Three Kingdoms marks a new entry in the long-running Total War series and one of the very best ones at that. Therefore, there might be those who feel tempted to try out the water but find the series too intimidating to approach. In that case, this Total War beginner’s guide is for you.
Though the series has taken place in a plethora of locations and eras, the core gameplay has stayed largely the same throughout and the tactics used in one game will likely serve you well enough in another.
This Total War beginner’s guide has some handy tips and tricks on how to compose your army and make the best use of your forces on the battlefield. This guide is made with the new Total War: Three Kingdoms in mind and focuses on medieval style warfare of that game. However, the strategies and tips should do well for you in any pre-gunpowder era Total War game should you find yourself attracted to other epochs and events the long running series have covered.
Best Total War Basic strategies
Flank or encircle your enemies
A unit that is being harassed from behind or the sides will take a significant morale penalty and will usually break quickly if sustained. If you manage to encircle an enemy flank you will soon break it and start rolling up their entire formation.
Break their spirit
Morale plays a huge role in these games and battles are usually won by breaking enemy morale and getting them to rout rather than killing everyone on the battlefield. Using fire arrows, artillery, and flanking can do a lot of damage to enemy morale. Furthermore, it has a cascading effect, meaning that if you manage to break several units and perhaps kill their General at the same time, the whole army might just give up.
Best Total War Army compositions
Total War games are not exactly built up in a rock-paper-scissors kind of way but some units are decidedly better at countering other units on the battlefield. Here is a general run-through of what each type of unit does best and how you should deploy them.
Spearmen
Spearmen are excellent against cavalry and generally good at holding positions and locking down infantry. Because of this, they are among the most useful units in your army and you should make sure that you bring enough of them as you set out for war.
Melee units – swords, clubs, axes
Good attackers and can usually carve up most spear infantry unless they are overwhelmed or forced to fight them in tight formations. These units are usually best used to flank and rush enemy positions. They are generally weak against cavalry and other shock troops.
Missile units and Archers
Archers and other missile units will seldom win the fight on their own, but still play an essential part of any battle. This is because their volleys are able to soften up enemy formations before the battle is engaged in full. Once the melee has begun they can still pelt your foe with missile fire and be quite devastating to morale. The bane of any archer unit is cavalry but they are generally useless in any hand to hand fight (unless they are samurai, that is).
Cavalry
Shock troops that are excellent at flanking enemy formations, harassing stragglers, taking out archers and delivering devastating charges. The cavalry is your fist. It’s the hammer that breaks down the door and the enemy. That said, they are far from invincible. Getting your cavalry bogged down in prolonged melees or ambushed by missile units is a sure way to have their numbers melt away before you. Their biggest advantage is their speed and mobility and that is what you should focus on when commanding cavalry units. They are weak to prolonged missile fire and particularly useless in sieges.
Siege Engines
These are your scorpions, ballistae, cannons, and catapults. They are designed to knock down walls or gates but can also be used to make any unlucky foe have a decidedly bad day. Usually not particularly accurate, again they are supposed to hit walls not tiny targets, but you can usually get a few salvos away before a battle is engaged. Weak to cavalry or any unit that manages to get close.
Best Total War Troop Formations
One of the core mechanics of Total War, ever since the first Shogun back in 2000, is troop formations. Dragging squares and rectangles across the battlefield as you set your men up to do battle is not only satisfying to look at, it’s essential for victory as well. There are numerous ways to go about this but here are two quick, standard formations that I find useful.
The deep line – the mother of formations
If there ever was standard formation in these games, this one has to be it. As the name implies your form up your army into a line, usually 3 ranks deep. Put spearmen and cheaper units at the front to soak up the initial charge. Next, fill your center with swords and other melee units that can come to bear in a second or counter charge as the battle is engaged. One very successful strategy is to let the spearmen grapple with whatever is thrown at them while the melee units reinforce where needed and fan out on the flanks and try to get behind the enemy and stab them in the back.
Next, you put out your archers and missile units that can fire over your army. Here they should be relatively safe and still able to hit your enemies. To the sides of your archers, slightly behind the frontline is where you put the cavalry, where they can guard against enemy flanking attempts and also have the flexibility they need to get around and do the flanking themselves.
The Crimson Crescent
A risky but extremely deadly formation if you are able to pull it off. Basically, you take your line formation but bulge it inwards like a crescent moon. The idea is to lure your enemies to attack the center, allowing you to close the sides in upon him and let the butchering commence. Works best when you have numerical superiority. Truth be told, it shouldn’t work at all as it is such an obvious trap, yet often the AI can be tricked into falling for it.
