Favourite Unit Type

[Rhyfelwyr]

What is your single favourite type of unit? While I try to be diverse and roleplay for whatever faction I am, I do have some favourite fighting styles. As the Turks, I got my first taste of all cavalry armies and loved spamming Turkomans with a few Sipahis. As Sicily, my Norman Knights rolled over anything in front of them. As Venice, I would shoot enemies down with my Xbows, safe just in front of my Spear Militia shiltrons.

But my favourite type of unit has to be mounted crossbows. Most Christian teams get these guys at a top level stable, but as Poland they poured out of my Motte and Baileys. Strzelcy make General's Bodyguards look as useful as peasants, there is no stopping them! Save with Camel Gunners I suppose...

EDIT: No mounted gunners in the poll since they would win too easily.

[_Tristan_]

I'm partial to heavy cav myself, though it will get pwned in some situations...

Can't help it...

Add some light cav and a weebit mix of melee and missile inf and I'm in heaven...

[PBI]

I'm partial to a good, solid line of pikemen personally. The epitome of teamwork overcoming adversity. It breaks my heart that they are so feeble in this game, they should make cavalry all but obsolete. Ah well, I suppose they had their day in RTW.

I do also like a good explosion though, so for me gunners would be second. And there seems to be no option for artillery.

[Ramses II CP]

I voted mounted crossbowmen as well. High utility troops, multipurpose, and long lasting in the field, they're also usually pretty cheap on upkeep.

[MerlinusCDXX]

I'm partial to heavy inf, they end up being my main workhorse.

more specifically, my favorite troop type is AP infantry (axe/macemen). combined with good line inf and cavalry support they shall pwn all.

[Eikon the Magistrate]

It would differ faction to faction, though some units like spearmen are cross-faction in construction and use. A favorite unit for me would be one that gives and receives punishment well. To that end heavy cavalry seems to work well and cav in general is that only thing that I fear as a gunpowder elitest. Therefore,the nemesis heavy cavalry is my vote.

2nd melee infantry

3rd archers

Obviously gunpowder troops are my ultimate favorite...but its not even fair to put them in the list with the rest of em since the only thing that kills em is more gunpowder or cav

Should be Early/Late period lists... the early with all the above selections and the late with only gunpowder heavy cav and artillery

[Mek Simmur al Ragaski]

For me it has to melee infantry, it fills you with satisfaction to know that 400 dismounted feudal knights just slaughtered 800 spearmen.....

[Monsieur Alphonse]

1. Longbows. Just a row of stakes with some longbows and killing the enemy from a distance.
2. Horse archers. Light or medium cavalry moving around the battlefield.
3. heavy cavalry or infantry. Heavy charge and crunching the enemy during mêlée.

[Quintus.JC]

I voted for melee infantry because they're generally well-rounded. Dismounted Knights carrying sword can slash enemies apart. Dismounted Knights with PoleAxe have AP ability and will make it a hard time for even cavalry. Mace carry knights have advantages against other heavily armoured troops. Also Specialist such as Zweihanders and Forlon Hope and be used to break up pikemen formation. Other effective units include heavy Billmen and

[CynicalP]

For some reason I cannot vote in the poll, but I am fan of ranged attacks so definately it is fires a missle I'm adding tons of them in my army. Since the Longbowmen, Yoemen have stakes to counter cavalry they are my favorites ranged units in the game followed by mounted archers/crossbowmen.

[ataribaby]

Yeah, archers all the way for me. I love longbows and I suppose Yeomen Archers are the best value/availability even if they do look a bit noncey when they're given light mail (your bog standard longbowmen unit looks better when armoured).

I love the fact they carry those mauls/mallets for banging in their stakes and which double up as a fine AP melee weapon. Retinues have swords unfortunately.

I used to love Genoese Crossbow Militia until I found out standard Longbowmen could anihilate them in a shootout because of their rapid fire rate.

Honourable mentions for Venetian Heavy Infantry and Armoured Sergeants.

