writing battle tactics/strategy guide

[Sensei Warrior]

To Caravel: Now thats what I'm talking about. That battle evokes all the imagery of a desperate last last. If it was part of a movie you be holding your breath at the outcome. Those are the truly memorable ones.

It doesn't sound like you need anybody's permission, Sensei Warrior.
But for what it's worth: you are hereby honourably discharged.

Try the Polish for a change. Learn to bleed.

P.S. Respect, man, for a 'first' in Expert you have done extremely well.

OT: Thank you my Leige . I was thinking of doing an AAR for the next one so you guys get the benefit of all my dodgy tactical knowledge. Its going to be a Danish, TD, in Expert, and one of the rules is going to be win by 1205.
Unfortunately its not going to be pretty, I'm not that much of a writer like bamff and the others in there.
OT OVER

If I glean any really well executed tactics from that campaign I'll post it up here as well.

[The Unknown Guy]

I had a "monty python" victory once, against the overwhelming armies of Aragon which were defending at a bridge battle against my jihad. I was losing, when one of my -forgotten by my part- catapults (which for some stupid reason I had set to fire at will) loosed a stone, which smacked right onto the King of Aragon :p

[Martok]

Ah yes, it's battles like that that I like to save for replays.

I had a "monty python" victory once, against the overwhelming armies of Aragon which were defending at a bridge battle against my jihad. I was losing, when one of my -forgotten by my part- catapults (which for some stupid reason I had set to fire at will) loosed a stone, which smacked right onto the King of Aragon :p

Yeah, I've won a few battles like that (where one of my artillery crews got a "lucky" shot on the the enemy general). While not very realistic, it *is* pretty funny when it happens.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Ah yes, it's battles like that that I like to save for replays.


Yeah, I've won a few battles like that (where one of my artillery crews got a "lucky" shot on the the enemy general). While not very realistic, it *is* pretty funny when it happens.

I do not see why it would not be very realistic, as long as it does not happen every single time. There were battles, won with a lucky artillery shot killing a general in history, the siege of Malta comes to mind (more P&M time period battle, but still). I personally have never been able to kill an enemy general with a piece of artillery, and have neither lost any of mine generals to ballistae, catapults or cannons.

[Eltharon]

Lets not forget Simon De Montfort, who got smashed in the head with a rock in the siege of Toulouse.

[The Unknown Guy]

King Felipe I of Aragon "Aargh!, they´re routing! let´s chase and kill them!"

Bodyguard 1 "But my liege, there are some catapults installed there"

(Voice in the background "Fire le vacche!"

Felipe I "Pah! They couldn´t hit an elephant at this dist.."-THUD!


(It is even funnier when the AI for some reason brings trebuchets into the battlefield and you use horse archers creatively to make their rocks hit their own formations...

BTW: In the horse archers tactics section: The Parthian Shot works. The Caracole doesn´t.

[Adrian II]

In the horse archers tactics section: The Parthian Shot works. The Caracole doesn´t.

The Footshot seems to work flawlessly in each and every game I play.

On the other hand, I once shot a re-emerging Pope outside the walls of his own Rome. I had some footmen, some Cavalry and one Culverin in Rome. Its first shot from over a mile away was dead on target. The 3000 strong Papal resurrection army (mostly Handgunners anyway) lost all hope and fled across the border into oblivion.

[Don Esteban]

Lets not forget Simon De Montfort, who got smashed in the head with a rock in the siege of Toulouse.

On a similar but not entirely identical vein

Harold Godwinson killed by a fluke arrow in the eye

Scottish king (Constantin III ?) killed while supervising a bombard which exploded

seems these things happen remarkably often

[gaijinalways]

Battles where your units are depleted from a previous battle or because you have temporarily overexpanded always give me the chills. I sometimes will be fighting a battle with a few too many missile types or with some peasant fodder. One favorite tactic I use is hiding some peasant units (or holding them back on a flank) and getting them to charge AI missile types. Sometimes getting the peasants to actually engage is not necessary, just the forced movemnt of the AI missile troops gives my troops a reprieve. When they do engage them, you still can't count on them beating even vanilla archers . Well that's why they're called peasants !

