Favorite unit(s)

That's right, what is your fave unit from MTW/VI/XL/BKB, or any of the other mods? Why are they your fave? and how did them becoming #1 1st happen?

For me the 1st unit i really liked were AUM, why? well the 1st time i played i played as the Almos, and thought alot of my units were avg, but when i saw the AUM's in action, they owned everything on the field, the only unit my AUM's had any trouble with were the Byzantines VG's. I've also come to love the Italian Infantry, but that was more a looks thing then it became a "gonna kick some butt" thing later.

Remember your fave doesn't automatically mean who you like best based on pwnage, the your fave can be just something as simple you like the way the unit loos, well that's it for now, hope we have some fun with this.:2thumbsup:

Since I'm lazy, I'll just quote my post from this thread in the Entrance Hall: ~D

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Originally Posted by Martok

Spanish Jinnettes - They eat Almohad Urban Milita for breakfast! ~D With their armour-piercing javelins and excellent speed, they're well-equipped to take out heavy infantry while staying out of harm's way.

Gazi Infantry - Spurred on by their faith in Allah, these guys charge their enemies with suicidal courage! Great for flanking attacks and chewing up enemy infantry.

Huscarles - Heavily armed & armoured Vikings with very bad tempers! Virtually indestructible unless ganged up on by multiple units.

Bedouin Camel Warriors - Cheap, reliable, get a bonus in deserts, and horse units suffer a morale penalty when fighting them. Victory in my Egyptian campaigns would not be possible without them!

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I just love some ideas implemented in PMTW and I am damn proud of them too.

Ski infantry

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...iinfinland.jpg

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...ch/skiidle.jpg

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...h/skimarch.jpg

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...skionskiis.jpg

mounted infantry like those Imperial Dragoons

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...imperdrag2.jpg

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...ach/impdr1.jpg

the anti-Ottoman wonder weapons

warwagons

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...orach/wozy.jpg

and Ottoman Delil for the sheer look of this cavalry

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...rach/deli2.jpg

https://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b...rach/deli1.jpg

Don't want to speak for medieval mods I just didn't play them for too long.

So far for VI I'm really loving those Saxon and Viking Huscarles:charge:

I love Longbowmen, Gallowglasses, the other Irish infantry unit (I avoid trying to spell it, because it would go wrong, but it was something like F.... E...), Vikings (so useful in Early) and strangely enough, Royal Knights..

I do tend to play a lot in Early, though.

Martok saved me the bother of hunting for that thread. :bow:

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Originally Posted by Caravel

MTW/VI

1) Futuwwa
2) Janissary Infantry
3) Ottoman Infantry
4) Saracen Infantry
5) Turcoman Horse
6) Armenian Heavy Cavalry
7) Ghazi Infantry
8) Bedouin Camel Warriors

I rarely play anything but Muslim factions or the Byzantine, with the occasional Novgorod or Hungarian campaign. Of the catholic units I would have to go with:

1) Chivalric Foot Knights
2) Billmen
3) Longbows
4) Jinetes
5) Vikings

For the orthodox it's simple:

1) Trebizond Archers
2) Pr0n Cavalry

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I have too many.

Vanilla VI - Avar Nobles & Szekely

XL Mod - Bashkorts & Varangian Swordsmen

MedMod - Bulgarian Brigands

PMTW - Adiga Djigit

BKB - Uzbek Heavy Cavalry

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Originally Posted by Kavhan Isbul

PMTW - Adiga Djigit

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why is that? granted, their looks are good, but I found them somewhat unwieldy and overall not that great on the field.

to constribute something to the list: my current favourite unit are medmod's russian dvors. played a late novgorod campaign recently and although I abandoned it after only 10 years I had a real blast with those guys. they are only slightly less armoured than gothic knights but they are fast.

my all-time faves are good ol' katanks. their looks seem somewhat overdone, they are virtual snails and they don't stand a chance against real knights, but I like them for all of that. and for the real punch their charge packs.

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Originally Posted by Wasp

the other Irish infantry unit (I avoid trying to spell it, because it would go wrong, but it was something like F.... E...),

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Probably Fianna Eireann (4/*3/3/3/6), an XL mod Irish unit similar to a Huscarle with slightly lesser attack/defense. Requires only a Swordsmith to build. One of my favorite units, also.

