Tactics Style

[Kommodus]

Once the high era comes, halberds+arbs are the shit. I place the halberds in a line close behind the arbs. It works this way: if they don't want to engage halberds, they get shot up by arbs. If they attack the arbs, the halberds charge and I have never seen them lose a frontal engagement with any reasonable commander.

I agree. Halberdiers may have low charge and attack ratings, but their armor and defense ratings are so high that they will take very few losses while they methodically chew through whatever they're fighting. Their armor-piercing bonus also means that they will actually inflict significant losses quite quickly on most of their enemies, since they usually end up facing armored troops. Their low morale is not really that much of a problem, since as already stated, they easily win most fights without taking many losses, so the only serious blow to their morale will be if they are flanked, isolated, or surrounded.

Of course, they would have trouble against a mostly-elite army (for example, an army made up of mostly VG or JHI). Those elite troops could surely destroy halberdiers, with their ultra-high combat stats and indomitable morale. But any army would have trouble against such a foe, and you never face armies like that against the AI. Halberdiers are also inexpensive and not that hard to come by, making them an excellent core for an army in a single-player campaign.

As for Catholic variations on the halberd theme, Swiss halberdiers and billmen are, of course, fantastic units. However, it seems to me that Swiss halberdiers take more casualties in most fights. They kill a little bit quicker, and can fight better in difficult conditions, but they seem to be a little worse for wear at the end of most battles. The armor and defense of ordinary halberdiers help them receive charges better and survive better in the ensuing melee. As for billmen, I loved them when I played my English campaign. They were real battle-winners multiple times.

Curiously, I've never had great success with swordsmen as army cores. They lack the armor-piercing bonus of polearm troops, and are terribly weak against cavalry. Their greatest strength seems to be killing enemy spearmen and lesser-quality troops; however, this limits their usefulness, and they tend to take quite a few losses in most fights. That's why I've come to prefer polearms to both swords and spears - they are the best all-around troops, and they are truly weak against nothing. They are the only troops that break out of the rock-paper-scissors mold.

[mfberg]

The swordsmen are for killing spears. If the enemy puts his spear wall up in front with flanking cav and bows behind I send out a cav unit to draw spears forward, and then pull it back. The spears will face my cav unit (usually HA) and I will walk my swords right up to the flank of the spears and carve my way through. In engaments where the enemy is moving all his units up at once my swords are right behind my archers, ready to reinforce any spear unit in trouble or rout an enemy that looks weak.

My current favorite Hungarian army is a front of spear/armoured spear, a line of archers, and a line of mtd crossbows with 2 HA/Szekely on the flanks and HA/Szek as my reinforcements. I will use avar nobles, but like to keep them for the killing blow against the Byz Kat units.

mfberg

[_Aetius_]

Yeah halberdiers are pretty good but the poor morale stat is just to much, theproblem is they lack staying power and often run if a strong charge hits them, whereas some units wont run if say 15 out of the 60 men die from a charge halberdiers will quickly give up and flee.

Swiss halb's havent got great defence but theyll cut through cavalry even faster and the charge is davastating, not sure if they are better than billmen its hard to say both the same but slightly different ways to use them well. Also maybe not as important but still swiss halbs are faster than regular ones sometimes regular halbs are painfully slow.

I use swordsmen as the centre depending on the enemy and what kind of swordsmen i can train, swabian swordsmen are brilliant but if the enemy has cavalry heavy armies i use swordsmen on the wings and spearmen in the centre.

The army I use for the byzantines is 6 byzantine infantry, 2 units of varangians, 2 units of allagions, 2 units of kataphraktoi, 2 units of pikemen, 2 units of trebizond archers.

Its four byzantine infantry in a line in the centre, the 2 units of trebizonds behind them in the centre, one unit of varnagians on either side of the archers, the 1 pikemen unit on either side of the byzantine infantry, 2 units of byz infantry on the deep flanks as reserves and the kataphraktoi and allagions on the wings.

Thatll beat most enemy armies, it may not be very anti cavalry heavy but the amount of heavy cavalry in that army is more than enough to defeat enemy heavy cavalry.