[Innocentius]

Had a very nice, and a bit unusual, battle yesterday as the Teutonic Order. The Lithuanians invaded Lithuania after having been kicked out of there almost 50 years earlier (they had overgrown themselves like the AI usually does in the east). Now, I can't say that this was a very hard battle. This was pretty late in the game (1380ies something) so all my units were pretty teched up and I had a rather good (4 star) general. Adding to it, the enemy units were really crappy, but it still made up for a nice battle. The only thing that I had against me was being outnumbered 4:1 and that the enemy general was an eight-star one.
I had my army deployed like this:


The red is arbalesters, blue halberdiers and brown Teutonic Knights. The dark green is forests (the map was plainsinland since it was Lithuania so there were no height features). The black arrow is enemy approach, the purple is approach of enemy Horse Archers, Lithuanian Turcopoles and Lithuanian Cavalry. The orange arrows are the approach of enemy general (Lithuanian Cav.) and infantry (mostly Woodsmen, Lithuanian Infantry and Halberdiers).
This is a perfect example I think of a planned tactic that is pretty static, but that worked out perfectly. Since my troops were placed in the way they were and there were forests all over the map I didn't have much space to move (or well, I had a lot of space, but all of it was flatland), but the AI responded to my positioning just as I had hoped for.
The archery duel between arbs. and HAs/LTs was - not surprisingly - very easy and the enemy routed quickly. Once most of the horse archers were gone the main body of the AI army started moving, and it sent some Lithuanian Cavalry towards my arbs.
All of the enemy troops approaching were further weakened by my arbs. and the LC attacking them in particular. Once the cavalry reached my arbalesters I duly retreated them and let the enemy come into the forest were they were all slaughtered. Once most of the cavalry was gone I simply ordered all-out attack and mopped up the AI's infantry.

[Adrian II]

Had a very nice, and a bit unusual, battle yesterday as the Teutonic Order. (..) let the enemy come into the forest were they were all slaughtered.

That is a nice, straightforward gambit guaranteed to do the job, Innocentius. Did you consider that Halberdiers lose their rank bonus in woods, and are thus less effective against Woodsmen and the like? Not that it would make a big difference...

If I were you, the one thing I would most certainly change is the concentration of your Cavalry units. I wouldn't like to put them all in that single spot which doesn't seem like a very attractive starting point for a charge. This way they could only charge head-on, which is unfortunate if the enemy has some spears left to counter them.

I think I would hide at least one unit of Teutons in the woods at the end of your right flank. Once the enemy's initiative has petered out, you can move them out of the woods and let them sweep (majestically, as the cliche has it) across the plain, charging into any unit that has its flanks exposed (practically all, at this point) or into the enemy's most effective ranged units.

But maybe I overlook aspects of your battle. It's just my on your very effective set-up.

[Geezer57]

Did you consider that Halberdiers lose their rank bonus in woods, and are thus less effective against Woodsmen and the like?

Good commentary otherwise, Adrian, but the quoted section bears re-examination. All axe-equipped troops lack any rank bonuses - they get a bonus against higher levels of armor, and the polearm subset of axe troops gets a bonus against cavalry, but it isn't dependent on ranks. Those guys fight just as well in two ranks as in five ranks - the only time they benefit from more ranks is when receiving a charge, and that applies to all other non-spear/pike infantry as well.

So putting them in the woods behind the Arbalesters to intercept incoming cavalry is a great deployment. Not only do the Halberdiers get a bonus against the cavalry, but the enemy cavalry attack/defense is drastically lowered in the woods.

[Innocentius]

That is a nice, straightforward gambit guaranteed to do the job, Innocentius. Did you consider that Halberdiers lose their rank bonus in woods, and are thus less effective against Woodsmen and the like? Not that it would make a big difference...

If I were you, the one thing I would most certainly change is the concentration of your Cavalry units. I wouldn't like to put them all in that single spot which doesn't seem like a very attractive starting point for a charge. This way they could only charge head-on, which is unfortunate if the enemy has some spears left to counter them.

I think I would hide at least one unit of Teutons in the woods at the end of your right flank. Once the enemy's initiative has petered out, you can move them out of the woods and let them sweep (majestically, as the cliche has it) across the plain, charging into any unit that has its flanks exposed (practically all, at this point) or into the enemy's most effective ranged units.

But maybe I overlook aspects of your battle. It's just my on your very effective set-up.