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Originally Posted by Deus ret.

why is that? granted, their looks are good, but I found them somewhat unwieldy and overall not that great on the field.

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80-men heavy cavalry/horse arcger unit. Playing with the Kazan Khanate, I have no access to sword infantry and the Adiga Djigit solved my problems with enemy pikemen - they shoot them to pieces. They are also great for charging into enemy cavalry.

Almughavars, the most odd unit is un-modded MTW and very strong and fun unit to play with.

And golden/golden lancers of course, even if it's a huge overkill :2thumbsup:

When playing as the English, I love Fyrdmen - absolutely invaluable in the earlier parts of the campaign, and can still hold their own in High, if used sensibly....

Chivalric footknights are great to have as well.

Steppe Cavalry are great speedy little flankers.

Huscarles and beserkers are good fun in VI - also Huscarles seem to keep on keeping on in terms of usefulness well past 1205....

I like the old Turcopoles as well, but maybe that is just a horse archer thing...

Not in any specific order:

A) Szekely-ultra fast horse archer, available VERY early, and dominates a lot of early era infantry straight on.

B) Avar Nobles-Equivalant of Khwarzmian cav. except out of the desert, much smaller requirements, and disciplined.

C) Swiss Halberdiers-Trainable by lots of people, very versatile, can deal with most units.

D) JHI-Really, do I have to say? These guys are monstrous, they slaughter nearly everything, plus have speed, discipline, and the ability to fight in desert.

E) Janissary Infantry- Equivalant to CMAA in hand to hand, except with less armor and with discipline. Plus they have the bow to make them extremely versatile.

F) Armenian Heavy Cavalry- Available very early on, AHC out of Armenia can dominate the battlefield for a very long time.

G) Gothic Knights- Its a pity these guys take so long to get to 'cause they are great. Even with just a strong charge, nearly everything just seems to bounce off them. Recently did a test run of V1 GK w/ +3 armor vs. V1 Lancers w/ +3 armor on a flat European landscape. The lancers went into wedge for the charge and made absolutely NO headway against the GK, and summarily got slaughtered.

For MedMod VI that takes my SP interest as of late:

Sicilian Chivalric Knights: reliable charging and killing machines.

Berber Cavalry: providing for the most elegant way to play with cavalry, i find - good in any terrain, good for charges - good for melee - good to cover all zones due to speed, stamina and moral - perfect for a combined arms approach

Handgunners: that is arquebusiers, in effect - with proper handling they can accomplish much more than meets the eye

Mounted crossbows (Be it Spanish, Italian or Russian): a sort of "aircraft carrier" that beats down the "battleship" knights and their one trick charge approach. Range, melee reliability, charge and speed all in one.

Knights Templar: no introductions needed - finally with lances!

Italian heavy Infantry: a sort of a terminator unit: moving slowly, ruthlessly and unmistekably towards annihilating anything in their path.

Contadina Cavalry & Stratiotai: Deceptively useful in the later stages where their speed/charge combination becomes deadly for their heavily armoured/slow opponents.

Polish Retainers: in the same league with Berber cavalry - its east northern cousin.

Cav: Avar Nobles - Disciplined
HA: Steppe Heavy Cavalry - Heavy Horse Archers
Spears: Armored Spears - Fun in VI
Sword/Axe/Pole: Berserkers - even more fun in VI
Archers: Genoese Archers - nice and cheap and easy to get good valor on
Artillery: Organ Gun - well, any of the anti personell artillery

mfberg

I always loved Futuwwa, they pack a nice punch and yet can be a fickle unit to play with.

Armenian cavalry looks great, works well and doesn't break the bank. Along with Steppe cav.

I tend to prefer Gallowglasses over MAA, even if they can be wiped out by almost anyone if flanked. Still, they're cool, pack an armour piercing punch, add some colour, can be used in the desert...

Steppe heavy always has a place in my armies, though I think Byzantine cavalry is cooler.

Camels against Kataphraktoi always makes my heart race.

