Abyssinian Guards

[Lord Cazaric]

What is good against Abyssinian Guards? I recently saw one Abyssinian (admittedly he was the enemy general) completely waltz through four units of chivalric men-at-arms and Byzantine infantry. He held them off for about 5 minutes before reinforcements (25 more Abyssinians) arrived, at which point my entire army fled.

It was embarassing.

[caravel]

Abyssinians are quite tough axe infantry units, though from what you've described he may have been a decent general giving high valour to his unit and others under his command. He may also have had one of the valour increasing vices such as the pride vice. As with any non spear infantry, a good wearing down with missiles is your best strategy followed by a charge by some decent cav. When you pit your CMAA against them it's effectively a swords vs swords battle where the Abyssinians have some advantage due to their AP attack.

[seireikhaan]

Arrows, preferable horses archers if you're skilled at using them. Abyssians are vulnerable to arrows, and can get shot up pretty good if you keep at it.

[Martok]

AG's have somewhat weak defense stats (at least compared to other heavy infantry), so pinning and flanking them is always a valid tactic. Make sure your "pinning" unit can take some punishment, though; otherwise they'll collapse before you can hit the Abyssinians in the flanks/rear.

As the others here have said, missile fire can also be effective against them. I find it's generally best to use some type of x-bow unit if you've got them (or Longbows if you're English), as the Guards' armour rating is still high enough that regular archers may not be very effective.

[Lord Cazaric]

Thanks.

Unfortunately for me, the chivalric men-at-arms and Byzantine infantry were a loyalist army in Lesser Armenia or Rum or something, so I had no choice in the matter of what the force comprised of. However, my army did slaughter the Egyptian cavalry, light infantry and archers.

But when I mean one Abyssinian, I literally mean one. No unit. Just the general.

[Xehh II]

That's almost as embarassing as my "Byzantine Infantry vs. the peasants" incident.

[Ironside]

But when I mean one Abyssinian, I literally mean one. No unit. Just the general.

Probably some high valor crack unit. Did you count those extra small flags on the unit? They'll tell you how much valor the unit have.

To be certain. No mods right?

[caravel]

But when I mean one Abyssinian, I literally mean one. No unit. Just the general.

A Jedi general, the unit type is unimportant, it just needs to be a unit with a decent attack that increments in valour quickly. Probably valoured up to the hilt, those poor devils didn't stand a chance.

[Deus ret.]

Probably valoured up to the hilt, those poor devils didn't stand a chance.

Yes, and even if he had had some archers and cav this Conan (Jedis don't fight with axes! ....erm) might have overcome that rather unimpressed. Usually I count Abyssinians among the better manageable troops types the enemy sends at me. In any case, they're not as good as Ghazis, which means I'm glad every time I see one of them instead of their fanatical counterparts.

I remember an enemy general, it might actually have been a camel (an Egyptian one, if I'm not mistaken), battling three units of spearmen for ...well, an incredibly long span of time....the general, sorry: his camel was isolated pretty quickly and held out against overwhelming numbers alone. When it finally fell, the battle had long been decided and I opted to wait until the marauding beast and the spearmen had slugged it out. It didn't kill too many of my men (well, difficult with mere pawns anyway), but it took an infinity for it to die!.

Cambyses II, as the renowned expert, do you happen to know what materials you make those camels of down in Egypt? This one seems to have consisted of gum or something....

[Ironside]

Yes, and even if he had had some archers and cav this Conan (Jedis don't fight with axes! ....erm) might have overcome that rather unimpressed. Usually I count Abyssinians among the better manageable troops types the enemy sends at me. In any case, they're not as good as Ghazis, which means I'm glad every time I see one of them instead of their fanatical counterparts.

They're stronger than Ghazis... Not by much though.

As for the one man jedi general thingy, he was probably having more than 10 valour. If you can't use ranged attacks, try using two high attack units on his front and back. If thier defence goes too high, they're almost impossible to kill. To put is this way, while CS is better vs low valoured knights, when the knights got high enough defence, they can kill a CS unit without any losses, while taking a few casualities vs MS, that's not exactly your standard anti-cav unit.

Don't overcrowd, as it gives as combat penalty (not sure if it can happen here, but that's what makes bridge and castle defence so effective).

If you can try keeping him in place with one unit and use a vedge cav charge on his back, it can instantly kill a general, even strong ones.


Did miss that he was only one man in my first post.
Jedi generals not being royal knights is unusual.

[Deus ret.]

They're stronger than Ghazis... Not by much though.

You're right, but what I was trying to say was that they basically have a task (and stats) similar to Ghazis', and at this task Ghazis are better -- faster, better charge and even higher attack. Of course, their defence is much lower but who cares? As long as they pack the kind of punch they do....

Jedi generals not being royal knights is unusual.

Katanks? My epitome of Jedi. And Huscarles in the Viking campaign. But I agree, usually they're (ex-)princes or members of the ruling family.

[caravel]

They're stronger than Ghazis... Not by much though.

They're not simply stronger, there are pros and cons.

Ghazi:

Non-elite c6 a5 d-4 a1 m8

Abyssinian:

Elite c4 a4 d0 a1 m6

When in melee the Abyssinian is obviously better, but as a flanker and ambusher the Ghazi is much more suited.

[Martok]

They're not simply stronger, there are pros and cons.

Ghazi:

Non-elite c6 a5 d-4 a1 m8

Abyssinian:

Elite c4 a4 d0 a1 m6

When in melee the Abyssinian is obviously better, but as a flanker and ambusher the Ghazi is much more suited.

I hate to question you Cambyses (since you usually know the in-game numbers far better than myself), but are the defense stats for both units correct? Given how quickly my beloved Ghazis usually die, I would've thought their defense rating was 0 while the Abyssinians' defense rating was 4....

[Peasant Phill]

That's -4 for defence and not 4.

I never really got that negative value. How can a unit kill if they have a melee value of -1 for example?

[Martok]

Gah! You're quite right, Phil; I completely missed the (-) sign. Sorry Cambyses!

[Ironside]

That's -4 for defence and not 4.

I never really got that negative value. How can a unit kill if they have a melee value of -1 for example?

Now I don't remember the formula, but the chance to kill/combat round is decided by the difference between the attack and defence (can never be a higher difference than 20 and -20 though).

[Lord Cazaric]

That's almost as embarassing as my "Byzantine Infantry vs. the peasants" incident.

Your event certainly takes the cake. Losing Byzantine infantry to peasants is about as embarassing as it gets.

Just disband the unit, idiot, not try many times to assassinate the general.

[seireikhaan]

Hmm, just had a recent expererience with Abyssians.

I had a hungarian campaign going where I ended up conquering all the way out east, to Khazar. However, as usual, my defensive line is drawn at Kiev, due to the bridge. Now, what to do with Khazar when the mongols invade? I built a merc post there and stuck a unit of Abyssians in addition to a merc organ gun, which somehow existed. I had built the fort up to a castle with both upgrades by the time the mongols came. They assualted the castle right away.

Anyways, over the time the abyssian had been awaiting his inevitable death during the campaign, he got traits which put him up to three valor. When it came time for the assault, the abyssian managed to fend off three steppe cavalry, one alan merc cavalry, one Mongol heavy cavalry, and one mongol warrior, before finally succumbing. Bear in mind, that after breaching the outer gate, the mongols set up their warriors outside the inner wall, raining arrows over and through(?) the wall down on the guards while they were fighting. My guess is that if the guard hadn't been getting shot up by arrows, which somehow went through a stone wall, he could have lasted much longer.