Burning arrows or not?

[Th3_DeadlyVirus]

With my archers, I mostly try to use burning arrows when defending or in siege battles. While I use regular arrows when the enemy is a bit further away from me.

What are the differences concerning regular arrows and those burning arrows?

[Anaatti]

Archers reload regular arrows faster, but with burning arrows you can reduce enemy morale or burn their siege towers etc... When you fight enemy that is allready wavering but still cant get them rout, try fire flaming arrows at them.

[Tacitursa]

I never really use normal arrows on heavy infantry , heavy cavalry or other such units its a waste of ammo.

pepper the front infantry line with flame then focus fire any spear units with normal arrows so your cavalry can flank , Then reposition your archers and fire flame arrows into the backs of the infantry line

So for the first 10-15 seconds or so concentrate flame arrows on the approaching infantry line once they engage your line , Switch to normal arrows and kill spears,pikes that are wondering around. Then send your cavalry round the flanks and charge into the rear.

Move your archers around the flank and fire flame arrow volleys into the back of the infantry line while your cavalry move back for a second charge. Stop orders on your archers when the cavalry charge. After your cavalry has charged pull then back again and setup them for another charge while your archers unload more flame arrows into the rear then stop again as your cavalry charge.

Nothing makes an infantry like rout faster than charge / flame volley / charge

[themoob]

Personally I never use them. Lots of casualties works for reducing morale too

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Give'm the Extra Crispy boys.....

I concentrate fire, so I've found that for me fire arrows kill tally is the same as regular volleys and last longer. In my battles Fire & Dread Generals = Domination.
Tis personal preference though, I suppose. Cases can be made either way. Though I will admit, when you play with fire you get...."BURNT"..Friendly fire's a bugger if not micromanaging and Generals melt like ice cream on hot apple pie...

[Trinity]

I use flaming arrows only when my archers have a direct line of sight to what they are shooting. If not, I just use regular arrows.

[Fotchimus]

If I remember right the archers in mtw2 can fire a volley of normal arrows every 5 seconds. When you switch to fire arrows they can fire a volley every 15 seconds. I prefer to use normal arrows most of the time to get that extra 3 volleys off in the time it would take to do one fire arrow volley. Though in siege defenses I like to use fire arrows to try and ignite siege equipment.

[Zaraki]

For me it depends on the fight.. if it going to be a quick battle i'll use normal arrow..

But very long drawn out fights i'll need to watch my ammo so i don't run out anytime soon i'll use fire arrow + demoralize the enemy in large battles make a big different i think =o

[meese]

I almost never use fire arrows except when the battle is still in the balance, and I can see they have some wavering or shaken troops.

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

I almost never use fire arrows except when the battle is still in the balance, and I can see they have some wavering or shaken troops.

Being a Dumb dumb General, if I did'nt use fire there would'nt be any wavering or shaken troops...

OT: I always use fire unless it's a quick battle...

[themoob]

I suppose it depends how much you rely on archers. They are only a supporting force in my armies, designed to draw in the enemy and soften up spear formations. When I want to drop their morale, I use flanking cavalry charges en masse.

[Naked Emperor]

I mostly use flaming arrows when defending in sieges, there I am often outnumbered 1:5 so I need to break the morale of the opposing troops and shooting fire arrows into the mass of soldiers that are trying to get through the gates works wonders. Else I don't use fire arrows, and I never use archers in flanking manouvers. If the battle is joined then I use my archers to take out enemy archers, light cavalry or skirmishers. That way I don't end up too many dead from friendly fire

[Massive_attack]

ive always found burning arrows only good if you want to make the enemy retreat, if you are short of troops and want to make the archers count, with regular arrows they seem to be able to fire more, i think fire arrows take more ammo or something ? Thats what ive always thought at least.

