Elven Archers and friendly fire close range

[Dragonchampion]

If I use my elven archers, and the enemy gets close, should I stop firing after I send in my sword quendi? or are elven archers accurate enough that they won't cause many friendly fire kills?

[Garriath]

I personally never use archers of any kind to fire into an enemy meleeing with my troops unless

1. My troops are very expendable and, for some reason, I'm very focused on wiping out a specific enemy (i.e., taking out the enemy's pikemen so my cavalry can come into play.)

2. I'll consider if it the enemy is between my archers and my infantry.

In my view, the best thing that you can do, if your infantry are meleeing the enemy, is to loop your archers to the enemy's rear. That way, they can fire into the enemy's backs. This is ideal for three reasons: enemies struck from behind are denied most of their defensive bonuses, and die more quickly; their morale depletes faster; finally, when they break, you now have troops behind them to cut off their retreat.'

So my best advice is to avoid most situations where you'd fire into melee. On the other hand, don't be afraid to experiment. If you find you're losing more troops my way, then do something different! Also be sure to tell us what results you see .

[Withwnar]

... loop your archers to the enemy's rear. That way, they can fire into the enemy's backs ... enemies struck from behind are denied most of their defensive bonuses, and die more quickly

The only time that direction comes into it like this is when the enemy unit has a shield: more damage if you hit them from either side (makes no difference which hand their shield is in) and even more damage from the rear. From memory: from the sides = shield defense is 50% less, from the rear = shield defense is zero.

If the unit has no shield then it makes no difference which angle you hit them from, stats wise.

[Incomitatus]

The only time that direction comes into it like this is when the enemy unit has a shield: more damage if you hit them from either side (makes no difference which hand their shield is in) and even more damage from the rear. From memory: from the sides = shield defense is 50% less, from the rear = shield defense is zero.

If the unit has no shield then it makes no difference which angle you hit them from, stats wise.

Absolutely.... correct!

(You thought I was going to disagree didn't you? Come on, admit it! )

[Swad]

from the sides = shield defense is 50% less

I thought the unit only received the defence bonus if they are shot from the left side, or the side where they are holding the shield.

[Incomitatus]

Unless you are firing against trolls at very close range, no. They aren't that accurate.

Once they get silver chevrons or better, though, then you might consider doing so in desperate circumstances (experience improves archer accuracy).

[Ultra123]

the only time EVER using archers when enemy is in melee with my own troops is if they have a special unit ie trolls/mumakils/olog hai/black numenorians, and i do my best to do it fromt he side of the fight. but to answer your direct question, no hold fire as soon as your quendi pass through your archers ranks, or switch target, or move to a better position for a better shot at something else.

guard mode on the archers can help with this, as son as your troops engage the enemy those archers in guard mode fire at something else and will prefer units not engaged and not routing. i always have my archers in guard mode unless they need to run away at some point.

[Mhaedros]

I usually try to not get into melee before all arrows have run out, for just so I won't hit any of my own men. A volley into own men can be devastating

[Påsan]

With clever placement of Archers in sieges and some battles, firing into an enemy that are engaged in melee can create the decisive killing ground to break the enemy. The trick is in the placement if you can get the enemy to engage melee units while having their backs exposed to your archers.

Sure occasionally you will kill one or two of your own, but the exchange should be greatly in your favor.

[Bobz]

As Pasan mentioned, it can be very advantageous in siege battles to fire into the melee at the gate. On the battlefield though it really depends on the placement of your troops, and it's often too difficult to move archers into a position where you won't suffer too much friendly fire.

You best option is to change the target to an unengaged enemy unit. In my experience playing as the High Elves, you're almost always outnumbered so there'll be something to shoot at.

[Withwnar]

No, that is a myth. Both sides are equal in M2TW. Maybe it was the case in earlier games (M1TW, RTW), I don't know.

[Ultra123]

No, that is a myth. Both sides are equal in M2TW. Maybe it was the case in earlier games (M1TW, RTW), I don't know.

it was for RTW for sure


didnt know med2 didnt take that over.

[Swad]

it was for RTW for sure


didnt know med2 didnt take that over.

Was there any reason why they didn't keep it?

[lolIsuck]

Was there any reason why they didn't keep it?

Probably but we don't know.

I barely use infantry as the Elves but I do mainly play Silvans. I will however wait as long as possible before engaging in melee, just as the last push towards a mass routing as going into melee gives you some unnecessary casualties.

[lawrengary]

I personally never use archers of any kind to fire into an enemy meleeing with my troops unless

[Incomitatus]

This is why I am writing a Guide...

For the 1,000th freakin' time (I'm not annoyed with anyone here, just that the game has been out so many years and this misconception is still floating around... blame CA ):

• In RTW, the shield only worked to the left side and double against missiles to the front.
• In M2:TW the shield applies at full value to the front and 1/2 value to both sides (and not at all to the back).

CA made the change because unit balancing was a bit of a nightmare in RTW and while the idea worked in theory, in practice it led to weird battlefield dynamics. It's one of the few smart changes they made, but they did a terrible job of getting the word out, so even after all this time people are still assuming the old RTW dynamic is in play.

[Dude with the Food]

Once on vanilla I got 40 desert archers to devastate hundreds of enemy second/third tier infantry.

I know this is TATW but Elven archers are much better and when only against orcs flank them with arrows. Sometimes I just use archers as the Silvan Elves and when the enemy reaches me some engage in melee whe the rest flank and fire. However, this probably means I get more casualties than I need to but the effect is too satisfying to care.

[DrDragun]

How about defense skill? If it's not direction-specific anymore then it's just the same as armor, except vs ranged?

[azile0]

You want to have your archers in flanking positions on the enemy- having them behind your melee troops is inefficient.

[Heheggg]

I always increase the accuracy a "bit".... oh fine alot higher for the elves. I hate the fact that they are suppose to be the master of archery and used the weapons for thousands of years, yet they can't hit a damn troll 10 meters away from them without missing half of their arrows.