Javenlin men are useless

[homefry]

I can't really find much use for them. Either you're a missle troop or infantry. They really don't do either one well.

By the time they're in range of firing, the enemy is already right on top of them, which in this case it's better just to have them fight from the start.


Javeli cavalry on the other hand are awesome. I'm mainly talking about the almughavers for Spain.

[TW_ruler]

The only good thing about them is accuracy due to there short range. They work well behind the line that's fighting. They cause less friendly causalities then archers and that's the good thing about them. Also they do cause moral loss for the troops being hit. If you concentrate your javelins on one group like the center of the enemy lines while your spears or swords are fighting that line I get good results with them causing the line to rout. Other than this they are useless and do little against heavy armor other than some moral loss. They are completely useless against heavy calvary you can actually dump all your ammo and maybe kill 5 heavy calvary with them. I guess when they run out of ammo they are good fodder troops. When I use them I use them like I stated above and they do ok in that situation.

[Captain Spanky]

Take high ground, turn skirmishing off for almughavers, then put merc spears or some militia or whatever in front. Casualties for the enemy will skyrocket.

[DisgruntledGoat]

Just a TW_ruler said, they are amazing support infantry. Place them behind the main infantry line and they just slaughter the enemy with their javelins. You can then race them around the pinned enemy and shower the rear with even more javelins causing severe drops in moral leading to routing. The Portuguese and the Spanish have great javelin armed infantry. Freaking great stats, being able to take on armored sergeants easily.

[Kalos]

Moved to Battle Planning.

[Bluice]

Casualties for the enemy will skyrocket.

Said with an evil grin... !

[kaleus Khron]

Kurdish javenlinmen are awesome. they can go into melee if needed.

[Renco]

Almughavers are pretty good i've found. Early on the fill the melee bill very well. 12 attack and 12 defense plus whatever their javelins are, tthey can destroy militia and usually the 2nd level of a castle unit. When they start losing Melee battles they become unequalled support troops for an infantry battle. Sometimes better than archers as they have higher kill/hit rate and don't have to throw their javelins 25 foot into the air to attack over some friendly units.
Only problem is if enemy have ranged missle and they shoot and wait for you to 'bring it'.

[HansDuet]

Javelins (especially Almughavars) are excellent when based behing the main line. Almughavars can also count many units in close combat. Supporting units at the best.

[Drag529]

Their good for absorbing the charge of the enemy, and cutting them down on the way…
Their also good for support

[Panzerbear]

I absolutely agree. The javelinemen are NOT a strong unit (Javeline cavalry is way better), and they can only be used as a specific support unit... when used properly, they are good, but in all other cases (battle can be sometimes unpredictable and sometimes there are no hills to stand on) they are rubbish.

[homefry]

It's a paradox. In the early game, they're your strongest infantry units, so it doesn't make sense to use them as missile units. But later on, you get better unfantry and missile units, so they are basically useless throughout the whole game.

They should've made it so the javelinmen are able to fire on the run.