Edit: but for morale busting, i perfer rolling up a battle line infintely more than arrows or charges.
step 1: keep 1 or 2 reserve units that wont be missed on the main battle line near the edge of yours, dont let them be in range of the enemy though !
step 2: engage the enemy, ensure your lines clash and that you can hold on for a few minuites
step 3: Try to engage the enemy general with heavy cav, kill him if at all possible
step 4: Position you troops just behind the enemy forces on one end of the line. Engage them. If you completed step 3, they should rout in under a minuite unless they are really tough mofo's.
step 5: when the enemy troop you flanked routs, use your newly freed units to "roll up the battle line", just flank and overwhelm the enemy troops one by one down the line untill they all break and run for it. Then its just cleanup.

Edit2: this works best with low morale troops, like militias, clearly.

[Th3_DeadlyVirus]

When playing Venice where I would have those Pesante Archers, I always used flames. Their accuracy was insane, hitting nearly everything within the unit box, the arrows just seemed to be more effective. 3-4 companies of Pesante Archers could roach a entire unit in one shot. I also like that they use less missiles per minute, because I feel they are being used way to fast.

[RollingWave]

I only use it in siege defense against towers and occasionally in night battle (help me see a little better)

seriously though, I think the way fire arrow (and rocks) depicted in the TW series is just plain ole wrong. there is no way a arrow can cause a man to burst into flames. and even a dead guy is highly unlikely to burn from the fire that a arrow can likely carry.

in historical terms . fire arrow / rocks were generally used to set settlement / camps on fire. they were aiming at buildings / hey stacks / grain stash / tents, you know, things more flammable than a living organism with 75% WATER. hopefully burning down their supplies and even better cause their whole camp / settlement to go up in flames . the TW engine can't properly reflect that sort of tactics. so it's a bit odd that flaming arrows keep making it into the game. a guy being hit by a fire arrow would most undoubtablly be more worried about the arrow stuck in their body than the little bit of flame it's carrying. if your carrying fire that is actually a serious threat to human (like say, completely soaking it in petrol or something), it would most likely incinerate THE MUCH MORE FLAMMABLE ARROWS and FEATHERS before they reach the target.

[Callawyn]

You get far more kills with regular arrows, its not just reload speed the accuracy is higher too. However, the morale effect of flame arrows is pretty impressive too. I'll use both, depending on the situation. IMO, if I think the enemy is close to routing, switching to flame is worth it since it'll get them running. However, at the start of a battle where the enemy has a General present, I use real arrows to thin their ranks, since they aren't likely to run until they start losing.

[King Siegfried]

I only use it in siege defense against towers and occasionally in night battle (help me see a little better)

seriously though, I think the way fire arrow (and rocks) depicted in the TW series is just plain ole wrong. there is no way a arrow can cause a man to burst into flames. and even a dead guy is highly unlikely to burn from the fire that a arrow can likely carry.

in historical terms . fire arrow / rocks were generally used to set settlement / camps on fire. they were aiming at buildings / hey stacks / grain stash / tents, you know, things more flammable than a living organism with 75% WATER. hopefully burning down their supplies and even better cause their whole camp / settlement to go up in flames . the TW engine can't properly reflect that sort of tactics. so it's a bit odd that flaming arrows keep making it into the game. a guy being hit by a fire arrow would most undoubtablly be more worried about the arrow stuck in their body than the little bit of flame it's carrying. if your carrying fire that is actually a serious threat to human (like say, completely soaking it in petrol or something), it would most likely incinerate THE MUCH MORE FLAMMABLE ARROWS and FEATHERS before they reach the target.

Humans aren't very flammable, sure. But clothes are. Flaming arrows work because the oil burns before the arrow is consumed. And if an arrow that is wreathed in fire hits your tunic, you better believe your linen cloth is gonna burst into flames.

[Souka]

I'm only using flaming arrows if i have trouble routing a unit, otherwise regular is far better as you fire faster with higher accuracy.

King Siegfried what about a fully armored swordsman in plate? Good luck burning that up

[King Siegfried]

I don't often see such human tanks burst into flame, do you?

[The Noble Lord]

I use flaming and normal arrows as it depends on the situation. When you have massed ranks of enemy infantry its very advisable that you cover them with non-flaming arrows. Then, when there are smaller ranks of enemy infantry, general, some artillery equipment, etc, then you can sprayed them with flaming arrows.