Quote Originally Posted by Zorn
I would be better off by deploying a unit or two of hastati instead. I woud have a stronger battle line, and could still throw javelins.
Amen to that. In the rare occasion where I've played the Romans, I put a line of hastati behind a long, thin line of triariai as an anti-cavalry unit. The thin line maximizes the spear unit's charge bonus, the javelins kill some more, and the final charge by the hastati finishes them off.


Being an old school AOK/AOM player, I tried skirmishers as a anti-archer unit. The results were discouraging, to say the least. They were torn into pieces before they could even close in to be in range. And even if they made it, they ran out of ammunition before they can inflict real damage.
No argument there.

I like slingers, which can "shoot and scoot" much better than archers. They are also faster, which means they can get behind a melee unit more quickly.

Granted, any missile unit is more effective from behind, but this seems particularly true in R:TW. The shield is everything for some infantry, especially spears.

Oddly, I've found skirmishers strangely effective in sieges. If there's a small number of defenders, they don't want to get away from the central plaza. Two slinger units, for instance, one killed a whole unit of Egyptian cavalry that didn't want to leave the square.