As I mod my game quite a lot, I've come to love Handgunners. They're like somewhat weaker CMAA, just - of course - with handgonnes (in my game, that is). Of course, I made them available in late only, upped their cost and made them dependant on Swordsmith's Workshop and Gunsmith's Guild.
Great unit once you reach them anyway...

Otherwise (un-modded) it'd be Halberdiers, the workhorses of all sensible armies:2thumbsup:

As the English, my goal is always to start making Billmen. I play the Rock-Paper-Scissors strategy pretty consistently, and I've found that Billmen don't really have a counter unit. I know there are other units out there that can beat them, but they can always at least hold their own for awhile until help arrives. I like an army of Billmen, backed up by vanilla archers (with tons of archers in reserve), a couple units of light cavalry, plus my general (heavy cavalry) to fight the Mongols. I've never seen anything absolutely wipe out a unit of Mongol Heavy Cavalry, or any other heavies, as effortlessly as Billmen.

For the most part, I've always been a good Catholic when it comes to MTW, but right now I'm trying out the Kievans in XL. I'm really starting to like the Voi in early. They are light, fast swordsmen. I don't usually check stats, but in practice they seem to be as fast as Urban Militia with better morale and more killing power.

Oh, yes, speaking of the Russian XL factions: How can one not love the Druzhina Infantry? Their info-pic has to be the best there ever was.

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Originally Posted by Innocentius

Oh, yes, speaking of the Russian XL factions: How can one not love the Druzhina Infantry? Their info-pic has to be the best there ever was.

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I agree with this, but I also find the Cherniye Klobuki info picture nice - there is something about helms with visors I really like.

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Originally Posted by gunslinger

I like an army of Billmen, backed up by vanilla archers (with tons of archers in reserve), a couple units of light cavalry, plus my general (heavy cavalry) to fight the Mongols. I've never seen anything absolutely wipe out a unit of Mongol Heavy Cavalry, or any other heavies, as effortlessly as Billmen.

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In my experience the Mongols actually field an army which is quite dangerous to billmen. In my first English campaign (a long time ago...) I remember fighting a Mongol stack with a force consisting of about 50% billmen. I had been quite impressed of their killing power vs. MHC, too, so I figured they'd do the job for me.

Wrong. Granted, they took out the Mongols' cavalry, although they had significant losses. But it was the MHAs and MWs who teared them to shreds, first with their arrows, then the remainders in melee. Billmen are lighter armoured than Halberdiers, making them less unwieldy, but at the same time they succumb to massed missile fire at an alarming rate. I didn't have enough heavy cav to fight off all those MWs with them alone and thus lost the battle.

I learned the lesson to better bring some heavy armour when facing the Horde (this convintion changed in MedMod where the Mongols have AP missiles :furious3:) and to fight them only with a lot of trees on the battlefield.

Deus ret. has given some really wise advise here - it is one thing tod eal with the Mongol Heavies, and a completely different thing to deal with the pesky Mongol Horse Archers supported bu hordes of Mongol Warriors. Finally, bring in some Chinese Spearmen in MedMod and the Mongols are the challenge they should be. Which reminds me of two favorite units I missed, but should have included - Mongol Heavies and Mongol HAs. I usually end up with a nice number of them after I kill the Khan in the first wave and then bribe whatever is left of the Horde (my strategy, which is probably a poor one, is based on losing the major battle in Khazar, but killing the Khan and then bribing the remaining Mongol stacks to replenish my armies and provide me with some troops I can never dream of training myself, especially in MedMod). I have discovered the Mongol HAs to be able to deal with most light cavalry, such as Steppe Cavalry and Mounted Sergeants, which makes them almost invincible. The stupid tendency of the AI to move its missile infantry when approached by enemy units makes sure that you will always hit pavise crossbowmen and arbalesters in the back, routing them as a result. I love Mongol HAs, and add to that the punch that Mongol Heavies pack (they get all sorts of valor and armor bonuses in MedMod when they appear in Khazar), and you have a superb combo.

