Some questions about units...

[Hoplite7]

First, does anyone know how to increase the distance where your calvary archers decide to run away? Currently they don't skirmish properly. They think the enemy calvary is too far away, but when the enemy gets the speed boost from charging, they quickly overwhelm my poor horsies. Skirmish doesn't account for that speed boost... I've had my kazaks caught by DFK...

Also, what is the point of upgrading to dismounted chivalric knights if they are weaker and more expensive?

Finally... two hander units. Some seem to do fine and mop the floor with other knights. Janissary Heavy Inf. is a good example of a great 2h unit. But others such as the Holy Roman Empire 2h units only marginally outperform other knights... I know the patch supposedly fixed 2h units, but I'm still having trouble seeing their use...

[Cheetah]

First, does anyone know how to increase the distance where your calvary archers decide to run away? Currently they don't skirmish properly. They think the enemy calvary is too far away, but when the enemy gets the speed boost from charging, they quickly overwhelm my poor horsies. Skirmish doesn't account for that speed boost... I've had my kazaks caught by DFK...

by DFK? well that is some fast DFK ...
You have to micromanage your HA to make them work properly. It is not that difficult, just use groups, and use as many as you can easily handle.

Also, what is the point of upgrading to dismounted chivalric knights if they are weaker and more expensive?

Actually they are only weaker for the hungarians , for all other factions they are stronger by 1 point. The idea is that they have better armour which gives a bit more protection vs arrows.

Finally... two hander units. Some seem to do fine and mop the floor with other knights. Janissary Heavy Inf. is a good example of a great 2h unit. But others such as the Holy Roman Empire 2h units only marginally outperform other knights... I know the patch supposedly fixed 2h units, but I'm still having trouble seeing their use...

For some factions 2H units are the best you get, for example VG is the best melee unit for byz or JHI for the turks. For HRE 2H is more like a flavour to the game than a necessity.

[ReiseReise]

You cannot rely on Skirmish Mode, although it does a pretty good job against just infantry. I play with it off and control them manually. If you play with skirmish on and try to control them manually they will ignore your orders when being chased and run in every direction, which can be a pain if you want to keep all your HA in the same area. So - turn it off, do it by hand, and pause when you need to.

HRE two handers are mostly for flavor. Even though another unit might be better, I like to use Forlorn Hope for their historical purpose and watch them kick some butt in sieges before all dying. BTW Forlorn Hope sounds so much more dramatic than the true translation of the Dutch 'verloren Hoop' (Lost Troop) but you can see how such a translation came about.

[Miracle]

The minimum distance to trigger skirmish is set in battle_config.xml.