Alemani Uber units

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Sir Chauncy 19:14 10-16-2005

Hello Chaps and Chapettes,

I recently bought Barbarian invasion and have been stomping though most of Europe now with my big stompy barbarian boots on but I was wondering about some things.

Having played through most of the Alemani campaign and kicked the snot out of everyone that I came across I was a little disappointed not to get the "heroic units" I was promised. Does this refer to the berserkers? I do notice that they can be at "heroic" level morale but I was expecting something along the lines of Sword Saints in Shogun. Any ideas anyone?

The last thing was to do with the Chosen Axemen and Golden Band units: not only do the Golden Band have a rather punishing tech tree requirement but they are worse, in every way, when compared to the chosen Axemen. Their stats are worse, they take twice as long to build and they lack armour piercing. Anyone know why this might be?

CountMRVHS 19:45 10-16-2005

I've heard about the ridiculousness of the Golden Band. I just got done with an Alemanni campaign myself (see my thread: Hey, where can I get peasants like that?) and only got to the point where I could train Chosen Axemen. I think, once the Axes come online, you're pretty much set provided your economy is stable.

I assume they're referring to the Lombard Berserkers when they say "heroic" units. The Lombards are neat, but they certainly aren't predictable, and I didn't find them to be battle-winners in my game. I play H/H on Large unit sizes, and the Lombards were usually at the mercy of cav charges. My early game (well I never really made it past the early game) lineup consisted of some Spearmen, Night Raiders, a Lombard Berserker or 2 backed up by a unit of archers and some cav, usually the general. This sort of lineup is *extremely* susceptible to cav charges. I got my butt handed to me by the Franks a few times when I really thought it should have gone the other way.

The Spears aren't too strong I find unless they're in Schiltrom formation, and that's only really good for when you're defending. The Night Raiders scare infantry but don't have much staying power. Lombards are good against infantry but they tend to get swept away and overwhelmed.

By the time you get your Chosen Axemen, though, you can acquit yourself a little better. NOW you've got a reliable infantry unit, good for smashing through almost any enemy line (though, again, see my thread for details on *that*). Back them up with some Burgundian Lancers and a unit of Barbarian Noble Cav and you've got a very solid army.

CountMRVHS

Kraxis 10:14 10-17-2005

Lombard Berserkers are great when/if you fae large infantry armies, such as WRE armies. They should provide you with plenty of targets, meanwhile you should have cavalry enough to deal with their cavalry. Sit back and watch.

I have had my fun with Berserkers, but the most important thing to do is to keep them back initially. No need to let htem get pasted by cavalry or archers.
If the enemy tries to oppose you in the streets of a city, then these guys really come into their own. Even bodyguards will suffer badly to them (provided they do not get their cahrge in).

TinCow 13:36 10-17-2005

The scariest unit I have fought so far is the Celtic Hounds. They are far worse than the Lombard Berserkers. I had three units spearhead an assault on the walls of my city with ladders and the result was NOT pretty. They massacred the Plumbatarii they attacked into and I don't think a word has been created that can adequately describe what they did to the archers that were trapped between them.

Kraxis 22:37 10-17-2005

Well the stats are in favour of the Berserkers, though the Hounds have ap.

Btw, I was tired of breaking those expensive Golden Bands so easily.
I lowered their defensive stats a little bit but gave them 2HP instead. That should do nicely for now.

player1 00:05 10-18-2005

Never understood what's the point of Golden Band.
By looking at theirs stats they should've been in 3rd tier barrackis, not 5th.

Kraxis 00:46 10-18-2005

Originally Posted by player1:
Never understood what's the point of Golden Band.
By looking at theirs stats they should've been in 3rd tier barrackis, not 5th.

Yes... And their mercenary form is horribly overpriced. I simply don't fear them. Even lousy Spear Warbands can contain them. Yey, a real powerhouse.

professorspatula 08:24 10-18-2005

They should have had a throwing axe, instead of that pretend axe stuck to their side. Well they had an axe doing nothing in the demo, I haven't checked since. That would have made them a bit more useful. As it stands, there's very little point in training them, even the Night Raiders are as useful if not more so as they scare infantry and a have shield to protect against missiles.

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