Best archer units to have for AS?...also Thorakitai do seem some what vunerable

[Conan]

Hi guys,

After a break from EB for a while I'm slowly getting back into it playing AS.

This time round playing I've found out about using Alt-Click when using Heavy Cavalry... Bodyguard do seem to kill quicker with their swords.

So my question is which archer units do peeps recommend to recruit as AS?

Persian archer are cheap, have good range but seem fragile....

Caucasian Archers again decent range, very good attack power, but fragile....

Kretan Archers decent all rounders really...

Syrian Archers very good armour and defense against range attacks but 10 less ammo than Kretans....

So can the forum suggest which archers are best recruiting?

Also my Thorakitai do seem to die quickly when in combat... even against rebel persian archers... could I be using them wrong? They do seem resistant to archer fire however :-)

Edit: Heavy persian archers worth getting?

[Captain Jazzy]

Syrians are rubbish archers although they do absorb arrows..... If you can get the Bosphoran heavy archers do so because they are still good archers while able to take a great deal of punishment. I would recomend getting kretans in the west and Bosphorans in the east (although getting them there is fairly tricky). If you cant be bothered with Bosphorans just get lots of steppe archers (for range) and some eastern slingers (To deal with armoured HA's). Also The persian archer-spearmen are pretty good as eastern garrison troop because they are common, cheap, decent archers and can kill cav in melee.

[antisocialmunky]

Persian Heavy archers are good archers for missile duels(low end of the heavy archers). Caucasian archers are good cheap archers and so are the Saka/Subeshi/Persian ones. I never liked Arcehr-Spearmen but I imagine that they are decent too.

[Unintended BM]

Those Persian Archer-Spearmen are probably my favorite unit out that way. I always make heavy use of them against horse archers. Just about all the archers in the east are really good. Persian archers seem like the most common variant, so I always seem to use those the most, but I think Caucasian archers are slightly better, in my experience. For all I know though, they could have the exact same stats.

[ziegenpeter]

I guess statwise, the caucasians do have the highest attack

[Apázlinemjó]

I guess statwise, the caucasians do have the highest attack

Yeah, though their lack of armour makes them easy targets against heavy archers, like Cretans or Bosphorans.

[Cambyses]

Hi guys,

After a break from EB for a while I'm slowly getting back into it playing AS.

This time round playing I've found out about using Alt-Click when using Heavy Cavalry... Bodyguard do seem to kill quicker with their swords.

So my question is which archer units do peeps recommend to recruit as AS?

Persian archer are cheap, have good range but seem fragile....

Caucasian Archers again decent range, very good attack power, but fragile....

Kretan Archers decent all rounders really...

Syrian Archers very good armour and defense against range attacks but 10 less ammo than Kretans....

So can the forum suggest which archers are best recruiting?

Also my Thorakitai do seem to die quickly when in combat... even against rebel persian archers... could I be using them wrong? They do seem resistant to archer fire however :-)

Edit: Heavy persian archers worth getting?

I generally go for the ones which are easiest to get to the front lines. Of course it depends on who you are fighting which ones are probably best. Out east and north the archer/spearmen are incredibly useful. Persian archers are generally rubbish at staying alive, but on the plus side their attack is just fine, they have a large AOR and will save the lives of more valuable troops by standing in losoe formation in front of the rest of your amy. They are therefore dependable fodder. Syrians are also pretty good in this role while your empire is still relatively small.

I cant see the point of using any troop that takes more than 18 months to get from purchase point to the front lines. Unless they are unique and truly irreplaceable. And to be honest for essential units like archers I would prefer not to go beyond 9 months travel time. Every turn the Cretans or Bosphorans are travelling they are costing you money and not doing anything useful. How many units of Persians could you have trained and used in that time for that cost?

What difficulty where you playing at for the Thorakitai to suffer so? They are one of those units that should fight as much as possible in guard mode IMO. But again, they are relatively cheap and a reasonable AOR. Let them die, its their job.