What do you do in this situation?

[Didz]

This is a tricky question to answer as it very much depends on individual circumstances, and in particular the mix of units on both sides.

I certainly would not have advised using archers as bait, mainly becuase they are too slow to 'kite' the enemy onto your main line and too valuable as the main reaction unit to deal with any enemy units you manage to 'kite'.

Basically, if you are going to try and 'kite' the enemy army into attacking then you need to use fast units that can get out of trouble in a hurry if necessary, or missile units with a range which exceeds the best the enemy can offer.

I think Holycow's suggestion is a good one. In some circumstances manuevering en masse is going to be preferable to 'kiting' with single units and if you can work your army round the enemies flank and begin to threaten their line of retreat it can often spur them into action. I've even had the AI decide to give up and try and withdraw as a result of me deploying on their flank and if you spot this early enough your cavalry can usually chew a few of their slower units up before they escape.

Reading your second post I suspect the root of the problem is that the enemy have catapults and you don't. This is always a tricky problem and its one I normally only have to deal with in seiges. The solution is decidedly dodgy but what I try and do is detach a unit or two of suicide cavalry off to one side of my army usually through a side gate in the city, and then try and cause the enemy to make a major redeployment of their army by tempting them with the rest of my cavalry on the other flank.

If you are really lucky when the enemy redeploy their catapult will get left behind becuase they are much slower than the other troops. Its then just a question of rushing in with the suicide cavalry and doing as much damage as you can before the AI gets some support back to drive you off. Its not very elegant and not very nice for the unit that you send in but if your lucky you can destroy or rout the artillery before the AI can save it and that can sometimes change the AI's entire strategy for the battle.