The Prononai Kavalliori Toxotai in Medieval´s pocket mod. AKA: byzantine cavalry on steroids. Of course, they´re also horribly expensive (l20 upkeep cost), so its not like you can field entire armies of them. Still, two units as battle assistance are enough to turn the tide, since you can pepper with arrows the enemy to follow you into position (into the position you have placed your archers, ideally), and then hold them there with some melee unit, while slamming the cavalry at their rear.

If it rides a horse and has a bow I like it!

I often start an attack with an entire army of horse archers, pepper the enemy wth arrows, break up their formation then withdrawl and bring on a more melee based force to finish the enemy off. Obviously it depends what you're up against but it can be highly effective.

a) Szekely fast horsearchers, much better than vanilla ones

b) Steppe Heavies both horsearchers and strong cavalry

c) Welsh bandits

d) Huscarls real tanks

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Originally Posted by The Unknown Guy

The Prononai Kavalliori Toxotai in Medieval´s pocket mod. AKA: byzantine cavalry on steroids. Of course, they´re also horribly expensive (l20 upkeep cost), so its not like you can field entire armies of them. Still, two units as battle assistance are enough to turn the tide, since you can pepper with arrows the enemy to follow you into position (into the position you have placed your archers, ideally), and then hold them there with some melee unit, while slamming the cavalry at their rear.

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I'm amazed that anyone is still playing the Pocket Mod to be honest. Most seem to have moved on/back to XL or vanilla, I myself have mostly been playing Rome for the last month or so. I haven't touched Medieval for ages now. I will probably get back to it at some stage though, Rome lacks Medieval's depth, not a game I could stick to for years and years.

The upkeep should be lower as the Pronoiarioi basically support themselves. I would decrease it just a bit and increase training costs further if necessary to balance it off.

Good to see someone still playing the mod though (you're probably the only one). :2thumbsup:

:bow:

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Originally Posted by Don Esteban

If it rides a horse and has a bow I like it!

I often start an attack with an entire army of horse archers, pepper the enemy wth arrows, break up their formation then withdrawl and bring on a more melee based force to finish the enemy off. Obviously it depends what you're up against but it can be highly effective.

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This is a funny strategy, this pile of horse archers progressively replaced! I'll give it a try. As soon as I can get OUT of the viking campaign!!! :beam:

Oh, I forgot: e) mounted crossbowmen

especially with factions, who cannot build horsearchers. I killed the whole norwegian royal family, when they were stupid enough to invade friesland being defendet by 5 troops of MC

Obviously it depends on terrain (heavily wooded areas or bridge battles would be a huge no) but it can really thin out the enemy. the best thing is HA's can withdrawl fast so you get to use more of your army than would otherwise be the case. Also HA's are cheap and easy to train so you can withstand some losses from defensive missile fire and then combine the higher valoured survivors.

Let me know how it goes!

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The upkeep should be lower as the Pronoiarioi basically support themselves. I would decrease it just a bit and increase training costs further if necessary to balance it off.

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But that was at the cost of taxes going straight to them instead to the state, so it´s not too unfitting. Besides, it helps to limit the number of PKT in the field, which would otherwise lead to one-unit-type-armies (they´re THAT good. I fielded three units of them against three byzinf and one psiloi unit, and massacred the defenders to the last man, suffering only thirteen losses or so-althrough, truth to be said, using the increased maneuver of cavalry against such a small garrison would have been easy with any kind of heavy cavalry, but instead of charging straightfoward-like I´d have done with chivs- I peppered them beforehand.)
Another alternative would be lowering the support cost and raising both the training cost and training time (justifying it in-game, the time&money investment symbolizing convincing 40 members of the gentry to join your armed forces)

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I'm amazed that anyone is still playing the Pocket Mod to be honest. Most seem to have moved on/back to XL or vanilla
Good to see someone still playing the mod though (you're probably the only one).

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Well, the mod fits rather well my concept of an "ideal" mod (as in altering the existing gameplay to make it more interesting as opposed to altering everything -XL is one mod I tried and didn´t like (and unfortunately deleted before I could think up looking into things I´d have liked to copy), and vanilla alone is rather tepid after trying your mod. Not that I have much time, as I have to keep up pharma, epidemiology, and general pathology, but when I do a TW, it´s with the Pocket Mod.

