Are Arcani units worth recruiting?

[Mr Durian]

Are they really worth it? They take 2 turns to recruit, very small unit. They can hide but I rarely use ambush in battles. They do have good stamina but otherwise they seem pretty useless.You might as well make praetorians cause they can do far more damage.

[Dutch_guy]

Usually by the time I can recruit them, I own so much of the map that getting them to re enforce my armies isn't worth it.

If you do decide to use them, use them for attacking cities. Their two hitpoints come in handy on the walls, plus they scare the defending troops. Alternatively, if you're defending put you can set up an ambush by hiding the arcani units along the AI's path towards to town plaza.

Other than that, I don't see their point.

[Nelson]

I train a couple of arcani or gladiators just to add some spice. I leave them in Rome or where ever to put down rebellions.

[Tamur]

Other than that, I don't see their point.

Same here, I have never understood what purpose these critters had on the battlefield. It's too small a unit to be effective in an assault, and they can't get places quickly like horse to take care of flanking/rout-chasing operations.

The only way I've been able to use them is as part of my wing "sword" units (though that comprises a number of things in RTW) with which I try to roll up the enemy's flank.

Anyone who knows what these are really good for, some help would be appreciated.

[x-dANGEr]

You don't know what they are used for?!!?!?!?!?!!? You must be kidding..

Arcani is the most important unit in the game.. It gives you the chill, the edge and makes you feel like a cunning ninja.. It shows you and teachs you the black arts of assassination, and the silent strikes of a blade in a ninja's hand..

Should I continue, or you now know.. ?

[Tamur]

lol!

I mean, whoops, I didn't realise all that x-Danger, thanks for clearing things up. Great relief to know the truth now.

[grapedog]

i built a number of them in my first campaign, but they didn't seem all that special to me, they never stood out from other troops...i also don't use the ambush either, because usually my armies are moving with a purpose, not just hanging out.

[Ciaran]

They´re good for using siege towers, I´ve found, as are the Berserkers: Small units climb the towers in reasonable time to be actually of use in the battle on the walls (as long as we´re talking about normal stone walls, with large and epic ones it doesn´t matter how long it takes, you have to use siege towers to climb the walls - and not to do it is suicide, thanks to the automatet turrets)

[Seamus Fermanagh]

No.

While the arcani are a very useful unit for siege work, as noted above, you will have any number of other units that are nearly as good, cheaper, and usually several turns closer to the battlefront. This last is the reason I rarely build them.

Every so often, time and resources will allow me to construct a special assault group featuring exotic units like arcani and heavy onagers which I then put on a fleet for mobility and sail around pounding targets. In most cases, however, I am at the endgame by the time such resources are available, so I don't bother.

[Drusus Magnus]

I used them as the Scipii in Italy during the civil war a couple of times. You can try to keep two units of Arcani, each on one side of the battleline and let the rest of your army fall behind. The AI general sometimes stays behind, and then you can fall on him with your Arcani. It could be a decent strategy, but like so many others, it's too complicated to bother using on an AI that is so simple.

[ByzantineKnight]

They mop up archers fast, but i've never used them in seiges. And in the late game I get urbans and preatorans and mop up factions with, they arent really cost effective.