Varangian Guard...

[firebead]

This is the first time I play Byz on Late period - want to revive the old empire...

Anyway, I was trying to build Varangian Guard. I have built:
Castle,
Town Watch,
Spears Gld,
Ryl Pal

But still Varangian Guard is not in the unit building que. Did I miss anything?

[Leet Eriksson]

yes byz can't build varangians in late.goto early to get them.

[The_Emperor]

Remember the Byzantine Empire is in a state of decline as time goes on. (after all the end of the Late Period signifies the fall of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire)

As such many good units become outdated as time goes on to reflect this decline... Most other factions get their best troops later in the game but Byzantium is the exception, they have a very good early start and things just get worse over time and your left fighting the inevitable.

Saying all that The Byzantines are really fun to play... and quite a challenge in later periods.

[firebead]

So I am only left with Byz Infantry and spearmen?

[Leet Eriksson]

ye still have some great units like the kataphraktoi,byzantine cavalry,byzantine lancers,terbizond archers and bulgarian brigands.

Also if you got the steppes early and kicked the mongols out,you could get those steppe cavalry and heavy cav,also avar nobles and alan merc(get Inns fast they are pretty reliable light cavalry).

[Mega Dux Bob]

Never speak ill of those Byz inf. I've found them far more useful that the Vangerians (much cheeper for one thing). Anyway the Bzy are really a horse army anyway; the inf are there to act as a rally point. Pronie and horse archers is what the Mega Dux recomends.

[DemonArchangel]

VG's are considered by the DemonArchangel to be the best unit in the game. to solve your problems, MOD THY GAME

[Hurin_Rules]

I found Byzantines to be ferocious in the early game. They have it all... great infantry (byz and varangians), good heavy cav (pronai and Kataphractoi), excellent medium cav (byz cav), and they even get horse archers (which I use in hordes). If you can bust out early and dominate the seas, you'll have a massive income and can crush anyone. within 60 years or so I was hauling in 11,000 florins a year. That buys a lot of troops http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[jLan]

Yeah, every single campaign I play, I always end up longing for the Byzantines again http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Aelwyn]

I agree with others here. The Varangians are a good unit to field, but their cost compared to their effectiveness doesn't equal that of the Byz Inf. If you get an army with maybe 6-8 Byz Inf then almost every unit you encounter will have some serious trouble. Maybe take 6 or so, throw in a spearmen or two if you feel inclined to have them (I personally don't) and fill the rest with mostly cavs, and maybe a few archers. Or for the ultimate rush army, fill up with more Byz Inf, a mix of heavy and light cavs, and don't even give the AI a chance to get more than 3 rounds of missles on you. Chances are they wouldn't even stick around in the province to fight an army like that.