Sidenote: I don´t know what did you do with the "compound bow" projectile exactly, but Trebizond-trained Psiloi are MURDERERS. Not only they´re extremely effective in combined arms, but as single units they´re particularily
lethal as well. I moved one to çuell one of the infamous "siege weapons uprisings", and it managed to pull a shot as the rebels were running away, and still managed to kill 4 of the twelve crew. (It does lead to "historically accurate" armies composed mainly of bowmen, and it makes them be worth the extra support, but renders arbalesters a bit accessory, just for bridge battles and/or fencing off the first waves of the mongol invasion -which in my current game has opted to ignore me altogether-.

Maybe it´s just that the Hungarians are weaklings, in truth. In most of the former games I avoided them because Serbia and Bulgaria made a nice border, and this time they took them before I could, so I decided to bring my wrath upon them instead of the turks or the Sicilians-High Age beggining, took Trebizond, then Constantinople, then Greece, then leaped north)

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Originally Posted by The Unknown Guy

But that was at the cost of taxes going straight to them instead to the state, so it´s not too unfitting. Besides, it helps to limit the number of PKT in the field, which would otherwise lead to one-unit-type-armies (they´re THAT good. I fielded three units of them against three byzinf and one psiloi unit, and massacred the defenders to the last man, suffering only thirteen losses or so-althrough, truth to be said, using the increased maneuver of cavalry against such a small garrison would have been easy with any kind of heavy cavalry, but instead of charging straightfoward-like I´d have done with chivs- I peppered them beforehand.)
Another alternative would be lowering the support cost and raising both the training cost and training time (justifying it in-game, the time&money investment symbolizing convincing 40 members of the gentry to join your armed forces)

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True enough. They are statistically much the same as the Pronoiarioi Kavallarioi, except for the charge (and the bows of course), I tried to design these two around filling the gap between the lighter cavalry and the Kataphraktoi. With these two cavalry types the Byzantine have many cavalries to fit every role, and carry them into the late era. I was still somewhat concerned about them being overpowered though, but had planned to counter this by toning down the command stars of the Byzantine royalty somewhat. Your idea of increasing the training time may have worked also, perhaps for Pronoiarioi, and Kataphraktoi. Training and support costs also needed a lot of tweaking to get them balanced. This would have come from player feedback.

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Originally Posted by The Unknown Guy

Well, the mod fits rather well my concept of an "ideal" mod (as in altering the existing gameplay to make it more interesting as opposed to altering everything -XL is one mod I tried and didn´t like (and unfortunately deleted before I could think up looking into things I´d have liked to copy), and vanilla alone is rather tepid after trying your mod. Not that I have much time, as I have to keep up pharma, epidemiology, and general pathology, but when I do a TW, it´s with the Pocket Mod.

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:2thumbsup:
Sadly most of the contributors gave up and went back to XL/vanilla/whatever. This left me effectively posting and replying to myself. Kind of like shouting into an empty cave and hearing nothing but the echo. Faced with this situation I decided to give it up (as with countless other modding projects).

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Originally Posted by The Unknown Guy

Sidenote: I don´t know what did you do with the "compound bow" projectile exactly, but Trebizond-trained Psiloi are MURDERERS. Not only they´re extremely effective in combined arms, but as single units they´re particularily
lethal as well. I moved one to çuell one of the infamous "siege weapons uprisings", and it managed to pull a shot as the rebels were running away, and still managed to kill 4 of the twelve crew. (It does lead to "historically accurate" armies composed mainly of bowmen, and it makes them be worth the extra support, but renders arbalesters a bit accessory, just for bridge battles and/or fencing off the first waves of the mongol invasion -which in my current game has opted to ignore me altogether-.

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IIRC the compound bow is a slightly toned down longbow, I have never had the chance to test it out at all, as I'd stopped playing at that point. The Treb archers stats I hadn't tampered with, I'd only changed their physical appearance on the battlefield, renamed them as Psiloi and given them the compound bows. They've always been light skirmisher infantry (like Turcoman Foot or Futuwwa).

