Tactics Spotlight: Shock Troop Defense

Holiday weekend + being under the weather a bit = me being slow to get posts out.  I should be back on the normal routine this week, though I seem to have forgotten to make graphics.

Previously, we looked at a few of the ways shock troops can attack the enemy line. Today I want to take a look at how to stop them. Most shock troopers are experienced fighters and usually bring a good bit of armor to the field. That's going to make it hard to prevent them from reaching their goal.

The easiest way to reduce their impact is to keep your head on a swivel. Noticing gaps and keeping you eyes on different angles of approach gives you a chance to spot the danger early and try to prevent it. By closing up gaps and calling out strafing runs, you greatly limit their access to easy targets.

Outside of not seeing a strafing run coming, most often their success seems to be because very few people swing at them.  Those that do often swing at the wrong target zones.  Throwing a high cross shot while they are on the move is usually going to end up hitting their shield, or hitting very light as they move away.  The best shot to land is a good hit to their leg, especially if you can get it in to an unarmored area.  Once they've lost mobility that close to your line, there isn't too much they can do without support.

One rare case to prevent strafing runs requires that you be a bit bigger than the person strafing, or at least be better at bashing.  Simply stepping up into their path and delivering a strong shield bash can knock them down, especially with the correct timing.  Even if they aren't knocked down, they are very likely to be slowed down enough for others to get a free swing or two.

Those on the line have a few options to stop shock troopers, but often times it comes down to reserves or other shock troopers to counter them.  Reserves should pay close attention to how the line in moving in the maneuver phase and look for gaps forming in the line.  Once noticed, moving there quickly is essential.  Quite often, the enemy has already spotted that same gap and will be moving there at the same time.  The mere presence of someone standing there to block it out is usually enough of a deterrent to send them elsewhere.

If you do find yourself holding a wide gap against a couple of shock troopers, try to keep to the middle of the gap and call for help.  As they approach, you need to try to get both of them to engage you in a fight, rather than one simply bypassing you.  This is difficult, because they will tend to split of once you have engaged one of them.  You'll have to try moving back and forth and putting swings on each of them.  If you can manage to leg one of them quickly, you might be able to turn the tide.  Even if they do get away, you have managed to slow them down a little to block and deal with you, potentially giving your team time to react.

There have been occasions where an enemy strafing run can be stopped by a friendly shock trooper chasing them through the middle of the lines.  This requires either being faster than their shock trooper or seeing their move and intercepting from in front of them a little bit.  This can prove to be exceptionally difficult, and is a fairly rare circumstance.

Tactics Spotlight: Shock Trooper Offense

Shock trooper is a term I throw around pretty loosely. The truth is, shock troopers can fill whatever role their team needs, and usually play a large part in causing or stopping decisive action. Today's tactical spotlight looks at a few things that shock troops do on the offensive.  Remember, fortune favors the bold! 

Minor breakthroughs are a pretty common goal for them. With a bit of armor and a plan, they aggressively force their way through weak points and gaps. One of the more common targets is polearms, rushing in to disable the wielder and do as much damage to the formation as possible. If their team follows up the charge, it may even lead to a major breakthrough.

Other than just happening to be on the line, in the thick of fighting, shock troopers sometimes act as an advance force for their team, strafing the enemy line and picking off targets of opportunity during the maneuver phase. They accomplish this by using the space between the lines to maneuver, relying on vision gaps to let them get a few shots off before being noticed.

Should the enemy line have a sufficient weak point or gap, the strafing trooper can easily attack it and attempt to break through. Succeeding at this point buys them a chance to take out key targets and archers before their team even has to fight them. However, once the gap is exploited, it will often force them to redress the ranks. Therefore, it is difficult for such a maneuver to gain the team much of an advantage unless the trooper is extremely successful at killing their numbers or being a sufficient distraction.

Top: the armored up knight strafes the line, sacrificing armor to get kills and limbs.  He uses the vision gaps to pick his targets.
Bottom: While strafing the line, he notices a gap, sacrificing most of his remaining armor to push through and start killing the enemy backfield.

Shock troopers can also be found causing and exploiting gaps during the battle itself. Often, it requires two or more working together. One trooper engages the enemy next to a gap, pinning them in place and allowing the other trooper to slip past unopposed. This is also a common tactic seen on the flank when one side has more flankers than the other.

A group of shock troopers has great potential to wreak havoc on a line, especially if each if them is capable of holding their own behind enemy lines. In this instance, a common practice is to follow each other through a gap, using the first one as a distraction to cover the others on their way in. Once through, they split up and work to deal as much damage as possible.

The pair of knights notice the spacing gap in front of them.  The left knight pushes in on the enemy knight and keeps him preoccupied, allowing the right knight to push around, through the gap.  Notice the two fighters to the left of the action, they are going to have to fight defensively or be overrun.

Even in the event they can't group up, a pair of shock troopers can strafe the line on opposite directions, crossing paths midfield. This creates a situation where vision gaps get created as people turn to defend against one shock trooper only to be cut down by the other. This indirect teamwork still relies on each person's ability to attack and defend on the move.

Shock troop offense is usually a high risk, medium-high reward.  In order to gain the most benefit, the rest of the line has to work off of any gaps or weakness the shock troopers create.  They also need to keep in mind that they may be left on the defensive while the shock troops focus on killing the other enemy flank.  Communication and situational awareness will also help the team take advantage of a minor breakthrough, possibly even rolling through a gap in force.

I'll talk more about how to stop shock troopers and defensive tactics they use a little next week.  Until then, good luck and good hunting.