Which faction has the best/effective horse archers?

[Vasquez]

I don't mean late period uber units necessarily, more like earlier period units? You know middle of the road, mainly because they become your workhorse horse archers.

I am asking because I am determined to play a faction thats has good to excellent bang for your buck HA from the get go if possible.

[Quark]

Vasquez
Poland: Strzelcy, hard to argue with a starting unit of mounted crossbow
Turkey: Turkish Horse Archers, Turkomans
Byzantium: a good chain of HA; Skythikon, Byzantine Cavalry, Vardariotai

Any of these will give you a clear advantage in the early game. Personally I would pick Byzantium or Turks, due to there superior starting position, but if you want to crusade, then Poland, but watch out for HRE.

[UglySori]

I'd throw in Hungary. Magyars are your standard early HA equivalent to your eastern counterparts in the North, Kiev and Rus and to the east Byz and Turks. Without RR, you get Hungarian Nobles at 2nd tier stables. With RR you have access to Nobles as soon as you build a castle. Nobles remain one of the few elite HA units in the game which means they will outshoot almost all their opponents and they have enough armor to duke it out with most light infantry and cav. Their only problem is that their upkeep fairly high especially in RR where they are considered feudal units. The Hungarian infantry roster is also limited but still fairly effective.

Best bang for the buck tier 1 HA is still the Mongolians of course. Mongolian HA also tend to use maces which coupled with their higher quality in the newest RC makes them far deadlier in combat against other cav. Same thing with Mamluks which are considered elite quality.

[Echad]

Best bang for the buck tier 1 HA is still the Mongolians of course. Mongolian HA also tend to use maces which coupled with their higher quality in the newest RC makes them far deadlier in combat against other cav. Same thing with Mamluks which are considered elite quality.

I was first surprised noone mentioned them before... Mongols should be the most HA based faction overall. Egypt got one of the best overall cavalry in the game, but they lack in HA's compared to Turks. Both new 6.0 factions should be potent, although Khwarezm are more jacks-of-all-trades, Cumans are truly nomadic faction with lots of different HA's.

So, for HA's, I'd choose:

Mongols,
Seljuks,
Cumans (once 6.0 will be released),
and all the Eastern European factions...

Byz are more heavy cavalry based, with a hint at jack-of-all-trades.

I really suggest first trying them in Custom Battles to finally see your preference, as it work much differently on paper, than in game. =)

[Laconian]

I love using horse archers when playing as the Byzantines. They have strong horse archers amongst them Varvdariotoi, Skythion etc.

[Mjr Phil]

I personally just love spanish jinetes. Not really archers, but very versatile and useful force. And dare to approach the enemy, not staying way back and runnnig away at first glimpse of danger

[Inhuman One]

What about Novgorod? they have some good archers as well, and the Dvor are good elite archer unit, heavily armored as well. They wont be the main horse archer unit of an army, but it can always be nice to have a few of them around.

[nosjo78]

I also LOVE the Jinnetes. I have never done it personally, but I hear they are gods against the elephants of the Timurids.

[Point Blank]

I also LOVE the Jinnetes. I have never done it personally, but I hear they are gods against the elephants of the Timurids.

Unfortunately, the javelin bonus vs elephants only applies to foot javelin units.

[Echad]

Jinetes are uber enought for their cost even without it. But Crown of Castille has no horse archers - AFAIK Poland has BOTH good Horse Javelineers and Crossbows, do not remember as to Archers.

[UglySori]

Jinetes are uber enought for their cost even without it. But Crown of Castille has no horse archers - AFAIK Poland has BOTH good Horse Javelineers and Crossbows, do not remember as to Archers.

Their Lithuanian archers are nothing to write home about except that they can deploy stakes. They have a missile attack of 3 and a range of 120. The same range and attack as Polands only HA, Lithuanian cav. That is why I dislike Poland as a missile cav choice. They have some very nice AP options but they are outranged by almost every single one of their opponents except HRE. Their longest ranged unit is ironically crossbow militia at 135.

Hungarian militia pavise xbows reach 155 and all their HA have a range of 170+.

Byzantium HA are at 160+ and Trebizond and Guard archers have a range of 200+ almost dbl the the range of Strzelcy.

Kiev and Novorgod have units with the same range of Byzantine units. Dvor cav are nice but actually have less range their Hungarian and Islamic counterparts actually. They probably make up for it with their whooping 10 armor though. Reminds me of the old Armenian HA Kats from R:TW.

[paokmam]

I don't mean late period uber units necessarily, more like earlier period units? You know middle of the road, mainly because they become your workhorse horse archers.

I am asking because I am determined to play a faction thats has good to excellent bang for your buck HA from the get go if possible.

I think the Turkish Horse Archers of the Turkomans. I always hire them when playin Byzantium

[Laconian]

The only really problem I have with horse javelineers is there short range. They are awesome against infantry and cavalry but they get owned with archers because of the archers longer range.

[biohaker]

Mongols and Turks the best horse archers, after that Byzantium and after the Magyars.

[UglySori]

Mongols and Turks the best horse archers, after that Byzantium and after the Magyars.

Depends on what version of RC you are using imo. In the current version, Turks probably have the best HA roster arguably over the mongols. Turkomans can be superior or at least on par as fast movers compared to Mongol horse archers. Siphas HA maybe worst than Mongolian heavy archers. Iqta'dar are hands down better cavalry compared to Mongol heavy archers. Elite status so better range, accuracy, and melee stats compared to their Mongolian counterparts. Better armor and equivalent mental stats. Tier wise Mongolian HA are still better than any of their counterparts.

Fatimids have elites for both of their HA options making them very hard to match. This means both Mamluks and Sibyan al Khass slightly outrange and outshoot every single one of their opponents except Iqta'dar. Mamluks are basically a slightly weaker version of Iqta'dar and Sibyans have the privilege of having the highest total charge attk of any HA at 14 plus they can wedge. The only problem is that Fatimid has no fast movers for HA and Sibyans are high-tier/infrastructure if I recall.

Vards in RC 1.5 are not quite elite HA anymore which means that Hungary is probably better than Byzantium. Magyars outrange Skythikons and Hungarian Nobles are more accurate, do better melee, have more armor, outrange both Vards and Byz cav. Vards just have a speed adv and a slightly higher mental adv. Hungarians though possess a significant tier advantage where mostly likely it will be Nobles duking it out vs Byz Cav and Skythikons. Nobles just don't quite match the Middle-eastern elites. They suffer from less range and worst secondary weapons (arming swords vs maces and long swords).

[AmiR TimuR]

It should be Turks if we want realism!

[Echad]

And I thought that Sibyans are unavailable at all... Y'know, Turks got some of their most heavy chargers unrecruitable as well.

As to Hungary - IMO they are in the correct place - better than Greeks, but inferior to Mujahids in HA deals.

So, Vasquez - who do you choose?

[AmiR TimuR]

Novgorod has the best horse archer in SS and in normal game i think? it is not logical. I tested 30 spahi vs 30 russian mounted archer, the result was unbelievable! all sipahis were killed and 18 russian remained!

Also what is the difference between iqtidar and Spahi? iqtidar is much more expensive but not strong :S what the ... !

Will you make balance for Turks??? it is necessary if Turks will fight with Cumans and Khwarazm!!!!