[Boris of Bohemia]

Yeah halberdiers are pretty good but the poor morale stat is just to much, theproblem is they lack staying power and often run if a strong charge hits them, whereas some units wont run if say 15 out of the 60 men die from a charge halberdiers will quickly give up and flee.

Always mystified by this kind of comment. I countercharge all the time with halberds, straight into Mongol heavies and high royals, I just love it when cavalry charges my halberds. Makes my day.

[derF]

Always mystified by this kind of comment. I countercharge all the time with halberds, straight into Mongol heavies and high royals, I just love it when cavalry charges my halberds. Makes my day.

Yes they hack up mounted troop easily. But they do have low(ish) moral. So in the instance of being victim to a flank or something, they will waver.

As they have done in a few instances with me.

[Hold Steady]

Halberds are in fact militia kinda-guys, except the swiss. Billmen, don't know, but I think it's in fact still peasant class, though (as many other English unit types were) probably very well trained and led. Not that it matters really, but in the game it is represented by morale stats. The Halberd bearing units (except the swiss) bear, IIRC, low morale stats. Of course, Halberds and pikemen became (even more than crossbowmen, longbowmen and firearms) the scourge of Knights, being lower class and low trained, so plentifull in supply.
However, as much as you blow the horn of praise about them halberds here, as much as I believe that is the most independent and versatile unit in the field, I believe a well executed attack at these troops by high quality swordsmen, combined if possible with heavy cav and preluded by firearms fire (or other armour piercing things) will break them in any way. CMAA, VG, CFK or even heavy Carls will make short work of them, preferrably in wedge, because when the attack is executed probably, the low morale of the defender will be their doom.

But if you hadn't noticed, my favorite tactic involves anything with swords and axes, accompanied with Heavy or Medium Cav. I Like all aspects and units of this game, especially the mix, but any decend attack has heavy cav and swords, else no fun!

[_Aetius_]

Always mystified by this kind of comment. I countercharge all the time with halberds, straight into Mongol heavies and high royals, I just love it when cavalry charges my halberds. Makes my day.

There are lots of units that can charge into mongol heavies and cause damage but only a few have as poor a morale stat as halberdiers, billmen have decent morale and wont waver as easily if flanked there lack of armour is made up for by there speed and morale.

Besides i think halberdiers are better used on infantry its to dangerous sending them against cavalry alot of the time, id rather have them hacking into feudal men at arms and lower class troops than them doing the job of chivalric sergeants or feudal sergeants etc.

[Procrustes]

There are lots of units that can charge into mongol heavies and cause damage but only a few have as poor a morale stat as halberdiers, billmen have decent morale and wont waver as easily if flanked there lack of armour is made up for by there speed and morale.

Besides i think halberdiers are better used on infantry its to dangerous sending them against cavalry alot of the time, id rather have them hacking into feudal men at arms and lower class troops than them doing the job of chivalric sergeants or feudal sergeants etc.

Funny, my thoughts were completely the opposite - but everyone has their own style and I’m playing on ‘feel’ rather than by the numbers. I find that halbs are deadly to any kind of cav, and do a good job on infantry, too - very versatile. They are well enough armored so that they take fewer casualties than most other troops and they can chew through anything else that is armored or mounted. Yup, the moral is lower, but that can be surmpounted a bit with by decent general and some upgrades like churches. Besides, you can make just about anything route when it's flanked. I've always thought that head-on halbs do a better job on cav than spears, and a far, far better job on infantry than spears, and you don't have to keep them in formation. I'll generally mix some spears behind or next to my halbs so that they can hold the line if the halbs start to waver. The biggest drawback to me is that halbs are slow (but so are spears.)

Yup, billmen are better - but they are basically buff halbs and are only available to the English.

As far as tactics, it's not always the best way to win but I enjoy using axes and polearms. Even cheap militia sgts and urban militia are fun for me - though you really have to watch for routes. I love Vikings when I can get them - best part about playing as the Danes. Versatile - good against infantry or cav, good armor piercing. Very cheap - which is a good thing since they often take fearsome casualties. I love how sturdy they are - they'll wade into the fight and won't route until there are just a few men left. Even then they almost always rally and you can send them back.

Best,

P.

[derF]

Besides i think halberdiers are better used on infantry

How very strange. The halberd is a weapon devised specially to knock knights of their precious horses. And they do so excellently.