Like Geezer57 pointed out, halberdiers have no rank bonus but I agree I could have perhaps deployed my cavalry better. The whole idea behind the placement I used was to attract the enemy to my center as the AI targets the general. As the enemy had no spears however, this was not a problem.
A cavalry unit hidden in the woods to the right would have been very effective, a fact I didn't consider unfortunatley. Everybody's got to learn sometimes.

[Adrian II]

Like Geezer57 pointed out, halberdiers have no rank bonus but I agree I could have perhaps deployed my cavalry better.

Well there you have it; I stand corrected by you and Geezer57.

My feeble excuse is that I hardly ever use the polearmed troops because they are so easily shot up by enemy ranged units. I know the upside is that they are cheap, but in my style of play this is outweighed by the downside, i.e. the quick turnover of individual soldiers. This slows down the making of elite units by way of merging. My Generals prefer to command battle-hardened 'old hands'.

Glad I cut a better figure with my suggestion about the Knights.

P.S. I like discussing various battle orders and different tactics in this thread. I will come up with another diagram of one these days. Hope you guys will join.

[Innocentius]

My feeble excuse is that I hardly ever use the polearmed troops because they are so easily shot up by enemy ranged units. I know the upside is that they are cheap, but in my style of play this is outweighed by the downside, i.e. the quick turnover of individual soldiers. This slows down the making of elite units by way of merging. My Generals prefer to command battle-hardened 'old hands'.

That's an interesting thing you bring up there, as it's the complete opposite of how I construct my armies. Could you please explain more about it, like which units you use and how to "train" them?
Personally I compose my armies by the 'cheap to produce - cheap to replace' rule. Best available polearm unit (Billmen, Voynuk Blades, Janissary Heavy Infantry, Swiss Halberdiers or just Halberdiers if nothing else is available) combined with best available ranged unit (Longbows, Janissary Infantry, Arbalests). I don't use Pavise Arbalests although they're better for archery duels, since they're that tiny bit more expensive, which makes a big difference when you're mass-producing them, and because they're slow which makes them hard to use in flatlands. To this I add a few units of CMAA if in High, in Late I just add another pair of Arbalests and Halberdiers (I always keep the same number of Halbs. as Arbs.). And finally two units of best available cavalry, with my general among them (most often Chivlaric Knights or Gothic Knights if I ever manage to tech up to them). Sometimes I use best available infantry (JHI or CFK) instead.
That's my stereotype army, although they of course differ somewhat from time to time. I try to get some mounted archers unit in as well (light-cav/router-chasers and archery in one), especially when attacking. When I attack I usually bring more infantry and cavalry and less ranged units as well.
There are however four factions that can't use this tactic, namely the Egyptians, Almohads, Byzantines and the Bulgarians. The Bulgarians are almost the same as most other factions, except they lack all kinds of really heavy cavalry or knights.
I don't play too much with the Eggies and Elmos, so I don't know too much about how their roster works really, all I know is that it's über in Early, but I'm talking High and Late now. The Byz can use Latin Auxillaries in XL, but they're expensive and are spear units after all. For what I know, all these three latter factions are very dependant on their cavalry, which is unfortunate for the Byzantines as even Katatanks get outdated sooner or later.
The Turks are also somewhat of an exception really. An army with JHI and JI is pretty unbeatable and works the same way as an English Longbow-Billmen army does, but is so expensive that you can hardly afford more than one or two.

[zarker]

Good question. I do not know, really, as I always try to lure the AI to attack me over the bridge, usually by moving a unit of light cavalry slowly over, then when the AI bites the bait withdrawing it and leaving to my archers to do the job. Then when I have finished off the enemy's spearmen by luring them onto the bridge and killing them with arrows, I attack with my swords and heavy cavalry. I have not had a case in which I attacked a huge AI army which could bring reinforcements over a bridge, so I have never had to secure the opposite bank. Besides, it seems to me to be much more favorable to lurse the enemy onto the bridge, rather than trying to cross it and secure it and then fight on the other bank being outnumbered and unable to spread your forces well.

I usually use a couple of small units of 'leftovers'. taking it in turns to lure enemy units into archer range. This also helps to tire the eenemy out as they rush forward to attack and retreat. I only use disposable troops as lures (peasants generally) as they can take quite heavy losses from enemy archers. I keep this up until out of arrows, then send heaviest troops over 1st and just slug it out.