Best Total War Siege Tactics
Two big parts of Total War battles are sieges and city battles. These can easily become quagmires of bloody street to street fighting and have you suffer tremendous casualties. Therefore, it is important to note a few things which are different during siege battles.
Siege Battles – Attack
When attacking a settlement, there are two things to consider: opening up multiple angles of attack, and not spreading yourself too thin. The best bet is to have a go at two adjacent walls or gates at the same time. This way you can meet up and give support to the other force once one has broken through. For instance, attack the wall at the northwest corner and the closest gatehouse on the west wall. Once one of the forces break through, it marches down to the other to help out.
Cavalry is almost useless in a siege. Walls and narrow streets are ill-suited for these combatants and they tend to become bogged down in bloody melees. When attacking, you basically only have two options; Dismount and have them storm the walls with the rest of your army, or wait until you batter down the gates or walls.
Siege Battles – Defense
Archers with fire arrows are obviously some of the best friends to have while defending your castle against oncoming enemies. But arrows alone are unlikely to win you the fight. Having a good amount of melee units is paramount for success.
Units that defend a wall will be more resilient against incoming attacks, as such a lower tier fighter is able to punch well above their weight class when they are on the wall. Of course, they aren’t invincible but it’s good to keep in mind that even your cheap militia units can be of good use during a siege.
Once the enemy has broken through the walls or your gate, you need to rush to that area and plug it before the enemy gains a foothold inside your walls. If you have enough manpower to spare, form a semi-circle around the break and let them inside. Once they have entered the circle, close it and let the slaughter begin. When the enemy routes, reform the semi-circle and await the next push. If you are short on troops, simply making a line across the gap is probably your best bet.
Cavalry isn’t of much use here but they can charge enemies who break through the walls — unless it is spearmen who come pouring through. Alternatively, you can ride out and charge the enemy before they reach the walls. This tactic will most likely kill off your mounted warriors, but you just might be able to take out a siege engine or give your archers more time to fire their arrows. A variant of this is to sneak your cavalry out through another gate and circle around the city in order to hit the enemy as they assault the walls. Again, both of these tactics will likely leave your mounted troops dead or decimated.
Best Total War Advanced Tactics
Micro your archers
Instead of putting your archer behind your army, you can forego safety and put them at the front in order to get the first shots in. Alternatively, you can circle around your enemy and fire at him from the flanks.
Either way, this tactic will expose your archers to enemy counter attacks so you need to be on the ball once things start moving. Make sure you have their fall-back lines planned out and the ability for other units to come to their aid if necessary. This tactic works best if you outnumber your opponent in terms of ranged units and can massacre their archers swiftly. There is an ability which makes archers automatically fall back when an enemy approaches, but I usually turn this off as the AI can really mess this up.
The Scythian retreat
Sometimes referred to as the Parthian Shot, this is an ancient horse archer tactic that has been employed by many steppe peoples throughout history. What this steppe people would do was retreat from the enemy and goad them into following. Once the army is stretched out and perhaps even exhausted, they would turn on their horses and fire arrows backward as they retreated. If the enemy stopped, they would stop, if the enemy retreated they would attack them in the back.
It’s a vicious tactic that is incredibly hard to counter. Just like in the historical battles, this tactic works best with horse archers who can outshoot their opponent. In the Total War games, however, the tactic can be modified and employed by most armies. Simply bait the enemy to attack you while you retreat and set up ambushes and points of counter-attacking along the way. What you want is for the enemy to break their line and open up their vulnerable flanks.
Know the land, pick the battlefield
During the deployment phase of a battle, take some time to survey the landscape. Try to find areas which will suit your purposes the best.
Fighting on a hilltop is a good start as the enemy will have to deplete their stamina running up the hill. Additionally, you gain a charge bonus if you charge downhill, so hills are great.
Forests will conceal units and perfect areas to set up an ambush. They also make it harder for the cavalry to operate properly so if you face a lot of horses, run for the trees.
Cliffs, rivers, and buildings can serve as indestructible blockades, making it harder for enemies to get at your sides. Perfect for when you are outnumbered.
There you have some beginner’s tips on how to survive a campaign of Total War. Of course there is much more depth to the strategies but these tips should help you survive for a while and might even land you a victory. Finally, the best tip of them all; No strategy survives first contact with the enemy, meaning you always need to be on your toes and able to change things up once the arrows start flying.
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