Rohan Mounted Skirmishers

**Andrik** · August 23, 2009, 11:58 AM

Riddermark Skirmishers are a new favorite unit of mine.

They have very rapid speed to keep away from infantry, and can wipe out enemy cavalry with seeming ease!

They have ranged attack, armor piercing, and are good against cavalry!

I just found this out this morning when fighting in Harad against a unit of Mumakils that was accompanying an army bent on chasing me away from my defense of Pelargir (EDIT: I had entered Harad opposite Pelargir via a merc ship). I had remembered in the movie that some of the Riders of Rohan had thrown their lances at the Mumakil to hit them from range instead of trying to charge them and get flattened...so I thought I would use these guys.

Two units of Riddermark Skirmishers, and the Mumakils were down so fast that I couldn't believe my eyes! I held them in reserve until the big guys crashed through my lines, then unleashed...and I mean nearly INSTANTLY the entire Harad Mumakil unit was down...dead to the last one. Not only that, but my skirmisher cavalry had LOTS of ammunition left! So I sent them on a rampage against enemy cavalry and the results were nearly as good. It was an easy battle from what I had expected would be a tough battle.

So, anyone worried about Mumakils destroying your battle lines...just use some skirmishers! Pelargir Marines I bet would have the same result.

I'm thinking the Riddermark Skirmishers were so much better because they also have a bonus fighting cavalry, armor piercing and etc.

I was very happy.

**obbob** · August 23, 2009, 12:07 PM

nvm

**Andrik** · August 23, 2009, 12:18 PM

I guess it is just finding the right counter to any particular unit.

I'm getting ready to attack a Mordor army that has some Olog-Hai in it, I'll let you know how the Riddermark Skirmishers do against them.

**Kulgan** · August 23, 2009, 12:35 PM

The reason why javelins are effective is because they ignore a unit's defence and ignore armour partially. Now these exact two things are what makes up the defence of a Mumakil ( or Ent, or Olog Hai )

Pelargir marines are not as effective as Riddermark skirmishers because A their attacking is somewhat bugged and B they can't get away as easily to throw more javelins as the Riddermark skirmishers can.

**Andrik** · August 23, 2009, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by Kulgan

The reason why javelins are effective is because they ignore a unit's defence and ignore armour partially. Now these exact two things are what makes up the defence of a Mumakil ( or Ent, or Olog Hai )

Pelargir marines are not as effective as Riddermark skirmishers because A their attacking is somewhat bugged and B they can't get away as easily to throw more javelins as the Riddermark skirmishers can.

They ignore defense?

Do all missile units ignore defense and only count armor and shields?

**Kulgan** · August 23, 2009, 12:48 PM

Palantir unit guide states that " missiles ignore skill " and " (AP) type ignores 1/2 target's armour "

**Lordinquisitor** · August 23, 2009, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by Andrik

They ignore defense?

Do all missile units ignore defense and only count armor and shields?

Yes.

Missiles ignore defense and only count armor and shields- and shields only when the missiles hit them in the front or on the shieldhand-side. And riddermark javelins are ap, and ignore half the armor of the foe.

**TheBromgrev** · August 23, 2009, 02:44 PM

Since this is a mod, all of the game mechanics are the same as the vanilla game. The FAUST pdf has an appendix describing how defense works in different scenarios.

**kabeast** · August 23, 2009, 03:13 PM

The main reason they are so effective is that javelins get a bonus against units according to the number of hitponts they have. So a high hit point unit, like mumakil, die when confronted with thrown weapons. How the bonus works, I don't really know, haha.

**Arthéin** · August 23, 2009, 03:52 PM

nice...it´s strange, I NEVER even used the skirmishers in my rohan campaign

(which lasted for about 100 turns)
Guess I´ll have to start a new one and try them out

**Andrik** · August 23, 2009, 10:36 PM

Well, I was in a battle today with some Skirmishers against Mountain Trolls of the Orcs of the Misty Mountains.

The Skirmishers OWNED the Mountain Trolls. I'll admit I had to get the Trolls locked down with an infantry unit first to get them from moving; but after that it was nasty. Even after the fellas ran out of Javelins, I sent them into a rear charge and they started mixing it up in melee. Their losses were about half a unit; but they finished off those Trolls!

I also used them against some Warg Riders in the same battle...they didn't fair so well honestly. The wargs were really too quick for them (this was my other unit) and I had to bail out the Skirmishers with some Eorling Militia to tie down the Wargs before wiping them out with missile fire from the Helmingas.

Man, I really LOVE Rohan! Their armies have the most variety I've yet to see in the game.

They have HORDES of cavalry, light militia infantry, heavy swordsmen like gondor, heavy axemen like the dwarves, solid archers in the Helmingas (their other archers are indeed somewhat subpar), spearwall infantry, siege gear and a great starting cast of Generals with nice Ancillary abilities denoting a well organized army.

Did I mention I Love Rohan?

**Point Blank** · August 23, 2009, 11:23 PM

Yes thrown weapons seem to get a large bonus vs multi-hp targets. RC removes the bonus by removing the thrown attribute, its very unbalancing.

Regarding defense etc, FAUST is incorrect. Shield counts full from front, half from left and right. Defense counts full from left, front and right. This was confirmed by Lusted from CA.

**Blackorc** · August 24, 2009, 03:08 AM

Lol I checked them I a custum battle and 1 unit killed 1 unit mumakils

Against Olog Hai their not verry usefull killed 3 trolls then unit was out of javelins

**Tokus*Maximus** · August 24, 2009, 10:10 AM

Yeah Andrik, I like the skirmishers too!

As Rohan I build until I can muster an entire field army of horse; pooling them into a vast green horde. Spearheaded by Prince Theoden and his horseguard along with any young general with battle scarred hit points; the majority of the Eored are horsearchers and skirmishers. Their mission; to cross the Riddermark swiftly breaking any seige upon the outlying settlements and running down orc war bands at large. As Theoden's vast Eored attacks the line of the enemy army, the settlement's small garrison sally out and distract the enemy enough for the ranks of horsemen to harry and wear down the enemy foot troops before turning and charging them down. Theoden's ironclad bodyguard rip huge gaps in the enemy ranks and supply the heavy hammerblow to the anvil the lighter missle horsemen create fighting upon the very tips of the enemy spears. Quickly, they gain good experience and when my armouries at Helm's Deep are completed along with the grand Horse Guild every unit of the 'hooved horde' will make their way their to retrain and rearm.

Favourite is to send Theoden's Green Horde down the long road to Minas Tirith and help Gondor fight the uber-Mordor stacks. I use spies to open gates of lost Gondor settlements and recover the cities quickly if they are only lightly defended, giving the place back to Gondor who then raise militia quickly behind their recovered walls. Then I race the horse army back a little and refresh from a small light force of horse where they have a fresh supply of horse units. The shattered ones then return to the nearest Rohan settlement to retrain.

Like you say, Rohan; a good fun faction and my favourite so far (though all of them are interesting).

Tokus*Maximus