Archery tactics

[Quirinus]

I've read in plenty of guides that ask for massed archer units on walls that can, supposedly, win most battles. I notice that a lot of them were written quite a long time ago, so I'm not sure if they're talking about v1.0 or something.

I play on v1.3, and they first thing an enemy does when I sally forth is to move out of the range of my archers, and, I've found that they will studiously avoid being in range of the archers on the walls, including breaking off charges. So is having a whole bunch of archers still a good way of defending a city?

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

In v1.5 at least, massed archers on normal Stone Walls are still useful when the enemy is assaulting your town - as you may expect, they have to come close to attack with their siege weapons and enabling you to cause your intended damage.

The best tactic in assaults based around Stone Walled cities is to attack the siege weapons with flaming arrows - especially the seige towers - rams can usually be dealt with by the wall projectiles, so they don't need to be destroyed by your archers quite as urgently. Once a siege tower ends up ablaze, that's one less path the foes have onto your walls.

The only problem with the archer's is their poor hand-to-hand combat. If a siege tower does make it to the wall, and often it does, then you usually are in trouble. Infantry of a decent quality often has to be rushed up to the wall as quickly as possible to hold of the surge which will soon be rampaging out of it. Ladders, which are indestructible anyway, aren't quite so problematic - the troops climbing up them emerge one at a time. This allows your archers to pick them off more easily in hand to hand combat.

As you have said though, the AI avoids the city when the player sallies and goes on the defensive, so they aren't quite as useful then.

Massed archers behind Wooden Walls and Palisades also play a role in dealing with the enemy - in this case rams, which the towers of these walls don't quite have the power to deal with.

Large Stone Walls and Huge Stone Walls actually handicap archers, since the enemy builds stronger and more effective siege towers when assaulting - these take much more than flaming arrows from archers to be set alight. They also fire on troops on the walls with more force than the earlier model of siege tower. Archers, usually only being lightly armored, are vulnerable to this.

Good luck Quirinus

[Quirinus]

I..... see. I feel retarded now. D= Thanks for the pointer.

[Caeser The III]

for me it works better in v1.0 for the arrows to work, but i usally but a unit of(lets say hastati) on the wall, just in case a seige tower reaches the wall.

[placenik]

And if enemy just stay and starve you?

[Paradox]

And if enemy just stay and starve you?

Err...Why would the enemy back down if they have siege towers ready to obliterate your army inside the city? I don't think this ever happened.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

And if enemy just stay and starve you?

As Fahad I has said, it's very rare for the AI to simply sit there and wait for the garrison to surrender. In my experiences they almost always attack when they feel that they have the means to do so, even when waiting would be more advantageous.