Army makeup - whats best?

[Gazza the Lionheart]

I was just wondering what everyone thought the best makeup for an army is. Personally I use 5 swordsman, 4 spearmen and the rest made up of cavalry and bowmen. Is this any good?

[Marco]

yep

[Gregoshi]

Are you talking SP campaign or MP online?

Like I just got done telling Red Emperor, don't get yourself trapped into always playing a perfect army. Variety will keep the game fresh.

[Kraxis]

Like Gregoshi said and....

New armies can be just as useful... there is no perfect army as you can make it quite a few effective. The army is only as good as you are.

But that initial army is not bad at all.

[Mihai Viteazu]

That is a good army, though I don`t think there is something such as a perfect army formula. The efficiency of an army depends on many factors like the enemy army composition, the terrain, the weather, the role (attacker or defender) etc. Ultimately, the tactics you adopt can really make the difference. I won some battles against all odds (e.g. one spearman unit against one similar unit plus one archer unit, all with the same valour, weapons and armor level) just by good tactics, but I also lost some battles in which I had a clear superiority, by being lazy and not worrying too much about tactics. Anyway, in my opinion a good army is a balanced one, containing all major types of units, because such an army is most adaptable to different situations.

[FesterShinetop]

I use to vary my armies as well. Keeps things fresh and there is room to experiment.

[Sir Moody]

i personally go with a 3 to 1 ratio of missile to other and i try to keep mounted forces to a minimum (max of 3 units)

generally as english i choose:

3 longbow's
3 Chivalric knights
3 billemn
3 feudral Men at arms

as any other european faction (havent got round to later eras as muslim so i cant speculate)

3 Arblasts
3 chivalric Knights
3 Pikemen
3 feudral men at arms

these act as a generic force - as specific forces i vary ie against mainly horse i take a mainly spear force (plain and boring things like that)
and as a defender mainly archers/crossbowmen/gunerswith a few die hards (units who can just absorb the damage and stay okish (Order Foot is best) and just blast em(longbowen will massacre enemy in this role as any AI enemy will learn)

as for MP well its too hard to judge - everyone plays differently and keeping ya self bog'd down to one set will loose you a lot of fights

[SmokWawelski]

Yes, if I might maybe push the topic into new direction, I would think that the question was about playing MP or CB battles. In SP you fight with what you have most of the time. I try to keep my armies with mix of cav, missile, swords as main units (upgraded man-at-arms) and some armored ones to stop the initial charge.

But lets rephrase the question: What do you do in MP or CB games?

· Fewer units with bonus in morale/armor/attack?
· More units with no bonuses?
· Lots of cheap ones or few more expensive ones with no upgrades?
· More foot than cav?
· Few archers?


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[kaasbris]

Cheap Russian Army:

3 Crossbows
3 Spearmen
2 Vikings
1 Horsearchers
1 Boyars (General)

This is my core army in current game: moded game into very low money. that's why my army is made up by cheap units...but balance is still minus.

Dealt well against rebels many times but I was defeated hopelessly by Golden Hordes' cavalries...still fun http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Xicote]

My usual Almohad army:

4 Almohad Urban Militia
4 Ghazi Infantry
2 Desert Archer
2 Muwahid Foot Soldiers
..and 4 Saharan Cavalry

This is usual SP campaign army btw. Sweeping through Europe since 1087 http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif .

[Gregoshi]

Greetings Xicote. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif Welcome to the Entrance Hall. Remember to mix up that army with other unit types or the game is going to get boring soon. Think that has become my theme of the week. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Panther]

I just tend to have alot of infantry, quite a few cavalry units (usually 3) and some archers but i dont really use them, I use them if im England because of Longbowmen and maybe the Ottomans with their jannisariy archers. Usually as Ottomans i have loads of Ottoman Infantry which 0wn at defending cause you can pepper them with arrows them charge down the hill with their axes http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Gregoshi]

Greetings and Welcome Panther. Glad you joined us and aren't bashful about participating. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/pat.gif

[Knight_Yellow]

my army is usualy

1 merc calv general 4 militia srg. 4 fued foot knights 4 chiv MAA 3 passive arbs


and that army wins 80% of the time with 1000+ kills regularly...

although as gregoshi says variety is the spice of life.


PS. is my new signature any good?

[Edible, Amir of the Egg]

Theres an aspect missing in your armies - horse archers.