Vikings in general, and Huscarles in particular. The Danes in Early have some kickin' troops. Highland Clansmen are also fun, fast, good punch, disposable, great in deserts.

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Originally Posted by Deus ret.

Wrong. Granted, they took out the Mongols' cavalry, although they had significant losses. But it was the MHAs and MWs who teared them to shreds, first with their arrows, then the remainders in melee. Billmen are lighter armoured than Halberdiers, making them less unwieldy, but at the same time they succumb to massed missile fire at an alarming rate. I didn't have enough heavy cav to fight off all those MWs with them alone and thus lost the battle.

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That's why I bring along all of the archers and the fast cav (like Mounted Sergeants). For the most part, I concentrate my fire on the MHAs. The cav works well against the warriors, but I really don't remember the billmen getting slaughtered by them. I should have mentioned that I keep quite a few cavalry units in the reinforcement pool along with the archers. This is just because they usually get exhausted.

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Originally Posted by Geezer57

Probably Fianna Eireann (4/*3/3/3/6), an XL mod Irish unit similar to a Huscarle with slightly lesser attack/defense. Requires only a Swordsmith to build. One of my favorite units, also.

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Yup, that's the one. Thanks! In the description, it also said something like 'protectors of the ancient legacy of Ireland' ~:)

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Originally Posted by Wasp

Yup, that's the one. Thanks! In the description, it also said something like 'protectors of the ancient legacy of Ireland' ~:)

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Unfortunately a fantasy unit. The "Fianna" are mythological warriors, and "Fianna Éireann" are a 20th century Irish Republican movement. The Huscarle troop type are also historically inaccurate for the period and culture. The Gaill-Gaedhils (or whatever they're called in the game) are similarly fantasy inspired, as are the similar Berserksgangr units in the Viking campaign. The Gaill-Gaedhil appeared to have been the mixed race Irish-Norse, Norse immigrants or those that converted back to paganism collectively.

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Originally Posted by gunslinger

That's why I bring along all of the archers and the fast cav (like Mounted Sergeants). For the most part, I concentrate my fire on the MHAs. The cav works well against the warriors, but I really don't remember the billmen getting slaughtered by them. I should have mentioned that I keep quite a few cavalry units in the reinforcement pool along with the archers. This is just because they usually get exhausted.

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Well IIRC Mongol warriors have quite decent melee capability, decent enough to fend off most light cavalry, and together with their ranged attack they are superior to billmen....in my experience :beam: :shrug:

It might also be that
a) I wasn't feeling at ease on the tactical map yet, since it was my 2nd or so campaign. In the retrospective, I should have looked either for cover to hide the billmen in or for a bridge to better defend against the onslaught.

b) I've become too influenced by MedMod in myjudgement since I play it almost exclusively; in this mod, MWs are CMAA stat-wise plus they have very nasty AP missiles, which makes them quite deadly.

The problem with mongol warriors is the AI's reluctance to disable Skirmish mode. The AI can do it, but only against units that are judged as very inferior. Trebizond Archers for example will come out of skirmish mode and charge vanilla horse archers, but they won't often take on Spearmen or UM. Because the Mongol warriors don't know when to stand their ground and fight they get mopped up with ease by a half decent cavalry charge.

I love the entire gothic unit line, excellent units, especially the foot knights.

Boyars and CFK are good to, and I definitly love the Janissaries, main reason I play as the Turks! I had a test battle with fully upgraded GFK versus JHI, and the JHI won by a long shot.

My faves:

1) Druzhina Cavalry - dismount them for foot knights with 50% more numbers - very handy in Early games

2) AUM - the heart of any Almohad army

3) Welsh bandits - I've never really mastered the art of concealment, but their longbows and mobility can make mincemeat of an army of Huscarles and Jomsvikings - no mean feat

4) Chivalric Knights - dismount 'em for resolute infantrymen, or mount 'em up for shock troops and pursuit. Teamed up with longbowmen (and maybe a few bills) this is the English army of choice.

Since I usually play with Russians or Byzantine in MTW, my favorite units are:


1. Kataphraktoi
2. Alon P... Cavalry
3. Byzantine Cavalry
4. Boyars
5. Varangarian Guards

I'll add Latin Auxillaries, Billmen and Teutonic Sergeants to my list.

