arab infantry?!?

[2faced]

I have a problem.

I'm playing the latest MedMod off of Wes's site, as the French on early. It's 1179, and I control France, northern Italy, and a bit more than half of the former HRE. Poland owns the other part. Recently, the Almohads have gone to war with me (they cleared out the Spaniards fairly quickly). I've fought them several times, and every time their Arab Infantry have come into contact with my FMAA, I get slaughtered. Fighting head-on with even armor and weapon upgrades, my infantry still lose..badly. While I can see that the Arabs have 75 men per unit to my 60, it still doesn't seem to explain why my soldiers inflict barely any casualties, while at the same time being wholly routed. Using Destriders has also been ineffectual, to say the least. Their charge seems to inflict no Arab casualties, and they get chewed up even more badly than the FMAA, as soon as they hit. This has been just a bit frustrating, and I've been wondering: Are they supposed to be this strong? If so, how can I deal with them?

[Darius]

That does sound quite bizarre. From what I remember, the arab infantry had less armor (since that would be a hindrance in the desert) but a slightly larger attack rating (due to better ease of movement). Seeing as melee is a problem, you could try and take advantage of their lack of protection through missile barrages. Try tiring them out a bit if possible also and then pin them against something with high defense like a decent spear unit in order to hold them in place, and then opening up from the sides with your archers/javelins. Their lack of armor should allow for your missiles to penetrate better and your spearmen should keep them in place long enough for it to take its toll. Once you think your MAA or cavalry can take up the fight, either replace them with the spearmen or hit a flank.

[2faced]

Well. I've got plenty of fsgts. However, they don't last very long either. Pinning and flanking, of course, works well, but it's hard to keep my cavalry unengaged for long without being bogged down in their futuwwas. The main problem is that their army, being already flexible with units serving as archers and swordsmen, and quick, now has an infantry that goes toe to toe with my heavies...and wins. The almos are definitely a lot tougher in MM, though. I guess I should be happy for that.

[net knight]

I`ve been checking the units states files for a while and was going to hold a
Major thread dealing with Islamic factions bieng RUTHLESS in the game more than real history (history of crusades for example)
Any way the arab infantry is the most ruthless unit (added in VI)
its characterstics are
attack 4
defense -2 or -4 (vulnerable to even peasants attacks )
honour 4
armour 1 or 2 no differnce hardly

while in the same time u have ghazis with
Charge bonus: very strong
attack 5 +Ap (axes)
defnse -4
honour 8 excellent (can be impetuos)
armour 1 with shield

so as u can see both can be crushed very easily!!
but in ur case 90 % it is a valour prob (this unit is a sum of 6 or 7 units that
fought many foes so thier valour is 5-6
another thing which may be hidden is the virtues of this unit!!

e.g unit with pride+utterly fearless + normal valor
can reach 8+
such units will fight as elite valoured king`s unit
Hint: charge them from the back with any flankers
even mounted sergeants will do!!!

[2faced]

Actually, now that I test this, I'm losing with equal or greater valor.
Looking into MM_Full_unit_prod, they've got a charge bonus 4, melee 4, defence 1, armor 1, and honor 1.
FMAA have charge 3, melee 3, defence 2, armor 2, and honor 2.
Seems to be like it was described. I guess it's just because they've got more men...or something...