Egyptians

[Martok]

macsen rufus and Agent Miles have the right idea. The Egyptians' unit roster is more geared towards utilizing speed & finesse, as opposed a standard Catholic-style slug-fest -- fire massive volleys of arrows into your enemy, and use your speed to make your more heavily-armoured opponent chase you all over the map (thereby exhausting themsevles). The Eggie's only real weakness is their lack of a decent heavy cavalry and heavy infantry unit, but this is easily offset by their good selection of hybrid units. I've compiled below an assessment of the main units in the Egyptian roster, and my opinions of each.

Abyssinian Guards & Heavy Abyssinian Guards: Excellent attack, decent morale, so-so defense. The heavy versions have better defense, but they're still not very well-suited to standard stand-up, drag-out, knockdowns like the Catholics' CMAA.

Arab Infantry: In vanilla MTW/VI, they're admittedly not that great. In XL, however, I find they're actually quite good at taking on more heavily armoured, slower-moving units. This is especially true if they're paired together with another unit such as Saracen or Muwahid Infantry. Once their throwing spears have been expended (by which point the enemy should have suffered significant casualties), just charge them into the enemy's flanks and finish them off.

Bedouin Camel Warriors: The creme de la creme of any Eggie army. Yes I kid, but I can also honestly say that these guys have won many a battle for me. It's true they're slow (compared to other cavalry), and their stats (attack, defense, morale) are only about average. However, they're cheap and easy to produce (in XL, only a fort is required to train them), and the morale penalty they inflict on enemy horse units is not to be underestimated. Even in the later part of my campaigns, I still find them to be useful.

Faris: A hybrid unit that can serve multiple functions, Faris are "light" heavy cavalry that use their bows to pepper the enemy with arrow fire. They have a solid charge, decent attack/defense, and good morale. Their relative lack of heavy armour gives them the advantage in arid/desert areas, but are still effective in the temperate zones as well. Just remember to not engage them one-on-one with heavier units by themselves -- pair them up with either Muwahid/Saracen Infantry and/or another cavalry unit.

Gazi Infantry: Shock troops with very high attack, poor defense, and ridiculously good morale -- they usually suffer 80% (or more) casualties before retreating! Best used to flank an enemy when a battle has reached a decisive moment, these guys can break the enemy if their attack is timed correctly. For this reason, they're often employed at the "moment of decision", when a battle has reached a crucial point.

Khwarazmian Cavalry: The only real heavy cavalry on the Eggie roster, but they're not that great IMHO. While they are heavily armoured and have good defense, their charge & attack is less than what you would expect from heavy cavalry, and their morale is only "okay". In addition, Khwarazmians have -- at least relative to their abilities -- rather high building requirements, as well as pretty stiff recruitment & maintenance costs. I might train a few of these guys, but overall I find them to be somewhat underpowered, especially compared to what they cost in terms of both florins and tech requirements.

Mamluk Cavalry: They're not anything special, but are still decent medium cavalry; they also get a +1 bonus when trained in Egypt. They can take on most units, although they should avoid engaging heavy infantry/cavalry head-on. Flanking heavy units is fine, however, as the Mamluks' armour-piercing ability can seriously damage their opponents.

Mamluk Horse Archers: They're basically HA's with a little better-than-normal melee ability. In addition to skirmishing with their bows, they actually make for a decent all-around light cavalry unit, capable of flanking attacks and chasing down routers. This is especially true when they're trained in the Sinai (+1 bonus).

Muwahid Infantry: Personally, I love these guys -- they're spearmen, they're fast, and they possess an excellent charge/attack value along with good defense & very good morale. They don't really have a standard role in the line of battle; but they're the ultimate utility unit, able to fulfill several different roles/missions. Need to quick plug a gap that's suddenly opend up in your lines? Need flankers? Need to kill those annoying horsies that are bugging you? Need someone to take and/or hold a crucial position while you summon reinforcements? Then send in the Muwahids!

Nizaris: A very good infantry hybrid unit, able to shower an enemy with arrows and then close to melee for the kill. (Not that they should go attacking Kataphractoi, of course!) They have excellent morale, and receive a +1 bonus when recruited in Syria.

Saracen Infantry: SI make for a solid main battle line, and (as Agent Miles indicated) any morale difficulties they may have can be at least partially remedied by recruiting them in a province with a mosque. The only true "pin 'em and stick 'em" unit on the Egyptian roster, Saracens aren't meant to truly kill the enemy so much as they're intnended to "hold the line".