Billmen for quite obvious, they are awesome.

Latin Auxillaries mostly because...er...they just appear generally cool to me.

Teutonic Sergeants: the best mop-up cavalry in the game.

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Originally Posted by YourLordandConqueror

I love the entire gothic unit line, excellent units, especially the foot knights.

Boyars and CFK are good to, and I definitly love the Janissaries, main reason I play as the Turks! I had a test battle with fully upgraded GFK versus JHI, and the JHI won by a long shot.

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Really? I did a test run of GFK vs JHI, both with +3 armor and +1 valor, on a flat landscape, and for me, the GFK won, though with fairly heavy casualties. What terrain did you use? I had a european terrain, so I guess the GFK wouldn't get as tired in all that armor as opposed to desert.

Arid, although I thought it wouldn't matter. The terrian was flat, so as not to provide any bonuses that would suddenly tip the scales. I tried again, and the GFK won. Unsure, I repeated the "test" 3 more times, and with no seemingly inherent reason to who won the battle (BTW, GFK 3, JHI 2):laugh4:

I dunno about VI, but in XL, Cuman Heavy Cavalry definitely takes the cake. CHC's equivalent to Mongol Cavalry, superior to anything up to and including Chivalric Knights, decently low tech, available in early, a batch with every prince and utterly unstoppable in early. They also turn lead to gold and deplete the ozone layer. I'd say practically UNBALANCEDLY powerful. :2thumbsup:

Having taken a look at the stats for Cuman Heavy cavalry and Mongol Heavy Cavalry, the Mongol is just a bit better, but considering that the Cuman heavies are available quite early, and their upkeep is comparatively low, I agree that they are an overpowered unit, whih compensates for the lack of decent spears. There should have been a Cuman Horse Archer unit in XL though.

Horses for courses really, but a few faves for different reasons:

* swiss halbs - eat horses and armoured units for breakfast, and are faster and higher morale than bog standard halbs
* in XL I really learnt to love the bashkorts (Volga Bulgarian infantry, spears with throwing spears thrown in)
* in PMTW Polish Winged Hussars have to be the sexiest unit on the battle field, just a great graphic! But for use, I like the Ukrainian zapor.... oh, damn forgot how to spell it! And the Atli tartarlar HAs.
* in HTW Scythian light cav (I too have bit of a horse archer fetish :beam: )

ah, there are so many....

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Originally Posted by Kavhan Isbul

Having taken a look at the stats for Cuman Heavy cavalry and Mongol Heavy Cavalry, the Mongol is just a bit better, but considering that the Cuman heavies are available quite early, and their upkeep is comparatively low, I agree that they are an overpowered unit, whih compensates for the lack of decent spears. There should have been a Cuman Horse Archer unit in XL though.

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Really? They both show up as 8/4/5/7/8 for me.

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Originally Posted by Maloncanth

Really? They both show up as 8/4/5/7/8 for me.

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I could be wrong - I will check this when I get a chance.

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Originally Posted by Caravel

Unfortunately a fantasy unit. The "Fianna" are mythological warriors, and "Fianna Éireann" are a 20th century Irish Republican movement. The Huscarle troop type are also historically inaccurate for the period and culture. The Gaill-Gaedhils (or whatever they're called in the game) are similarly fantasy inspired, as are the similar Berserksgangr units in the Viking campaign. The Gaill-Gaedhil appeared to have been the mixed race Irish-Norse, Norse immigrants or those that converted back to paganism collectively.

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Whilst there are very few historical accounts of Berserker gangs/warbands, and most of these are from sagas, I disagree that they are fantasy inspired. After all, they were officially outlawed by Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway in 1015.

Which brings me to my faves:

- Berserkers
- Ghazi
- Nizaris

If you think that beserker units (who use their berserkergangr 'ability') are fantasy, you really need to check up on your history.

Jomsvikings were, however, fantasy :dizzy2:

Chivalric foot knights, Cuman heavy cav, Teutonic Knights, Polish Retainers and Lithuanian Infantry are my favourites.

