An ode to Kreten Archers

[Catmand0]

Men from krete, bards of the battlefield strumming their deadly instruments
A band of brigands blessed by Artemis will be your ruin
Massive hoard of warriors proud, dashed by the arrows cloud

Kreten Archers a generals pride, a supreme weapon to wield
The relentless rain of death can overcome any shield
Their prowess tempered by the thousands slain on the field

So beware my enemies, your army’s will only meet doom
My Kretens will shred you fast and leave you in bloody gloom
If a fool you be then bring it on, but you'll be stuck dead quite soon


TL;DR I love Kreten Archers, they are my super weapon and one of the best units in the game

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Lol!

I love Kretan Archers too. I never recruit them, just hire the mercenary ones, they are plentiful throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. First thing I do in a new KH campaign is hire a unit of Mercenary Kretan Archers, they have made the difference between survival and getting crushed by the Macedonians. They can devastate levy phalangites long before they reach your hoplite line - phalangites are very vulnerable when their sarissas are still raised upright.

[Haithabas]

Great, Catman0!

A few weeks ago we finished the Kretikoi Toxotai:




And we´ve one more Kretikoi unit in EB 2...

[Ibrahim]

use them in my sieges in Europe and in Egypt: very reliable, and can fight hand to hand if necessary. Also outdistances the Greek Toxotai.

from a literary perspective though, the poem is alright, but the meter is a bit off

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

And we´ve one more Kretikoi unit in EB 2...

Wonder if it will be a pirate type unit or maybe a soldier "armed in the Cretan style" which seems to be a prevalent description of Hellenistic soldiers, one which I was never quite sure what to make of.

[cahtush]

As nice as they are - it felt a little underwhelming using them after having used silver chevron slingers for so long in my Romani campaign. :(

Also will they use their shields when i close combat? Or will it just stay on their backs?

[Stath's]

What a really beautiful unit, excellent shields!!

Waiting for the Cretan pirates...

[Haithabas]

Also will they use their shields when i close combat? Or will it just stay on their backs?

Yes, they will use shields in close combat.

What a really beautiful unit, excellent shields!!

Waiting for the Cretan pirates...

Sorry, no pirates.

[Catmand0]

As nice as they are - it felt a little underwhelming using them after having used silver chevron slingers for so long in my Romani campaign. :(

In my Romani campaigns I always take Crete as fast as I can. If you use your Kretikoi Toxotai on the barbarian battlefields of Europe, against all those unarmored troops, they will be silver or even gold chevron units in no time. When you have a larger number archer units that all have 12-15 missile damage, any enemy you face will be decimated. While slingers are great, they don't mesh with my romani battle tactics, but I do use them in great numbers for wall defense. In terms of my armies in the field, Kretikoi Toxotai are a pivotal force often destroying up to 40% of the enemy before they even reach my front line.

A few weeks ago we finished the Kretikoi Toxotai

Any idea when I can get my hands on those? :P

[PetiteWolf]

First thing I do in a new KH campaign is hire a unit of Mercenary Kretan Archers, they have made the difference between survival and getting crushed by the Macedonians.

This. Those guys are a life saver, especially on walls when you're severely outnumbered and need them to fight hand to hand.

[cahtush]

In my Romani campaigns I always take Crete as fast as I can. If you use your Kretikoi Toxotai on the barbarian battlefields of Europe, against all those unarmored troops, they will be silver or even gold chevron units in no time. When you have a larger number archer units that all have 12-15 missile damage, any enemy you face will be decimated. While slingers are great, they don't mesh with my romani battle tactics, but I do use them in great numbers for wall defense. In terms of my armies in the field, Kretikoi Toxotai are a pivotal force often destroying up to 40% of the enemy before they even reach my front line.

Early on when you're mostly just taking cities, I find that the Accensi are a good way to avoid most of the street-grind saving you a lot of retraining.
I had 6 of them in my Camillian army (which I later lost after I miss clicked it up to Noricae... just before the winter. they were all silver ), they often killed more than half of the defenders.

[moonburn]

ascenssi or kretan the weapon is always the same to take care of that last phalangitai just put the 2 long range missile unit in each end of the street and then get the phallangitai in the midle being hit by both sides and surprise surprise they melt soon enough