Best infantry fact

[blashger]

The infantry in medieval 2 got me pretty confused. It's all very unrealistic and unbalanced so i have seen many threads for best infantry, but all was from personal experience.... So does anybody know for a fact which is the best infantry? and BTW, are you sure the 2 hander bug is fixed in the patches? Does'nt seem like that to me:hmmm:

EDIT: It also SEEMS like, i know the AI do get bonuses, but after repeated test with the same unit types, me and the AI charging at the same time, i will always lose...why???

[eggthief]

i think its either JHI or VHI.

[blashger]

i think its either JHI or VHI.

Ok, i think that too
Still, do you know anything on a wider basis other then the top units of every faction?

[Sorkenlol]

Armored Swordsmen in my opinion.

[traxx91]

Byzantinian Guard Archers are insane! Nice long range attack and they are one of the best archers in melee.

[eggthief]

i dont base it on the fact that theyre the top of their faction, but the JHI for example has a great attack range, attack speed and stats, not to mention an anti cav trait. ask sher khan and u get a 1000 page book on why they are so great.

[Soltaro]

There's no absolute 'best' unit since there are so many variables to consider.

- Cost/effectiveness?
- What terrain?
- Available in what era?
- What patch version? (I assume 1.2/1.3 without retrofit mod (JHI suck when patched))
- Vs what units?
- Defence or offence?
Just to name a few...

Of course this is all very boring to consider since it would mean there's no absoute answer to your question. Thats why you see so many 'opinions' on the board.

Personally I consider the following units the best:

- Venetian Heavy Infantry
Available really early and are ridiculously strong with their hammers of doom. Only downside is their low morale.

- Hashishim
2 hit points, highly trained. Great at everything (especially defending walls).

- Dismounted Dvor
Awesome archer unit with really strong melee and high defence. Not best in direct assault but add some tactics into the equation and these guys can outperform almost everyone.

- Aventuros
Best spearman. Their amazing spearwall can do wonders in a defensive situation

- Dismounted Conquistadores
Best stats of any 'normal' shield/weapon infantry. This is probably the unit you're looking for. However they are hard to get, *very* late era and a bit boring to use since they don't need any real tactics to be effective.

- Naffatun
Seriously, they thrown burning oil on their enemies. How can ANY list be complete without Naffatun in it...
As a sidenote, they also happen to own, even elephants, when used correctly (mostly in small flanking groups).

If you're more specific on some of the variables I've mentioned you can get a more fitting answer though.

- Soltaro

[blashger]

There's no absolute 'best' unit since there are so many variables to consider.

- Cost/effectiveness?
- What terrain?
- Available in what era?
- What patch version? (I assume 1.2/1.3 without retrofit mod (JHI suck when patched))
- Vs what units?
- Defence or offence?
Just to name a few...

Of course this is all very boring to consider since it would mean there's no absoute answer to your question. Thats why you see so many 'opinions' on the board.

Personally I consider the following units the best:

- Venetian Heavy Infantry
Available really early and are ridiculously strong with their hammers of doom. Only downside is their low morale.

- Hashishim
2 hit points, highly trained. Great at everything (especially defending walls).

- Dismounted Dvor
Awesome archer unit with really strong melee and high defence. Not best in direct assault but add some tactics into the equation and these guys can outperform almost everyone.

- Aventuros
Best spearman. Their amazing spearwall can do wonders in a defensive situation

- Dismounted Conquistadores
Best stats of any 'normal' shield/weapon infantry. This is probably the unit you're looking for. However they are hard to get, *very* late era and a bit boring to use since they don't need any real tactics to be effective.

- Naffatun
Seriously, they thrown burning oil on their enemies. How can ANY list be complete without Naffatun in it...
As a sidenote, they also happen to own, even elephants, when used correctly (mostly in small flanking groups).

If you're more specific on some of the variables I've mentioned you can get a more fitting answer though.

- Soltaro

That was very helpful Well, i don't know what im looking for really, it's just that i have no idea which unit beats the other unit. Unless you can tell me that the price range and guide from the game is correct (which it seems not) i am lost...

[Soltaro]

That was very helpful Well, i don't know what im looking for really, it's just that i have no idea which unit beats the other unit. Unless you can tell me that the price range and guide from the game is correct (which it seems not) i am lost...

You could learn a lot from reading the FAUST (or FUSIL) PDF files. These are unit stat tables with all the details of every unit. (Do a quick search and you'll find a link easily.)
I've spend more time reading those things and testing than actual play time.

Shield/weapon units are always a save bet. They excel at staying alive long enough so you can crash some horsies into your enemies flanks and give new meaning to the word annihilation.

The key to understanding Total war battles is doing a LOT of 1 vs 1 battles.
Let some Hashishims go toe to toe with VHI and see what happens for example. Keep it 1 vs 1 to minimize other factors. Also for more accurate conclusions, do the test multiple times and switch control to the unit the computer was controlling.

Of course this doesn't include tactics but you'll first need to know your units strengths and weaknesses before you can exploit and protect them respectively.

