How do you change archers to melee?

[Thanatos]

I've been having this trouble for a while. There have been a few battles where I really wished my archers (whether they be on foot or on horse) would switch to their swords.

Is there a button or action key to do this? Or a mod? Any help would be appreciated!

[skullman86]

I know if you hold ALT when right clicking the target it sets them to attack in mêlée but it is only when you click.After the enemy has been defeated they attack new targets with ranged weapons.


Edit....also there seems to be a bug with foot archers where they run up to the enemy with bows out (they charge as ordered but forget to draw swords).They switch to swords after they lose a few people (not a lot but they are still losses), it seems to be a delayed reaction to the command :\

[Thanatos]

Really? Bummer. Does this bug also happen with archers on horses?

[fiveswords]

It happens with hourse archers if you leave the "shoot at will" option activated while ordering them to charge the enemy with their swords drawn. I've seen this last night with Byzantine - they constantly switch between swords and also fire arrows until they're in the middle of the enemy. Fortunately the enemy was fleeing, could have been a mess otherwise.

To cut a long story short: deactivate the auto-shoot option on your mounted archers when you order them to go and charge into melee combat.

[Condottiere SOG]

I have only seen this done effectively in my game. Mounted archers/crossbowmen shoot until engaging the enemy in melee.

[mbchudno]

second what fiveswords said. Disabling Shot at Will (evil button, causes more deaths on your end then good in 99% of cases) and ALT clicking on enemy will make them charge enemy with melee weapons.