Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord – Imperial Empire Tactics

Beginning

 
I have not seen any topics or guides covering the efficient use of empire troops. The empire is probably one of if not the most viable factions in the game because of their diverse and efficient roster. Need effective archers that get the job done and are well armoured? Palantine guards got your back. Need infantry that can hold their ground? Trained infantryman who can upgrade into legionaires who are insanely effective and they even have throwing pila as a bonus. Need horse archers? Buccelari. How about cavalry? Well if you can find vigla recruits or capture nobles to recruit from enemy imperial armies you can have decent cavalry that upgrade into mega tanks, the elite cataphract. The empire can fit all your needs and if you have most if not all units upgraded to max tier then they will become effective killing machines against all walks of opponents, though this is more weighed on the fact that enemy parties rarely have a high selection of max tier / high tier units, so if you have an extremely elite army then of course it will be effective, although added on that the imperial troops are highly flexible. 
 
 

The described tactics

 
The bread, butter and milk of your army will be it’s combination of cataphracts, heavy infantry, and archers. 
Cataphracts in this game are the most heavily armoured unit in the game, added on to its mobility, they can act as a literal wall of steel. Because of their armor the most they will have to be worried about when it comes to range is enemy javelins, and crossbowmen, which can pierce their armor. As for melee, enemy cavalry or anti-cav can be deadly, but the cataphracts can brave this when supported by their infantry. This is why the importance of heavy infantry comes into play. Your infantry will be advised to hold fire and to shieldwall, when advancing on an enemy that has ranged. The ranged will target your infantry, and their shields should do them just fine. While the infantry is being targetted, should an enemies cavalry attempt to disorient your lines, your archers will be supporting the infantry on the flanks, harassing the enemy cavalry and also for shooting at the enemies ranged. Should things get hairy you will have your cataphracts on your side, able to quickly move to the either the infantrys or archers aide. You will always want your cataphracts right beside your infantry, not just to protect them but to work together once you have closed the enemies distance. 
 
Once you have advanced within a clear range of the enemy, make sure before your infantry engages to fire their javelins. The javelins should kill some and weaken the enemy, along with your archers continually putting pressure on them. This is the part that makes a battle flawless or flawed, the use of your cataphracts. Historically cataphracts were used to break up and open enemy formations, so that the skoutai, byzantine infantry/spearmen, could move through these gaps and attack the enemy. We will be doing something very similar. The cataphracts, being the glorious tanks they are, should be sent in to charge the enemies infantry just as your infantry is about to meet theirs, so that they will disorient their lines and destroy their cohesion. When the enemy infantry is no longer cohesive, they will become easy prey for the infantry who will be able to easily kill them off and surround them. The strategy can be hard to master and is reliant on the players timing and strategic ability. However it is extremely rewarding and the cataphracts do an excellent job at disorienting infantry which is really what you want them to do, they are far from the swadian knight only armies of warband, so you don’t want to have armies of only cataphracts, although im sure you could still do it. 🙂 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is all about Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord – Imperial Empire Tactics; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!