Alexander Historical: Battle of Chaeronea Very Hard is just undo able

[TheBigFriendlyGiant]

I have tried this battle 16 times. Every time before my cav has enough time to do any damage against the sacred the ally flees and I lost. I have around 1 minute to kill the sacred band. Just undo able.

first 30 sec need time to race thought the hopelite gap and turn around. Then once I attack 50/50 the phalanx insta turns and bye bye cav. Shure I counter charge other side but Before the band flees the rest of my ally is 99% dead in 1 min...

[JAVX_MAGNETICS]

Yeah tried a few battles on very hard AI for sure has ridiculous buffs on.

[Vicboss]

I have also tried this one multiple times and even went as far as to watch a Youtube video of PoM beating it in the original RTW. From what I saw in the video, and my numerous attempts to replicate it, this battle is significantly harder than in original RTW. The phalanxes seem to be impossible to break out of formation even if completely surrounded. My best attempt saw me actually rout all 3 Sacred Band but even then the battle requires that you then rout the rest of the Greek army. I had like 15 cavalry left and my ally was COMPLETELY gone, so it was like me and my 15 cav against about 10 units of regular phalanx with most of their men still alive, maybe like 60 men each, and the general unit. In short, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ impossible. They need to tone down something on this one because it's not remotely the same as the original here. This is me trying it on both Remastered and Classic mechanics btw, it doesn't matter, the exact tactics used to win it in the original won't work here because the Sacred Band are either buffed somehow or it's just a result of it being impossible to actually break their phalanx formation even when fully surrounded.

[Sad but Packin']

Originally posted by Vicboss:

I have also tried this one multiple times and even went as far as to watch a Youtube video of PoM beating it in the original RTW. From what I saw in the video, and my numerous attempts to replicate it, this battle is significantly harder than in original RTW. The phalanxes seem to be impossible to break out of formation even if completely surrounded. My best attempt saw me actually rout all 3 Sacred Band but even then the battle requires that you then rout the rest of the Greek army. I had like 15 cavalry left and my ally was COMPLETELY gone, so it was like me and my 15 cav against about 10 units of regular phalanx with most of their men still alive, maybe like 60 men each, and the general unit. In short, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ impossible. They need to tone down something on this one because it's not remotely the same as the original here. This is me trying it on both Remastered and Classic mechanics btw, it doesn't matter, the exact tactics used to win it in the original won't work here because the Sacred Band are either buffed somehow or it's just a result of it being impossible to actually break their phalanx formation even when fully surrounded.

I tried the historical battles of Alexander in the original some months ago, I immedialy noticed this battle in particular was awfully hard, keep in mind that I'm a competitive player with deep knowledge on how to deal with this kind of situations, it still took me about 10 or more attempts of trial and error. Then I wen't back to watch POM's video wich I had watched years ago and realized that the battle he fought (and his whole series of Alexander historical battles) was a completly different animal from what I fought, the opponents routed way faster, and his cav didn't die as easily. IDK whats the reason for this, maybe he was playing a previous version of the game, but whatever the case, those videos are not a reliable source on how hard that battle actually is in the original, because it is REALLY hard.

I haven't played it in the remaster but I will do so and see how it goes.

[Sad but Packin']

Alright, done. Still as hard as I remember, but still not impossible. I got lucky and don't think I could do it consistently, but the same applies for the original.

[Vicboss]

OMG I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DID IT. What a rough fight but it IS doable. To the OP, super helpful trick, basically you have to make sure that Alexander's first charge into the back of the Sacred Band actually works. What I mean is make sure his unit gets a proper charge (i.e. charge dmg is actually being applied because the charge was performed properly into the back of the unit). Don't wait for the Sacred Band to stop walking either. You have time to run through the gap with Alex, quickly turn around, and charge the Sacred Band on the far right in the back as the units are walking up to their line position where they hold. If you actually do the charge properly, Alex will get like 20-30 kills on impact, and then you just leave his unit alone and let them keep killing the Band while it will continue to walk forward. If you time it properly, you won't lose any men on Alex, and when the Band stops walking, that one unit will already be at around 40ish men and starting to waver, at which point you send a single unit of companions to charge it in the front, and it WILL break pretty much instantly even with like 30 of them alive still. At that point, you have Alex pretty much full HP, and that one companion cav that charged will be almost full HP, plus you have the other 3 units that haven't done anything yet. At this point, just engage pikes with ur cav and try to get Alex doing charges because his charge damage is A LOT higher than the companion cavalry. You can rout the Sacred Band pretty easily at this point if you just charge repeatedly with Alex and keep them occupied in melee with the other cav (but also try to cycle charge with the other cav to the best of ur ability). Then the Band breaks, and you have to use what you have left, which ideally will be Alex at around half HP, because he is the one who is going to break the rest of the hoplites with his charges. The other companions are good, but Alex is OP.

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron Raptor]

Originally posted by TheBigFriendlyGaint:

I have tried this battle 16 times. Every time before my cav has enough time to do any damage against the sacred the ally flees and I lost. I have around 1 minute to kill the sacred band. Just undo able.

first 30 sec need time to race thought the hopelite gap and turn around. Then once I attack 50/50 the phalanx insta turns and bye bye cav. Shure I counter charge other side but Before the band flees the rest of my ally is 99% dead in 1 min...

Yes, it was pretty much the hardest of all the historical battle in the original as well. You need to have some luck with the charges. Not the best designed battle in my opinion.

I haven't tried it in the remake. But perhaps you could simply bait the Sacred Band with some of your cavalry, and lead them on a merry chase while your go to help out your ally right away with your cavalry? But perhaps the AI was scripted to not allow that, can't remember

[Sad but Packin']

If you don't engage the Sacred Band soon enough, or if you attack the rest of the Greek force before the Sacred Band, the narrator will say Alexander pussied out and everyone will rout automatically and you lose. Also, the difficulty level doesn't affect only your forces, but the rest of the macedonian forces too, meaning that they don't last long before the Greeks beat them, but I belive every SB unit you take out improves their morale a bit so they will hold for longer. So, your only option is to take out the SB first, and as fast as possible, trying to help your allies before that is pointless.

[Poqreslux]

This battle gets my vote for the hardest of all the historical battles I've played so far, though I haven't done the other Alexander battles beside Granicus, which was laughably easy in comparison. Even Carrhae and Teutoburg Forest, which I thought were the toughest in Rome 1 are like a cakewalk compared to this one.

If It helps anyone, if you are quick enough, you should be able to sneak both Alexander and at least one companion cavalry through the gap the hoplites make before it closes. If you want to really play loose and wild, you can actually send Alexander to snipe the Greek general without penalty (at least it didn't give me one the few times I did it). I had all my cav focus down on the sacred bands, one at a time. Killing the Greek general does make them rout a bit faster, and Alexander can usually make mincemeat out of him, especially since his bodyguard is fairly small in comparison to yours. Even if you don't go for the general Snipe, having both Alex and another cav unit on the other side of the line does make things a lot easier, especially if you can get them to aggro the sacred bands so they turn their backs to your main force.

It helps if you let the sacred band aggro and chase your cav a little bit so they break their line and leave them vulnerable to charges from multiple angles. Also, when you commit to the charge and dogpile them, don't forget the run your cavalry through after the charge connects to separate the individual soldiers. It really disrupts their phalanx and their ability to reform. Of course, be mindful of the other bands and where they are.

Basically this battle has you using units against units that are a direct hard counter to your own and gives you very little room to maneuver. It's definitely not easy. Makes me miss the days of dumping on the Romans as Hannibal at Lake Trasimene.