Total Tactics - How To: Infantry Tactics & Formations | Total War: Warhammer 3 

Seeing actual tactical formations in Total War is always enjoyable, please keep it coming.

This is by far my favorite warhammer content, the actual formation implementation. It's a testament to how good the game designers are that these actually translate into the game.

I would be very interested to see more videos on traditional infantry tactics and how they stack up in Warhammer. I loved your Tercio videos and I'm curious to see more historical formations in action. Thanks for your hard work!

These historical tactics videos have changed the way I play the game for the better. Thank you for doing khorne's work.

I wouldn't have thought the wedge would be so effective. Consider testing the efficacy of reserve units. In this video all the units engaged in battle, it is my belief that this is very important but units do get tired in battle so having reserve troops to replace the tired ones could be effective. Both the Romans and the Zulus would keep veterans in reserve, consider testing whether the veterans are better used in the initial engagement or as a reserve force and of course test against the baseline of just engaging with everyone all at once. I really like using massed Skinks with javelins in my Lizardmen campaigns, their speed and throwing weapons make them similar to the Zulu I think and enemy ranged units can actually be torn apart by the relatively weak Skinks. Add in Kroxigor and Red Crested Skinks as thematic and useful additional tools for the formation and maybe the melee Chameleon Skinks to absorb ranged fire from the front.

The echelon is my go-to with armies that have short-ranged missile troops. I follow each unit of infantry with a short-ranged missile unit, try to maintain the echelon through the point of contact with the enemy infantry, then have the missiles right-turn at the point of engagement so they can fire down the flank of the engaged enemy at each step of the echelon. My infantry tend to take most enemy missile fire, allowing my own shorter ranged missiles to do good work unoposed.

Please make more videos like these! Probably one of my favorite Warhammer III videos.

I love how you explain it with history examples, top quality content

As someone who only played historical Total War titles for a long time, historical tactics like these are what made me enjoy the game so much. I've recently gotten into Warhammer TW, and I love that historical tactics have value!

Ah man that gave me so much more structure with my frontline units. Thanks and please keep them coming!

Coolest video I’ve seen in a very long time. Thanks so much

The explanation and demonstration of historical tactics is fantastic! Thank you for making these!

So glad i found this channel! Really love your content and the quality ❤

These videos are always so entertaining and informative! Thanks for making them!

Fantastic Work as always my good sir!

Those are by far my favourite TW:Warhammer guides! Just perfectly explained and I don't have to slow the videos down like with some others out there ;D

This was a great video! Good explanation and showcase of formation tactics

Literally what I was looking for! WOOO

This was super awesome! Thank you and please make more like this. Could you do some tactics with combined arms? Especially cavalry and monster usage.

Great video. I liked how it was all the same units with just a change in tactics. Very well done.

Your videos are always great, gotta say I'm low-key looking forward to watching them while working always :). These battle lines and other variants work great in campaigns especially, as the AI tries to fight in lines. Using guns to cut into the blobbed units diagonally destroys the infantry lines really guick, especially combined with with shock cav charges. I personally use a kind of reverse wedge - with flanks being forward (made up of cheaper line infantry), and the middle withdrawn (made up of elie attack troops and "unprotected" ranged units). With that tactic, the enemy either tries to go for expensive units in the middle and lets themselves be bogged down in a cheap infantry sandwich, or goes for forward flanks, and blobs around them, splitting their forces. In the first case, the sandwich reduces their leadership as they are flanked, no matter what kind of numerical advantage they have. Combined assault infantry, shock cav and gun volley into them usually routes the whole blob real quick. The center is also such a juicy artillery target! In the latter case, the smaller blobs on both flanks are even more exposed to charges and gun volleys, but less so to artillery. Just gotta be careful to kill the blobs before your surrounded flanks collapse, I usually reinforce them with lords. As I usually play Kislev (cause no other faction start offers as much challenge, plus I am a big fan of winged hussars), the frontline of Armored Kossars with a center of Kossars or Streltsi and bears does the trick. 2 Gryphon Legion units behind the flanks secure them from being overrun too early, and is always ready to counter cav and shock charge.

Thank you for this, it was quite eye opening!

love these sorts of videos as it's great to learn something new or different, good work man

Quality video. Hope your channel grows.

Absolutely loved this video. Good content

I loved the style of this video

I WAS WATING FOR THIS !

