Late game Byzantine strategy?

[Kaiserjagen]

So I recently moved up to hard/hard wiht the Byzantines and I've been having a lot of troubles. I started off good and all using primarily spear/horse archer armies to quickly gobble up Asia Minor (only need Caesarea) but I'm having trouble in my late game. Muslims are easy enough to deal with but the Catholics are scaring me. The HRE currently control Germany, Hungary and most of Northern Italy and its only a matter of time before they pour over the Danube.

Anyways I'll get to my point,

How can a Byzantine army compete with a high/late game Catholic army (more specifically the HRE)?

Any specific troop combinations/tactics someone can share? It seems the Catholic factions in this difficulty tend to use less "militia n' ballista" armies. I just don't know how to counter their heavy calv/infantry. I don't think Vardariotai could do much damage to that armor.

[Prince Constantius]

On the campaign map try ambushing them,and though you cannot frontally best the HRE's cavalry,try using the 'hammer and anvil strategy.'
if you have the financial ability to,recruit more Varanginian Guards,and Dismounted Latinkon.These troops can tie up enemy cavalry,while your cavalry units circle round and attack(from two directions),it is wise to have superiority in numbers when attempting this,specially against gothic Knights.
And,believe me,horse archers in groups of more than five,can become a real pain in the arse for armies that require heavy infantry
Yassou,Filedmtoi!!!!

P.S; Use archers to soften up the initial battleline of the HRE's troopsas their infantry rely on a strong linked battleline,if they break formation to avoid your missile fire,or lack the men to form a coherent attackline,you can isolate and destroy them(think of it as leeching)

[jucopa]

the best plan as Byzantine is to rush italy so theey italians cannot build up for the late game kill that will come for you as Byzantine. aslo after you smash italy which is pretty easy as Byzantine. just go to asia minor and smash the turks but leave some of them to the east so they can take the first attacks of the mongols if they come south. if u can do this then you will be able to destroy all of the other chatholics and win the game pretty easy before they get to the late game.

[Silverheart]

Latinkon and Kataphractoi for cavalry, with a large body of Dismounted Latinkon, Dismounted Byzantine Lancers + some Spearmen (maybe some Varangians for infantry charges) with at least 2 units of Byzantine Guard Archers/Trebizond Archers, and Vardariotai for horse archer duties.

You send forth the Vardariotai to attack and pepper the enemies, while the melee caalry move around them.
Keep the infantry and archers in the back - they are to defend their position when the enemy reaches them, not move around and possibly get in the way of the cavalry.
When the Vardariotai are out of arrows, the Latinkon/Kataphractoi cahrge the enemy from behind in several places at once (at least two units on the enemy general) while the Vardariotai attack the outermost flanks.
Any enemy who makes it through one or two of those charges, and reaches your footmen, will be greeted by hailing arrows and overwhelming numbers of elite infantry.

You may also add catapults and the like to your foot troops, in order to cause heavier casualties and lower morale.
Just remember to not compromise with the cavalry. Infantry can be anything from the heaviest elite to just ordinary Spearmen/Spear Militia, but the Cavalry - since they´ll be doing the most important part in this strategy - must be top-notch. Vardariotai are excellent, since they are relatively cheap, powerful archers and surprisingly capable melee fighters.

[the new username]

the main strong of the byzantine armies are its archers. if u have at least 5 byzantine guard archers, 5 vardariotai and the rest of the army splitted in byzantine infantry, varangians and heavy cavalry u can defeat more armored forces.

[Rowdytavern]

the main strong of the byzantine armies are its archers. if u have at least 5 byzantine guard archers, 5 vardariotai and the rest of the army splitted in byzantine infantry, varangians and heavy cavalry u can defeat more armored forces.

THIS! plus if you have reached the gun powder event go to the far east and get yourself one unit of mercenary cannon elephants. Just one unit in your main army. Make sure to keep them well back and blast your enemy before engaging.

[the new username]

if u want gunners in ur byzantine campaign just hire them as mercenaries(italy is the closest region)

[13lackGu4rd]

to be honest, Gunpowder is really unnecessary in M2TW. sure, it's the classic late game option but it's really not all that critical, especially most nations who only have the Arquebusiers rather than the superior Musketeers. the Byzantine line up is perfectly fine for late game, with their mounted and dismounted Lanitkons, Cataphractoi, Vardariotai, Byzantine Guards and the Varangian Guards. elite heavy infantry, elite heavy cavalry, elite archers and elite horse archers, what else do you need...?

[crzyrndm]

Unneccesary on the field, but in sieges you do need the gunpowder art late game because of cannon towers(most OP things in a game ever). Not sure if bombards outrange the towers(I suspect they don't, but the increaed range will decrease the chance of being hit), but in GUAM they do get access to bombards which is all that is needed to make their roster one of the most powerful out(not to mention fire throwers, archontopulai, pronoia militia and mangonels which make them my favourite faction).
Their strength lies in being able to field powerful militia infantry as well as their offensive power from castles. No Jihad/crusade ever suceeds against 10 byzantine inf + 9 varangian guard.