Available number of units and pikemen.

**Aragorn1963** · January 30, 2012, 01:56 PM

I have two questions. First of all, where can I change the available numbers of a certain unit? I'm only allowed to have one and I would like to have several.

My other question is this. Are pikemen good value for money? They seem to have such low attack and defence values. Are they only good at keeping cavalry at bay?

**wudang_clown** · January 30, 2012, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by Aragorn1963

I have two questions. First of all, where can I change the available numbers of a certain unit? I'm only allowed to have one and I would like to have several.

You mean, you want to recruit more units of specific type?

You can change that in export_descr_buildings.txt

**Aragorn1963** · January 31, 2012, 10:04 AM

Yes, that is what I mean, thank you. But what a huge file that is.

**Ferdiad** · February 01, 2012, 09:05 AM

Use ctrl+f to search for the specific unit.

**Iguanaonastick** · February 03, 2012, 12:41 PM

Oh, and the pikemen are amazing. The Romans' number one advantage. Other factions have super heavy cavalry or scary axe-wielding infantry similar to the Romans, but nobody else has cheap pikemen. Those stats are so low because they would be horribly over-powered otherwise.

They come in huge units and they punch -far- above their weight. Not just against cavalry either. Heavy infantry too will be held at bay for ages and may well get beaten by the pikes because there's so many of them. Weirdly enough they're even great in sieges because they have no secondary weapons and so will use those pikes on walls to kill everything before it gets a chance to touch them. That feels a bit exploity to me, though.

There are caveats. They're vulnerable to arrows. You need to protect their flanks very carefully. They can sometimes kill a lot but more often they hold the enemy at bay until you can charge their rear with cavalry. You may have to double-stack the units to get greater density of pikes against tough foes. And they still won't beat true elite units. However, they're far better value and in some cases more effective than even elite spearmen and truly make the Roman infantry line superior to all others in the game.

**Aragorn1963** · February 04, 2012, 01:30 AM

Originally Posted by Iguanaonastick

Oh, and the pikemen are amazing. The Romans' number one advantage. Other factions have super heavy cavalry or scary axe-wielding infantry similar to the Romans, but nobody else has cheap pikemen. Those stats are so low because they would be horribly over-powered otherwise.

They come in huge units and they punch -far- above their weight. Not just against cavalry either. Heavy infantry too will be held at bay for ages and may well get beaten by the pikes because there's so many of them. Weirdly enough they're even great in sieges because they have no secondary weapons and so will use those pikes on walls to kill everything before it gets a chance to touch them. That feels a bit exploity to me, though.

There are caveats. They're vulnerable to arrows. You need to protect their flanks very carefully. They can sometimes kill a lot but more often they hold the enemy at bay until you can charge their rear with cavalry. You may have to double-stack the units to get greater density of pikes against tough foes. And they still won't beat true elite units. However, they're far better value and in some cases more effective than even elite spearmen and truly make the Roman infantry line superior to all others in the game.

Thank you for your detailed information. I wish somebody could give me an excellent description like this for all units in the game.

**Iguanaonastick** · February 04, 2012, 06:54 PM

You're welcome!

And yeah, a unit guide would be cool. There used to be this great site that listed them all in much more detail than you get from the game (mass, ammunition, secondary weapon stats, formation spacing, etc.) but it's outdated now.

Fortunately a lot of units in total war games fall into broadly similar categories so you don't need specific guides. For example, varangians and Mamluk Tabardariyah are different in some ways, but they're still both scary guys with axes who can and should be used to chop enemy infantry to itty bits. They or any small elite choppy infantry unit can benefit from the tip I originally got in regards to Abyssinian Champions: when facing infantry, they become much more effective if you deploy them in a thin line just in front of your main infantry line of spearmen or swordsmen or whatever. This way as many of your elite guys as possible get to fight, and the presence of the regular infantry at their backs protects them from being surrounded and overwhelmed.

There are just a few units that will really surprise you compared to their stats on paper. One example that comes to mind is Ghaznavid Light Cavalry who are armed with spears and no secondary weapon, which makes them more effective than expected against enemy cavalry and also seems to give them some more reach when fighting infantry. (That last may just be my impression though, hard to verify.) This makes them my favourite anti-horsearcher unit.

Hmm... maybe a good idea for a thread. "Unexpectedly bad/good units" like they have over on the Europa Barbarorum forum.

**Wareg** · February 05, 2012, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by Iguanaonastick

You're welcome!

And yeah, a unit guide would be cool. There used to be this great site that listed them all in much more detail than you get from the game (mass, ammunition, secondary weapon stats, formation spacing, etc.) but it's outdated now.

Fortunately a lot of units in total war games fall into broadly similar categories so you don't need specific guides. For example, varangians and Mamluk Tabardariyah are different in some ways, but they're still both scary guys with axes who can and should be used to chop enemy infantry to itty bits. They or any small elite choppy infantry unit can benefit from the tip I originally got in regards to Abyssinian Champions: when facing infantry, they become much more effective if you deploy them in a thin line just in front of your main infantry line of spearmen or swordsmen or whatever. This way as many of your elite guys as possible get to fight, and the presence of the regular infantry at their backs protects them from being surrounded and overwhelmed.

There are just a few units that will really surprise you compared to their stats on paper. One example that comes to mind is Ghaznavid Light Cavalry who are armed with spears and no secondary weapon, which makes them more effective than expected against enemy cavalry and also seems to give them some more reach when fighting infantry. (That last may just be my impression though, hard to verify.) This makes them my favourite anti-horsearcher unit.

Hmm... maybe a good idea for a thread. "Unexpectedly bad/good units" like they have over on the Europa Barbarorum forum.

That formation, with thin elite infantry line in front of main infantry body is also historically accurate, for ex. used by dismounted Norman knights in battle of Antioch or houscarls in Hastings (another possibility is that they were fighting in centre).
About units-very useful are crossbowmen. In sieges they are very dangerous if they they stay on walls in squere, with their front towards to towers. They should start shooting in close distance, when first enemies appear on walls (don't waste belts!) and player should prevent them to change weapon to swords even if enemy begin melee combat with crossbowmen's first line.
In field battles player may make gaps in his infantry's line and place crossbowmen behind them(best not parallel to gap but diagonally, toward enemy right side, not protected by shield). They will massacre ememy's infantry in close distance. If enemy has archers use loose formation.
One of the most effective combination of unit is ''typical'' Mongol army: 60% of horse archers, 30% of light lancers, 10% of heavy. Initially HA are charging enemy's foot archers, provoke enemy's cavalry to pursue them, separate and charge from all sides (best with lancers to enemy's rear). Heavy lancers should engage best enemy's cavalry. Then player army may separate units of enemy's infantry and destroy them with mass charges from all sides, one by one. Firstly archers, then weaker infantry and finally elite infantry. If surrounded unit's morale not broke, withdraw and try again. A lot of micromanagement but effects are amazing.

**Iguanaonastick** · February 05, 2012, 05:37 PM

True. It's one of the things I like about that formation. Lots of ancient peoples used it too, like the Celts and the German tribes. They all put their best warriors up front, the nobles with the good armour and well-made weapons. Makes sense, really.

**Jedi Knight** · February 05, 2012, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by Aragorn1963

I have two questions. First of all, where can I change the available numbers of a certain unit? I'm only allowed to have one and I would like to have several.

My other question is this. Are pikemen good value for money? They seem to have such low attack and defence values. Are they only good at keeping cavalry at bay?

Pikemen are good against infantries too because their secondary weapon is removed. If you increase their primary attack, they will be ridiculously overpowered.