View Full Version : Are Peasant-Type Units Worth Iit?
well we all seem to overlook these unit for elite units, but i am wondering how many people use these units?
Fanatics
Kearns
Militia Sergeants
Peasants
Urban Militia
Woodsmen
LordKhaine
11-12-2002, 15:05
Fanatics: Cant build them... so I never use them except in crusades.
Kerns: I use them all the time, very useful and very cheap.
Militia Sergeants: Arent actually all that bad, and very cheap to maintain.
Peasants: Only when an area is low on loyality and quickly needs a garrison.
Urban Militia: Good troops to garrison.. cheap and can beat cheap troops.
Woodsmen: When Im low on cash... they are used to bulk my army up.
Prodigal
11-12-2002, 15:31
I use militia sergeants a lot, in the earlies, & don't forget militia is good vs. armour so can prove handy.
Yesterday I got slaughtered, in the earlies simply because of the sheer number of the opposition, all peasants btw with 1 unit of urban, who was also the general. I got a bunch a spearmen embroiled in peasants, then their general appears. All units started routing as their numbers fell, & I couldn't concentrate my units on killing the general because of all the peasants in the way.
Never underestimate the power of sheer weight of numbers, unless you have some troops that are going to hang in to the last man.
Fanatics are fast infantry, so they are ok for pursuing running foes, and they are brave so good to have around when the odds are against you.
Woodsmen have a lethal charge (bonus 8) and IIRC are AP, so I sometimes use them as cheap flankers for my spears in lieu of vikings/highlanders/Gallowglasses/MAA.
Neither unit lasts more than a couple of battles but at least the woodsmen are easy to replace.
Inherited peasants are garrison troops only.
I don't buy urban militia, but AI militia sergeants are a little scarey in the early game and the stats are only a little worse than MAA. (Italy seems to like them).
If you are HRE in Early, Urban Militia are absolutely vital for quite a while. You will most likely get into wars with Denmark, France and Italy at the same time, and some times with Hugary (and their nasty Horse Archers). Your two provinces capable of producing better troops are simply not enough. But besides this Urban Militia can actually defeat Spearmen in certain situations and have nice charge against the weak troops.
Militia Sergeants are actually quite good troops, AP, Armoured and cheap. They are stable troops, though somewhat shaky in Morale.
Peasants, well not great troops at all. But they can be used for many things. They are especially great for catching arrows (vital for taking down castles very early with cheap losses) and soaking up spearunits while you flank them.
Kerns, possibly the best Peasants in the game (can't defeat the AUM though). They are fast and have their javelins, but they also have a nice attack and charge (the picture is correct enough showing them carrying big swords).
Fanatics... Hard troops to master, but they are almost the same as Ghazi. A little lower attack, no shields and 40 more men... So use their charge often and hard. When the charge is over pull out ant charge again, just like you would with heavy cav.
Woodsmen, treat them as cheap and available Fanatics, but they are not as capable in melee if not facing heavy units.
ToranagaSama
11-12-2002, 23:12
Are you talking SP or MP?
In SP I totally disdain them all I replace peasant units with Spears ASAP I've never taken advantage of the Militia Sargent quirk.
Maybe, if the Strat Map AI were "better", I might be forced to go for those units, but as it is, I have plenty of time to tech-up to Armoured MAA.
I have actually used Militia Sergeants in MP, and they did fairly well with V2. Now I don't know anymore, it is more expensive to give Valours but the AP is incresed a good deal (from working at Armour 5 to 3).
Orda Khan
11-13-2002, 01:30
They are large units nice for more deaths on the field http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
.......Orda
A.Saturnus
11-13-2002, 13:34
I use militia sometimes, if there is no better unit at hand. Woodsmen and fanatics are of some use as disposable inf. Never used kerms yet, just had to fight them once, their javelins seem quiet effective. But peasants: never,never,never They are expensive, weak and run away soon, Nubian spearmen cost as much as them and are MUCH better. The AI often looses because it uses peasants against high developed troops. If you fire with arbs on peasants they run or die, taking down the morale of the whole army.
In MP, I would say peasants are worthless.
In SP, Militia Sergeants are good, Kerns are good, peasants/woodsmen/Urban militia etc are OK for garrisons.
A.Saturnus
11-13-2002, 13:56
Peasants good for garrison? 2 units crossbow cost just 7 florins more, are 120 men and are more effective. As Egytian I use Nubian (cost the same) or Sar inf (cost not so much more and much more effective in any way). When they can`t be build in a new province, I just bring them from other provinces.
Well, if you were to make peasants a 150 man unit for the same upkeep cost then they might have a use. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Militia seargeants, Fanatics and Kerns can all be useful.
Urban militia and Woodsman are useful only if you have nothing better.
Peasants are pish and can often be a serious liability to your own army when they flee...
well i still tend to use these guys in late game, they are good and cheap for when florins drop
deutschlanduberalles
11-13-2002, 22:28
Man, read the description of the Peasants in game. "Peasants are the LOWEST--" (my caps obviously)
Yeah. They are. They're useless. However, some militia in limited situations can be useful--militia and m. sergeants are good for tearing up regular peasants and, in the early game, flanking those spearmen that just will not die because you have no offense-heavy troops. (This is from a HRE perspective btw) I always LOVE going to war with the French when I start a new campaign because they flesh their armies out with Peasants and Urban Militia, meaning they have large armies that rout astoundingly fast and cannot handle my spearmen-archers attack. But unless you're really, REALLY low on florins, past the first couple decades of the game you should be starting to produce feudal men and upgraded spearmen, and never use peasants in your armies again. In most situations they are literally worse than useless--one of your knights' horses behind the peasant units farted and scared the peasants into routing, giving the rest of your army a nasty morale penalty. This is why I consider peasants a necessary evil--adequate for the very first stages of the game, but when your FMAA start appearing, relegate them to the dustbin.
Edit - really stupid typo.
muffinman14
11-14-2002, 00:06
Well the almohad urban miltia are one of the best units in the game. Fanatics are fun to just throw them in to an enemy unit and then u wont have to worry about them anymore.
Miltia Sergeants are really good if you have a 2+ valour unit
Nobunaga0611
11-14-2002, 00:32
I use fanatics, even on MP. They've got good morale and are cheap. I also use Kerns a lot, in MP as well. I wish there were more skirmisher units, other than the Murabitin and the Kerns, I try to use them whenever possible. I don't use Militia too much, but they're not bad. Nubians, for almost the same cost, are definitely worth it though.
Lord Romulous
11-14-2002, 06:15
Quote[/b] ]In most situations they are literally worse than useless--one of your knights' horses behind the peasant units farted and scared the peasants into routing, giving the rest of your army a nasty morale penalty.
Brave v5 Lancers have fled in fear after being downwind of one of my ass eruptions.
http://community.the-underdogs.org/smiley/fart.gif
deutschlanduberalles
11-14-2002, 07:42
Aw, c'mon, AUM are in a class by themselves http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
vBulletin® v3.7.1, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.