Popularity of Berserkers

[GrimSta]

How popular are berserkers in BI at the moment?
Are they unbalanced? Are they not fun, to powerful, to weak ( ) etc etc
Post your replies here, i have a plan for this, and all responses will be very gratefully recieved

Cheers Guys

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I just used them for the first time, and by having them in front of my Gallowglasses in the woods with my general behind I was able to destroy 2 units of Comitatsenes and Prave whatevers nearly instantly and after that two Foedarti Cavalry, without my gallowglasses becoming truly involved in the fight. My general helped a bit with one of the Foedarti though.

Overpowered? Oh yeah. (Well unless you missile them, then they're doomed)
Fun? Definately.

[GrandInquisitor]

i think these guys are more of a fun unit than a practical or balanced one -- although i love lombard berserkers. i thought i heard or read that berserker-type infantry (doped up crazies that fought naked) were employed to break enemy formations, especially shieldwalls. but then, maybe i'm just imagining things

[GrimSta]

Well, i think i have succesfully made them a mixture of Fun and Powerful....check out these screenshots
Stats at the Unit Selection Screen

Actual Stats

Fighting a Comitatenses 1st Cohort

Fighting a Regular Plumbatarii/Comitatenses Unit



What do y'all think??

Feedback is good, how i can improve Berserkers, et all

[GrandInquisitor]

hmm...i'd say it's interesting. the one thing about berserkers in general that i envisioned was that they were a kamikaze unit. i figured they should have a low all around defense, but extremely high attack. so they either do their job and kill lots of people, or they die...and maybe both. but that's just me :P

[GrimSta]

hehe, belive it or not, sometimes they dont go berserk...then they get gubbed by everything, i mean they only have attack 4 and defence 9, so when they dont go mad then they die easily, and arrows really finish these guys off.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Whether they go mad or not, they make good training boards for my horse archers.
.

[Rilder]

i think the celtic hounds of coulan are better except for the fact that they never "calm down" and are crappy for town assualts since the moment they finish on the walls they run off and kill themselves in the town center... i think lombards clam down... i seen them do it once

[King Ragnar]

They are too overpowered IMO, they can take on elephants which i think is a bit stupid.

[GrimSta]

ok, general consensus is them being overpowerd. What do you all think of the new stats and unit sizes i made??

[Conqueror]

Nice thing about these berserker types is that when you're assaulting a city and they are defending, you can lure them out. Just bring a unit close to the palisade/wall near the berserk guys, and they'll go nuts and rush out through the gates after your unit. The rest of the defenders will stay inside so you can focus your whole army to destroy the berserkers quickly.

[Dagobert II]

They get nuts in a crowd. I ambushed an army of Lombards in the
woods, and charged with cavalry... I still won, but got chopped up.

They are a bit overpowered if they can keep chasing horse archers
around the map and not tire.

I figure thats Hard setting for you....

[Lord Winter]

Armor should be 1 or 0 so if they have to charge over long open distence they will be cut down by archers

[GrimSta]

maybe, but then they wouldnt justify the 900 denarii cost i gave the unit, remember that their attack has been uber nerfed

[Al: Total Gore]

They're great for killing generals. In my WRE campaign, Placus the Horseman (Dux of Britannia) was killed almost instantly in a 2000 man battle by a unit of Celtic berserkers. My army routed instantly since the apposing Celtic king had excellent stats. I almost ended up losing Britain thanks to that battle. It was also the first time I experienced a “crushing defeat” in a land battle at the hands of the AI.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I haven't played against them in a campaign yet, but my only campaign so far is as the ERE. I think my next will be as the Celts though so they'll probably see plenty of use. Does the AI recruit them a lot?

[GrimSta]

no more than any other unit imho. they are expensive and the ai has a tendancy to go for cheap units *cough*peasants*cough*

and with this stat change im testing (900 denarii, for attack 4, charge 3, def 9 and berserk with 90 men a unit on large) they will probably be less likely too.

[Al: Total Gore]

Does the AI recruit them a lot?

I'm not to sure about Germanic and nomadic factions since I've chocked the Rhine and Danube with forts to keep barbarian factions at bay, but I've noticed that the Celts tend to build up armies just on the border of Britannia. A full stack Celtic army almost always has 1 - 2 units of berserkers (Hounds of Culan).