Help with archers

[Excalibur Bane]

I don't know if I'm just out of practice or I'm doing something wrong but my archers always seem to get massacred in every battle without doing any real casulaties to the enemy.

Now, do you line them up in front of your infantry and enable skirmish mode? Because that's what I've been doing and it hasn't worked so far. They get charged by enemy cavalry and by the time my own cavalry wades through the friendly units to come to it's aid, it's too late.

Much the same thing happens when enemy infantry charge, my own infantry gets hung up wading through friendly units.

So should I position them behind the front lines and hope they don't shoot my own guys in the back or what am I doing wrong?

I'm really not a newb and I'm definately confused as to why my archers are taking such high casulaties. Archer duels don't seem to exist here like they did in M2TW. The AI just bum rushes me every time and it's getting old. At this point, it's making less and less sense to include archers in my army at all.

Help.

[Shabby_Ronin]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...hlight=archers

[pulpnonfiction]

Line your archers up in front, but with your melee units just behind them. Set ashigaru to skirmish, you can leave samurai archers without skirmish.

If you have more archers than the enemy, try to initiate a shootout so that the enemy is forced to charge you. Just march your army in range and then shoot and draw the enemy to you.
If they have more archers than you, run your archers up into range so they start shooting and draw enemy fire, then charge full out with all your melee units.

When defending, as soon as you see the enemy start to charge your archers, just simply tell your melee line to step forward and attack their targets. Your melee line should always get into contact with the enemy before he has time to reach your archers.

If your guys are getting tangled up with eachother then you aren't sending your melee units forward early enough.

Ideally, you don't want your archers to have to use skirmish at all (even though you have it enabled). So try to send your melee guys in front early enough so that when they make contact with the enemy, there is a distance between them and your archers.

So basically, just run your archers up into range, let them start shooting, then send your melee units in front of them right after they start shooting.

[Harry Lime]

Moved to Shogun: Gameplay & Strategy

[Excalibur Bane]

Line your archers up in front, but with your melee units just behind them. Set ashigaru to skirmish, you can leave samurai archers without skirmish.

If you have more archers than the enemy, try to initiate a shootout so that the enemy is forced to charge you. Just march your army in range and then shoot and draw the enemy to you.
If they have more archers than you, run your archers up into range so they start shooting and draw enemy fire, then charge full out with all your melee units.

When defending, as soon as you see the enemy start to charge your archers, just simply tell your melee line to step forward and attack their targets. Your melee line should always get into contact with the enemy before he has time to reach your archers.

If your guys are getting tangled up with eachother then you aren't sending your melee units forward early enough.

Ideally, you don't want your archers to have to use skirmish at all (even though you have it enabled). So try to send your melee guys in front early enough so that when they make contact with the enemy, there is a distance between them and your archers.

So basically, just run your archers up into range, let them start shooting, then send your melee units in front of them right after they start shooting.

Yeah, this pretty much falls in line with what I thought. I just can't seem to get my melee units out in front quickly enough. Ditto for my cavalry.

If I leave the samurai archers with skirmish off, they get butchered by katana samurai most of the time which seems to be the bulk of the enemy armies I face supported with Katana Cavalry.

I guess I'll just have to keep working it until I find the right balance. I'm used to the archery duels I guess and not having the enemy just charge headlong into arrow fire.

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

[Tinrod]

Just get some Naginata Samurai with armour of 14 (blacksmith province Master Armourer upgrade and Encampment-Armoury for all who want to know) and you don't have to worry about friendly fire

[kaasbris]

(In case you have army of Yari and Archers)

Place Yari ashigaru just behind Archers. When they charge, turn on skirmish (or just move them behind Yari), and turn Yari's Wall option on.
Most of enemy chargers (Yari or Cavalry) may get slaughtered.

This is for defensive tactics when you have more archers - as enemy with fewer archers tend to charge early on.
Lines of Archers and Yari better be 3-4 lines deep to cover wider front.

I find this tactic yields better result on casualty's term, than counter-charge.
Probably because Yari works best used on defense - especially with Wall option on.