Quote Originally Posted by Doug-Thompson
The likely explanation is that your supporting fire is going into your unit's back while the enemy troops have a shield to their front.

Proper support with foot archers is a surprisingly neglected topic in the forum. About the only guidence I can give is that I usually put my foot archers in a long, thin line if they are behind my melee infantry and get them closer. This seems to relieve much of the "undershoots" that cause friendly fire losses.
Not only that but your men are in front of your archers so if an arrow is going straight forward or coming down in a shallow angle, it would hit your man instead of the enemy. I think this is a good addition to the game and makes you have to use a different strategy when you fight.

I play England, I know.