Catholic Vs Desert

[LadyAnn]

You definitely wants to bring as many Viking as possible. Here is why:
1. You play Dane, can't you not be Vikings?
2. What is good for snow is generally good for desert:
Charge 3 Attack 3 Defence 0 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 4 Cost 175 Support cost 38

The armour 2 is a bit heavier than the normal desert units such as Ghazi (which pratically is naked) but that's the best you can get. Vikings also have shields, good against those Eastern Armies who has a lot of bows.

Compared to Woodmans for example, the Vikings have Morale 4: you only need to get them a 4 stars general (elevate them to excellent morale 8) or a 2 stars general (to elevate them to the good morale of 6). Woodmans have morale of -2, they will run away at the slightest hint of trouble.
(Woodsmans' stat: Charge 8 Attack 1 Defence -1 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale –2 Cost 75 Support cost 22)

Swiss units are not available until Late (a factor to consider). Swiss Pikemen
(stats: Charge 4 Attack 2 Defence 2 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 6 Cost 525 Support cost 48) has same armour rating and slightly higher morale. But since it comes from only Swizerland, you need to wait years to produce a sizeable army, or depends on the wimp of recruitment availability.

Swiss aromoured Pikemen has good stats, but it has armour of 4, making it the league of the FMAA, thus a tad unsuitable for desert fight.

In summary, I believe Vikings are good for your infantry line and will beat any desert infantry. The problem is your cavalry and your missile sections.

If you could get steppe cav (and keep them close by your general to have the 8 stars effect), that would give you some harashing cav, perhaps to flank and to mop up.

Alan cav:
Charge 6 Attack 3 Defence 1 Armour 3 Speed 9, 24, 26 Morale 4 Cost 300 Support cost 50
Alans are mercenaries.

Feudal knights/ Chivalric knights:
Although fatigue makes them fight less effective than normally, they might actually be very useful. Don't always look at armour. The units I recommended earlier could stand their own in any terrain, not just desert (you would need to use them elsewhere too). The knights could be used to conclude the game quickly, a spirited charge into horde of naked infantry would trigger a rout before the knights are tired. For the same reason, Eastern Armies do have heavy cavalry. Not all are naked when in the heat.


For missiles, you are decidedly in a disadvantage compared to Eastern factions. They have a lot of shooting infantry. I would guess you bring some archers, mainly to soak up the arrows before you charge in. The main objective is not to win the range battle, especially if you have the knights at your disposal.


In summary, I believe you would change the way you fight in desert:
1. Don't tire yourself unnecessarily
2. Decisive attack instead of drawn out top-of-the-hill camping
3. Be weary of enemy's missiles
4. Make use of heavy cavalry at the right moment.
5. Have fun :D

Annie

ps.: I forgot one more trick. If you have knights, you could keep them as reinforcement in the 2nd stack. Bring pavise arbalesters: they have the +3 shield, can soak up a lot of arrows. When pav. arb. has done their job, withdraw or rout them, and bring in the knights for the fun. Of course, you would be counting on ability to bring in reinforcements, so you need to scout your opponent army early.