Archers firing blanks

[fhaggis]

Hi,

i have just read Bernard cornwalls book, Harlequin, about English archers etc and he makes them sound utterly devestating. I KNOW it's a book etc but reading that book (&others) really made me wanna play MTW2 so i could use my own Archers but...

There not very good are they? you pour fire on a static unit with no or hardly any armour and the kill ratio is very poor!

what you think?

[PrestigeX]

It depends what units you are using. And what faction you are playing as ...

You say you just started the game, so maybe you have "peasant archers" ? -they're not professional soldiers.

Later on in the game when you advance in technology you will be able to recruit various types of longbowmen as england. Most of the other factions have bow-armed troops at higher levels etc... Play the game you'll get used to it.

Longbowmen, 5-6 units of them in an army are totally devastating 100 kills per unit , someitmes more lol. And, as the units gain experience in battle they get more chevrons and their stats increase much more.

[fhaggis]

Nah, it's no that! i have Longbowmen in my campaign, but even on Multipleyer it's the same.

Been playing as England by the way!

[lafeeverted]

Try grouping your archers in tight formation and be aware of what units you are attacking, are they armoured or not. If you can flank the enemy unit and rain arrows down on them from two directions you will have devestating results. Just shooting at them from both sides can have the same effect as the unit will face sheild in one direction and be defensless from the other incoming volley. Not sure if improvements have been made in patches but check that you are up to date as far as they go.

[Wegen7 die Große]

How are you using them? Make sure to put them on a hill(if possible) and let them rip, also make sure there are no other units in the way of the archers, otherwise they will just fire up in to the sky and hit nothing.

[Silverheart]

Longbowmen can be nigh invincible, but you must use them properly.
First of all, two men shoot faster than one - get more men for a greater effect (increase unit size, or just recruit more units)
Place them on elevated positions when you can.
Don´t waste arrows - choose carefully which enemy unit to fire at, and focus on them.

And for the Love of every god there has ever been, don´t rely on them entirely! Use infantry to watch their backs and cavalry to harass one part of the enemy while they are firing at some other bad guys.

[shikaka]

There not very good are they? you pour fire on a static unit with no or hardly any armour and the kill ratio is very poor!
what you think?

In my opinion the longbows kill too well.
They can kill whole companies with arrows which is highly unrealistic.

I think this is because the morale effect of an arrow storm cannot be simulated well in M2TW, so they decided to increase kills. I can live with that, even though I find them unrealisticly strong.


What is a bad thing: limited ammo!
I know that for even horse archers it was usual to take 4-5 quivers by themselves (maybe 80 arrows?).

[Rakoua]

Hire a bunch of merc crossbows. They usualy get about 300 kills if they're on a hill.

[midget_roxx]

If you use peasant archers they aren't very good but longbowmen can be great. Remember to try and give them the most shots off as possible by placing them ahead of your main army. If the enemy is lacking cavalry you can also place them to the sides and inflict better casualties that way.

[Ezilkannan]

@fhaggis

Longbows and Heavy infantry form the backbone of any English Army.

Single line answer to your question.

[Shasqua]

Peasant archers are weak, and shields provide good defense. And when archers shoot blanks, it's because they're trying to move while they're reloading. They also do this when targeting an enemy within range but at too low an elevation relative to the archers.