Quote Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] (Chimpyang @ July 20 2004,17:10)]As for the Vang guard, they're tough nuts to crack, but using armoured units is the worst thing to do.
In general, using armored units to deal with armor-piercing attackers is not the worst thing to do... As the armor goes up, so does the defense, whereas the armor piercing attack goes up only a fraction of a point for each extra armor point.

To explain: a +4 golden armor feudal man at arms has +4 defense whereas a varangian guard will have only +2 attack against the more armored feudal swordsman - thus, the feudal man at arms with no extra armor will actually fare worse against a unit like varangian guard than the higher armor version of the same unit.

The situation is a bit different for the 'generic armor' of the units. Since, in this case, high armor is not always matched by extra defense. An example could be halberdiers who have super-high starting armor with no matching defense stats.

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As to byzantines: their key strength usually lies with high-star generals. Variangian guards have good stats but nothing breath taking unless coupled with a 9 star general with virtues that boost morale... My tactic in dealing with byzantines: load up on missiles. Even vanilla archers when in high numbers (6 units and more) on a hill slope can take out an approaching kata general in a few volleys. Once the stat-boosting general is gone, byzantines are highly likely to rout even if charged by slav warriors (byzantine infantry has very low morale to start with).

As to varangians: I shoot them down the same way as the kata generals.