Typical Turkish Army

[kofti]

The faq mentions :

A suggested attacking army for a Catholic faction would be
4 men at arms (use the most recent available to you),
4 spears (use sergeants of the most recent type),
3 ranged troops (archers, crossbows or arbalesters depending on the era),
2 heavy cavalry (knights of the most recent type),
1 light cavalry (the faster the better, these guys will be used to run down routing enemy troops)
2 anti armour troops (militia units until 1205, after then use a unit with pole arms like halberdiers).

Ok it says, use cavalry if you are non-catholic.

I start with the early period
for heavy cavaly ---- > armenian heavy cavalry
for light cavalry ---> ottoman sipahi
ranged troop ---- > ottoman infantry
spears ----- > saracen infantry

well i am confused for men at arms part. turks dont have those units, what should i use instead ?

[kofti]

5 Saracen infantry, ( or 3 saracen plus 2 ghazis )
5 turcoman foot,
2 Ghulam cav and
4 Turcomon horse

I found this setup in the turkish thread. Why use 5 foot archers when u can use the horse ones ?

I am really confused with the setup. Also any suggestions for replacing these units are welcome.

[The_Doctor]

Welcome kofti

My Turkish army consisted of:
1 General
4 Turcoman HAs
2 Desert Archers
2 Arminean (sp) cavalry
4 Sracan (sp) infantry
3 Ghazi infantry

The Turcoman HAs where from Triploi which had a master horse breeder, giving it +2 valour.
The Arminean cavalry was from Arminea which had a master horse breeder, giving it +2 valour.
All units had +1 or 2 armour upgrades plus morale upgrades (+3, I think).

A very powerful force when used properly.

[ThijsP]

Also an army consisting of just cavalry can by very powerfull as the turks have some really nice cavalry.

[Papewaio]

Turks is probably the best faction to play in MTW.

It has probably the hardest starting position (everyone ignores denmark). Which is fun for an experienced player.

It strats with a fairly diverse range of units so you can play several styles.

It has some of the best units later on. Which means the late game stays interesting.

On a campaign map spears and archers are great for defence. Swords and cavalry are great for attack.

All armies do better with a few quick units to run down fleeing enemies. Why fight someone 3 times, at least capture them 3 times and ransom them off.

Turks have to concentrate on getting some good trade fleets up and running. Also long term they have to think ahead about the horde (this is were a pointy stick army excels... spears and arrows).

All in all I think they are the most fun and challenging faction for an experienced player. Once you understand their units and can play the armies well it is an exceptional flexible faction with multiple playing styles.

[The_Doctor]

I agree with Papewaio, they are a very interesting and fun faction, and deadly in the right hands.

[kofti]

seems like i won't get better units in the early period ( they require military academy and so ).

do units go like this ?

turcoman foot ---> ottoman inf. ---- >j.infantry
saracen inf. -----> j. heavy inf.
a.heavy cavalry --- > ghulam cavalry / or bodyguards (??)
turcoman horse ---- > couldn't find better horse archers for this
ottoman sipahi ------> couldn't find better light cavalry ( maybe lith. cavalry ?)

i made it to 1160s, got upto italy and border to germany now, and have nice trade money coming. and what is the horde ??? something like a crusade ??

and i don't know where to check for valor bonus buildings ( figured out the regions for ottoman inf, sipahi, turcoman horse, and arm. cavalry )

[The_Doctor]

and what is the horde ??? something like a crusade ??

Nobody tell him.

I would love to see the expression on his when he sees it.

and i don't know where to check for valor bonus buildings ( figured out the regions for ottoman inf, sipahi, turcoman horse, and arm. cavalry )

They are the last buildings in that line of buildings.

eg. Master horse breeder.
Master swordsmith.

They give units a +1 valour bonus. Which is nice.

[Papewaio]

If you don't know who the horde is I agree that no one should tell you... it will knock your socks off when you meet them.

Really makes for a good game.

[Papewaio]

You can't change the type of infantry you can only upgrade them.

Having said that it is good to have a spear army with archers for defense.

And a sword and cavarly army for attack.

It is always good to have a few units of each type. Even in attack archers can be useful to bait units off hills. And in defense horse archers are good to bait enemies to a particular flank... it is a lot easier to defend one flank as a player then have them swarm both sides.

There is really only a few types of units.

Spearmen... good against Cav.
Swords... good against spear.
Archers... good against foot troops... if no one is defending them they get eaten by Cav.
Cav... good against flanks and archers. In equal numbers they will beat anyone including spears. However a humble spear unit vs a Royal Knight (200:20) will win and the cost in money is a lot cheaper for the spears.
Horse Archers... good combination of Archers and Cav... avoid melee unless you attack the rear of an engaged unit. Also due to their speed excellent at chasing down routers.

[kofti]

i conquered all of europe at around 1220. iron rich provinces really make nice units with weapon upgrade. i upgraded to master buildings with special provinces that gives +2. Made a huge difference. ( was playing with normal difficulty ). Before i play with harder diff. i will try another faction in the early era. Thanks for all the help.

[The_Doctor]

You where so close to seeing the horde.

[miho]

I won't tell you what The Golden Horde means but i'll tell you that they're not as hard as anyone says. If you'd like I could tell how to gain advantage on their appearance.

[Pericles]

If you wait the Horde will come....

[econ21]

well i am confused for men at arms part. turks dont have those units, what should i use instead ?

Ghazis are the men at arms substitute, IIRC. They are more lethal in attack (AP and very high morale) but absolutely terrible in defence and armour. The trick is to pin with spears and then send the ghazis in around the enemies flanks. They can devastate the enemy, but even so don't expect many to survive. They are kind of fire and forget weapons. To compensate, they are low cost to maintain.

[Roark]

Ghazis are awesome. They are cheap as chips, and they fight like freaking cyborgs. They die quickly so, after battles, gather up all the remnants and merge them. You'll have some very high valour units in no time.

My Turkish armies tend to have around 70% missile units. As someone suggested above, the Turkish units can also facilitate a very effective all-cavalry army. Very mobile.