I like my archers and Arquebustierres in close combat... at the right point. Wedge of Envelope, downhill, always try to flank. Their proximity to the battle can carry the day, erasing penalties for your main melee'ers being outnumbered and/or adding penalties onto the enemy for same. My 'Bustierres killed Mori last night. He attacked Awaji (I love defending there) in heavy rain. I used 2 cav units dancing around his flanks and rear to peel off 3 of his units. Long story short, my hidden 'Bustierres couldn't fire, so I held them in reserve. After loosing all my arrows and sending the archers in to support the yari spearmen (lost a fresh unit of No-Tachi in a delaying attack), I committed my tired cav to downhill attacks on his Very Tired Yari Spearmen. Lord Mori helped one of his spearmen, so the 'Bustierres charged in. Uphill behind him, but since they're so spread out they wrapped around him and his yaris. By the end, I had everyone on just him. It was great... "4 Heavy Cavalry (Mori)... 3 HC (Mori)..." Mori himself lasted a good 2 minutes, and my 'Bustierres were the ones who gained honor when he died. Very satisfying.
So short version: Use them indirectly to flank a tied-up unit which is giving you problems. Set them either on a very broad front or a Wedge and charge into them downhill or from flat terrain at worst. Once that threat is gone, you've probably got more profitable things for them to be doing. In My Newbie Opinion. ;)
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