Nafftuns save the day

[Galain_Ironhide]

:tnt: Nafftuns

I cant speak highly enough of these guys!

Especially against the mongols, IMO, they would have to be one of the most devastating and fun units to use in the game if used correctly. :yes:

I won a large battle tonight that was very close. My Turkish forces became split in two, thanks to the Mongols volleying and retreating and so forth and it got to the point where a lot of my men were starting to rout.
I sent in the two units of Nafftun in my stack directly through the middle gap of the fray to the Mongol General, thinking that they would perish before they got to him but it was worth a shot. To my surprise they got to him with no real big losses and unleashed hell! The General was killed along with 20 out of 25 of his bodyguard, and it turned the tide of the battle. Instantly causing the morale of the enemy to faulter. The enemy routed and I got a 'heroic victory' (yes I know its a broad term).

The best strategy I've found is to take skirmish off and have them sitting close behind your front line of troops and once the enemy has come at you, they are already throwing their firey balls of death at the enemy.

I'm interested to know how other people rate them. :2thumbsup: or :thumbsdown:

Burn baby burn! :tnt:

[FactionHeir]

I quite like naffatuns. On walls or behind your main infantry line, they will usually do quite well.
Rarely use them offensively unless the AI is passive.

Considering each bomb they throw will kill if it hits and the associated morale damage, they are especially useful against elite units, such as bodyguards and late cavalry.

[WhiskeyGhost]

I like Nafftuns as much as i like Byzantine Flamethrowers, which is a lot. At least with Nafftun you actually have a reason for someone bursting into flame (*cough cough fire arrows cough cough*).

[Barbarian]

I haven't used them much, but they are one of the reasons why Turkish faction is one of my favorites.
I used them to rout heavy infantry. Light infantry may be fast enough to reach them before taking heavy loses, so I put them in a positions which will be surely charged by heavy infantry. Enemies have never reached them-they always rout.
Another way of employing Nafftuns is having them in a safe position, until both/all armies go into melee, and then take a walk with them around flanks, and "aid your units a bit":egypt:

[Zarky]

I usually do long infantry line, but only 2 lines deeps if there isn´t any danger to be charged by heavy cavalry, or i can negate their charge effectively before they get to charge. I use Naffatuns right after infantry line and behind them archers and cavalry archers on the side. Really effective, and even better when they´re Turkish, got lots of cavalry to catch them up.

[ReiseReise]

There was a good thread about naffatuns a few months ago. It had diagrams and screenshots and was excellent.

[Joh]

Personally, I found their performance very disappointing.

I had read the thread ReiseReise mentions, and was really looking forward to using them as the Turks to defend settlements against the Mongols, mainly positioning them on top of the gate, stand and selecting targets myself when they rushed through the gates.

I don't think they got more than 20-25 in any of the many battles I played. At the end of the battle, the remaining alive (not many as the Mongols seem to love shooting at them instead of other units) still had all the ammunition left. Looking at the animation, they seem to reform everytime they took a hit. They would not throw at units at their range. In a particular battle a unit of elephants was park outside the gate. They did not managed to kill a single one, in fact, I don't think they even managed to throw a single bolley. Very infuriating.

(Side note: almost as useless as musketeers attacking settlements)

In open battles, they have done slightly better by rushing them to the back of the enemy when they are already engaged. Then, they do shine causing an instant rout of anything irrespective of morale.

[ReiseReise]

Sorry to hear that, I have never used them personally but I like the idea, and of course I am biased by MTW:laugh4: Why oh why does Byz not have them?

[FactionHeir]

Personally, I found their performance very disappointing.

I had read the thread ReiseReise mentions, and was really looking forward to using them as the Turks to defend settlements against the Mongols, mainly positioning them on top of the gate, stand and selecting targets myself when they rushed through the gates.

I don't think they got more than 20-25 in any of the many battles I played. At the end of the battle, the remaining alive (not many as the Mongols seem to love shooting at them instead of other units) still had all the ammunition left. Looking at the animation, they seem to reform everytime they took a hit. They would not throw at units at their range. In a particular battle a unit of elephants was park outside the gate. They did not managed to kill a single one, in fact, I don't think they even managed to throw a single bolley. Very infuriating.

(Side note: almost as useless as musketeers attacking settlements)

In open battles, they have done slightly better by rushing them to the back of the enemy when they are already engaged. Then, they do shine causing an instant rout of anything irrespective of morale.

They do fine on walls if not obstructed and none of your own units are likely to be hit.
Place them on the side walls rather than the main battlements and in deep formation so that at least some stand nearly at the rim and can throw things down.
Also important is that you select the target for them rather than let them fire at will. When doing so, check the exact center of the target (hold shift after choosing target) and make sure its not right below them or too close.

[Joh]

@ReiseReise

Sorry to hear that, I have never used them personally but I like the idea, and of course I am biased by MTW Why oh why does Byz not have them?

Probably because some sort of balancing (in their minds) as the Byzantine can become a monster economic power house in the game. Anyway, in MTW the Byzantine were also crippled in the late game if I remember correctly with the Varangian guard disappearing when most needed.

I have only played three factions yet (English, Spanish and Turks) but IMO, factions without gun powder are sooooo much at a disadvantage compared to the ones having in the late game, England being kind of an exception with all those armour piercing and stakes longbows. Musketeers will scare the hell out of your troops with their hit on morale.

Currently playing Scots and aiming at a semi-turtle long style campaign for the challenge in late game.

[Joh]

They do fine on walls if not obstructed and none of your own units are likely to be hit.
Place them on the side walls rather than the main battlements and in deep formation so that at least some stand nearly at the rim and can throw things down.
Also important is that you select the target for them rather than let them fire at will. When doing so, check the exact center of the target (hold shift after choosing target) and make sure its not right below them or too close.

@FactionHeir

I though I have placed them correctly, turning off fire at will and skirmish, and selecting targets for them. I must admit I did not know anything about the "hold shift" to check whether it is actually a good target. Maybe I will try that in a save game.

They actually did better on the "normal" walls rather than on top of the gate throwing grenades at bypassing enemy units, particularly elephants (and seeing elephants burst into flames is always a nice sight). However, they were always shoot to pieces by enemy missile units because they seemed to absorb enemy fire despite being side by side with an (also shield-less) archer unit.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

They perform very good when they stand next to a ladder. In my defense of Sarkel against the Russians they killed some 200 per unit (huge settings). There were some 6 units standing near the ladders waiting to climb them. I simply ordered them to attack each unit and each enemy unit routed after several hits. If they stand between the towers that defend the gate, they will stop firing if there is a danger of hitting their own troops.

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[PBI]

I find them extremely effective in attacking settlements; once the gates are down, I use them to fry whatever unit is defending the gateway before I send my troops through. Especially effective thanks to the passive AI, and very nice since the unit in question tends to be their best infantry or cavalry.

Also they are great as battlefield assassins, especially against annoying 10-star, high dread Mongol generals.