Field of Glory Tactical Tips

Created originally by Mike K and posted on the Slitherine FoG Forum, and appearing here with his kind permission. This is a live WIKI version of the document and so you are welcome, indeed encouraged to edit or add to the content on any of these pages.

If you are adding totally new items to the list of tips, or putting an opposing viewpoint forward for one of the existing tips please do so by adding a new section using letters to supplement the original numerical sequence. ie:
(original point)-407. Non-skirmisher horse are usually 4 bases for shooting Cavalry and good Lancers, while other Cavalry and Cataphracts are often preferred as 6s if affordable.
(new addition) -407.a Fielding large numbers of low-grade cavalry in 4's can allow you to greatly increase unit count, and improve your chances of initiating flank attacks in which their lesser quality/armour becomes irrelevant.
You can use colours if you wish but it's not obligatory. If you are clarifying or enhancing one of the existing tips, feel free to edit the existing point.

The "locked" Original FoG Tactical Tips from 2008 is available through that link.

PARTS:
1. Army Choice
2. General Tips
3. Doctrine and Drill
4. BG Sizes
5. Commanders
6. Terrain
7. Organization
8. Battle Plans
9. Troop Types in FoG
10. Light Horse Stable
11. Tactical Miscellany
12. Visualizing Battles
13. Wisdom from the Experts

The WIKI / Tips Collection was originally posted in mid-2008 and revised most recently in March 2009 from notes and observations from playing, contributions to the Slitherine Forum as well as direct comments from players. The WIKI is an attempt to convey consensus, but it also groups opposing views together. It’s not polished prose – if you can say something pithy and precise better than what appears, please edit it as described above!

Why is this needed?

Are tactical tips really needed? Sit down with someone showing you how to play and it can seem fairly simple at first. A good gamer with tactical sense and some rules coaching can perform surprisingly well in his first games – but for reasons discussed below the FoG game system does not make it easy to play reactively, winging it and trying to fix mistakes on the fly. If you let your opponent gets ahead of you, it can be hard or impossible to catch up. Since you often need to live with your mistakes, not making serious mistakes becomes a priority. Having a good doctrine for your army, including standard drills, deployment and battle plans, is pre-battle preparation that is well rewarded, and the ability to foresee your opponent’s decisions and the possible course of the battle multiple turns ahead is the key skill in tactical generalship.

The Prime Directive for New Players:

“Keep a copy of the sequence of play (p168) in front of you at all times.”