Good English Units for Siege Battles

[Leutnant]

I was wondering, are there any good early period English units, which can be used to cut through the enemy in street battles? So far, I have been using spearmen militias but I find that without a general behind them, they tend to route easily. Thanks

[Veliky Kaiser Theos]

A load of artillery and a few units of swordsman can win any siege. Both are available to England. Or you can surround the enemy's town centre with both longbowmen and spearman.

[Leutnant]

A load of artillery and a few units of swordsman can win any siege. Both are available to England. Or you can surround the enemy's town centre with both longbowmen and spearman.

Thanks for the tip, can't wait to try that! The arrows WILL blot out the sun

[Nazgûl Killer]

That's the issue with England in the early stages, they have rather poor units. Once you get your dismounted feudal knights and some longbowmen you should be good to go though. I can't think of any unit that can help you... Maybe get some cavalry to flank behind the forces that fight you in the streets... Or maybe get your archers on the walls and fire at the soldiers in the streets (I normally do that anyway). England has rather poor early stage infantry and cavalry.

[Avatar]

To be honest, the early period English roster is a walking advert for starving your enemies out when you besiege them. I'd say that until you get Feudal Knights and/or Armored Swordsmen the best option is to wait for the defenders to sally out and smash them with a charge from Mailed Knights.

[PrestigeX]

Lot of people complain about the Billmen, but I usually find them to be excellent.

Cheap, available early - use them in conjunction with Spear Militia/Spear Levy. Spear in front, billmen behind. or better yet, spear in front in schiltron, billmen behind.

the spears absorb cavalry or infantry charges, then the billmen sort of 'couter-charge' - they add a much needed AP and killing power to the Spearmen. I just find it's better to have 4 spears and 4 bills, than 8 spears.

[D00d]

What's with all the England bashing?

Who has better infantry at comparable phases of the game? There are a few honorable mentions, such as highlanders or viking raiders, but most factions have to rely on poor quality spear infantry early on. Perhaps the toughest early unit are Polish nobles.

Before upgrading castles, the best infantry available to most western factions are armored sergeants and England has those. After the upgrade, feudal knights are as good as anyone gets. England really has no disadvantage in urban battles.

[fredtrotter]

Before upgrading castles, the best infantry available to most western factions are armored sergeants and England has those. After the upgrade, feudal knights are as good as anyone gets. England really has no disadvantage in urban battles.

I'm sorry to say that the English don't get armored sergeants, but billmen instead. Armored sergeants are only available in custom battles.

[Aeratus]

What's with all the England bashing?

Who has better infantry at comparable phases of the game? There are a few honorable mentions, such as highlanders or viking raiders, but most factions have to rely on poor quality spear infantry early on. Perhaps the toughest early unit are Polish nobles.

Before upgrading castles, the best infantry available to most western factions are armored sergeants and England has those. After the upgrade, feudal knights are as good as anyone gets. England really has no disadvantage in urban battles.

You're right. England's infantry is about the same as most others.

[Nazgûl Killer]

What's with all the England bashing?

Who has better infantry at comparable phases of the game? There are a few honorable mentions, such as highlanders or viking raiders, but most factions have to rely on poor quality spear infantry early on. Perhaps the toughest early unit are Polish nobles.

Before upgrading castles, the best infantry available to most western factions are armored sergeants and England has those. After the upgrade, feudal knights are as good as anyone gets. England really has no disadvantage in urban battles.

England gets the Billmen instead of the Armored Sergeants and they're stuck with spear or levy militia along with the Billmen.

I like the Billmen, they're not too bad, but comparably they're pretty horrible. Quite unreliable.

[D00d]

I mostly play multiplayer and England has armored sergeants there. Didn't know they aren't recruitable in the campaign. My bad.

Still, DFK don't take that long to get, and once they are available England is the same as everyone else.

[painter]

If exploiting the AI is permitted, you'll want to distract the garrison away from the wall that your peasant archers are going to take. If you can get three or more peasant archer units to guard over the route the enemy will use to retake the walls, before the enemy arrives at the walls your archers are on, you can generally hold the wall because the enemy will tend to break due to heavy casualties. Then just sit back until the enemy refuses to attempt to retake the walls. Then try to bait the enemy to the walls by sending a weak unit into the settlement and then retreat when your enemy bites the bait.

Be sure to conserve your arrows for the healthiest of enemy units, so that most of the enemy lies dead by the time your archers run out of arrows.

Once you have longbowmen, with their greater arrow damage, this tactic will be more effective as the enemy tend to break further away from the walls.

[General Dithrick]

I could be wrong but Sherwood archers are available once you get the woodsman guild but that could be later on in the campaign or early if you play your cards right and they are one of the best archer units in the game. Heavy Billmen are pretty good support units for spear units or even swordsman units but I wouldn't rely on them for long on their own without the general being close to them seeing how they are extremely vulnerable to arrows and have crappy morale.