Irreplaceable Unit

[TheBard]

I know many have asked about what units we would get rid of if we could (likely to free up space for better units), but I wanted to ask the opposite: What, in your opinion, is the most indispensable unit for a specific faction? I'm not modding anything; I'm just curious.

While I firmly expect to hear a chorus of "X Faction's Most Powerful Unit," I'm more interested in the low and mid-level units. Or perhaps the high-level early era ones.

Portugal: Jinettes

Having lost with Aragon and been highly successful with Portugal, I would say the jinettes were the main difference in being able to hold off the Moors. Having cheap, skirmisher cavalry (which Aragon doesn't get) makes a huge difference against Moorish cavalry and bodyguards.

[ly0_ly0]

Ritterbruders.Nuff said

[Silver Legionary]

Any, and I mean ANY foot javelin unit with more than 10 defense.

[Ichon]

Any Javelin cavalry(Jinetes, Desert Cavalry, etc)
Pavise spearmen- any faction who gets them
Merchant cavalry militia- any faction
Castle archers nothing special but easy to get and use plus better quality than the levies


Really can't think of any others. Most factions get access to at least 2 of the above and really I could compose my army almost entirely of those with a couple BG and be ok in most situations.

[Meneth]

Ichon, you should never play as Norway
No javelins, no (AFAIK) pavise spearmen and weak archers.

[Ichon]

Ichon, you should never play as Norway
No javelins, no (AFAIK) pavise spearmen and weak archers.

They don't need a single unit since their whole roster is pretty nice. Although they can get access to decent archers pretty fast if wanted but they are infantry faction, half their units capable of taking down BG(as long as not receiving the charge) which is much better than most other factions.

[Mightypeon]

Yes, imho both Vikings needs a boost.
It should perhaps be along the lines of:
-Make Norse Archers close combat competent again
-Pimp Huscarls (give them spears or something for charges, perhaps allow more armour upgrades...), right now, they dont do much that mailed knights could not do better.
-Viking raiders less friggin expensive in upkeep.

After Full plate, they can both compete due to War clerics, and after gunpowder you will have a couple of archers for staking, War clerics and Handgunners which is ok.

[Asterix]

hmmm... leon-castile, knights of santiago. towards the end of that my campaign with them, half my knights were santiagos. i love them.... i would win battles against armies bigger than mine with just their charge. plus, they look cool.

[TheBard]

Knights of Santiago are pretty cool. Leon's Feudal Knights are also cool, with the yellow.

[FatRod]

I'd actually say pikemen and pavise crossbows.

Pikemen cause their phalanx + hold formation is unbreakable, and with the crossbows behind them mowing down infantry you pretty much can't lose

Unless there is a tonne of camel gunners...

[SirRobin]

Spear militia.

Light swordsmen.

Mounted sergeants.

[ShadowKiller2000]

St. Lazarus Knights FTW!!!!

[Gromovnik]

Scoutatoi spearmen in my Roman campaign. They're my line infantry throughout the campaign, available already in castles, won't break, good melee troops, obviusly great against cavalry... I don't see how I would play a roman campaign without them.

[Gogolometro]

Pavise handgunners. All Europe must have them. Is a huge difference,who have them and who dont. Templars/hospitaliers. In the land of mounted sargents, these guys are real killers. Can play with them before lancers with no problem.
Horse archers. Ideea of steppes without them is like a candy shop without candys.
The byzantine roster. I mean all of them. Is the reason I always I am tempted to play them, again, and again.

[Polloasesino]

voulge militia

[Mightypeon]

I think Pavise Handgunner get a win for obsoleting the entire Feudal roster.

[Disregard]

Javelin Units - This by far is my top, Im playing as Aragon and they make up most of my army composition. They have great melee and ridiculous ranged damage. I could do fine without Desert Cavalry, though I prefer them when I take over the Moorish Castles, much easy to dispose of enemy Generals.

Spear Militia - Self-Explanatory.

Knights of Montesa - They cost over 1000Gold to recruit but their upkeep is a mere 200, they are great for charging almost any unit that isnt high-tier spearmen and since they are a Order/Religious unit, their morale almost never breaks. When I dont have enough units to deal with enemy cavalry, I just let the Knights charge them, they usually come out victorious and I'll let my General unit do rest of the work.

[hippacrocafish]

Turks: Fari cavalry.

[Tears of Destiny]

Turks: Fari cavalry.

YES!

I adore these guys, even when I get the crap kicked out of my army when fighting them, I love them.

[Lord Humungus]

Depends on faction you're playing.

For fatimids it's definitely mamluk archers - they have everything you want from HA: fast, heavily armored, have shields, high morale, can shoot farther than most foot archers and their maces are just evil. Even byzantine bodyguards get massacred in a matter of seconds.