What are better against missiles? (or is this post a waste of time...)

[Desperado †]

Now, this post might sound quite confusing, and is probably quite hard to find out, and might just be a waste of time. Firstly - does defence skill efect missiles? And does bigger shields effect defense status? And if you have two units with the same amount of defense (say spearmen and swordsmen) and they are both facing the enemy archers or whatever, which will fair strongest? Or do Spearmen just have higher defence in general? Or are all of these questions blatingly obvious and I shouldn't be asking them?

[Akimbo]

Now, this post might sound quite confusing, and is probably quite hard to find out, and might just be a waste of time. Firstly - does defence skill efect missiles? And does bigger shields effect defense status? And if you have two units with the same amount of defense (say spearmen and swordsmen) and they are both facing the enemy archers or whatever, which will fair strongest? Or do Spearmen just have higher defence in general? Or are all of these questions blatingly obvious and I shouldn't be asking them?

If you look at the unit cards, you can see where the units defense is coming from. I'm sure defence does effect missiles. ( Ever tried killing knights with arrows? it can take a long time unless you have good archers. ) Bigger shields = bigger bonus to defence, however they might have lower armour or "skill" which is why they use large shields anyway other factors I believe have an effect:

1) A unit is in "prepared" condition. i.e. it is stood still, shields up, will fare better vs arrows than a unit on the march.

( Don't walk slowly towards archers ^^ )

2) Angle of attack, shooting arrows into a units exposed flanks/rear ( I love horse mounted archers so so much... ) is more likely to cause damage.

( Protect your flanks )

3) Range, at close range I think arrows result in more kills.

( Again don't walk at archers with foot troops, use cavalry or at a push artillery )

So basically look at their overall defense ratings. Armoured swordsman for example have a higher rating than spear militia. Even without shields unhorsed knights would still have a better defense than spear militia for example. However spear militia are cheap and make a nice screen

[Double A]

If you look at the unit cards, you can see where the units defense is coming from. I'm sure defence does effect missiles. ( Ever tried killing knights with arrows? it can take a long time unless you have good archers. ) Bigger shields = bigger bonus to defence, however they might have lower armour or "skill" which is why they use large shields anyway other factors I believe have an effect:

Anyone else miss Cretan Archers?

defense skill does nothing against missiles, because it would be hard to dodge an arrow (unless you are Neo)

Ah, yes, the Medtrix

[LadyAn]

Xamt has most of the factors, but I would add another factor: Armor Piercing.

Some missile units have "Armor Piercing" capability (crossbows and firearms). This reduces the effectiveness of the enemy's armors against the missiles of these units.

The "defense" point in melee is calculated separately from the "defense" point against incoming missiles. In melee, the "defense skill" is used, but it is not used to calculate defense against missiles.

Annie

[Theseus1234]

defense skill does nothing against missiles, because it would be hard to dodge an arrow (unless you are Neo)

[Xamt]

factors that affect missile fire:

1) armor of troups
2) shieds (if the arrow fire is comming from the side the shield is facing - like someone said <3 horse archers)
3) formation (units in loose formation get get less caualties, HA's in shooting circle get even less)
4) ground (standing inside a forest or on higher ground/behind a wall gets u less casualties)
5) angle from which the missiles come (for best effect have your archers stand on high ground and fire in a direct line -and not over the heads of the unit in front- to the enemy)
6) distance (the closer they are the more casualties they cause)
7) fire arrows reduce the accuracy, but casualties reduce morale
8) mounted units are easier to hit with arrows than foot units (duh!!!)

for those who remember from shogun ... rain (no longer affects missile fire... not even gunpowder!!!!)