Clibinarii Immortals...Oh my!!!

[Kraxis]

yur telling me that killing 1 man with 95000 arrows aka 30 arrows times 4 horsearchers units is historically correct...thats not right...that should have killed the whole unit...i upped all arrows to 10 making 3 soldiers die per volley normally

If you persist in shooting at the front of units like Comitatenses or Veteranii then you can certainly get a result like that. It is a fluke to be sure, but that chance is around.

If you shoot into the back of even heavily armoured units then you will see very different results. I have consistently ripped Comitatenses and similar to shreds by simply letting my archers get shots at their backs.

Ever heard about Carrhae? Well the Romans didn't suffer many losses to many more than 100k arrows... What saved them? The shield of course. Guess what, this case is the same. Don't even attempt at shooting at their front unless you are trying to pull them away.

[Conqueror]

I just recently destroyed a Comitatenses First Cohort by using 4 units of Nomad Archer Cavalry (my cheapest HA unit from 1st level stables). First, I isolated the cohort by leading the other roman units away on a chase and then surrounded it with my 4 HA units. Constant crossfire from 4 directions at once, with some of the HAs firing from elevated positions was enough to make the First Cohort lose most of it's men, although it still took a while and I had to interrupt the process midway as some of the other Roman units were coming to the rescue and had to be lured away again. Eventually the First Cohort routed and was chased down and killed to last man. In the end, my HAs still had some arrows left, so I think 3 units might have been enough to do the trick.

[Rodion Romanovich]

I just recently destroyed a Comitatenses First Cohort by using 4 units of Nomad Archer Cavalry (my cheapest HA unit from 1st level stables). First, I isolated the cohort by leading the other roman units away on a chase and then surrounded it with my 4 HA units. Constant crossfire from 4 directions at once, with some of the HAs firing from elevated positions was enough to make the First Cohort lose most of it's men, although it still took a while and I had to interrupt the process midway as some of the other Roman units were coming to the rescue and had to be lured away again. Eventually the First Cohort routed and was chased down and killed to last man. In the end, my HAs still had some arrows left, so I think 3 units might have been enough to do the trick.

I've fought some good battles of that kind. Once I only had 3 horse archers against a very large enemy army, so I had to surround one unit at the time, then fire only with the units behind and to the flanks of the enemy unit, then ceasefire with the others to save ammo. Then charge from the rear when the enemy was about to break. The biggest problem was to get the ammo to suffice, but luckily it did. Anyway, horse archers if micromanaged with fire on only when to the rear of their targets means you can rip apart plenty of enemy units before running out of ammo.

[Kraxis]

I've fought some good battles of that kind. Once I only had 3 horse archers against a very large enemy army, so I had to surround one unit at the time, then fire only with the units behind and to the flanks of the enemy unit, then ceasefire with the others to save ammo. Then charge from the rear when the enemy was about to break. The biggest problem was to get the ammo to suffice, but luckily it did. Anyway, horse archers if micromanaged with fire on only when to the rear of their targets means you can rip apart plenty of enemy units before running out of ammo.

Yup, archery is not too weak by any measure.

But one has to ask you guys, you did have generals right? Not just captains... Could be you only remembered the engagement now that we are discussion this. That would could have happened to me.

[edyzmedieval]

Well, I had a general. No stars....No chevrons...

I was forced to throw him in because I would have lost if the Clibinarii weren't killed...... Oh, and the Clibinarii had 3 bronze chevrons... and 24 men...

Man, those Levy Spearmen are really though....They can even hold off and defeat Comitatenses!!!
Can't wait to battle the Elephants and Sughdian Warriors.

[Rodion Romanovich]

I think I said it above, but probably forgot to , but I had a 0 or 1 star general in the battle, and my enemy was a 4 star general, possibly with high valor and upgrades. So it's not an as big problem in mp, although I've seen clibinarii break through plumbatarii and others in mp too.

[Celt Centurion]

If you persist in shooting at the front of units like Comitatenses or Veteranii then you can certainly get a result like that. It is a fluke to be sure, but that chance is around.

If you shoot into the back of even heavily armoured units then you will see very different results. I have consistently ripped Comitatenses and similar to shreds by simply letting my archers get shots at their backs.

Ever heard about Carrhae? Well the Romans didn't suffer many losses to many more than 100k arrows... What saved them? The shield of course. Guess what, this case is the same. Don't even attempt at shooting at their front unless you are trying to pull them away.

As Centurion Marcus tells us in RTW, deploy archers to the left of your line. Engage with what you have chosen, Archers on your left will shoot into the unshielded right side of the enemy. That works so well for me! Do have something there to protect your archers!

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[Bob the Insane]

As Centurion Marcus tells us in RTW, deploy archers to the left of your line. Engage with what you have chosen, Archers on your left will shoot into the unshielded right side of the enemy. That works so well for me! Do have something there to protect your archers!

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

It is dependent on the shields... If a unit has a high overall defense due to a large shield value then they are very much protected from the front, especially against archers, but vunerable to the rear.

If the unit has a high overall defence best they have an insanely high amrour value then it does not matter what direction you fire your arrows from, they will keep bouncing off!!

The Immortals are a bit wacky, playing as the Sassanids I have pulled myself out og the fire is some battles against the ERE where I thought I was doomed. Keep your immortals moving and concentrated and they will devistate pretty much any unit they hit... I have learned through experience that the only units I really have to be wary of with the Immortals are heavy infantry (especially if equiped with spears) and enemy generals as their cavalry is pretty effective...

Thus if you are planning to fight them as the ERE I would take some of those Lancer infantry guys, some fast horse archers (to distract the Immortals and tire tham out) and a good general to shore up the morale of your troops.

[dismal]

Thus if you are planning to fight them as the ERE I would take some of those Lancer infantry guys, some fast horse archers (to distract the Immortals and tire tham out) and a good general to shore up the morale of your troops.

I'd throw in a couple units of those armored camels. Hitting the clibs from two sides with these guys gets you all sorts of morale penalties. And, the armored camels don't melt away that fast so you can position your general for a nice rear charge.

The other big plus of the HA's is you can use them to wipe up the rest of the Sass armies without facing too much threat from the Clibs. They can just run away.

Once there's nothing else left, you trot out your camels and deal with the Clibs. At this point they're outnumbered, under missile fire, facing camels, getting flanked, etc. Then they're no so tough.

[edyzmedieval]

Found a way to kill them easily.

Just pump 2 Plumbatarii and 1 Catafractarii, and you got them killed.

I destroyed 2 Clibinarii Immortals, with 3 Plumbatarii and 2 Catafractarii....

[antisocialmunky]

The use of 2.5 units to kill 1 unit isn't all that wonderful against an army of equal unit strength.

[edyzmedieval]

I play on VH/VH so it's explainable.....

[Cras]

I usually do the atack in their back... usually a few of my cohortes break through. I then turn them and attack their stongest unit from behind..

maybe changing the cavalery formation to the triangle would help in being more effective, it allows you to break up their formation.

[Kraxis]

My tactic may sound complicated, but it really is rather easy.

I entice the Immortals to charge at some cavalry, then I let them retreat from the enemy. So we have a chase on our hands, just make certain that the Immortals are close enough, or else they might just halt and attack something else.
Then I attack the Immortals with my own general or other heavy cavalry. The Immortals should be running on and my general should be picking them off one by one until the Immortals turn, then I send in the cavalry unit. It should be a onesided affair.