The Battle of Cynoscephalae, 197 BC

The Battle of Cynoscephalae sees the Roman Scipii forces ambushed by the Macedonians. Fortunately for the Romans, and revealed during the opening cut scene, the Macedonians execute their ambush poorly and provide an opening for the Romans to save their forces. Your initial goal is to attack the smaller Macedonian flank and obliterate it before the larger Macedonian force moves into position.

Capitalize on the Macedonian’s poorly executed ambush and obliterate their smaller flank.

Charge the smaller flank with your units closest to their position. Don’t advance your war elephants or cavalry toward the flank. Both Macedonian armies contain plentiful pikemen. Don’t fight your counter unit! Keep your elephants and heavy cavalry healthy so you can use them to flank engaged Macedonians. Attack the smaller flank using infantry against infantry and spearmen against the cavalry. Maneuver the elephants around the enemy once the Macedonians are engaged. Charge engaged enemies with the elephants. Treat them with care, however; don’t allow the elephants to charge pikemen ready for the assault.

Retreat your other forces away from the approaching Macedonians so you can concentrate on the smaller flank. Once the larger force gets close, begin your engagement. As before, avoid fighting counters specifically your cavalry and elephants away from pikemen. Keep your cavalry and elephants back but ready to charge at the flank of engaged enemies. Focus on non-pikemen forces first. Elephants can thrash engaged enemy infantry. Note that even holding the war elephants back can prove advantageous because the unit does utilize ranged weaponry when not engaged with melee attack. You should also utilize the cavalry group to charge stray enemy missile forces.

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD

Your task in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest historical mission is to escort the Roman forces to the settlement in the southwestern corner of the map. At least 100 men must reach the settlement before sunset for the historical battle to conclude in success. To reach the settlement you’ll have to tackle several groups of ambushing German forces. In fact the battle opens in the middle of an ambush.

Germans attack from the forests that line the path.

Attacking German forces include a mixture of infantry, archers, and warhounds. You have greater numbers and have the luxury of using multiple squads against single German groups. Although you’ll be under fire from German archers, utilize your cavalry units to repel charging German infantry before chasing down the missile units. You possess your own archers with flame arrows, which can be used to counterattack the archers, though the Germans do possess the terrain height advantage. As your cavalry and infantry groups gain the upper hand, shift them to chase off the German missile groups.

Resume advancement toward the settlement as the German forces are routed and in retreat. You’ll face additional small groups of German ambushers along the road. Counter the charging German forces as you did the previous groups. Save your cavalry to flank engaged Germans while using your infantry against infantry with archer support. As you gain advantage, charge the defenseless German archer units with cavalry and continue toward the settlement.

Maneuver your soldiers to the settlement’s gate and it will open allowing your troops inside. Move at least 100 inside before sunset to complete the historical battle successfully.

The Siege of Sparta, 272 BC

The Seleucids assault the Greeks at the heavily defended (though lacking wall defenses) settlement of Sparta. Onager siege weapons are your primary advantage in the assault. You can safely bombard Greek squads from long-range while keeping your infantry, archers, cavalry, and elephants safe from attack. Inflict as much damage as possible to Greek troops before advancing into the city streets.

Utilize your onagers to bombard Greek troop positions before sending in your ground assault.

The Greeks employ plentiful pikemen in phalanx formation. Don’t lead the attack with your cavalry or elephants; these powerful units will be extremely important in the long run and will be decimated against ready pikemen. Instead you need to save them to flank engaged enemies, especially during opportunities before you have squeezed into the narrow city streets. Whenever possible lure the Greek unit groups from the narrow streets to more open territory where attacking from multiple sides is more possible.

You can continue to bombard Greek troops as you engage them in the city streets; realize, though, that the onager siege weapons are indiscriminate and inaccurate and it’s very likely that you will inflict damage friendly fire damage. It’s wiser to simply attack approaching Greek troops before they reach your soldiers’ positions. Reach the Sparta center and control the square for the allotted time to complete the historical battle.