I've been watching way too much TW RU-vid and these are some of the best videos. Lots of the content out there is really just someone reading in game information, speculating, or showing off some cheese. Whereas these show you something you can use in game to actually do better and have a better experience.

really love the videos dude

The Infantry Wedge is my go-to Tactic with my Tomb Kings; Skeleton Warriors with spears, and a unit of tomb Guard with polearms as the tip of the formation, they can beat most infantry lines. send a prince on foot to support the Guard, and you can counter most elite or monsters they may face.

Great video!

Beautiful

i could watch a full on series of this! thanks for making man... Been using the false gap to good effect myself. Having a gap in the line a unit or two wide, with shock infantry / cav/ monsters waiting for the enemy to spread either side, then charging through and hitting them in the back. Its such a shame there's no "move back while looking forwards" sorts of commands, that'd open up so many more line tactics. If you try and move a unit back at the moment the enemy gets savage buffs on that unit. Line manouvers are too cool, would love to see more :)

Fascinating Video. Gonna try out the wegde and see how much Fantasy Elements it can withstand. Would love to see you talk about different types of Formations and when to use them. I'm an Empire (In Warhammer, not the game. Tho i realy liked Naopleon total war) simp so i'd love to see more about gunpowder, but this is amazing aswell. Keep up the good Wörk!

Yeyyy a new tactic video😊❤

Good idea

Great tutorial thank you

Im really loving all these Historical tactics being brought to warhammer. It actually has helped me win several tough battles.

I just wanna thank you real quick because this video just made battles ‘click’ for me, I wish a blessing upon your house

really good content

I've started using the wedge with ranged battalions on the wings but it's impressive how much more deadly my basic dwarf Warriors are now

Very useful.

Very nice

Hey! I already used those tactics many, many times. And with success :) My tips for using them: Oblique and echelon: your enemy must be... slow for it to work. All infantry preferred. If an enemy has some fast elements (f.e. cav) you need means to eliminate it fast. Because of this I mostly used this tactics vs undead factions. Remember to concentrate your forces and engage where you see chance to win and withdraw/deny engagement where you lose. Strong group go in, weak group go back. As for wedge it's more combined arms than inf tactic. Add some monsters/magic/arty/concentrated fire at the tip to break trough and then roll flanks. EZPZ. Remember that tip doesn't have to be in the middle of your/enemy force! Form tip where it is most likely to penetrate line! Also all of it works better with SFO mod, because units are more specialised and battles are longer.

I'll be configuring my first PC soon and intend on rinsing the hell out of all the Total War: Warhammer games. I can't wait to be experimenting with these tactics real time

Good stuff

What i tend to do when im playing as someone other than skaven, so long as its not up against a particularly cavalry focused faction, is to set up a line of mellee infantry, with two to four anti large infantry at the edges of the formation at an angle, with archers behind the lines, with a few units of particularly strong or fast infantry behind them to reinforce where needed or to flank, and generally when the enemy doesnt have cavalry i can seing those arms of spearmen/halberds etc out to flank as well

I just wish the single player campaign ai would attack when the battle is relatively even instead of only when they have ridiculous overwhelming force.

Came for warhammer tips, stayed for the history lesson!

Comment for the comment God. Anyways, cool video and I should probably think of better tactics other than raining arrows from the highest ground or make another unit go all the way around to hit enemy units in the rear. Definitely triggered my interest into delving into actual effective tactics, thanks.

A formation I like to use is similar to a checkerboard, but with slightly narrower gaps to discourage the AI from trying to slip through them. Behind I will use either specialized melee or ranged troops but in a really narrow formation that can squeeze through the gaps. This lets them get to the rear of the enemy really quickly to attack from behind

i would love to see more infantry tactics, if you google it, most you get is modern things or just a rough overview, glad i stumbled upon your channel, realy cool stuff

I’ve been wondering if there were more varied formations from history to try in Warhammer 3! I’m new to Total War and Battle line warfare. I thought it was all hammer and anvil all the way down, I can’t wait to try these tactics!

Now I wonder what kind of realistic tactics you can cook with when you add the fantastical elements into this. Magic, monsters, flying units and war machines. As always great work on the video.

amazing

Thank you

This guy embodies the "A staunch line of spears" meme

Don't forget the L formation, mainly with anti large units. very useful for protecting artillery and other units from rush/mount attacks while still being able to flex

I love this channel

I need to try these formations in my campaigns. could turn a defeat into a victory with the right setup

Thanks

Something I used to do when playing Medieval 2 and Rome: TW was place a couple of missile cavalry behind my main battle line. They could fire over the infantry and while advancing, gave me a lot of flexibility.

