The Egyptian Unit Guide

[Doug-Thompson]

Also, I'm quite sure that the racing track gives Arab cavalry, not Desert Cavalry.

This is true. I'll edit the main post. Desert Cavalry are a castle unit.

Tabardariyya suffers from the same bug as the Mutatawwi'a, so avoid them for now.

They did fine in the 1 on 1 test, but will check again.

Halberd Militia do not suck; they have that h4x animation like the JHI and the Zweihanders which simply allow them to massacre most units. Just keep them behind your spearwall and counter-charge breaches and cavalry.

This may be a difference in playing style, but I don't care for them at all. Obviously, however, you get good service out of them. I'll give them another try.

The purpose of Ghazis is that they are cheaper than dirt and have good morale, so they are great for scaling those ladders of doom. You won't even feel anything even if 10 units of Ghazis just died out clearing those battlements. This is what they are great for.

Here I have to agree. I played a full campaign with them, most of another and started a third, all as Egyptians. (I really will have to play the Moors and Turks sometime.) Although I only use them in sieges, Ghazis are close to being my favorite unit, and I'm a cavalry nut. They are so cheap, you can get four or five of them for far less than the cost of a Mam Archer unit and simply swarm an opponent. Best of all, they are jihad unit that gets Jihad movement points. You can really move, or even move an all-cav army and recruit them at the siege site. Merge the depleted survivors into a very nice, very fierce garrison unit.

On the bright side, Saracen Militia have double the usual spear bonus against cavalry: spear_bonus 8, equal to that of pikemen. Halberds only have spear_bonus 4

In my newest Egyptian campaign, I'm building far more Saracen Militia and sending them strait to Baghdad -- once I capture it, that is.

Hope to add melee cav tonight or tomorrow. That shouldn't take long.