Spoilt for spears

[Tony Furze]

In my present campaign Egypt / GA / Hard/ Early I ve come across that bugbear of mine-too many choices.

Just how do you choose between 4 types of spearman?

Muwahid Foot
Arab Infantry
Saracen Infantry
Nubian Spears

Do you actually use all of them in one army? Or for different purposes?

[seireikhaan]

Well, for the most part, these troops are dependent the scenarios you're in, but each has some use.

Arab Infantry aren't spears, and are more like ghazi infantry, but w/out the armor piercing bonus, and a little better defense. However, I prefer to instead go with ghazis, as both are essentially pure flankers, but ghazis do it better(although you might have to replace them more often, due to casualties).

Muwahid Foot Soldiers are a jack of all trades spear; they're quick, have a very good charge, decent attack, low armor(which is very helpful for desert combat), a large shield, and can ably hold off most cavalry at least for a while. They don't necessarily do any one thing really well, but they can do a lot of things pretty well, be it flanking, filling in a hole in the line, or taking a cavalry charge. Hence, keeping about 2-4 of them in a lineup is always a good idea, imo.

Saracen infantry are a very good, pure spear unit. Very good defense, a decent amount of armor, 100 guys. Main problem with them is morale, but that's why they should be forming the middle block of your army. Very tough to dislodge, so long as their morale holds up, and so keeping about 4 of these guys in a muslim lineup is almost necessary, except perhaps in hot deserts.

Nubian spears are okay, similar to feudal seargents, though I believe they may have a little less armor. Good to have early on for desert combat, but after that, they are rendered pretty much impotent by Saracens and Muwahids. I wouldn't use them long after the first 30 turns or so.

[Martok]

I agree with most of makaikhaan's assessment. But since I can't resist adding my own two cents ( ), here are my thoughts....


Nubian Spearmen: While they're slightly superior to the vanilla spearmen fielded by other factions, they're still the Eggies' "basic" spear unit and will become relatively obsolete before long. Once you're able to train Saracen Infantry in significant numbers, there's no real reason to continue recruiting Nubians for anything other than garrison duty.

Arab Infantry: Basically, they're the "poor man's" version of Ghazi Infantry, and (to be honest) are therefore somewhat redundant. Their training costs and build requirements are lower than that of Ghazis, however, so it can still be worthwhile to at least have a few of these guys around.

Saracen Infantry: These are the Eggies' primary spear unit, and should always form the center of your armies (especially in defensive battles). Their abilities are roughly equivalent to that of Feudal/Chivalric Sergeants, and can generally be relied upon to give a good account of themselves in combat. Their main weakness is their morale, so do everything you can to keep them from being flanked.

Muwahids: I love these guys -- any list of my top 5 units in MTW has to include them! With solid speed, morale, charge, & attack/defense stats, they're good against most unit types and can fill a variety of roles on the battlefield. As makaikhaan indicated, they're an excellent "utility" unit, and every Egyptian/Fatamid army should include at least a couple companies of these fine troops.

[Raz]

Muwahids are your best choice, along with Saracen Infantry a very close second. Muwahids are lightly armoured but very quick on their feet and have excellent morale, they can also pack a bit of a sting as they're a touch more aggressive. Saracen Infantry are heavier and much more defensive, like Martok has said, they're main issue is their morale.

[Vladimir]

Muwahids are your best choice, along with Saracen Infantry a very close second. Muwahids are lightly armoured but very quick on their feet and have excellent morale, they can also pack a bit of a sting as they're a touch more aggressive. Saracen Infantry are heavier and much more defensive, like Martok has said, they're main issue is their morale.

I've used Saracens to take bridges but have had nightmares about Muwahadis. I like the latter as a sort of elite rear guard; plugging holes and doing generally evil things with them. Their smaller size is an advantage in certain situations.

Where I used to work there was a guy who went to the same as me gym that reminded me of them: Dark skin, black/north african features, in better shape than I was. I felt so bad because he must have misunderstood why I looked at him with a sense of fear. Very rude on my part.

[bondovic]

Nubians: Can do main body as well as flank protection. Worse than Saracens at the main body bit, but superior to them at the flank protection bit because of higher morale and no armour (meaning they don't tire as fast in the desert). Regarding their main body capabilities they're, basically, saved by the fact that they're disciplined. They'll take more casualties than Saracens, but that's "ok" because of the disciplined status. Imo - a solid unit for reinforcements, since they can cover every spear role.

Muwahids: Better stat-wise than Nubians barring the fact that they're not disciplined. Also - 60 men/unit as opposed to Nubians 100/unit. This means that they don't cover enough ground to go main body (not for this general anyhow) but make for excellent flank cover and pinning units.

Saracens: Exactly as Chivalric Sergeants stat-wise. Worse morale than the previous two units but way higher defense. Armour means they're not to be running around the desert = main body duty only. At this they're very good. With flanks protected and a high star general close by they'll hold the line against most units. Heavily armoured catholics will be tired when fighting them and other muslim units are simply not strong enough to rock them.

I think the nubians got more heat than they deserve. Granted, they're not ideal for any role, but capable. And the fact that they are is enough for me to use them as reinforcements, since it's sometimes difficult to anticipate what units should be placed where in the reinforcements que. Also since they perform in every role, they are useful in that you can limit your army size accordingly.

Otherwise it's kinda straight forward. On defense (in desert) main body is Saracens with Muwahid flanks. On offense (in desert) it's main body Nubians and Muwahid flanks. In more allowing climates just go for Saracens and Muwahids all the way.

[Tony Furze]

Thanks for all the detailed replies!

[Roark]

Muwahids are for attack

Saracens are for defence

Nubians are for really bad economic managers or garrisons for unthreatened provinces.