Thanks for all the comments and suggestions .

Maybe I should have said in my original post I am talking about English Early - currently at 1140 AD. So no arbalesters, no crossbows, no mounted archers, no longbows (except the excellent remainder of the 3 bribed units from Wales), no Billmen, no heavy cavalry but plenty of plain Archers, Spears, Fyrdmen, Highland Clansmen, Hobilars, Mounted Sergeants, Feudal Men at Arms and yes, my forces are usually well balanced.

I am not a fan of very large battles but I often find the situation where the AI keeps retreating its forces until they are all concentrated in the remaining 1 or 2 Provinces where you end up fighting large battles. This is even when I am attacking the initial Provinces with considerably less than equal forces. For example, I just attacked Hungary, 3 Provinces in 1 turn with less than than equal forces for each and they all retreat to the final and last Province meaning they have about 3,000 troops concentrated there so you cannot avoid a large battle.

Interestingly when I did this, I get a message from the Pope telling me our Treaty has been cancelled - as expected and I'm waiting for my 2 Year Warning. Funny thing was on reading the message closer, he had cancelled his treaty with the Hungarians and keeping his alliance with me lol ! At last he knows which side his bread is buttered !

As I said originally, I do not have a problem with my spears or swords being decimated by the enemy. They never seem to let me down. Also, I can usually get the initial enemy units routed without too much trouble with my archers, spears and swords and the odd Hobilar/Mounted Sargeant flank charge. It is the fact the archers use all their arrows and then the length of time it takes to get new archer units onto the field and into battle for which I was trying to find the best solution.

So I'll definitely have to try the "enemy reinforcement funnel" tactic and slaughter the enemy reinforcements as they enter the map and before they realise what is happening. Thanks for that suggestion .

Tomcat