Yours,


Vytautas LT

Steppe Heavy Cavalry and Serpentine. Anyone who takes one of the eastern map edge provinces can tech up to SHC and I believe serpentine are available to any faction. SHC are a hybrid HA and heavy cav that do both well. Eight serpentine on defense can ruin an invading army and they have lots of ammo to go boom with!

Janissary Heavy Infantry above all.
They are fast, faster than Swiss Halberdiers, have a devastating attack bonus (5), are good against cavalry as against other heavy infantry thanks to their armor piercing bonus and, last,
they're disciplined so that, even matching superior enemy, they won't break the line.
Unfortunately they can only be trained where is the military academy that is where
has been built the Grand Mosque; but if I can accept that Mosque was one, I don't think the
Ottoman had one only war academy, for this reason I usually mod the building conditions
of the militar academy to allow training of JHI in more than one province.

Cheers

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- Nizaris

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I think that adding the "Hashisini" unit as it is was a bit off the mark, just copying the ninjas from Shogun. Nizari footsoldiers should have been enough to represent the sect's presence, and the Hashisini should have been a special sort of muslim assasin. One that, for instance, was immune to border forts and died only upon trying a mission, either with success or failure.

The "Hashishin" and Nizaris in the game are an attempt to represent the Fedayeen Militia of Hassan bin Sabbah, followers of the Nizari Islamist sect. They should not really be trainable by any of the Muslim factions (or any factions) as they entirely opposed them all.

(Indeed. Much like the cathars, really, with a murderous bent. But if bent making them playable, I would have made them a sort of "improved assasin". Then again, the syrian bonus does cover that)
(PD: Certainly the Seljulks should NOT be able to build them, as they hated them with a vengeance. The Egyptians could be argued to be in more lukewarm terms, if only because they aren't the Seljulks)

From XL anything with Voynuk in the name.

Royal Knights. They kill and kill and kill. I like to keep at least 2 units in every army. I hold them as my reserve and throw them in as needed. I play with the huge unit sizes so my knights are always out numbered.

Some of my armies are 8 RK, 4 spear units, 2 archers, 2 light horse. I sometimes spread these 8 RK units out in a long single file line and charge. Even in the teeth of spear units this charge often breaks the enemy front. If it doesn't I withdraw and my spears plug into the line while whats left of my knights regroup.

My favs units are Jinettes, Royal Knights and Italian Infantry - in early
Then I like Chivalric Knights and Janisary heavy - high and late
I don't like to much canons as long as in close combat range are unusefull. In defence a combo of serpentine and balistas will perform better

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Originally Posted by cosminus

In defence a combo of serpentine and balistas will perform better

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Please forgive my disbelief, but you actually find ballista useful? :inquisitive: How is that?

Perhaps he's getting confused between ballistas and catapults? :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Martok

Please forgive my disbelief, but you actually find ballista useful? :inquisitive: How is that?

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My apologies, :oops: it is about catapults not ballistas. I never using ballistas.

Hey, no apologies are necessary. If you'd found a way to make ballistas useful, I assure you I would've been all ears. :bow:

My favourite units are:
1)longbows: nice armour piercing arrows with good morale and a nice armour piercing attack, their defence is very low, but tis can be fixed with armour and flanking. Use their arrows first to crush the enemy and then charge to finish them off!
2) Highland warriors: Easy to get, armoured, armour piercing, high attack and good morale, their only problem is that you can only get them in scotland, can get outdated due to the fact that the scots dont get any better in the late period. My favourite tactic with the scots is to use these guys to lead the charge, and then flank with highland clansmen.
3)Szelsky: Easy to get, fast and tough horse archers, very versatile, they stay usefull throughout the whole campaign. You can use these horse archers to atttack and reatreat, give your units some misile support once they are engaged, kill enemy archers and javelins and attack from the rear, they are probably they are easily among the best units in the game
4)Billmen: Nice and tough infantry with polearms, they can kill most infantry and cavalry quite easily, you can rely on them to hold against the enemy while you flank.
5)Lithuanian Cavalry: Cheap armoured cavalry with decnt stats and easy to get, in XL of course, they tend to get outdated though, as most other lithuanian units