Not a single person mentioned horse archers as an important part of their armies, but (maybe i'm the odd MTW player) i think theyre great. I think of regular horse archers as Super-light cavalry in that they can do pretty much anything l. cavalry does with archers while also having the added benifit of harrasing the enemy with arrows.

I find i can draw the enemy into my lines with h. archers, circle around, send a few volleys into the back and charge into a dimished enemy engaged on both sides. Using this strategy i can kill large numbers of Insanely tough units with minimal casualties ( in this way i killed 200+ Kataphraktoi with 2 units horse archers and spearmen).

For me, 2 or 3 boyar units with some h. archers anchor any Russian army, as boyars are essentialy speedy heavy cavalry with bows. some other good h. archer types i like are Turcoman Horse, Byzantine Cav., and Spanish Jinnettes.

[Kraxis]

Edible, Horse Archers are simply too weak in MP. Only experts can make them worth their while in MP. I have tried many times and have been kicked around with them.

In SP they are worth more and of the whole lot the Byz Cav are the best, the Boyars are too expensive and the Turcomans are too weak. Byz Cav really fit into the Byz armies, perfectly coupled with Pronoiai Allagion.

BTW are you playing unpatched??? You talked about defeating lots of Kataphraktoi with only HA and Spearmen... that is hard as the Spearmen will get rolled over by the Kats. Unless you managed to completely surround them and then shoot at them as they are compressed tightly.

[SmokWawelski]

Quote[/b] ]BTW are you playing unpatched??? You talked about defeating lots of Kataphraktoi with only HA and Spearmen... that is hard as the Spearmen will get rolled over by the Kats. Unless you managed to completely surround them and then shoot at them as they are compressed tightly.

It had to be pre-patch since it is hard to surround 200 cavs with 100 spears
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[kaasbris]

Horsearchers are fine. But they need micromanagement.
I also think AI is good at dealing with Horsearchers(HA).
I used to let my HA deal with slow infantries, and myself concentrate on other units, which made my HA got slaughtered several times, why? So I kept watching what's going on...AI moved infantries march near HA instead of attacking, and HA didn't move back as enemy wasn't attacking Then suddenly melee took place...that's what happened.

Oh, sometimes(maybe 50%?) HA moved back even enemy was marching, well, but it's still dangerous. Especially when confronting two units, as HA move back against only one unit, while ignoring others, even its move back results in melee with others.

Very stupid indeed I tend to let them move flank then, rear. Just to make enemy annoyed. No real punch except hunting routed infantries. Maybe best against peasant rebels.

[SmokWawelski]

Kaasbris, I share your opinion on the can archers. They are nice to play with if you can micromanage, otherwise they will be dying just like peasants...

[LadyAnn]

Army's makeup? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif I thought only my Egyptians (scantly clad army) wear makeup...

Annie http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/joker.gif

[Edible, Amir of the Egg]

Hey. I had 4 units total - 2 hrs. + 2 spear (about 300 spear). I got the Kats to go up a hill into a tree line where my spear was hidden and ambushed them in front of the tree line. Circled the archers and started shooting at engaged Kats - my spear wasn't doing too much damage but not taking heavy losses and keeping Kats engaged. Archers killed about 80, spear 50, when their king died and they routed. My archers easily overtook them and captured most of the rest.

BTW i am playing unpatched as there seems to always be a Corrupt File Error when i try to instal the patch. Maybe h. archers are weaker in 1.1

I'm currently playing as russians and my army is generally:

2 Boyars
3 H. Archers
3 Halberdiers
2 Arbs
and 2 Woodsmen for ambushes


Boyars are expensive but i find them to be my favorite because, when used effectively, can massacre large numbers of spear, slow inf., light cav., and unprotected archers. Their only weakness is against medium cavalry that can chase them down, engage them, and hold them until help arrives from better fighters.

[Kraxis]

Edible try and reinstall the game, you won't lose any savegames if you use the uninstall. Just remember that you can't rely on spears doing the job for you anymore.

The Horse Archers are not weaker in 1.1, they are just generally weak. They are not worth it in MP, I keep playing with them at times but they generally fare badly, that given I'm a quite good Horse Archers user. I use them to great effect in SP and have managed to harass the mind out of a few players, but if the enemy knows what he is doing the Horse Archers are simply too easy to dispatch, or even ignore.