[Lamprey]

I voted archers as well. It's cheesy, but I just love to watch an enemy unit get nailed by a volley from 10 units of yoman archers. I'll have the yomans hold fire until the enemy is in range of all of them, then fire.

You have this mighty unit of armoured spearmen charging you, then a volley. The next thing you see if a mass of bodies and the survivors standing there, no longer charging, looking around. You just *know* what they're thinking... "&*@^#!!!! We'll never make it if we keep charging and they'll still hit us if we try to run. Mommy!!!"

[Pater Familias]

The poll omitted artillery. I like things that go BANG in the night. Or day. Cannons, ballistas, catapults: all good. But the cow-tossin' trebuchet ... now that will take the starch out of an acre or so of nasty little people with spears in a hurry. Get them milling around and puking, then drop burning rocks and arrows on their heads.

That's what I think of when I hear "I'm gonna get medieval on yo' a**."

Failing artillery, archers. I see no sense letting the other guy get close enough to hit you if you can avoid it.

[phonicsmonkey]

I'm a sucker for horse archers.....there's nothing better than surrounding a bunch of stupid infantry with your horde of fast moving missile cavalry and pinning them to the floor with showers of pointy death

[PrestigeX]

i chose pikemen, because despite what everyone on this site seems to think.. I feel they're wicked for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, they're CHEAP
secondly, they can KILL horses
thirdly, they are an essential component of a Combined Arms approach..

Pikemen
Archers/Gunmen
possibly Artillery
and
Cavalry

I don't understand why everyone keeps saying pikemen are not good in this game.

[Eikon the Magistrate]

Its not really that pikemen are "bad" just a 'lil overshadowed by the passage of time. A pike unit wont win a 1 on 1 with most other equivalent units,(except cav) and for the most part requires an attack on itself to show its true value which is and has always been defensive.

I used to field mass spear/pike armies until I lost some battles where they were slaughtered nearly to a man.Now I too use them in a combined arms approach but they are now the specialists not the front line, whereas it used to be the other way around. The spearman/pikeman is still my most commonly trained unit however, due to their larger unit size and defensive nature they are superb garrison troops. (I thoroughly dislike all town militias) so 90% of the time they are the caretakers of the empire.

The pike and the spear are still part of my answer to the Timurids tho..a wall has its uses.

[Monk]

Horse Archers! Give me a stack of HA and i'll give you an empire.

[WhiskeyGhost]

melee infantry. Can't win a war without em (or at least not one with some bad-ass epic battles). I also like it when they actually perform a charge too (instead of sending poor charles out by himself first).

[Henry707]

Mine is heavy infantry.

Sure I love archers, horsies are amazing, heavy cav look great - but at the end of the day war has not changed that much.

You still need some poor S*&$$"* to clear out buildings, towns, castles, forts etc

That's way I vote for infantry - it's naff job but you always need 'em.

Henri

[Fulliautomatix]

For me, for the most fun and satisfaction during a battle, it's the horse archer. It's like a ballet: spreading out your cavalry archers, using your horsies to encircle the AI's units; then getting close enough to fire, taunting the enemy cavalry, then retreating, goading the enemy formations to chase you, forcing their formation to break apart and scatter .... then slowly circling the separated units and using your remaining arrows on whittling down the better of the AI's units, sparing their weaker units until your final, inevitable charge.... all the while you are doing your best to avoid the arrows of any of the AI's foot archers...

Ah, it brings a tear to my eye, it's just so beautiful a dance...

[G^2]

Can't vote (jr. member) but Heavy Calvary. Love to see that unit of only 20 or 30 Knights of St. John or Ritterbruder take out a 60 man unit of infantry then turn around and do it again. The animation of seeing those little men fly in the air makes me chuckle every time. I love to break holes in the enemies line with heavy calvary charges followed by medium and heavy melee infantry to wipe out the enemy.

2nd favorite, pikemen. For all the reasons stated earlier, just a group of poor, highly motivated infantry that specializes in taking out their economic betters. I wish they worked better in the game though.