Quote Originally Posted by bretwalda
Lets say you have 3 iron provinces with the Hungarians (Carpathia, Hungary, Bohemia) or with the Spanish/Aragon (pick three )

What would you specialize on in these provinces?

I guess it is a no-no for archers and spearmen troops. So you have to choose heavy cavalry, royal cavalry, horse archers, light cavalry, sword infantry and axe (militia) infantry. Categorization is according to build requirements here - it makes more sense...

So what do you think?
Presuming one prefers a balanced army, and does not overuse Cav, then:

Archers are the last to need an Armour bonus, and IMO, Spears are the First. Spears are there to protect your Archers. The AI will prioritize upon Archers if it views weakness.

Look at it this way, Spears are your *Anvil*, they need to be rather hard, and must withstand any charge, particularly a charge by Knights right up the middle. Something the AI is prone to do; depending upon what version and what patches you have installed it can be VERY prone to Knight charges right up the middle.

Generally, in the Early to Mid -game, what you want is One or Two stacks making up your *Attack/Waring* armies. So, I'd want to supply each stack with 3-5 (depending on your battle style) units of *armoured* spears.

[JFYI, a spear unit on Wedge and Hold Formation can stave off a unit of Knights long enough for the knights to be flanked by another unit of whatever. A lot of people think Knights are the invincible uber troops, but they can be *simply* countered.]

Armouring your Knights (and General) is not a first priority either, as those units are already rather strong; and, s/b used rather *tactically* in battle.

Armouring your Swords s/b the second priority, as in my usage (a balanced army), these are your primary flanking units.

Spears to pin (the Anvil) and Swords to flank (the hammer).

Yes, amoured Swords with an *Attack* bonus used in a hammering/flanking fashion can be VERY effective.

Something to experiment with is amoured Town Watch and/or Peasants. In the hands of an experienced player this can be extremely effective used exclusively for flanking. Specifically, in situations where SPEED is of the essence! They are MUCH faster than Sword units, and when Calvalry are scarce or too costly, can be used in a similar function---human calvalry!

The priority for me, would be to armour up a full compliement of Spears and Swords to supply 2 -3 stacks, before looking toward other unit types.

Armouring up Cav isn't really a priority until well into the mid- to late- game. IMO, overbuilding on Cav and slamming them into the AI's spears and swords is an unnecessary waste and drain of Florins. Cav are expensive to build and upkeep.

[JFYI, the most effecient use of of Cav is to run down fleeing units, once the AI army has broken. Again, the *slamming* type use of Cav is inefficient---though perhaps fun. Use your Spears to *hold*/pin the enemey and your Swords and/or other fast foot units to flank. Then, when the enemy breaks charge your Cav and mow down the disorganized fleeing units, running them down from behind.

A single Cav unit used in this fashion can achieve WELL over 100 kills (virtually every battle), even more than 200!! Much better ratio and cost effective than slamming. NOTE: Knights are not the best use for this duty, as they tire too quickly.]

~ToranagaSama