gunpowder units

[Daevyll]

Handgunners and Arquebusiers, how do you get your Florins' worth out of them when compared to Arbalesters?

I've tried them several times now, and I cannot say I've been too impressed.

The fear-factor hasnt really been very noticable (I expect that the extra casualties Arbs would have caused would have been as demoralizing, plus when a unit routs under fire they usually rally quite easily as there are non of your units in the vicinity anyway.

Their kill-ratios are dreadful compared to Arbalesters.
Add to that your dependance on a sunny day, and they're a liability rather than an asset.


So is there a way of using them that makes them a genuine alternative to Arbalesters, or are they simply an entertaining but ultimately inefficient unit?

[Div Hunter]

Handgunners with upgrades used as h2h units and when sunny line behind pavs to shoot at charging cav to reduce morale before your cav/anti cav hit them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif Havn't tested this fully yet but seems to work alright.

[hoom]

Don't use them is my tip.

I tried a whole army of them (max valour/armour/weapon) vs peasants (only max valour to keep them fighting) in a custom battle & they shot jack all.
Arbs in the same battle would get heaps.

[Dogmeat]

i too rarely use gunpowder units, they seem far too inaccurate compared to arbs or even basic archers.
On the plus side, i do remember handgunners kicking ass as melee units. But apart from that, i wouldn't bother

[MF_Ivan]

As I have been saying for awhile; I hope they will be improved in VI.