Bills ruining England

[PotentSchraphlon]

I want to play as England but the last time I tried I realised that their two handed troops (bill men etc) don't really kill anyone because their attacks keep getting interrupted. Is there a fix for this?

[Monsieur Alphonse]

Nope. This is the dreaded two hander bug. Their animation is to slow to kill. Some players use two handers as flankers, which IMO is a waste of money. Cavalry is better suited for that role.

[Fireright]

Billmen and stuff are duffers and should mash up peasants and town militia with ease..but they dont

All is not lost though:

I've seen a player made tweak on the net which claims to improve and speed up Two handed unit animations..google VanillaMod0.93 by a chap named 'Faction Heir' (TW Guild)



I've never tried it, but read the the thread on the player-made tweak and decide for yourself if it fits the bill.

As always...download stuff at your own risk

Or do what I do..and get stuck in with Armoured Swordsmen

[PotentSchraphlon]

I'll have a look at that then, thanks. It just seems a waste to play as England and not use one of their main unique units

[Fireright]

Aye, it can be a tad disappointing not to have billmen types dishing out the damage properly, and it does restrict the choice of decent fighting units. Still, maybe that player tweak is what's required although I've not bothered with it thus far.

Billmen types are ok for mashing up light cavalry and horse archer types, otherwise, just throw em into some clobbering of other duff units and hope for the best.

[micheljq]

I played England and did like using Billmen, in the second line. When my first line of spearmen receives a cavalry charge, I counterattack with the Billmen with good results against heavy cavalry. They have a weak defense but a good offense stat.

[PotentSchraphlon]

I downloaded that improved animations mod. It's hard to tell a difference but it looks like the animations are slightly faster, although testing them against sergeant spearmen there was a slight improvement but nothing really noticeable. Not that I was all that thorough

[Crusader Bubba]

Usually when I play England, I use Billmen as kind of militia or reserves incase anyone actually lands on English soil (mainly hard mode) but as for professional armies naturally England is made for keeping back and not taking too many casualties since they dont have too much manpower, kind of a genious tactic i must admit.

If i'm not mistaken though, I believe they get a bonus against cavelry so I guess they would be suited more for that type of warfare, but as for inf vs inf it would be suicide to send them in even with their charge bonus.

[midget_roxx]

I found that they were great at killing cavalry :O

[Heir]

I found that they were great at killing cavalry :O

agreed.

[Thefallenhun]

I always liked the billmen, but that's because I loathe enemy heavy cavalry. There is nothing like playing as Egypt and seeing your precious arab cavalry which swept like a storm through Anatolia die at the hands of Feudal knights to make you appreciate a good cavalry slayer.

Its a real shame the 2h are not great, because I always loved the dismounted english knight's look.

[PotentSchraphlon]

I found that too just last night, definitely made me feel better about them.

[Noozooroo]

Does this business about billmen's attacks being interrupted apply to Dismounted English Knights too? I've never used them, but from looking at their stats, they've become my ideal line infantry (still teching up to the point where I can produce them on a significant scale).

[Silverheart]

Does this business about billmen's attacks being interrupted apply to Dismounted English Knights too?

It goes for All soldiers with two-handed weapons that I know of.
There is supposed to be a mod that fixes it, but I´m not sure which...

[Monsieur Alphonse]

It goes for All soldiers with two-handed weapons that I know of.
There is supposed to be a mod that fixes it, but I´m not sure which...

Not all two handers. Halberd infantry is doing fine. The mod you are referring to is the Vanilla mod which can be found here: http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumd...250-VanillaMod

[Noozooroo]

Maaaaaaan, that sucks.

Although I suppose the Knights having much higher stats (than Billmen-type units) overall would still make them worth it?

[Noozooroo]

Although I suppose the Knights having much higher stats (than Billmen-type units) overall would still make them worth it?

3-4 units of Dismounted English Knights(19 atk, 16 def), 3-4 units of New World Swordsmen (or w/e they're called - 14 atk, 18 def), and one unit of Armoured Swordsmen (11 atk, 17 def), packed into a gateway, fighting three units of Coyote Priests (12 atk, 12 def, 30 men per unit).

I lost 2/3 of my infantry, particularly my English Knights.

2H Weapons: Never again.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

You are right. They are only good for charging which is a waste of money. Which means that they are useless on the battlefield. As heavy infantry armored swordsmen or DFK's are better. As flankers you should use cavalry.

[Noozooroo]

As flankers you should use cavalry.

Indeed. In the game I'm in, I'm hard-pressed for money, so I never upgraded my stables. I just use my various Templar Chapters.

[Posantio of Umbria]

You should check out "Attack Darthmod the Final Episode". IRC Darthmod turns the Billmen in to a Pike-type unit (spearwall ability), which obviously makes them more efficient line infantry