Archers??

[KingofPoland]

I've been reading AAR's of people using a lot of archers and effectively but I have no idea how. The only time I use them effectively is when I'm defending from a siege. Could anyone explain how to use them effectively when I'm attacking in a siege and in field battles? Thank you. Another question on the side, can you continue a campaign even if the victory conditions aren't met within the 225 turns you have?

[avion365]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...07#post7949107

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=219576

[FootSoldier]

Yes, you can continue the campaign whether you meet victory conditions or not.

Archers are fantastic on bridge defences - gunpowder troops too.

I'm not a great user of archers for their primary ability, as I like to attack quickly. So, I like the archer units that can melee, and those I use a lot (Ottoman Infrantry, the Guards, Norse Archers). For me it's a case of some rounds of arrow fire for softening up, and then charge in.

The best factions for archers are the English and the Eastern/Middle Eastern ones, which have long range archers. The Italians Xbows are also very good, although with a slower rate of fire. In a long battle they make lots of kills.

I guess you know the obvious things like getting on to higher ground, getting clear lines of sight, and so on. I understand the best thing is to place your archers on your left flank, so they're firing diagonally against infantry that is unprotected by their shields on their left side, i.e. to your archers' right.

Concentrating fire on a single unit at a time can wipe some out in a few melee rounds. Armour piercing archers vs DFK's etc. can be highly effective too.

[Sitalkes]

I understand the best thing is to place your archers on your left flank, so they're firing diagonally against infantry that is unprotected by their shields on their left side, i.e. to your archers' right.

That's how it should be, but I note in the FAUST it shows the same armour/shield values for the right side and the left side. Is the FAUST mistaken on this issue?

If you want to use archers effectively, turn off skirmish mode and make them stand and shoot, preferably from a hill (a cliff is even better!), preferably with one unit spaced behind another in a two-deep line. Have some melee infantry or cavalry ready to charge through them if they are threatened with combat. Try to get the enemy to come to you so you get in the maximum number of shots but if they don't, move up to within a reasonable range - they don't do much damage from maxium range. Don't use fire arrows except against cavalry or heavily armoured targets or when you want to cause a rout by their morale effect. Try to get more than one unit firing at each enemy unit. Hold your nerve, if you see a spear unit advancing on your archers remember that archers beat spearmen and the spearmen will start running if you shoot at them with more than one unit of archers. Try to get cross-fire from two units in two directions or fire into the flanks and rear.

[KingofPoland]

Thank you avion for the guides. But, don't mistake me for a Newbie, I've already achieved world domination with Poland. Thank you also Footsoldier. I was wondering about the time limit because I'm doing a campaign as the Russians where I relocated to Brittania (York and Inverness) and I was planning to turtle until I take control of all the rebel controled New-World territories and at that point there will probably be something like 10 turns left.

[Silverheart]

When attacking a settlement, archers are not to be relied upon. I don´t think you CAN use them effectively in such situations - at least not compared to other methods.
In field battles, I prefer to rely more on cavalry, and use archers placed in front of the infantry. Then the archers and infantry advance bit by bit, until the enemy are within range. Let the archers fire what they have, then charge all of´em right in to break the enemy (this works best if you have cavalry to skirmish aorund the enemy, picking off their missile troops and other key units first)

You can continue even after you win the game, and keep going as long as you want, and of course, the same goes for when you haven´t won yet.

[Incesticide]

When attacking a settlement, archers are not to be relied upon.

I disagree. As soon as I make a breach and gain a foothold in the enemy's settlement using my melee infantry, I tend to send my archers to take the enemy walls. That way, when the AI sends its units to re-take the ground lost, my archers (with their huge height advantage) kill off most of them before they engage in melee with my troops.

Other than that, painter has pretty much summed up all I had to say.

[... where did it run?]

Place archers in front line. Pew some arrows on coming enemy troops. Target some strong preferably less armored and more expierenced troops (veterans dies to arrows just same as fresh recruits). If you are using longbowmen or x-bows for example like geonese ones or scots guard archers you can aim for heavily armored units too.

It's also good to have your archers in loose formation, becouse in this way your infantry line will move trough archer line to engage the enemy lines faster then enemy is close.

Once your and enemy lines are engaged mark your archers who should be behind your infantry line at the time and while holding shift order them to go around the line (with multiple rally points) and take position at back side of the main enemy line.

Now while your archers are running use your cavalry troops to cover them from enemy's cavalry and other annoyances that may come a long.