Defensively, I place archers so the bridge exit is just in range, then charge them when a few of their units are across. Funny, how in Rome TW my tactics are much different defensively - placing three heavy units right at the bridge exit in a 'V' formation (this works best in Alexander exp with some spear units). I dont fully understand why this works in RTW, but not in MTW...?

[Odin]

My feeble excuse is that I hardly ever use the polearmed troops because they are so easily shot up by enemy ranged units. I know the upside is that they are cheap, but in my style of play this is outweighed by the downside, i.e. the quick turnover of individual soldiers. This slows down the making of elite units by way of merging. My Generals prefer to command battle-hardened 'old hands'.

I am willing to bet you spend a lot of your time in the East? I, like you dont use polearms as the bulk of my force. I concede it defys most convential military logic that infantry wins wars. I view polearms (unless its a real gem of a unit) as "clog fodder" I basically use these cheap spears and the like (woodsmen, vikings, slav warriors) to clog up a section of the enemy line and either flank or use missle troops.

My armies are horse heavy, which I concede works due to AI tendancies really... I do emply a quality unit or two of swordsmen if things get ugly but polearm units are support for my horse tactics, not vice versa.

[zarker]

I am willing to bet you spend a lot of your time in the East? I, like you dont use polearms as the bulk of my force. I concede it defys most convential military logic that infantry wins wars. I view polearms (unless its a real gem of a unit) as "clog fodder" I basically use these cheap spears and the like (woodsmen, vikings, slav warriors) to clog up a section of the enemy line and either flank or use missle troops.

My armies are horse heavy, which I concede works due to AI tendancies really... I do emply a quality unit or two of swordsmen if things get ugly but polearm units are support for my horse tactics, not vice versa.

:)
Interesting. But dont these cheap units tend to rout rather quickly?

[gaijinalways]

Not if they have battle experience. I have had some cheap troops survive, especially as later in the game they are better armored and have better fighting stats. I also don't like the pavaise albasters as they are just too slow in moving in a battle for retreating or attacking. If you are sitting on the mountaintop, only then do I like to use them. Same for the halbs, they just move like molasses, though they are useful as defending for acting as a 'clog' on the flow of the enemy, especially on a bridge. You can even friendly fire on them with arows, taking down more of the opposition!

I tend not to use missile cav that much, should probably practice with them more. I get frustrated when they rout with no injuries! Xbow cav I like, they have some punch, a bit slow, but fun to use.

[Odin]

:)
Interesting. But dont these cheap units tend to rout rather quickly?

Yes, but thats also not always a bad thing. When your primarily using a horse based army having units break away from the main formation when chasing a router allows you to isolate them.

While it isnt ideal to have them route, the first goal (in my book anyway) in the "clog" strat is to flank. Also there are valor bonus's spread out all over and if you get lithuania (as an example) and its got a 1 valor bonus for woodmen then thats your "clog" polearm.

[Don Corleone]

It also helps to pump up the cheap unit's morale with a religious building or two. Tuscan UM's, with a monastery and even basic armour and weapon upgrade, can actually pack a punch.

[Agent Miles]

Peasants too!
https://s132.photobucket.com/albums/...iles/Peasants/

[Adrian II]

That's an interesting thing you bring up there, as it's the complete opposite of how I construct my armies. Could you please explain more about it, like which units you use and how to "train" them?

I am very busy these days, but I don't want to appear impolite or indifferent so instead of an interminable expose I will give you the very short version.

I am the kind of guy who, when he plays the Danes, ends the year 1453 with four or five complete, fully upgraded, Valour 5 Huscarl units in his (otherwise modern) army. They are originally from Sweden (hence the weapons upgrade and silver shield) and they have been merged and merged again from, oh, over fifty Huscarl units raised before 1205. These guys have great stats, great names and a great 'presence' on the battle field. Flankers of course, but don't you dare move a unit of green JHI into their sights, or they will be eating Janissary kebab that night.

EDIT

Just to make sure I had a quick look at the stats.