Thank

Looking forward to see a rendition of the famous Triplex Acies of ancient Rome. It's your out-of-the-box checkerboard pattern, but some historians argue that this pattern was utilized more during deployment as they would be screened by a wall/line of skirmishers in the frontmost ranks. As for when getting into combat, the front lines would spread out to create a continous wall of men, who would then get retreat into the second line's gap and repeating the cycle. I actually tried this in Shogun 2, and wow the ease of maneuverability when everyone was deployed in a square is amazing. Though, it can get relatively micro-intensive should you fight multiple fronts as you would need to constantly look for units which needs to be rotated.

Wait for the horn then reform men, wait for it! Stay strong!

This good video.

The wedge is crazy

Definitely some very old tactics. But nice to see your work this should help new players alot!

Try the wedge formation or the boars head formation while using the beastmen for experiments

Wow!

Mighty duck reference ❤

It is very basic, but these formations are a good starting point. Personally, I prefer to use my infantry using some variations of formations, some of which were covered in previous videos. Others haven't been covered yet, but I'd like to see if it can bebshared here with similar results these include: -Byzantine infantry square (used by Empire, High Elves, Dark Elves, and Bretonnians) a variation of the original tercio video where 8 units of spearmen form a square. Unlike the tercio, the formation has archers/crossbowmen inside the square shooting supporting volleys. I also include some sword or halberd infantry if possible to help hold the formation. -triple aces (used by high elves) there aren't many good hybrid infantry units, but the Lothern Sea Guard provide an excellent unit to recreate a fantasy version of the Roman legions following the Marian reforms. Simply put, I bring 2-4 ballistae, 1 lord, and 10-15 lothern sea guard. Arrange them in a checkerboard pattern 3 rows deep and watch incoming enemies get impaled by bows or spears. If the enemy does try flanking, the units on the flank and 3rd row can change facing, shifting the formation into an infantry square. -Macedonian/Byzantine phalanx (used by anyone with any sort of missile troops) Generally speaking, this is the most common infantry formation players use, at least to some degree. Spearmen make a front line, flanked by infantry with either swords, halberds, or javelins. Behind them, archers/crossbowmen lend supporting volleys overhead, with any sort of artillery behind them. Protecting the wings of the army is your cavalry.

oblique order works great with ranged armies. both historically and ingame

I've been playing lately with ultra army size and the double unit size mod over that, try it sometime if your pc is able to handle it, i think it makes for epic game videos.

@malleus gaming If a unit can not flank. Is it better to 2v1 a unit with melee from the same direction? Or should you keep 1 melee unit in reserve until the first one routs?

I'm curious, what are you hoping for units wise with Thrones of Decay for Empire and Dawi?

I must be missing something big with this. Everytime I try to replicate the wedge the spearmen lose. Slowly at first, then when the waaagh hits they get torn to pieces. The prince in particular gets slapped around hard by the war boss.

For the algorithm!

Spearmen, what is your profession...ahooh ahooh ahooh

Playing draws, they are fun I like it…high elves are so weak in comparison tho they need major overhaul

Best tactic is to put all your melee units into one big blob lol, even more if you got magic.

do you think that since these are infantry formations they could work in more infantry based total war games like rome 2?

What about withdrawing/rejecting the centre? Like Hannibal in Cannae

Instructions unclear, I'm fighting against skaven 1 to 8

I do not really understand what makes the wedge more efective then just running at the enemy in a line, or the diagonal formation since it just makes your spearmen get into melee later?

👍

I wish that in total war warhammer 3 there was a way to not have single digit units that could make some tactics more possible

try this in a multiplayer game

I play high elves and my favorite kind of battles are where I'm 1 stack against 4 stacks of enemies. No joke, the Tercio was a complete life changing formation. I've played for probably fifty hours and haven't lost a battle yet. genius.

just send lord and cast big aoe spell =)

You didn’t put the warboss near his troops a few times so they lost leadership bonus

Stinkin knife-ears are no match for da boyz Waaaagh!

I always wanted to do the same tactics i use in historical titles, but then theres magic AoE attacks. Ironic how i like fantasy but i dont like the main themes of warhammer: Magic in the battlefield.

You forgot the blob

I do echelon and wedge a lot when playing historical TW. In warhammer not so much. Compact formations is a no-no.

The thing is they dont charge at me T_T

why didn't you establish baseline in 5 v 5 wall fight so we know baseline loses

Can u show how to use these kinds of tactics vs an actual AI opponent.

Too bad campaign game devolves quickly into battles of 30+ units. Messy and usually are dictated by army quality rather than tactics.

it pains me to see you charge spearmen, their charge bonus is so negligible