If everything is done, shoot at the backs of the enemy line. Track their mental stance, you can do this by dragging your mouse on enemy unit. Then it idicates "wavering" or even "shaken" it's time to turn flaming arrows on... and use the rest of your cavalry to remind the enemy that routing is quite a nice idea for them.

Hope this helps : )

[painter]

You can use longbowmen very effectively within most settlements, be they cities or castles. Peasant archers can work too, but only against weaker garrisons. I do not know how well would crossbowmen do in a similar situation. I will detail my strategy with using longbowmen.

1. You will want maybe six units of longbowmen or any archers with long range missiles. It is possible to do with less or need more, depending on the type of the walls and the garrison.
   
   
2. You need the ability to quickly take the walls. Spies opening the gates are the best option, followed by using artillery to opening the gates. If you have to use artillery, then you may need to breach more than one gate as the garrison will tend to cluster around a single breached entrance. Ladders can work, but are much riskier because your archers will be more vulnerable for multiple reasons. (It is painfully difficult to take rebel Valencia with only longbowmen and cavalry and ladders.)
   
   
3. If possible, try to draw most of the garrison away from your intended entry point. Good entry points are places that allow most of your archers to shoot straight down a long street and they are the furthest away from the central plaza. Please do your best to draw them from the opposite direction, as it will take them much longer to cross the settlement and it will force them to come to your archers from the best possible direction. I would usually use a unit of cavalry to go close to the walls and it will usually draw the enemy's missile units. I would also set my initial location to a fair distance away from the wall, so the garrison will not bother to place men on the walls or retreat them back to the central plaza.
   
   
4. Rush your archers into the settlement and get them on the walls as soon as possible. Be careful as the infantry unit just love to loiter around for a bit before rushing up the stairs, or worse having stray men loitering outside of the settlement walls. I found it best to run your troops to in front of the staircase, and then rush them up once they have gathered. Do not wait for them to be idle or properly reformed before moving them. You want your archers to be in position before the garrison closes in, preferably before the garrison enters missile range. If you have to buy more time for your archers, engage the enemy with your infantry or cavalry units and be prepared to retreat your units when your archers are in place. If pressed for time and most of your archers are already in place, do not wait for them to go idle, just hit stop or give them a target.
   
   
5. If you think your archers are effective when shooting at enemies outside of the walls, wait till you see how effective they can be at shooting at the enemy inside of the walls. Enjoy watching your archers rain carnage and death upon your enemies. Order those who are unable to shoot straight to hold their fire to preserve ammunition. Prioritise melee infantry as they can attempt to drive your archers off the walls. Your second priority are any units that are close enough to the walls to activate their "remotely controlled tower defences". Your third priority are their generals or captains if they are nearby. Do not fear enemy missile units as they are less able to hit your own archers on the walls and the kill ratio will be firmly in your favour as long as you can keep the enemy away from the walls. But feel free to destroy them to keep your casualties down if there are no important targets.
   
   
6. Eventually the enemy will lose their taste for battle and retreat to the central plaza. If the settlement is small enough, you may be able to get your archers to shoot into the central plaza. If not, you have the option of sending out a decoy unit to attract the enemy. Eventually the decoy may lose effectiveness or may not be effective at all. Then you can try shooting into the plaza from the street. If the enemy reacts, you may need to cover your decoy. If the enemy doesn't, your archers may have free reign. Just be careful as they still may attempt to charge if you're too close and the enemy unit is still healthy.

For settlements whose walls cannot support men on the walls, their walls are low enough to shoot over. If the enemy has missile units, consider the option of running one of your more expendable units to hug the wall, hit the fast forward and wait for the enemy to run out of ammunition. You will lose some men but it will be much less compared to fighting them on even terms. Since most settlements with low walls are rather small, you are now free to use your longbowmen to shoot anywhere into the settlement.

[RollingWave]

The trick of using archers in siege assult is this...

A. have each archer unit grab a ladder

B. have them as the second line of your troops.

C. once you melee infantries advance to climb the walls, have your archers immediately run to nearby section of the walls that have no enemies on them. preferabbly a wall that is verticle to the section where the enemies are at.

D. once you climb up the ladder , have your archers fire away at enemies either on the walls or under the walls. they should be really cramped together anyway and makes easy targets.



In field assault situation, it really depends on the relative construction of your army to theirs, usually archers are most helpful when you have more longer ranged archer than your foes and

[the new username]

i usually place archers behind my main body. it is very useful