Golden Horde!

[caravel]

A lot of questions...

Staying power is used to let the Arbalesters empty their quivers, right? I guess this indeed comes down to playstyle then... First of all I hate long drawn-out battles and avoid them in the first place, and secondly, perhaps as a result of that I often find myself incapable of using Arbalesters on less than mountainous terrain.

I'm not sure what you mean by "staying power". Staying power could be defined in many ways. Any unit with decent stats has decent staying power, but units with good morale would also have better staying power than those with lower morale. Several other factors affect this however...

Taking Chivalric Sergeants/Saracen Infantry for example. They have 0 morale but make up for this in their defensive capability and armour (also it's assumed they they would be lead by a decent general). Feudal Sergeants have 2 points morale, 1 point more attack but 2 points less armour and 4 points less defence. This means that despite having better morale and attack, they break sooner once they come under fire from the Mongol Horse Archers and start taking heavy losses. So in a nutshell, despite the lower morale, CS/SI are stronger due to other factors.

Well... Once again, which unit do you have in mind that doesn't?

Any unit that has a decent morale and balanced stats. A unit that doesn't tire or die too easily.

Hang on... then what else could we be holding the line for if it's not necessarily arbalesters?

Holding the line is part of both defensive and offensive strategies, but mostly defensive. Spears protect your missile troops and those troops you've brought along for a specific pupose such as any flanking troops, sword infantry, cavalry or artillery units from enemy cavalry. As the mongol forces tend to be made up of about 85% cavalry, it is obvious as to why spears are important. Spears also protect each others' flanks and if used correctly form a solid wall (or a chessboard layout if you prefer) that the enemy must face. This removes the morale penalty for unprotected flanks. The flanking units, sword infantry and polearms work around this and can be brought in at the right time, to different parts of the battleline to break the enemy.

Also Saracen/Chivalric Sergeants can kill Heavy Cavalry, but they do it slowly. If you have a battle like line this:

--CK-CK-CK-----------------RK*----
CFK---ARB---ARB---ARB---HALB-HALB
CS----CS----CS----CS----CS----CS
________________^MHC
^
NAP----MHC---MHC----MHC----MHA
MHA--MHA--MHA--MHA--MHA--MHA
MHC-----MW---MW--MHC-----MHC*

You would let the CS deal with that one MHC that has charged the centre of your lines. If you were to bring the Halbs in on their flanks they would be sitting ducks. Once the bulk of the MHC meets your battle lines, you can then deploy the flanking units without fear of them being flanked themselves.

If the line is broken and Arbalesters get charged into, they won't...

The whole idea is that the lines don't get broken and that the MHC do not reach the Arbalests. If you deploy swords/axes/polarms head on against cavalry they will duel it out and take heavy losses. Spears in held formation, can absorb charge after charge and don't tire as easily (because they stand still). Also as swords/axes/polarms need to fight freely in "engage at will" mode, they will bunch up and expose your missile troops to enemy cavalry and are themselves vulnerable to enemy cavalry charges. Your missiles will then have to go it alone without the protection of a line of e.g. CS or Saracens keeping them safe.

And who are they?

Flankers are any units with good attack, very good charge, decent morale (though not always) and usually AP though not always. Flankers tend to have poor defence and once they start duelling they will start to lose. Flankers can be cavalry, infantry or hybrid archers. The trick with flankers is to send them in at the right time (i.e. when the enemy are already starting to break or the unit has been worn down by your archers/arbalesters).