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前の節で、私はいかにして開戦理由を得るかについて論じた。この節で、私はいかにしてそれらを使用するか、つまり、いかにして戦争でうまく立ち回るかについて論じようと思う。 まとめと戦術のセクションは、字数制限に引っかかってしまったため、コメント欄に載せてある。
戦争において、両方の陣営は三つの翼（flank）まで持つことが出来る。これらの翼は一般的に、敵対者の側のおなじ翼と別個に戦う。それぞれの翼は指揮官と、それ自体のユニットを持つ。一つ以上の翼を持つためには、きみは複数の軍隊が必要である。もちろんそれを一つに統合しても構わない。同じprovinceの教会、街、城の兵士から構成された軍隊というのは問題ないが、単一の傭兵軍団というのは出来ないだろう。
戦闘は三つのフェイズに分割される；前哨戦（Skirmish）、白兵戦（Melee）、掃討戦（Pursue）の三つである。すべての戦闘は前哨戦フェイズで始まる。これは弓兵や弓騎兵が有利な時間であり、彼らだけが主要なダメージを与えることが出来るだろう。数日後、これは白兵戦のフェイズへと切り替わる。そこでは重歩兵や槍兵といった白兵戦志向のユニットが有利である。それぞれの翼は必ずしも同じフェイズにいなければならないわけではなく、彼らは通常やや異なったタイミングで白兵戦に突入することに注意せよ。ある翼の士気（morale）が25%に達すると、彼らは退却を始め、戦闘は掃討戦フェイズへと切り替わる。ここでは軽騎兵がまさに優れている。しかし重騎兵も同様のはたらきをする。5日後、その翼は戦闘から取り除かれる。 ある翼が攻撃すべき対応する翼を持たないとき、それは代わりにべつの翼を支援するだろう。このときその翼は10%のボーナスを得る。つまり士気と軍隊のダメージが10%増えるということである。このとき敵の翼は二翼から攻められているので、相当の追加ダメージを受け、通常は早々に先頭から取り除かれることになるだろう。
それぞれのユニットタイプは基本能力値を有している。これらの能力値はいくつかの技術や建築物によってさらなる修正を受けるが、一般的にそれらは両軍勢においてだいたい同等である。基礎の能力値は以下の通りである。x/yのフォーマットは攻撃力と防御力を表している：
軽歩兵（Light Infantry）
重歩兵（Heavy Infantry）
槍兵（Pikemen）
軽騎兵（Light Cavalry）
重騎兵（Heavy Cavalry）
弓兵（Archers）
弓騎兵（Horse Archers）
Attack controls how much damage an unit does, while defense controls how much damage it takes. The higher the morale of an unit, the more damage is needed for it to retreat. As you can see, only two units are any good at skirmish, archers and horse archers. This means that an army with many of these units has the advantage of damaging the enemy severely early in combat, which can at times make the difference between victory and defeat. Further, heavy infantry and cavalry excel at melee, which is generally the largest part of combat. They're also not very vulnerable to the skirmish phase, and as such they can often win you the battle. Light cavalry on the other hand are only good at pursuit, so are as such only useful if you've already won the battle and want to inflict further casualties. For the most part you and your opponent will have similar unit compositions, so this generally won't come into play much. However, when hiring mercenaries you should pay attention to what units you're actually hiring, and try to avoid mercenaries that are high on light infantry and archers, instead going for heavy cavalry and infantry. Further, commanders have a moderate effect on combat. Every point a commander has in the martial skill increases the damage of his flank by 2%. As such, you should before important battles ensure that your flanks are using your best commanders so as to maximize your enemies' losses and reduce your own.
There are five ways to improve your army:
As the rest is covered in other installments, I'll focus on the last two points. The first, improving your commanders is relatively simple. First, you need at least Limited Crown Authority, as that enables you to assign commanders. Once you have that implemented, you can invite high-skill commanders to your realm, either via inviting them normally and giving them some land or a councilor position, or by marrying them into your realm. Then you just have to make sure that the best possible commanders are appointed before any major battle. This could improve the damage your army does by several percent, making it easier for you to win battles, and reducing your losses. It will also decrease how much attrition you take, and you'll also get someone great for the Marshal position. This tactic is seldom necessary for a large realm, as you'll then generally have good commanders available already, just make sure to assign them. Second, you can make your vassals happy. As mentioned in the installment on levies, the higher your vassals' opinion of you, the more levies they'll provide. As such it can be a good idea to send out gifts and honorary titles before raising levies so as to maximize how many you can raise.
There are certain tactics you can employ to improve how well you do in war. Many of these tactics are common sense, but I'll mention them anyway. One tactic that is useful for reducing how annoyed your vassals get with you, is raising troops from a minimal number of direct vassals. If you only need the troops of a single vassal to fight a war, only raise those troops. This vassal will now be the only one getting annoyed at you, while the rest will continue to be happy. The other vassals' levies can then be raised later if ever needed. If you're rich enough to support it, you can also consider using only your own levies, as then no one will be getting annoyed with you. Second, you can use the bait and switch tactic. You offer up a small, easily beatable target to the enemy so that he attacks, then immediately once combat has started, you send in your larger army from a province away, thus winning the battle easily. This means you won't have to spend half an eternity chasing the army down, instead being able to quickly destroy it in a single or a series of decisive battles. Third, if it is obvious you'll lose to an incoming enemy due to either a lack of troops or a lack of morale, consider sacrificing a small number of men to let the rest escape. Let a few men remain while the rest go to another province where they can hopefully recover or merge with a larger army. Make sure you leave more than 1/25 of the enemy army, as anything less than this will be destroyed instantly, and as such will not slow the enemy's advance down. Fourth, you could try to bait the enemy into a province where they'll take attrition. Using an army smaller than theirs you can continuously pull back, leaving them in a province where their units will slowly die. Only works against large armies. Fifth, if you can target a part of an enemy's army while it is split up, do so. While you might not be able to defeat the entire enemy army at once, you're likely to be able to defeat half their army, and the rest is then easy to mop up. Sixth, always go for the wargoal first if you have the opportunity. Occupying wargoal holdings will give 75% more warscore, and once you hold every wargoal holding you'll slowly get warscore. This can ensure a quicker victory, and as such less losses to combat, sieges, and attrition. On the other hand, never let the opponent take the entire wargoal if you are the one being attacked, for the same reasons. Do note that the moment one side reaches 100% warscore, it can force victory. Seventh, you should almost never split your army up into pieces smaller than the total size of the enemy army. If you do you risk losing a large part of your army, and being reduced to a position where you can no longer fight back. If you have a really good reason to do so, go ahead, but make sure you keep the rest of your army close. Eight, if you're a coastal nation, utilize the mobility ships give you. You can transport units much faster by ship than on land, which can enable you to quickly strike at isolated enemy armies, then retreat back to sea. Make sure you don't put more than 8000 soldiers in a single sea province, or you'll suffer attrition.
By outmaneuvering or overpowering the enemy you'll be able to win most battles, and eventually the war itself. Overall my tips are these: Construct buildings to increase the size of your army. More detail here Research relevant tech, it can give you the edge you need. More detail here Appoint good commanders. Gain good commanders through marriage and invites When hiring mercenaries, go for heavy infantry and cavalry Keep your vassals happy Strike the right balance between levy law and opinion. More detail here Don't raise more troops than you need Ambush the enemy if possible Slow down the enemy's advance by sacrificing units if needed Go for the wargoals first Reach 100% warscore ASAP Divide and conquer Utilize the mobility ships give you
