How are you useing your archers?

[Beren Son Of Barahi]

i use a combination of archers,crossbows and now arty and handguns/abs/muskets.

in the open ground, the high ground if possible. i use my archers behind my main lines of spear/heavies i use them to target lighter armoured units, i use Pavaise crossbowmen out in front on the flanks in loose formations skirmishing to draw the enemy missile fire and kill them if possible, they also help to break up formations as i target the back units with them as they shoot straight for the most part. inbetween my formation of inf i have my arty with muskets to target generals and elites. they retreat behind my inf who i use to charge through them to the incoming units.

c c
c c

arty mus arty.mus
inf inf inf inf inf
arc arc arc arc arc

gen cav

defending cities is mostly cavalry, crossbows or archers that handle melee okay and pikes or spears.. i now use muskets to volley down streets and through gates and the like.

for cav heavy armies i use squares of pikes and missiles with arty support to break them up.

[IRONxMortlock]

I really don't like enemy missle troops so I usually use a combination of crossbows and bows directly against them in the initial phases, switching fire to his infantry once I have them thined out.

If the enemy has a some horse in his formation I keep these men in loose formation in front of units of spearmen. 7 out of 10 times the AI will attempt to run down my missle folks. I've now worked out the timing so that I can retreat these men behind the spears and let the horses impale themselves.

I then use my spears to tie up the front of the main body of the enemy while swordsmen/horses charge from the flanks. My missle troops then poor fire into the centre of the sandwitch. This is when the fire comes in handy.

Obviously things don't always work out perfectly like this as the battlefield is a dynamic place but this is what I aim to do whenever I can.

[CaptainSolo]

I use 5 units of longbows strung across the front of my army with stakes out front to protect my infantry from enemy cavalry.I prefer them in front of my battle line rather than behind as firing in a flat trajectory at an approaching army causes huge casualties.The wooden stakes also seem to break up enemy infantry when they do close.My formation also leaves space behind my armoured swordsmen for them to retreat to when necessary.
Alternatively,against a predominantly infanty based army i deploy them on the wings which allows them to close around the flanks when melee begins.As far as targetting goes i leave the enemy archers alone once better quality units are in range such as knights,the infantry can mop up the rest.I also noticed that many arrows were falling short of targets so i usually target the unit behind the one i want,ideally a large mass of advancing infantry/cavalry are perfect targets,dosent matter who you target specifically.In large engagements against the scots each unit of longbowmen accounted for around 300 - 400 casualties each.In true English style i fight better with them on the defensive.