Bridge battles

From Warpedia

A massive bridge battle in Total War: Warhammer III.

Bridge battles are a type of battle in the Total War series. Bridge battles are a type of field battle in which the map is split in two by a river, with usually a single bridge connecting the two parts of the map. In these battles, the bridge is usually the only means for one army or another to cross to the other side, and thus becomes the key strategic asset for both armies to secure. Unlike most field battles, bridge battles present an environmental asset in which the key to victory is to secure it before the opposing army can. In such instances, the defender has the advantage, as the attacker must funnel their army across a small, narrow bridge in order to reach their enemy, negating any advantage in numbers, units and tactics that the attacking army may have enjoyed. In earlier titles, bridge battles were often a nightmare for the attacker, as the bridge made it so that a defender could throw back armies twice their size, while the attacker usually had a tough time reaching the other side.

In early Total War titles, from Shogun: Total War to Rome: Total War, bridge battles were largely unchanged, with the advantage squarely in the defender's favor and a tactic used by players to deal with more powerful and numerous opponents. The first change to bridge battles came with the Barbarian Invasion expansion, in which units on foot could swim across water, allowing opportunities for an attacker to bypass the bridge. Such tactics were risky, as they could be picked off by missile units while in the water and moved slowly, but it was the first time in which crossing the bridge wasn't the only option: this feature however would not return in future games, and it wasn't until Empire: Total War that bridge battles were changed again, this time with some bridge battle maps having shallow banks on the other side of the map, offering multiple crossing points for an attacking army, and forcing the defender to divide their forces in order to defend them: this feature would remain a staple for the series, and has been in every Total War featuring bridge battles since.

Bridge battles still remain one of the most challenging (for the attacker) and easiest (for the defender) battles in the Total War franchise, both in the campaign and multiplayer, and stand out significantly from standard field battles.

In the games[edit | edit source]

Shogun: Total War[edit | edit source]