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What units would you pick for SP that would do well against any AI army. I'm trying to set a standard for myself in the campaign, and I want the opinions of the experienced players on what a balanced army will be with the 16(I think)slots/960 men allocated.
A good army to garrison Italy and greet the Pope when he returns the 4th time, or keep the bitches in Portugal in line.
As the Egyptians, I found that 1/2 the army as Sacaren Infantry and 1/2 the army as Arbalesters was unstoppable. I never got to the late period, so I don't know how they would have fared vs the best that the Christian armies could throw at me.
Basically on defence I'd put the Arbalesters behind the Sacarens, but on offense I'd ususally put the Arbalesters in front (pavise arbs are really good here if you can get around their slow movement rate). This way I can put them below the enemy, and rain pain up to them, and if they send a unit or two down, I simply pull them back through the Sacarens. Arbalesters are really good offensively in an up-hill battle.
As the Byzantines I found that mixing Byzantine Infantry with Arbalesters also works. Trebizond Archers are really good with the Byzantine Infantry early on before you have a good supply of Arbalester producing provinces, as their melee is very good for an archer unit (think of them as a poor-man's Nizari or highland clansmen with bows). Varangian Guard simply rock, but they're very expensive, take twice as long to produce, and require much tech to get.
Cavalry are a lot of fun, but are not essential once you get arbalesters (the arbalesters effectively solve the enemy horse-archer problem for you, due to their range, numbers and sheer killing power).
These are the combos that work good for me in my battles.
Every factions' army will have its special needs and available units but my basic template is:
5 Spears
3 Assault Inf/MAA
4 Missiles
2 H Cav
2 L Cav
This army wouldn't be suited for the desert or bringing steppe horsemen to battle but for Italy it would do fine.
On the attack I would bring more L Cav to make the most of the enemy rout.
On the defense a couple of catapults will disrupt their advance and make them, in combination with your missle fire, ready to rout when you turn their line.
To me it's all about distraction, grappling, turning his flank, and pursuit.
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He moves, you move first.
If you just want to garrison then a fat pile of urban militia is the way to go. They cost next to nothing to maintain, so you can have masses of them and El Popey won't ever come back in the first place.
Saracens are indeed unstoppable (probably the best unit in the game), but that's largely due to the +2 valor bonus they're currently getting (IF you stop at the spearmaker's workshop).
You can make an entire army of saracens and wipe the floor with pretty much any AI army (horse skirmishers can't do enough damage).