[blashger]

You could learn a lot from reading the FAUST (or FUSIL) PDF files. These are unit stat tables with all the details of every unit. (Do a quick search and you'll find a link easily.)
I've spend more time reading those things and testing than actual play time.

Shield/weapon units are always a save bet. They excel at staying alive long enough so you can crash some horsies into your enemies flanks and give new meaning to the word annihilation.

The key to understanding Total war battles is doing a LOT of 1 vs 1 battles.
Let some Hashishims go toe to toe with VHI and see what happens for example. Keep it 1 vs 1 to minimize other factors. Also for more accurate conclusions, do the test multiple times and switch control to the unit the computer was controlling.

Of course this doesn't include tactics but you'll first need to know your units strengths and weaknesses before you can exploit and protect them respectively.

Ok, i will do that. Consider this solved Thank you everyone for helping!

[Toshi-sama]

These guys aren't in the game without the retrofit mod but, Canons of the Holy Sepulcher

19 attack
9 charge bonus
14 Defense
2 hit points

Only recruitable in Jerusalem and 1 every 10 turns

[blashger]

These guys aren't in the game without the retrofit mod but, Canons of the Holy Sepulcher

19 attack
9 charge bonus
14 Defense
2 hit points

Only recruitable in Jerusalem and 1 every 10 turns

Good i have it then

And if the guy above meant that all the things i asked about is fixed in the patches, then GREAT!!! Then i no longer need to wonder, or i could just check with custom battles as somebody else said...

[Dead Sun]

ive said before, quite a few times, and ill advertise again
retail kingdoms comes with 1.2 and 1.3 patch, for ten pounds on the street (prob about $15-$20 in your local mall) it really does ,IMO, fix everything

[Theseus1234]

as everyone said, there is no "best unit", it all depends on your playing style.
and also, even if there was a best unit, tactics would also be very important
lets say you make an army with 80% "Uber-infantry", what are you going to do when that full stack of horse archers come?

[Double A]

You auto resolve...

[Five_of_Swords]

well a lot of people pretend this is complicated but really its not. there is a vague, minor difference between units in various situations but honestly for most its pretty insignificant. In terms of upkeep cost per units strength, there is no question that the armored swordsmen are the best. They are supposed to be anti infantry but they are actually better against cavalry than most spearmen, simply because of their stats and morale and stamina. There is of course infantry (well, only the vhi reliably that i can think of) that might beat armored swordsmen, but not by a lot, and they cant boast a 150 upkeep cost. realistically in any battle situation if yr army has heavy infantry you jsut want it to be reliable. dismounted feudal knights are reliable. Most catholic factions are best served ignoring their special cute unique units and making dismounted feudal knights because nothing really outclasses them in combat, they have good morale, and good stamina, while being quick and easy to build (you dont even have to complete the barracks) so they are easy to replentish while on the move. Also in the custom battle selection dismounted feudal knights are generally a lot cheaper than units that honestly wind up being no better than them in any realistic situation.

If you test all the heavy infantry performance agaisnt eachother what is most interesting is how NOT different they perform against eachother... but the basic extremes are the zweihanders as the weakest heavy infantry (they will generally lose to an equal toe to toe vs dfk but its not so overwhelming that its pointless) and vhi or varag guard (i cant see much of a statistical difference) are the best for anti infantry but somewhat more vulnerable to missles than dfk, and their anti infantry role is really not superior enough to compensate for this vulnerability imo. As HRE imperial knights are a hair better than DFK in all reasonable situations and of course england should always use the ultra cheap armored swordsmen in campaign but those are the only real exceptions i can remember right now. In the campaign as spain or france etc it is simply absolutely not worth it to disband your dfk and replace with chivilric knights,,, you will never actually notice a difference in their performance, experience and easy replaciblility much more important.

ps the short answer to yr question i guess I would say Varangian guard imo cause they are pretty much = to vhi in anti infantry role but they do get a little sheild and they have combat bonus in wood and snow rather than jsut wood.

[Bartjo]

if you count Kingdoms, Best Heavy inf. is the Muire

[The Dutch Devil]

If you test all the heavy infantry performance agaisnt eachother what is most interesting is how NOT different they perform against eachother... but the basic extremes are the zweihanders as the weakest heavy infantry (they will generally lose to an equal toe to toe vs dfk but its not so overwhelming that its pointless)

Altough it's useless to correct it I'm still going to do it.
Zweihanders indeed have bad stats, but it's the way of using them. Zweihanders have a high attack which you use to charge not for long lasting fights. Assuming you play as HRE while using them. Dismounted Imperial Knights have a very good AP weapon. They can literarily cut themselves through most units. Use a mix of AP DIK and DFK with good defense to hold the line and use the Zweihanders you have (always about 1/4 of your melee force) to swing around the back of the line that your other forces are holding. Because of the excellent attack skills of the Zweihanders they will probably kill two rows of the enemy. retreat them to compensate for their lack of defense skills. This tactic is particularly effective in close quarters where cavalry doesn't have enough time to build op their charge.

[scougall9]

What a ressurection

[Ascarona]

if you count Kingdoms, Best Heavy inf. is the Muire

You made an account just to necropost this?

What a ressurection

I don't think I have to make a smartassed comment here...