Faction with early pikes and long range?

[Zanshin]

Title says it all. Which faction gets earlier pikes (not spears) and long range bows?

[Somebody Else]

Rebels. Flemish pikemen, welsh longbowmen...

[JeffBag]

Seriously though, no such faction exist. Quite a number of factions get long range bows, but only the Scots get earlier pikes, in minor cities, I think. Unless fast teching to the huge city barracks to get pike militia counts as early.

[dopp]

Teching to huge city and military academy (4800 fl and 4 turns) gets superior Tercio pikemen for Spanish.

[chunkynut]

Teching to huge city and military academy (4800 fl and 4 turns) gets superior Tercio pikemen for Spanish.

But they don't have long range bows ... if they do why haven't i got them! ;)

[Daveybaby]

and huge city and military academy isnt exactly early...

[dopp]

But they don't have long range bows ... if they do why haven't i got them! ;)

Musketeers are okay (but of course they are among the most expensive troops in the game). Their range is shorter than longbows but beats everyone else.

On VH/VH you can crank out Tercios in Cordoba by turn 60.

[Zanshin]

Rebels. Flemish pikemen, welsh longbowmen...

A clear example of high analytic intelligence.

Seriously though, no such faction exist. Quite a number of factions get long range bows, but only the Scots get earlier pikes, in minor cities, I think. Unless fast teching to the huge city barracks to get pike militia counts as early.

Sorry I said "long range bows" when I meant "any long range", as in Milanese crossbows, i.e.: longer than peasant archers.

However you answered my question. Scots get pikes earliest, I'll have to live with whatever bows they have.

Thanks everybody.

[Guillaume le Batard]

Theoretically, as Scots, if you hired longbow mercs and/or bribed an English or Welsh army, you could have an early pike & longbow stack or two...

Guillaume

[dcd111]

Theoretically, as Scots, if you hired longbow mercs and/or bribed an English or Welsh army, you could have an early pike & longbow stack or two...

Guillaume

Is it possible in this game to keep and use units from a bribed army that are not trainable or hirable by your own faction? I believe in RTW those types of units would disappear. I'm not much for bribing, so I haven't tried it out myself.

[Alatien]

Try Milan.

They have Genoese Crossbow Militia with long range and high damage, and they have Italian spear militia, which has stats of armoured sergants. Both rather early and cheap.

If you want to check the effectivity of Genoese crossbows check the thread 'best missile unit' or sth like that. There is a test comparison with other ranged units.

[Goofball]

Title says it all. Which faction gets earlier pikes (not spears) and long range bows?

Try Sicily. They get militia pikemen and muslim archers, which I believe are long range.

[IrishArmenian]

Sicily is your best bet. I love that faction.