Regular bow and close-range bow?

[Ashkenaz]

One of the things new in this mod, is the invention of a new type of horse archers.

I, for one, never really got the hang of them, and now honestly, how do you use them?

Their close range seems... out of place, seeing as nearly every single bow is long range now (save for the crossbows, and even then not all of them), and their obvious strategy - run in, shoot a volley, run away, repeat - seems to do them more harm then good, thanks to enemy archers, even mounted ones.

I never played a faction with them (I played... Ghorids, Khwarezm, Indians, Romans, KoJ) and they seem to be like some exclusive things for the horse-archer heavy factions, which make them muc better. I ain't seein' it.

What do I do with them?

[Bull]

These are the assassins of horse-archer factions. They won't kill all that many spearmen due to their small numbers, but if you are up against some nasty heavy spearmen or heavy cavalry (think bodyguards) then these are your best bets due to their armor-piercing bonus.

When I play the Seljuks I usually have a squad of 3-4 close range bow units and the rest are regular HA, and maybe a few heavy cavalry chargers if I can get them. Surround the approaching enemy as usual, then you'll find a few enemy units that's not dying as fast as you would like (usually the generals). So send in your hit squad and tail him closely but not too close, or else he'll charge at you. They have a much better chance than your regular archers in nailing these guys.

Often I find that the enemy BG will suffer few casualties due to their 2HP and high armor, but these hit squad usually have weakened them enough that your general should be able to finish the job with relative ease. Hope that helps.

[The Noble Lord]

Horse archers should have close range bows really developed, especially factions like Seljuks.

[Strelac]

Close/regular bow concept is removed from 1.5.

In 1.05, I believe that close bow had some AP property...it may be beneficial to use them against heavy inf?