Flaming or not?

**Marduk** · 03-25-2009, 18:03

flaming missiles scare troops and you can light up siege equipment with them ... (and they are probably less accurate??)

I kinda use them rarely

**Prussian to the Iron** · 03-25-2009, 18:06

so is one better at killing troops then the other?

**johnhughthom** · 03-25-2009, 18:10

Flaming arrows reduce enemy morale but are less accurate, hence killer fewer men.

**Marduk** · 03-25-2009, 18:15

you probably want to use the normal arrows first to reduce a unit and then help routing it with the flaming ones... or something like that ;)

**Prussian to the Iron** · 03-25-2009, 18:21

oooooohhh.....well that explains why i havent been doing so hot......wow. i also noticed that non-flaming arrows fire about 1.5 times as frequently. so for every 2 flaming arrows you volley, you can fire 3 non-flaming.

ok, so now im gonna go pwn some epirote/gallic noobs with my new 1337 tactics.

**johnhughthom** · 03-25-2009, 18:25

Yeah they are probably something to save until a unit has been depleted and likely to rout.
I have no idea how effective they are, my Roman armies have no use for them-they prefer the enemy to stand and fight as long as possible so they can kill more. My Pahlav armies haven't managed to find a way to light arrows on horseback. It's probably some cowardly Greek thing...

**Prussian to the Iron** · 03-25-2009, 18:36

that would be an awesome ability: flaming horseback arrows. oh god im about to squeal like a little girl in orgasmic delight!

oh hey, you know what would be an awesome special ability for another rome or medieval? strafing. so rather than letting your missile cavalry go in a circle, they would get in a straight line, however many ranks deep or thic or whatever you want, and then just strafe up and down a unit until commanded otherwise. epic. win.

**Ludens** · 03-25-2009, 19:06

Originally Posted by Marduk

flaming missiles scare troops and you can light up siege equipment with them ... (and they are probably less accurate??)

They are recommended against units that can run amok (elephants, scythed chariots), because the fear penalty will cause them to run amok sooner. However, the first few rounds should probably be normal arrows, as you do need to kill a few before morale becomes low enough that the flaming arrows can trigger amok.

There is also a persistent myth that flaming arrows are better against non-scythed (i.e. Celtic) chariots. This is not true: these have high morale and cannot run amok, so you better use normal arrows against them unless they are very close to routing.