army. Set up your archers-infantry-arty in lines one behind the other, with cav on flanks. this is the most basic of formations, correct? Now, put your archers off skirmish mode so they don't run away when the enemy approaches and put infantry on guard mode so they don't chase retreating enemy.

So all you gotta do is let the archers shoot as the enemy approaches and when they get close enough bring your infantry to hold the line. Leave the arty and the archers to do their thing, and the infantry to just hold the line. Now all you need to focus on and pay attention to are the cav charges, reducing your need to micro everything.

This is the most basic hammer and anvil tactic in the book and if you're having trouble with battles this should help you start off. And don't worry, with time you will get better as you understand the role of each unit and how to utilise them efficiently.

[Shifty76]

Take your time, pause lots (sounds like you're doing that) & remember the basic rock paper, scissors:

In general: Infantry beats archers & spears, spears beats cavalry, cavalry beats infantry & archers, archers beat spears.

That's SUPER simplifying it, and there are several examples where the above isn't true, but it'll get you started anyway. Make sure your troops are attacking the targets they're good against as much as you can, and avoid sending units into fights against units they're weak to.

Finally, magic is HUGE in this game. Learn the spells and cast then til you're out of magic. A well placed spell can turn the tide of battle on it's own. Related: Protect your spellcaster(s)!

Your lords are crazy strong, and can also win battles pretty much on their own, but still make sure you follow that rps example. Don't go sending your mounted lord in against spears & halberds on his own.

[Namhaid]

If you are playing on normal (battle difficulty, not campaign), your line shouldn't collapse so soon unless you are being flanked or using low tier units vs high tier ones, so check your difficulty settings and/or mods.

First, if you are having trouble controlling your army, try to keep it as simple as possible, don't get armies with lots of different unit types that require carful planning, and try playing defensively, holding your position and letting the enemy come at you instead of going for them, specially against Vampires, as they don't have ranged units.

If you are struggling to control everything, there is no need to place your ranged units uo front, place them behind your infantry with protection mode active and focus on controlling your flanking units.

If you are playing as empire, handgunners are better than crossbows, but they are trickier to manage, as they can't fire over your infantry line. Stick to crossbows or let gaps between your lines for them to shoot at the enmy flanks.

Here you can find a very useful and simple guide: https://imgur.com/a/NnQdt

Also, get artillery in your armies asap if you don't already have them, 3 units should do it.

Try watching some videos, I like LegendofTotalWar, but while he focuses on single player, he does it in higher difficulty settings and uses a lot of cheese, that not everybody likes. Another youtuber with good videos for beginners is zerkovich, the only problem is that he is more focused on multiplayer.

[DecayWolf]

Empire may be one of most generic and standard armies, but I think on the battlefield it's a harder faction to play than some of others. (It just requires to get used to)

There are videos showing how to proper empire or any faction on youtube.

[Alwyn]

I found PartyElite's introductory videos helpful: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwVftHdWAdHNOJ-PMquSZMVVAGWIq2TVQ