The Ultimate Battle Turning Unit

[Cute Wolf]

Means what unit that you usually use for ending a battle effectively (such as giving a fatal blow to enemy line, causing massive routs)... I myself prefer to send the Gaesahtae or Tidanotae to give them a final blows..... it made the enemies fled rather quickly... especially after tiresome fights...

[vartan]

Cataphract charges...what? I'm only Armenian! haha!

[Raygereio]

I don't use elephants ever, so that's out.
So far I've only played eastern factions seriously, so for me infantry is used to either pin the enemy down with their sarissas or sword/shields or soften them up with arrows, stones, javelins.
But cavalry (especially the cataphracts) is my enemy-go-smash! units.

[Apázlinemjó]

Fire rain by archers

[Zett]

No Cataphracts, but heavy cavalery is my favourite battleturning unit. The moment of impact and then the mass rout...I love it.

Ceterum censeo Romam esse delendam

[Banzai!]

Where is the scythed chariot option?????

[seienchin]

HAHAHAH Cool Pictures of the chariots ^^.
How do you manage to kill anyone?? My skythed chariots only throw them into the air and never kill anybody, except when they are routing....
My favourite are the Elephants, cause they can turn around everything.

[chenkai11]

Banzai!, did you changed the stats of your chariots?

[Elcmar]

Picked Cataphracts, but usually any heavy cavalry charge into the back of a tired enemy works - especially when they've been pinned down by sarrisae (sp) for ages, even medium cav can do the job too

[HunGeneral]

Cataphract charges above all. - Since I mostly play with nomads + AS but I like heavy cavalry charges for all factions (I always try to get Brihenten or any heavy horsemen for the romans).

Its very dramatic how a whole army can brake from a charge of 2-3 units of heavy cavalry.

I like tindanotte/geasetae a lot aswell but I haven't used them so much.

[Cute Wolf]

ouw, personally, I also use cataphract / HC charges, but in my opinion, routing them with "frightening" unit is much more the Ultimate weapon.... I use cataphract charges usually to soften the flanks before the line clash... but that's just a style of fight...

And a line full of Gaesatae will make a scythed chariot unit instantly flee....
I didn't add the chariots because it's included in the cataphract / HC type...

[the man with no name]

I like any heavy cav so i'll just say cataphracts.

[Silence Hunter]

Heavy cavalry for me. Just love seeing hetairoi charge the backs of doomed enemy forces. makes me feel warm and good inside

[Maion Maroneios]

Nothing can match Elephants in causing masive chain routs. I mean, pin the enemy down with your phalanx, and sweep parallel to your sarrisae with your elephants. If they don't immediately die, they will do so very soon for sure.

Maion

[Fluvius Camillus]

Awesome pic Banzai!

Another way to make awesome pics is by playing vanilla. You as Carthage or the Seleucid Empire with Armoured Elephants vs. the Roman Incendiary pigs, both 20 units of them. If the Animals run amok, it gets even more fun. You get nice pics of elephants "playing (pig)soccer".

I voted Cataphracts, awesome if you charge a bunch of lance cavalry in the back!

[Ca Putt]

ultimately Naked dudes but most of the time i simply use ranged cavalary whithout any arrows left for the final blow :D sounds crappy but it works :D

[Maion Maroneios]

Obviously not many people have actually used elephants, it seems. Really the chaos those beasts cause can seriously not be compared to any of the other options in the poll. And don't give me the "elephants die like flies with javelins" or "rout easily with fire" crap, because all other options have their weaknesses

Maion

[lenin96]

I prefer to spam units that are cheap but effective supported by some stronger troops and missile units. It all depends on how much money I can spare.

[Fluvius Camillus]

Obviously not many people have actually used elephants, it seems. Really the chaos those beasts cause can seriously not be compared to any of the other options in the poll. And don't give me the "elephants die like flies with javelins" or "rout easily with fire" crap, because all other options have their weaknesses

Maion

I am an expert of charging elephants in the back I had my Elephants from Pyrrhos (starting as unit of 18) still when I was fighting the Seleukids near the Caspian Sea, there were 9 left then (so less archers). They open the gates for you and inflict mass rout, sadly they are hard to come by.

Heavy lance cavalry is a lot more common and usually also does the job.

[/Bean\]

Practically anything big and/or heavy smashing into your back at speed is not going to do wonders for your morale, so I think ele's or cavalry will always win my vote. Anything 'frightening' also works to make the enemy morale drop faster, but it's not really a final blow, so, for this particular poll, those units don't get my vote.

[Mediolanicus]

Casse Chariots!!!

Used well they mop up half an engaged army easily, all you have to do is hold the line for a few minutes, even if you are outnumbered 3 to 1.

[machinor]

Cataphract Elephants.

They're heavy cavalry and frightening superarmoured shock troops all combined into one giant biomass of BADASS!

[Fluvius Camillus]

Casse Chariots!!!

Used well they mop up half an engaged army easily, all you have to do is hold the line for a few minutes, even if you are outnumbered 3 to 1.

Rather Pontic/Seleucid Chariots then, nice scythes!

Always love when these things crash into unsuspecting AI units, they flie into the air, lose formation and rout, also nice to shred light cavalry.

[Ignopotens]

Drapanai and Rhomphaiaphoroi charges to the enemy rear pretty much end anyone's day.

[Vasiliyi]

elephants, definatly. I love waiting paitently for the enemy to get tired against my line and then sending those awesome beasts do their work. Ive never had them run amok yet, and halfway through your battle most if not all of the enemy skirmishers used their javelins. So elephants have my vote.

[Iskander 3.1]

PedEx FTW!!!11!1

[DaciaJC]

Drapanai and Rhomphaiaphoroi charges to the enemy rear pretty much end anyone's day.

Indeed, I'm surprised that these two didn't get their own option. Thraikioi Peltastai are also good in that role.

[mountaingoat]

usually charge with whatever is remaining , so i picked the levy option :P

[Ghaust the Moor]

I'm gonna vote Catapracts. They are the best when used to annihilate (spelling?) heavy infantry, when the've been stuck on a phalanx. Normaly I would vote Elephants but I am a little reckless with them, and I ussually charge them at the first unit waiting on the other side of the gate when attacking a city. That unit, more often than not, Is peltasts sooooo bye-bye elephants. I tend to think my elephants are invincible...yeah...not so.

[Zim]

I picked elephants since out of the choices they were the one where having even a single unit of them on my side has a massive effect on the battle.

But for the unit I use most often it would probably be medium cavalry. Generally faster than heavy cav and with better stamina(and I suspect cataphracts, although I don't have the experience to back that up), I find them much more useful for repeated charges to break an enemy.