Quote Originally Posted by Bob the Insane
I am very interested in this discussion but I am having some conceptual issues with the decission to retreat the Longbow once they are out of ammo.

Thiis is not because it is a sensible thing to do (it is) but how can you define this as a victory for the Longbowmen? Even if they have scored more kills up to this point they are the ones who quit the field while the crossbows are still firing? In an SP battle some unit (if not the Longbows) are going to absorb those bolts.

I guess if the effect you are looking for is the decimate the enemy missile troops and then start advancing your infantry to engage once your missle units are spent then Longbow has superiority going by your statistic. But is a defensive engagement where you are defending with Longbows then unless they are capable of actually driving off the enemy xbows before they run out of ammo then those xBow bolts will hit some of your units.

So I would say the Longbows superiority is situational. But then I guess that fits with the whole, there is no uber unit thing. Just the right tools for the right job, decent tactics and use of ground and a little luck.
Bob my point about "how can you define this as a victory for the Longbowmen?" is that Sonny WiFiHr had said crossbowmen own longbowmen head to head; I would say they don't and outcome depends on several things including experience and how you use the units. I think the testing shows that.

I'm trying to get people who have gripes about unit balance to consider the possibility that they may get a better result if they are willing to change the way they use units, or at least understand a little better their strengths and weaknesses. Longbows have a faster rate of fire but are weakly armored compared with crossbows. So if you fight them head to head get your longbowmen in and back out as soon as they're done, then make your move with a tactic other than missile fire.

You're right about "superiority is situational". That's true in war. From a gaming perspective isn't that a good thing though? If they were just an uber unit that always won there would be no scope for tactics and less fun overall I think.