Rally, Route or Withdraw?

[matteus the inbred]

hmm actually i think they are better than inf with no val, as you can use them to shoot and tire out enemy cav that chase etc. and when the fighting starts if you place them behind enemies, they deplete morale even when not in combat then can chase routers so they arn't all that terrible without val....

oh no, i agree with you, i meant comparatively with other types of horse archers...but then the same goes for most 'vanilla' troop types. i make a lot of use of HA and other 'crappy' cavalry like viking raiders when i can, any cavalry is better than none, and usually battle-winning. if i hadn't had HA in my army last night, for example, the Italian Doge would have gotten away
just don't rely on them to outfight Trebizond archers, for example. or even, as i discovered, unbroken UM...!

[Scurvy]

oh no, i agree with you, i meant comparatively with other types of horse archers...but then the same goes for most 'vanilla' troop types. i make a lot of use of HA and other 'crappy' cavalry like viking raiders when i can, any cavalry is better than none, and usually battle-winning. if i hadn't had HA in my army last night, for example, the Italian Doge would have gotten away
just don't rely on them to outfight Trebizond archers, for example. or even, as i discovered, unbroken UM...!

[Legorreto]

Here`s my particular case that originated the whole thread.

I was playing this battle with one army, without reinforcements (840 troops approx). The enemy came with three complete army reinforcements (1230 approx) and I decided I was able to handle this invasion to my province.

It was a bridge battle, and I got some ammo units (Camel Berbers and Mwhavids) Then I thought it would be easier to defeat of my oponents (Spanish) and so I dared.

The battle was balancing towards my side as I literally stormed them with javelins and arrows. I also sent one unit of AUM with very high valour to stop them at the end of the bridge and make them very vulnerable to my missiles.

So it happened, and the rate of kill was very on my side until... WHOOPS! no more ammo left... so I had to send my units towards the bridge to counterattack and have them retreat...

In short... They ended up bringing in lots of ammo units and literally fulminated my tired army. I lost all Camels and more than half my army and had only my Generals Unit: Peasants to face them.

I really was scared of loosing this general as he was the governor of the province and very high valour, so I finally decided to rout him and my left army so I could ransom them back and retrain them taking advantage on their high valour obtained during battle.

So i gave the order to Route and my very few army units (about 130) were basically swooped off by the spanish fresh Jinets and lost them almost completely. At the end of the battle I only got my general's unit with only 24 men. I indeed ransomed them and lost my province.

So I though Would it had been better to withdraw earlier and garrison my units and hold until bringing more reinforcements? or, Did I made the correct decision by Routing?

What do you think is the best in these situations?

[Scurvy]

withdrawing would work better there i think,