Huscarles: Charge 4 Attack 4 Defence 4 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 6 Cost 425 Sup 75
Janissary Heavy: Charge 4 Attack 5 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 8 Cost 725 Sup 67

If you compare a fresh gold-shielded JHI unit from Constantinople to a silver-shielded weapons-upgraded Valour 4 Huscarl unit from Sweden, both fighting under a four-star General, you get the following stats:

Huscarles: Charge 4 Attack 11 Defense 10 Armour 6 Speed 6,10,11 Morale 10
Janissary Heavy: Charge 4 Attack 7 Defense 5 Armour 7 Speed 6,12,13 Morale 10

I have calculated the Huscarls’ defense without counting their large shield, which protects against ranged attacks but is slung across the shoulders (and hence goes unused) in mêlee. Since the Huscarls are non-armoured however, the JHI in turn go without the bonus they get against armoured troops.

If the Huscarls flank the JHI, it’s their 11 Attack against the JHI’s 5 Defense, plus the +5 flanking bonus.
Of course the JHI can always outrun the Huscarls…

/EDIT

Oh, and whenever I have the time, I train my freshly-raised troops against Rebels first. I let them suffer a bit and gain valour, then I merge them in such a way that the lousiest Generals are eliminated and the best remain in charge. Rinse and repeat and you have, say, a Valour 3 CS with various upgrades and a 3-star General who doesn't run when the enemy shout booh.

Always leave a Rebel enclave in your territory for this purpose. Portugal in particular is always happy to oblige and rebel, rebel and them rebel some more.

[Sensei Warrior]

I think Adrian II might be of the 'newer isn't always better' group of players. He lovingly treats all of his units with the same type of reverence we would treat a nine star general in terms of training and reoutfitting.

If I'm right I sit somewhere between you and Adrian. I will build halbrediers and arbalests and etc., but you'll still see a valoured up armed to the teeth band of Celtic Warriors, Fyrdmen or an Elite band of Urban Militia or even Spearmen in my armies. The constant recombining of partial vetran units, with a little spit and polish, can give those fancy JHI or new fangled Gothic Knights a serious run for their money.

Don't laugh or I'll have to introduce you to Tancred de Normandie, or the core of elite Highland Clasmen I had in my last English Campaign. Tancred and his army of elite hodge-podge vetrans toured all of Afirca, the Middle East and most of Eastern Europe

The more I see the performance of Vetran units the more I seem to slip into Adrian's ideology. I don't keep a pet rebel provence for training grounds, or at least not yet. ;)

[Adrian II]

I think Adrian II might be of the 'newer isn't always better' group of players. He lovingly treats all of his units with the same type of reverence we would treat a nine star general in terms of training and reoutfitting.

Indeed. But there is an extraneous reason for that, too. Forgive my fragmented answers, but I am writing this in the middle of a long day's work.

After I bought my first M:TW VI years ago and played it for while, I had to give it up due to all sorts of other pressing business. So I gave my copy to someone else. A year ago I bought a new one because I had more time on my hands. This new copy however had a bug, or maybe my computer has a tweaking issue - anyway, it turned out I couldn't fight battles with an army of over 960 troops because the battle screen would go pitch-black.

Instead of crying all over the tech and modding forums about my issue, I decided to make do. This has been very instructive. Since I couldn't field armies of 960+ soldiers I had to concentrate on quality instead of quantity in my armies. I never have more than 960 soldiers in any province, even if a province is about to be attacked by 2500 ululating Mongols. If they do attack, they will face five Valour 5 CS units, four Valour 3 Pavise Arbalest units, backed up by an assortment of battle-hardened flankers and Cavalry. Raise these stats by 2 because of the General's bonus and you get the picture. It's a slaughterhouse. I may have to withdraw due to exhaustion, but not before having kicked 2000 Mongols buckets without losing so much as one hundred men myself.

Lately I have take to ''Rebel-training" my Guns as well. It is amazing how much damage a Valour 3 Culverin (plus General's bonus) can do. But it is time-consuming to always be moving decimated guns crews across your campaign map.

One type of unit that really benefits from training-and-merging is Chivalric Knights. Man, the beauty of a Valour 4 CK unit charging across the battlefield and routing enemy unit after enemy unit in a single charge (higher Valour = higher attack and defense value) is a sight for sore eyes. And sore is what they usually are at 1 am, after the day's work is done...

[Odin]

It also helps to pump up the cheap unit's morale with a religious building or two. Tuscan UM's, with a monastery and even basic armour and weapon upgrade, can actually pack a punch.

