sherwood archers

[ponderstibbons]

Are sherwood archers really that good?

They've got 14 in missile attack, but as there's just half as many of them as in a normal archer unit that should mean half as many missiles, so I'm figuring the net effect of 45 archers shooting arrows with 14 in damage should be the same as 90 archers shooting arrows with 7 damage. Is this correct?

[Fireright]

Dunno matey, but as I recall they've also got the longest shooting range of all the English archers, so presumably they can get more damage inflicted for a longer period of time before the foe closes in for a punch-up. Might affect the calculations maybe? Not too bad at the melee stuff either.

extra bit: I like em and usually use em as my 'snipers' with the aim of zeroing in on the enemy general and bumping him off pronto.

[PrestigeX]

Yes there are less of them, and they don't deploy stakes... BUT, they're way more accurate, so despite being fewer in number more of their arrows actually kill things. Plus, they're really good in melee. Use them to target heavy infantry like dismounted chivalric knights , and that kind of thing. They can shoot the heck out of them, and don't have to run because they can just charge them and probably rout them depending how many they've killed with arrows before hand. Sherwood archers are also good at shooting and killing general's bodyguards but this can be tricky - you must make sure they don't get run over by cavalry attempting this.

It can be fun to train an army and use only sherwood archers as the archer component of your forces (tho expensive), but adding 1 or 2 sherwood archers to a standard english army they have their uses, kind of an independant force mixed that can act apart from the standard line of archers - ie. longbowmen concentrating fire on enemy infantry, sherwood archers concentrating fire on elite heavy cavalry / enemy general.... They are really good as garrison troops though, they can kill most things that try to climb on your walls, and because they're a smaller unit size it's very easy to manuevre them in a settlement.

[Miroslav Klose]

They're useful, especially for killing high value targets like the enemy's general.

[painter]

I have a question regarding their availability.

Sherwood Archers are, unfortunately, only recruitable from the Master Woodsmens' Guild and the Woodsmen's Guild Headquarters. I currently have the guild headquarters in Toulouse, near the middle of my kingdom and a guild house in Mosul, on the eastern edge of my kingdom. Is it possible to upgrade the guild house in Mosul to a Master Woodsmens' Guild despite already having their headquarters?

[Silverheart]

I have a question regarding their availability.

Sherwood Archers are, unfortunately, only recruitable from the Master Woodsmens' Guild and the Woodsmen's Guild Headquarters. I currently have the guild headquarters in Toulouse, near the middle of my kingdom and a guild house in Mosul, on the eastern edge of my kingdom. Is it possible to upgrade the guild house in Mosul to a Master Woodsmens' Guild despite already having their headquarters?

Yes, it is.
You can have a total of 3 Master guild houses. That´s what it says in the game instructions which I got with the game when I bought it...
Of course, you can logically only have one Headquarters.

[GNU07]

Yes, it is.
You can have a total of 3 Master guild houses. That´s what it says in the game instructions which I got with the game when I bought it...
Of course, you can logically only have one Headquarters.

Is this true? I thought there can be only one Master's which will get upgraded anyways to HQ. I don't recall being offered a Master's after i upgraded my existing one to HQ.

[Double A]

I think so.

[Atatürk]

They're not real. If you have any respect for history you wouldn't use them.

[Elvani]

They're not real. If you have any respect for history you wouldn't use them.

Since when did Total War have true respect for history?

[Double A]

They're not real. If you have any respect for history you wouldn't use them.

And your point being?

[PrestigeX]

They're not real. If you have any respect for history you wouldn't use them.

Suppose the name was changed to "King's own Master Archers" , or some typical regimental sounding name? Who cares, it is just a bit of fun - trying to represent robin hood, who may or may not have been a real person etc...But that isn't important, because the tales and stories mean something to people = thus making him real by virtue of belief.

[Nefarious]

Are sherwood archers really that good?

They've got 14 in missile attack, but as there's just half as many of them as in a normal archer unit that should mean half as many missiles, so I'm figuring the net effect of 45 archers shooting arrows with 14 in damage should be the same as 90 archers shooting arrows with 7 damage. Is this correct?

Their true strength, imo, is seen in melee.
1. Though only half the number of men, each has 2 health. They are also easier to maneuver.
2. Their 14/3 melee attack is one of the highest for 1-handed swordsmen.
3. Attribute hide_improved_forest allows them the element of flanking surprise.
4. Attribute very_hardy keeps them fresher, longer.

Yes they are classed as archers, and their bodkin arrows do have the armour piercing attribute. But I use them as shock troops, not archers.
Place them on your wings, on your zone's front line, hidden from the foe.
Move your army back in your deployment zone and let the enemy come.
Once your opponent is even or beyond your hidden men of Sherwood, set them on a running melee attack against the flanks.

Result?
The combined elements of surprise, attack strength, charge bonus, double health, ease of maneuverability, and opponent's morale dump usually causes an instant rout.
If engaged from the front by your main forces simultaneously, the results are often quite devastating.
Use your men of Sherwood as flanking shock infantry and they may become one of your favorites.
Just an opinion.

[Alan McG]

They're not real. If you have any respect for history you wouldn't use them.

I have a novice player, just started my second game (with Spain this time) a few days ago but, MTW2 seems to have many 'unreal' cases..

For example Pamplona seems to start as part of Portugal. Go figure..

Still, it is understandable some elements have been adapted to make the game more appealing to the main demographics. All games do, no game is accurate when depicting real life scenarios.

[Fireright]

I lose no sleep over Sherwood Archers or other bits and pieces of historical weirdness or inaccuracy. TW games only strive to provide us with a flavour of the timescale of any game and don't promise 'spot-on' stuff, which is fine with me

[The Source]

if you want to kill a generals bodyguard, you would use crossbows or a charge from a heavy calvary

[Gilkanese]

I love Sherwood Archers. I made an army full of them one time to see how quickly I'd lose a battle (on VH/VH) and I won despite my army being like a quarter of the size of the enemies. Probably most epic moment in a battle I've played in any Total War game.

[rebelyell2006]

Whether or not you respect history, you should have fun. Certainly there is nothing absolutely "true" to history in M2TW, for example the AI recruits Genoese Pavise Crossbowmen in massive proportions, and yet France, one of the client states that hired them, cannot access them. Or look at the fact that the AI spams the campaign map with dismounted feudal knights when dismounted knights were not common and there were not enough minor lords and knights to form full stacks of DFK. But it is fun to recruit sherwood archers.

EDIT:

Now I know why your UID is "Nefarious." Brilliant tactic, and it fits in with the cultural image of the ambushing Robin Hood and the Sherwood Archers.

[Fireright]

Whether or not you respect history, you should have fun. Certainly there is nothing absolutely "true" to history in M2TW, for example the AI recruits Genoese Pavise Crossbowmen in massive proportions, and yet France, one of the client states that hired them, cannot access them. Or look at the fact that the AI spams the campaign map with dismounted feudal knights when dismounted knights were not common and there were not enough minor lords and knights to form full stacks of DFK. But it is fun to recruit sherwood archers.

Aye, and in an archery-centric English society at that time, it's not beyond the bounds of credibility to believe that there were rock hard elite guys who excelled at archery and punch-ups. May as well call em 'Sherwood Archers'


Whilst I would've loved to 'check em out' I would've regarded it as a total historical p-----take if we could recruit Lady Godiva Cavalry

[Double A]

Don't they have AP hammers like other longbowmen, Nefarious?


They're like ranged Hashashin.