Horse Archers

[vgroff]

Hey guys,

i was wondering what is the "correct" way of using horse archers. I usually have one unit to lure away enemy cav(especially if its superioir to mine) while causing a few casualities with their arrows/javelins. I then put them behind enemy inf and shoot them in the rear.


Im starting a campaign with parthia and i was wodering how
you guys use them.

Thanks

[Genius of the Restoration]

As Parthia you have Eastern Infantry and Hillmen which are strong enough to take down enemy cav as long as they don't rout. To stop this from happening, use them in conjunction with your generals which are very powerful in the early game and only get better later. Using one unit of HA to lure enemy cav is a good tactic, once you've told them to fire at the enemy cav they will likely begin to chase you. Put them on fire at will mode when this happens and turn skirmish mode off. You can then direct which way you run with them hopefully in pursuit. Something I like doing is running my unit through my infantry if it is being chased by cav. If you run the unit through your infantry, the enemy cav will likely follow. Charge your infantry at the enemy. They will likely not charge your inf as they are still prioritising the HA that is shooting them, meaning you wont be slaughtered by the charge like you normally would. Once engaged, bring you general in from behind or the sides, throw a volley of javelins or two and charge in. Make sure he is always close though, Eastern Infantry in particular wont last long without some morale bonuses propping them up. While they may be some of the worst infantry in the game, they have their uses, especially early on when finances are tight.

Shooting from behind is a sure way to rack up the kills with any missile unit, so you're on a winner there. Hope this helps.

[leseras]

Also because you are fighting factions with similar units aka aremenia and such, they also have HA. You need to distract them as they can be very devastating. Also, the enemy tend to be very idiotic esp in the open field if you only attack with HA, they just run around in circles confused, even if they also have HA.

[vgroff]

Thanks guys,

i was also wondering whether HA can be a replacement for archers(they have the sam missile attack) and although there are less units in an HA unit than an archers unit, HA are more mobile and decent in melee. Tell me what u think.

[leseras]

There are certain problems with HA taking over archers. Archers have more in a unit, attack is higher. Ha are meant to be a unit that acts by itself, it doesn't really support infantry that well(at least from experience). You can't place HA on walls.

[Genius of the Restoration]

In most situations you'd probably rather have HAs, though in some situations archers are more useful. You'll probably encounter the Scythed Chariots of Seleucia and Pontus in a Parthian campaign, and fire arrows cause these units to run amok (not Pontic Chariot Archers mind you, nor Egyptian variants) so archers are more useful when fighting these. Similarly, archers tend to be easier to use in a siege due to their tighter formation. The larger unit size is another bonus in this situation. Most of the time HAs are better though, definitely on the field. My advice would be that a mixed force is better, though you can definitely get away with only one or two units of archers in full stack because in most cases HA are more effective.

[leseras]

I agree with Genius, during siege battles the only place I can use HAs to their full potential is defending the town square where there is space for them. Otherwise, I normally don't use them in a siege.

[|Sith| Max]

HA only really have purpose in a real battle (Human players VS human players)

Their uses are as follows:

1. Can eliminate one and a half archer unit without taking many casualties as long as they are in cantabrian circle.
2. Can make 8 units of archers waste all of their ammo without dying.
3. Can be extremely effective against highly armored units when firing at them from the rear.
4. Using them in this way often causes the opponent to get so ing angry that he begins moving towards your main army, simply because he can not stand to see his archers die without doing anything(AKA too hotheaded to play a strategy game).
5. Extremely effective at targeting and weakening chariots with hitpoints. if it is an amok-able unit they will probably go amok if they loose too many units. fire arrows are not the only thing that causes scythed chaz to freak out.

Due to their extreme usefulness to proper players they are usually limited to max 2 units of HA. They also require some cav units to cover them at times.

[empr guy]

HA only really have purpose in a real battle (Human players VS human players)
.

huh?

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those things max said can be used against the computer to. I find that against selucia (in campaign) they are effective, because they pump out the lowest level of phalanx, which is extremly vunrable from the back. If you surround a phalanx army they cant really do anything but take it, and concentrated fire can really hurt.

if your using them for support, use them as genius said.

[Warhammster]

They also require some cav units to cover them at times.

Or you can keep their circling area withing range of you long range archers for good protection against light cavalry raids as well.

[|Sith| Max]

huh?

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those things max said can be used against the computer to. I find that against selucia (in campaign) they are effective, because they pump out the lowest level of phalanx, which is extremly vunrable from the back. If you surround a phalanx army they cant really do anything but take it, and concentrated fire can really hurt.

if your using them for support, use them as genius said.

or you can spam 10 cataphracts and 10 HA. thatl any campaign army up. They are a lot better in the MP though.

Or you can keep their circling area withing range of you long range archers for good protection against light cavalry raids as well.

True but i prefer to keep a unit of cats behind em in loose. seems to discourage most players from losing their cav.

[Stolet]

Seleucids are probably the easiest faction to beat with Parthia early on. The only "threat" are their militia cav, but they will rout very quickly. When you fight them, be sure to have loads of HAs, cause Seleucids spam huge numbers of militia spears, although they have a sweet city in Antioch. Also be sure to start off quickly or you'll be in some serious money trouble When you get to Europe, not one faction there will have a chance against the late Parthian army. Good luck with your campaign