This is very true, and coupled with Adrians merging technique you have a relatively low cost unit with enough valor to enact the "clog" strategy. A lot of men die, and it certainly isnt the most efficent use of a military budget but there does come a point where money isnt an object (much earlier when you are producing 100 florin units).

A noted down side to this strat is that when you invade the AI looks at the number of troops you bring, not necessarily the quality and often it will abondon a province. This hurts when you want to season up a 2-3 star general and get him expirence.

So the tedium then becomes how much of what do I bring to ensure a fight?

[Innocentius]

A noted down side to this strat is that when you invade the AI looks at the number of troops you bring, not necessarily the quality and often it will abondon a province. This hurts when you want to season up a 2-3 star general and get him expirence.

Ah, one of the best exploits in the game. Eliminating a faction by peppering them with thousand and thousands of Spearmen

[Odin]

Ah, one of the best exploits in the game. Eliminating a faction by peppering them with thousand and thousands of Spearmen

Yes I concede its explotive, but there in lies the cunudrum of how many forces to bare. If used properly you end up with some pretty seasoned troops along with some positive combat vices for your general/heirs.

The additional down side to the "clog" is that you never really get much use out of superior foot men as your army is horse based. The clog tactic also forces the action and you can get caught yourself if your too aggressive.

It beats the heck out of lining up a bunch or arbelasters and targeting the enemy general unit then mop up, at least for me

[gunslinger]

I learned my lesson about the value of high-valor troops the hard way. I was in a defensive battle against the Castille-Leonese (XL version of the Spanish) in Navarre or some such place with high hills. The Castillians left a unit of Jinettes exposed near my left flank. I didn't have many arrrows left, so I sent a full unit of mounted seargeants charging straight down the steep mountain into the Jinettes. I checked my right flank for just a second, and then I came back to find that my Mounted Sergeants were reduced to less than 10 men and routing. I grumbled a bit about the fact that Jinettes were never that effective when I played the Spanish, and then I sent a full unit of Chivilric Knights straight down the mountain in a perfect charge guaranteed to send those uppity Jinettes packing. This time I stuck around to watch the action, and found that I didn't even have a chance of disengaging my Knights before they too were reduced to the level of combat ineffectiveness. About then I finally noticed that all that yellow laundry flying around in the air above the Jinettes was valor flags. I didn't get a good count, but it looked like about ten of them. I don't think the Jinettes lost more than five units in those two charges combined. A fresh unit of Italian Infantry finally got ahold of those Jinettes on a hill to the side of the main battle and fought them until my Italians were nearly exhausted. I think I had about 40 - 50 Italian Infantry left when the last Jinette finally died fighting.

Now I always scan the valor of enemy units in the pre-battle screen just to avoid nasty surprises. I also have my own little core of Hobilars and Mounted Sergeants who sport 5 or 6 valor without a general's bonus.

[gunslinger]

I learned my lesson about the value of high-valor troops the hard way. I was in a defensive battle against the Castille-Leonese (XL version of the Spanish) in Navarre or some such place with high hills. The Castillians left a unit of Jinettes exposed near my left flank. I didn't have many arrrows left, so I sent a full unit of mounted seargeants charging straight down the steep mountain into the Jinettes. I checked my right flank for just a second, and then I came back to find that my Mounted Sergeants were reduced to less than 10 men and routing. I grumbled a bit about the fact that Jinettes were never that effective when I played the Spanish, and then I sent a full unit of Chivilric Knights straight down the mountain in a perfect charge guaranteed to send those uppity Jinettes packing. This time I stuck around to watch the action, and found that I didn't even have a chance of disengaging my Knights before they too were reduced to the level of combat ineffectiveness. About then I finally noticed that all that yellow laundry flying around in the air above the Jinettes was valor flags. I didn't get a good count, but it looked like about ten of them. I don't think the Jinettes lost more than five units in those two charges combined. A fresh unit of Italian Infantry finally got ahold of those Jinettes on a hill to the side of the main battle and fought them until my Italians were nearly exhausted. I think I had about 40 - 50 Italian Infantry left when the last Jinette finally died fighting.

Now I always scan the valor of enemy units in the pre-battle screen just to avoid nasty surprises. I also have my own little core of Hobilars and Mounted Sergeants who sport 5 or 6 valor without a general's bonus.