M2TW, does anyone like the original better

[Martok]

Well, not the first time I read someone reporting a stupid "charge" with crossbowmen. Could it be that the decision comes from te high defense and armor levels? Making them "falsely" the ones most likely to survive long enough to wait for reinforcements without routing?

Now that I think about it, it's entirely possible that crossbowmen are -- for the moment, at least -- the better choice for storming fortifications. Due to the well-known shield bug, many swordsmen and spearmen in Medieval 2 suffer penalties to their melee abilities, and it's entirely possible that units (such as x-bows) without shields are actually superior to them at the moment. The problem is that the AI isn't aware of the shield bug, and should therefore still be selecting medium/heavy infantry over missile troops when assaulting cities/castles.

EDIT: In fairness, however, I should add that I only defended a couple of siege battles; so the enemy using crossbows for taking the walls may have only been an anomaly.