Skirmish ability

[Hippias]

Hello

I've never noticed this before (but then I am very old) - are there any infantry units, apart from archers, with the 'skirmish' ability?

I sort of assumed that Celtic spearmen (with their bundle of javelins) would have it, but no, so I have to a do a spot of micromanaging them when attempting to dance round the heavier anglo-Saxon infantry.

cheers

[jackx]

Don't think there's any inf that can skirmish other than the missile troops, i.e. archers/slingers.

Dancing around with the Anglosaxons doesn't work too well in my experience, other than very early in the game. The moment the fyrd shows up, you're going to lose the missile battle, and even against spearmen you won't do much damage. Other Celts may be vulnerable to their javelins, but they'll also have plenty of their own javelins, plus the same brittle morale like your guys, which makes skipping the javelin exchange and going for them with a well-timed charge right away the much better option in my experience.
Also, the moment one of your "dancers" gets caught, particularly if they're already a bit tired, they're likely to rout, which then puts your whole army in immediate danger of a mass rout...

You get excellent missile/light cavalry, so I'd use that for baiting/luring enemy units... celtic javelinmen are really slightly more numerous mercenary rabble, and that's how one should use them, IMHO. Put them in a fairly deep (4-5 ranks) formation, guard mode and autofire on and use them to give the enemy something to kill while you set up the flank/rear charges that'll win your battles. But even that tactic isn't something you should use beyond early game, (where you have no alternatives), seeing how they drop like flies and are thus liable to turn into a serious drain on your population.
For missiles on the flanks, you should probably go with archers, mostly because the morale hit from flaming arrows will greatly benefit the flank/rear charges by your sword inf and cav.


(Kerns/Monastic levies are different - they're essentially a slightly more numerous fyrd without shield wall, and quite capable of winning fights on their own)

[Hippias]

Once again sir, you put me on the path to glory