Russ Mitchell
02-13-2004, 21:40
You know, I have several times tried to use my beloved horse-archers correctly... now, it is an irritating and frustrating thing that horse-archers cannot fire on the move in this game, nor perform the "Parthian shot" over the rump of the horse.
But that's a relatively minor, if irritating matter. What **really** guts the effectiveness of the horse-archer and other skirmishing archers in this game is the assumption that the point of battle is to destroy the enemy and drive him from the field... so ...
1. if you play VI and play the Welsh as they should historically be played, as raiders looting the surrounding provinces, you automatically increase the opponent's army size, as their militarily abandoned provinces spark revolts.
2. if you take a unit of horse archers and kill 12 out of 20 of the enemy's royal knights with arrows while skirmishing around a bridge, and then leave, your unit commander gets a hideous reputation and commensurate penalties.
The advantage of the horse archer historically is that it has both strategic and tactical value. Tactically, 'nuff said, we all know it. But strategically, they are used to raid, harass, destroy infrastructure, and otherwise damage teh opponent's backfield and economy such that their ability to resist is eroded from the inside out. In tactical terms, in Scenario Two above, I am technically the "loser." In strategic terms, I'm golden -- his commanding unit has taken a serious battering, and is now essentially "combat ineffective."
How can this be handled? Is there some way to give a bonus for leaving the field with your troops intact, without giving generals an incentive to simply flee the field until they're unstoppable?
What do you gents think?
But that's a relatively minor, if irritating matter. What **really** guts the effectiveness of the horse-archer and other skirmishing archers in this game is the assumption that the point of battle is to destroy the enemy and drive him from the field... so ...
1. if you play VI and play the Welsh as they should historically be played, as raiders looting the surrounding provinces, you automatically increase the opponent's army size, as their militarily abandoned provinces spark revolts.
2. if you take a unit of horse archers and kill 12 out of 20 of the enemy's royal knights with arrows while skirmishing around a bridge, and then leave, your unit commander gets a hideous reputation and commensurate penalties.
The advantage of the horse archer historically is that it has both strategic and tactical value. Tactically, 'nuff said, we all know it. But strategically, they are used to raid, harass, destroy infrastructure, and otherwise damage teh opponent's backfield and economy such that their ability to resist is eroded from the inside out. In tactical terms, in Scenario Two above, I am technically the "loser." In strategic terms, I'm golden -- his commanding unit has taken a serious battering, and is now essentially "combat ineffective."
How can this be handled? Is there some way to give a bonus for leaving the field with your troops intact, without giving generals an incentive to simply flee the field until they're unstoppable?
What do you gents think?