Army Makeup- Denmark

[Angarah]

I've realized recently I haven't updated the way I build my armies since RTW, which obviously is not smart. So starting as denmark, what should my early and late period armies look like? How much infantry, cavalry, etc, for the purpose of dealing with other European countries?
Much appreciated

[Captain Spanky]

As Denmark, you should take advantage of hurscarls and viking raiders in the early period, and norse war clerics, DFK and norse axemen later on.

Missile wise, I personally prefer crossbowmen, though norse archers are better all rounders.

I typically dont use spearmen, instead I absorb the charge with DFK or war clerics, then coutner with axemen.

Most important of all, use heavy infantry, lots. Your infantry, cavalry and missiles can all potentially have the effective against armour trait, so use this to your advatnage.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

As any faction, your earlier army should consist mostly of your Family Members, Generals, Princes, etc. Your front-line infantry (aka meat-shield), at best, should be mercenary spearmen. This is effective in the earlier periods since most factions will throw Town Militias and Peasants at you.

In the later period, add some Knights with your War Clerics, Hurscarls, etc. Get the more powerful units from your best Castles, I'd say, I don't quite remember the Danish roster.

[King Oz]

As any faction, your earlier army should consist mostly of your Family Members, Generals, Princes, etc. Your front-line infantry (aka meat-shield), at best, should be mercenary spearmen.

Mercenary Spearmen cost a lot more (upkeep and recruiting) than Viking Raiders and Dismounted Huscarls which can kick any other European country's infantry easily. So far with Denmark I haven't lost a single fight with my Raider/Huscarls infantry army.

[tree_of_liberty]

I'd agree with King Oz... with any faction, you have to ask, "what's my advantage."

With denmark, their lvl 1 and 2 infantry completely outclass everybody else's. They have higher defense, and their attk is armor piercing. So a good early Denmark strategy is to base your armies around infantry. Then, during the battles, just infantry charge them every time. Even if you then are unable to flank-charge with your general, your infantry will still easily win the grind and force them to rout.

[Viva Espana!]

Personally, I always loved the Macedonian principle of "tie them up with infantry and then charge them with heavy cav." Seeing as the sarissa-wielding phalanx in the RTW game was largely something that distracted the enemy without taking that many losses. This is how I play Denmark.

With a good group of Dismounted Huscarls, you can "hold down the fort." Viking Raiders can be placed behind or to the flanks to either surround the enemy or reinforce weak spots in the line. Once the weaker enemy infantry has met your Dismounted Huscarls, you can come around with Mounted Huscarls and a General(Sometimes only your general if you have enough bodyguards) and strike the enemy infantry from the rear. I like this tactic because you can anniahlate far numerically superior armies with two-three stacks of dismounted Huscarls and a group of mounted huscarls or two. Then, of course, the Norse Archers work beautifully. 28 of my Norse Archers took on 60 peasants with the same armor/experience and only six of mine died while half of the enemy died.

[townie33]

You can also use the norse archers a a first line of infantry if the need arises. They have the same attack and one point greater defense than the dismounted huscarls. More bang for your buck

[Swordboy]

All good suggestions.

I like (and this holds true for pretty much any faction I play) to tech-up a mix of cheap low level units from castles & citys. A typical Danish army is comprised of about half militia spearmen & Norse archers, 1/4 Norse swordsmen/Dismounted Huscarls or Viking raiders, and 1/4 Huscarl cavalry & General.

It's nice to be able to retrain units in short order, especially when deep in enemy territory...