In DEI battle 20-40 v 20-40 do attempt to manage each individual unit?

I recently noticed comments here that group orders are mainly for pre-battle maneuver, but battle involves the management of single units.

(1) Do you give orders to more than a single unit simultaneously in combat? If so, when?

(2) How does you manage to maintain order and purpose when the units seem to mix into one indistinguishable mass/mess?

Thanks.

Tactics is the employment of your troops to achieve a specific end, or as it is also called, the order of battle: the disposition of troops relative to the commander. The composition of your army determines the goals. A skirmisher heavy army will want to outmaneuver and pincushion the enemy from unshielded angles. A cavalry heavy army will want to hammer the enemy from the rear while still engaged. A infantry heavy army will want to outslug enemy troops while driving away skirmishers at the expense of lives. A horse archer army will want to surround and eliminate individual units and escape with laughable casualties. A combined arms army of approximately 10-12 infantry (usually 5-8 main line infantry, 4-6 assault, depending on the culture), 3-4 missile troops, 5 cavalry (including command group) seems to be the most optimal to face most armies.

That said, armies of different cultures will naturally fight differently. As Media Atropatene, an archer spearmen (Sparabara) army can and will destroy horse archer armies by the virtue of having the armor, range, and numbers, but can struggle in a frontal confrontation with heavier infantry. Thus, augmenting the troops with assault infantry or Persian cavalry to outflank your hellenistic neighbors will be key to achieving victory. Or, playing Rome, one can rely on common and cheap legionaries to advance and roll over the enemy while taking a piece of anything because while Roman troops may not be the absolute best at anything other than tanking, they can be relied upon to hurt something at the end of the day. A Thracian army will by the nature of culture, will sport rhomphaia and javelins galore, so spreading out troops and charging for maximum impact will win the day. Diadochi armies commonly feature hoplites, pikes, and heavy cavalry-> hammer and anvil. The types of armies determine the order of battle and the way the battle will be fought. This in turn, determines how you'll give orders to achieve victory.

1) Yes. This happens most often when I need to maneuver my lines for a better angle of attack. Example: The enemy is outnumbered by my battle line. Therefore, I order the wings (left and right flank troops that are disengaged) to advance, usually at an angle, to hem the enemy in from the sides. Or if outnumbered, to fold inwards as to not get surrounded so easily, but this is rare, as I usually find a corner of the map and angle as such that I can't be flanked. This is the basis for most infantry tactics. The main line that is taking on the enemy is either an offensive based infantry troop meant for taking a beating or dealing one out. You either move them up as a single cohesive mass and give them orders piecemeal as enemies rout, or send in reserve troops to replace broken troops. Example: Hoplites will want to form a solid wall that is given orders together, and will not be given orders to advance individually. A battle line of Gallic or Celtic swords or axes will want to be given individual orders to charge because of their relative fragility (low armor).

Another occasion when you'll want to give an order to multiple units is when your units are stuck in combat in a blob. Have the toughest unit, usually the heaviest infantry or if you wish, the most expendable, hold the line as you withdraw your troops in a line behind your line. Then you'll march them past the fight, and either attack other targets or cut down the enemy from the sides or rear. You don't want to pull your troops through the enemy and have them cut down.

2) You'll find that the blob happens most often during sieges and fort defense actions. The best way to organize your troops to avoid this particular situation is to use the correct amount of troops for any given situation. A single unit of heavy infantry waiting at the entrance of the fort is usually enough to handle the situation. If the enemy is only advancing from a single direction, I place my assault infantry along the sides of the fort, skirmishers in tow. The cavalry will not be wasted within the walls, instead, put out on the field to harass and destroy the enemy foot missiles, which are the most common cause of casualties.

If it's in a field battle, pull back and set up your line or maneuver other units out of place so they can attack other targets instead. Units cannot fight on top of each other. It's unlike when in Shogun 2 when you could feasibly stack a long-yari ashigaru on top of a regular yari ashigaru to have a two layer defense. If you've tried pulling cavalry through your own troops, you'll notice individual units stagger and fall behind as they collide.

(1) I issue orders to multiple units all the time, usually cavalry units to move around the flanks or ranged units to focus down a single unit like a general or elephants.

(2) I usually build my army compositions so that most of the army is on autopilot and I only need to micromanage a few units each battle. A line of 6-9 melee infantry, 4-6 ranged infantry, maybe 1-3 artillery, and the rest are cavalry that I will spend most of the battle using.

During a coop campaign with a friend, he played Pontus and every battle he would give me the two units of jav cav I told him to put in every army. During his battles I felt like I was able to accomplish more with just 2 units that I could focus 100% of my attention on than 15 units in my own army that I had to divide my attention between, usually causing me to forget some of them while they take damage. So I started designing my armies with fewer complex units like skirmishers and more autopilot units so I can focus on using just a few units well each battle rather than a dozen units poorly.

I group the units - Heavy cavalry, Light Cav, Phalanxes, heavy infantry, missile troops - these are all separate groups. I usually just make all of the reinforcements into one group and order them to a spot near the battle, so that as they arrive I can group them and tell them where to attack. Grouping units is the only way to keep track of units in really big battles!