1 unit armies

[ZZuluZ]

If you could only build 1 given unit, which would it be? And do you think that army would stand a chance against an equal amount of computer controlled troops (say, that cost the same amount as well)?

[Aleksandr Nevsky]

Some type of skirmisher unit...a pure melee unit would just have to be stronger than the other unit you are facing. All things being equal (flat ground, facing etc.) the stronger melee unit will win. If you had a good skirmisher or a unit with bows and good melee you could probably win by whittling down the enemy before engaging in hand to hand fighting.

So infantry...probably Janissary Heavy Infantry

Cavalry, Spanish Jinettes

Of course it all depends on what you are going up against, a force of Heavy Cavalry might be able to wipe skirmishers out. Of course Heavy Cavalry could be effectivley countered with Horse Archers.

I would have to go with those good Turkish horse archers that I can't remember their name right now (Turcoman, Sipahi?) Or Boyars.

Difficult Question.

[Suppiluliumas]

Szekely would be a good choice. They are fast and have decent melee capabilities in addition to their bows.

Boyars would be another good choice, being heavier, but not as swift.

[Mummer]

I like Byzantine Cavalry, myself, since they are decent fighters, but if I can choose anyunit, I would choose Welsh Bandits, since they have a good attack AND are incredible archers.

[makkyo]

Think STW gentlemen... think Battle Field Ninjas. They come in units of 12 anyway. They're fast, and have excelent meele and ranges capabilities. They are also invisible to the enemy until they are very close.

[afroide]

Jinnettes? Unless I'm doing something wrong they pretty much suck as solo skirmishers. Don't get me wrong, when you have another unit of something to pin an enemy force, they absolutely wreak havoc. By thmeselves though, you'd get off max 1 volley of javelins before they closed to melee range. They may still work, but one unit ALONE would not be able to fully leverage it's strengths.

I agree with the skirmisher idea though... So on that train of thought, I'd have to say Steppe Heavy Cavalry. Skirmish until they run out of arrows then close ranks and charge....

[Basileus]

I would go with the Byz Inf heh, make way fo rmy legions http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-rifle.gif

[katar]

either Jinettes or Szekely, i`ve used Jinettes, but the range of the javelins is so short that the enemy can close the distance before you get off more than a couple of volleys.

i haven`t used Szekely, but i have been on the recieving end of them. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-stunned.gif

well armed (decent range), good in melee and robust enough to last a few rounds, i think i would go for Szekely as a first choice. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[chilling]

Hashishin.

[katar]

bless you. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

[ZZuluZ]

Interesting.

There are 4 kinds of units: spears, swords, archers, horses. Because of the rock-paper scissors thing, any of the three non missile troop is effectively succesful against 1/2 the opposing enemy army, 1/4 tied, and 1/4 losing.

If you have an all cavalry army you will mow down the swords and archers. Against the cavalry you are equal. Against the spears you will lose. But, overall, isn't that a very favorable ratio or am I missing something?

Obviously, for someone who is able to effectively match up swords against spears, spears against horses, horses against archers, and archer VS everybody... this approach may seem stupid. But for someone with little field experience, doesn't it make things a lot simpler (yet still effective). Frankly, the idea of an all cav army really appeals to me but I'm wondering if it's viable.

Another question: I've heard it mentioned that you should line up your troops in one big line then walk towards the enemy and select engage at will. This will make you envelop the enemy and effectively flank them nicely. I tried it tho...and it didn't work. What am I not doing right?

[LadyAnn]

Uh... Hashishin is a bad choice for 1 unit army: it will be the general and the general is always visible, defeating the purpose of having stealth Hashishin...

Plus, they are expensive...

Annie

[vlad_demstra]

deffently a royal knight general.. tho i dont really know how to ride a horse.. looks like im out of luck.

[ichi]

We tried this in MP, people taking 16 of one unit. The Boyars prevailed (I think we had a 20K florin budget).

An all cav army can work in MP 4v4, where one of the four team members brings all cav and uses them to overload one side, flanking an isolated enemy while a teammate hold hims. All cav has limits tho, mainly in the small unit size, their relatively high vulnerability to archers, the strength of spear/pikes, also the tree penalty.

In SP all cav can work well against some of the cheap AI armies.

To me, one of the real fun aspects of the SP game is building the different units. The fun in fighting (IMHO) is using the different types - fighting cav with Halbs, or working the enemy over with arrows from cav archers, fighting in the trenches.

A one unit type army (or even one that is predominantly one unit or one type of unit) will amplify the advantages and disadvantages of whichever unit you choose. The bast armies are the balanced ones. Learn to fight with them first and then adapt them as needed for the situation.

ichi

[Phatose]

Would you be best off with something like Chivalric Knights or Gothics, since they can dismount? Gives you a heavy cavalary and pretty decent infantry.

[TheSilverKnight]

Chivalric Knights or Khataphraktoi Heavy cavalry yeah baby http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[afroide]

oops.. I misunderstood the question...

For an actual ARMY of one type of unit (I originally thought the poster meant only one unit) I would say that it would probably be one of the heavy cav units that can dismount at any time (i.e. gothic knights.. I think). Unless that is considered cheating for the purposes of this discussion. In which case something along the lines of swiss armored pikemen would rule the day (assuming a FULL army). Skirmishers might be ableto harrass them, but with full armies there just isn't enough room to effectively win a battle through harrasment tactic only. 10 or 12 units can make to wide a front for that to happen.

[Aleksandr Nevsky]

Yeah I kinda misunderstood too, a whole army of one type of troop...that is a whole differnt thing.

Just one type of unit for an army? If we are sticking to the same costs AND time Periods.

Shogun Warrior Monks (they should be able to eventually close with the Samurai Archers who are really the only thing that can decimate them.)

Viking Era Joms Vikings

The eras (this is where it gets tricky)...Boyars, Janissary Heavy Infantry, Gothic Knights,

Choose one? JHI

[gaelic cowboy]

Boyars no doubt

[PseRamesses]

Boyars defenitely, maybee Khataphraktoi http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-confused.gif

[katar]

Quote[/b] ]Yeah I kinda misunderstood too, a whole army of one type of troop...that is a whole differnt thing.

bu**er, i took it up wrong as well. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif

i`ll still go with Szekely, but i do like the punch you get from using the Jinettes javelins.

i`ve used all Jinette armies against Italians and Alohmand (sp) armies, easy to beat the italians, trickier aginst the other one due to all the desert archers and Futarawas (sp).

in both cases if you want to win you definately need to micromanage them and disable skirmish and fire at will.

[makkyo]

Noooooooooooooooooo Battle Field Ninjas STW Gah http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif