How best to deal with the Mongol horde?

[gollum]

Originally posted by Brian_
So do you think it's a mistake to try and build up higher quality units?

It is because by the time they will be ready you will have lost the campaign. You need cheap, easily accessible units that actually happen to be the ones that are most useful too.

...and the reason my armies are getting wiped out (despite my having higher ranking generals) is due to the qualitative advantage of their troops.

The reason your armies are wiped out is because you are not playing
catenaccio as you should. Use remorslessly the forest and high ground to pound the Horde with missiles and counter their cavalry raids on your line with spears. Repeat until their numbers are whittled down wave after wave. Do not leave your entrenched positions for no reason to save on fatigue - and also because of the way the reinforcements system works in MI you cannot fully depend on them as they can appear on any side of the map and be cut down before they reach your lines. When you take the offensive use your army in the same way; a solid formation of spears backing up the missiles; approach the Mongols shoot them, they'll retreat then appraoch and shoot them some more. Repeat until you corner them and defeat them. By the way all battles against the Mongols are in the same tune, and hence the campaign tends to be a bit repetitive.