The unsung heroes

[Leutnant]

So we rant, rave, and swear by our favorite units- those big and strong flagship units of our factions. But what about the little guy? The units who don't have the best skins, armor, and high defense and attack values. You know... the average unit.

My favorite such unit is the Ghazis. I love going on jihads just to recruit these guys. They have zero armor but man, can these guys can dish it out! They almost never rout and are badass in taking settlements. When packed through the small entrance gate, they take huge casualties, but at the end of the day, the settlement's is yours.

Furthermore, Using them in battle ensures that the battle will last long. Unlike the JHI, who somehow seem to insta-route the enemy, these guys give you a nice long, bloody battle to watch.

Here's to you, Ghazis

What's your favorite average unit?

[Yojimbo]

Probably spear millita they are so cheap and easy to build and can last for a long time in melee. In rtw its the millita hoplites which are great for how easy they are to recruit and in mtw1 the feudal MAA going from spears to them lets you istanlty pwn those around you. and the alomhad urban millita is great too. The ghazis are good to u=se ina big group as flanksers or justa big blovb of axemen to slow down the emeny.

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

The Ghazis were my favourite average unit in MTW 1, but now my favs are Viking raiders. Maybe it's because I'm northern european, but I don't know many manlier things than a big burly beardy blonde man swinging a bloody axe in bloodlust. I just love it when I see them smash into a line of british spearmen and bash them like crazy .

[jimjimjim]

Alun light cavalry.
Super fast and are great for getting rid of horse archers and light infantry or archers.
Just love em.

[ComnenusTheOne]

Byzantine Spearmen, they just cheap, so i use them as army backbone. Though they get massacred generally easy.

[Yojimbo]

Byzantine Spearmen, they just cheap, so i use them as army backbone. Though they get massacred generally easy.

millita spearmen are pretty the most unsung they are made i'm droves and thanklessly hold the line dying in droves with next to no armour and a tiny shiled. Byz spears are good.

[Juvenal]

I think we should pay tribute to mercenary spearmen.

Mercenary spearmen are always recruited as an afterthought on the way to battle. They generally don't get any armour upgrades, but you put them into the thick of battle because you know their attack rating and experience will give superior results to your militia spearmen.

At the end of the battle you look and see you still have some mercenary spearmen left and you think: "what the hell am I going to do with these guys now?" rather than "wow they fought really well and probably won me the battle while my precious dismounted knights were still rushing to the scene of the action at a fast waddle".

[Yojimbo]

I think we should pay tribute to mercenary spearmen.

Mercenary spearmen are always recruited as an afterthought on the way to battle. They generally don't get any armour upgrades, but you put them into the thick of battle because you know their attack rating and experience will give superior results to your militia spearmen.

At the end of the battle you look and see you still have some mercenary spearmen left and you think: "what the hell am I going to do with these guys now?" rather than "wow they fought really well and probably won me the battle while my precious dismounted knights were still rushing to the scene of the action at a fast waddle".

yep they push the ram hold the centre and generally act as fodder and i always just recruit them to fill up my stack. They are probably the most unassuming troops but some of the most useful and least thought about.

[Samir]

i restrict myself to a certain army pattern

I dont recruit whole stacks of elite noble knights and elite heavy infantry and cavalry, but have a at least 50% peasant/militia troop rate which is more realistic than 3 stacks of only elite troops.

the effect is of course more casualties on the battlefield and lesser heroic victories, but more often heroic engagements of certain units during battles, as well as the need for a more sophisticated battle plan in general.

hoping for your peasants to hold out against superior troops until your elite troops finish their move that is supposed to break the enemy army makes battles more interesting. Sometimes those weak units run and leave your elite troops alone, outnumbered and then they take the heavy casualties.

its cool to loose sometimes

[normanknight]

Peasant archers they kick butt in the early game.

[Mikus]

Peasant archers they kick butt in the early game.

100% Agreed

[zeuxis the mighty]

I don't know how many times i've been saved by using the spear militia and crossbow militia garrisoned in cities to defend against far superior armies in siege defense. Once even held off 3 stacks of Mongols sieging Antioch even after they took down the gates

[clandestino]

Afghan javelinmen, those guys kick buts!!! Decent stats, AP ranged attack, they look cool... they saved my sorry skin for a dozens of times when I was crusading in Near East. Also Mercenary spearmen and crossbowmen are quite usefull when the sheet hits the fan. There is also a bunch of other average units that I like to use like Boyar sons, Strzelci, Viking Raiders, Croat Axemen...

[Surgeon]

You kidding me? Mercenaries are pretty much the best units around. Why? Not only are Frankish knights, merc spearmen and merc crossbows some of the strongest units in their class, but you can retrain them in any region which has those mercenaries available, no matter if it's a castle or city. I regularly keep full garrisons of mercs in newly conquered territories while my main army withdraws to retrain.

Anyhow, possibly one of my favorite low-tier units are Peasant Archers. In large numbers they're pretty strong, especially early in the game.

[Theseus1234]

You kidding me? Mercenaries are pretty much the best units around. Why? Not only are Frankish knights, merc spearmen and merc crossbows some of the strongest units in their class, but you can retrain them in any region which has those mercenaries available, no matter if it's a castle or city. I regularly keep full garrisons of mercs in newly conquered territories while my main army withdraws to retrain.

how much money do you have?? mercs are incredibly expensive
as for my unsung hero, i usually play denmark or venice, and in each of my armies i usually keep a good amount of viking raiders or italian spear militia, which do pretty well
galleys are also pretty good as they beat the crap out of the other early ships

[Angrychris]

spear militias make up the bulk of my HRE armys

[Confederate Jeb]

I play Scotland a lot, so mine would actually be the Highlander Rabble. Yes, the peasants. They have weak stats, but they don't have low moral and are both cheap and easily retrained. Need to bolster a city? Use the rabble. Need to fill in a crusading army? Rabble time. They rock very early in the game.

But I do like how Highlanders look more.

[Dewy]

Billmen all the way many thing they suck becuase weak armour its called upgrade! Billmen hold the ground and kill many elite troops easy, billmen make the bulk of my english army also give a good show to watch.

On the way of ships longboats would have to be the one they helped the vikings become what people thought was the end of the would! pretty good early on in the game but still nice to have in the game.

[Yojimbo]

Billmen all the way many thing they suck becuase weak armour its called upgrade! Billmen hold the ground and kill many elite troops easy, billmen make the bulk of my english army also give a good show to watch.

On the way of ships longboats would have to be the one they helped the vikings become what people thought was the end of the would! pretty good early on in the game but still nice to have in the game.

no they don't. billmen are bugged like the other 2hand units.

[Theseus1234]

no they don't. billmen are bugged like the other 2hand units.

dude you need to chill out about the 2h bug. so its there, just make do with what you have. if you REALLY want to fix it, just change the attack speed in the EDU, but thats like cheating