Archers

[gus979]

Hi all

Does anyone successfully use archers in this game?  Since the patch they seem even weaker to me now because infantry are deadly with their ranged javelins and such.  As far as I can tell, the only faction that has archers that are any good would be the britons.  All the other factions with their short bow variations seem really weak imo.

Also, is it just me or do the Britons have the best units?  They have excellent archers, good infantry, and elite cavalry.  I know the other factions have strengths, but they don't seem nearly as good.

 

[Pundragon]

Well archers nor cavalry were widely used during the era this mod takes place in. It was all about the shieldwall. Archers were mainly used to pester/annoy/ draw out soldiers while horses used to scout or transport the more elite men who would then dismount and fight on foot once they reached the battlefield. I'm no historian though so I could be wrong.

The Irish also have good elite cavalry but you won't find many in armies, even your own. Elite troops are just too expensive to upgrade and maintain to have a standing army or them. With good reason.

But they do have there place if you know how to use them. For instance sending your infantry into the fight while sending archers off to the side (hopefully with some hills for better placement) out of the way but within distance to cause some easy casualties. Same applies to cavalry. While the infantry holds the lines and your archers pester them lead your cavalry around back to charge into their backs.

The thing is you don't want to rely on a lot of archers or cavalry because the elite infantry, at the end of the day, are the ones who make or break battles. But having a few to aid surely doesn't hurt as long as you know when, how, and why to use them. Also knowing when to pull them away from the battle is key as well. Makes me wish there was a retreat from battle command so you could issue certain units off the field while your other soldiers still fight. Or is there...

 

[Geroj]

And is there something like composite bow? I found only hunting and short ones

 

[Toba]

Makes me wish there was a retreat from battle command so you could issue certain units off the field while your other soldiers still fight. Or is there...

Yes you can order certain units to retreat from battle

 

[DerHerbst]

I like to role play as a "jarl" or a "sea-king" most of the time.  I know that's a bit historically inaccurate but i have the most fun doing so.  I like keep my warband to around 60 infantry including companions. I always add 10 archers to my crew as well, thus making a ships crew of 70 men.  I find that they cause a very good amount of casualties.  Keep an eye on the in-game messages during the battle and I think you'll see that archers cause more casualties than you think.  Tis is especially true for the saethwydd archers from the brythonic cultures, but non-Brythonic archers work too.  Just form your infantry into a shield wall, preferably at the bottom of an incline and then place the archers behind.  My experience is that as the infantry are fighting, the archers hit exposed enemies involved in the melee.  Hope that helps...

And remember, archers don't need to directly kill the enemy to cause casualties.  Just one hit by an arrow can lowere the enemies hit points enough go allow one of your infantry to kill them more easily.

 

[gus979]

Makes me wish there was a retreat from battle command so you could issue certain units off the field while your other soldiers still fight. Or is there...

Yes you can order certain units to retreat from battle

HOW?  I've had a few battles where I still had reinforcements waiting to be let loose, and I only had archers(too many of them) that were all out of ammo.  It would be awesome if I could order them off field and get my infantry reinforcements

 

[Untitled.]

I find that archer have been strengthened in the latest version. They usually also have pretty large quivers. I tend to form my men in a shieldwall and wait out the hail of arrows before I let my men loose. Especially if I have a lot of low-tier unshielded infantry and a couple of heavier troops with good shields.

 

[JuJu70]

Archers are very inaccurate

 

[peterb]

And is there something like composite bow? I found only hunting and short ones

I have also been looking for other bows. Seathwydds seem to have some kind of longbows but i have never seen them in stores or in loot. is there some way to get these bows?

 

[mesor]

In that period bows wernt widely used in this region.
It wasnt considered to be an honorable weapon the warriors all wanted to use swords,axes and that kind of thing.

 

[Makememove]

I like archers, especially the britons seathehydds. But the crap archers the saxons have alre also usefull - you just have to use them the right way: Always place them LEFT of your shieldwall and let them move forward when the shieldwalls clash together. The good thing about the savon archers is that they are cheap  - cheap to get and to maintain, and, as level2 -units, they often have axes (that are deadly even to armoured units).

Btw, is there a way to split archer groups? I have around 50 saethehydds, so when they enter the battlefield, they enter it together - but an archer-only army is not really working.

I usually use Duguth seaxes and other hv inf troops - they are quite cheap to upgrade, and the elite troops that cost 2000 to upgrade are simply not worth that kind of money, especially as I can take close to 500 troops with me.

@ Idibil: Would it be possible to change the aiming with bows and javelins for the player? They are highly inaccurate now, even with a high skill of over 200. Ranged weapons are nearly worthless for the player right now - it might be realistic, I don´t know about that, but it sucks gameplaywise.

 

[Toba]

Makes me wish there was a retreat from battle command so you could issue certain units off the field while your other soldiers still fight. Or is there...

Yes you can order certain units to retreat from battle

HOW?  I've had a few battles where I still had reinforcements waiting to be let loose, and I only had archers(too many of them) that were all out of ammo.  It would be awesome if I could order them off field and get my infantry reinforcements

There is a command "retreat".  choose your archers and order them "retreat" by pressing f1 and f5

 

[Idibil]

Btw, is there a way to split archer groups? I have around 50 saethehydds, so when they enter the battlefield, they enter it together - but an archer-only army is not really working.

@ Idibil: Would it be possible to change the aiming with bows and javelins for the player? They are highly inaccurate now, even with a high skill of over 200. Ranged weapons are nearly worthless for the player right now - it might be realistic, I don´t know about that, but it sucks gameplaywise.

Warband let create group of units in party menu. I dont remember well like you can do it, it is best that a player reply this.

Why you want change aiming with bows and javelins? You need use eye a few more now hehe, but if you use shift key it should help for more accuracy.

 

[Dorrin]

Btw, is there a way to split archer groups? I have around 50 saethehydds, so when they enter the battlefield, they enter it together - but an archer-only army is not really working.

@ Idibil: Would it be possible to change the aiming with bows and javelins for the player? They are highly inaccurate now, even with a high skill of over 200. Ranged weapons are nearly worthless for the player right now - it might be realistic, I don´t know about that, but it sucks gameplaywise.

Warband let create group of units in party menu. I dont remember well like you can do it, it is best that a player reply this.

Why you want change aiming with bows and javelins? You need use eye a few more now hehe, but if you use shift key it should help for more accuracy.

Splitting the troops you cannot split within its own kind.. If you have some basic and advanced archer types you can put them into different groups, but identical troops are all in the same group. Either use different tiers of the archers or pick some up from another faction to put them in separate groups.

As for accuracy, ya its rather low.. Circle around behind the enemy ranks and shoot or throw into their backs, and from pretty close. If a few turn shields to block you that'll help your shieldwall. Only problem of course is when you miss even from near melee range and hit your own troops.

 

[Makememove]

I would do that, but it´s not worth  the trouble. Even in sieges I make way more damage by simply killing the enemies with axe and sword. The points i used on powerdraw and powerthrow are simply lost.

 

[Untitled.]

In most of the mods for M&B you can simply equip a bow and mount a horse and be the unkillable war machine. In Brytenwalda you have to choose different tactics, which IMO is good.

 

[Uhtred Ragnarson]

And is there something like composite bow? I found only hunting and short ones

Negative. Composite bows are generally an Eastern weapon, bows in Brytenwalda's time and place would be single stave short/long bows. And with archers, its just like real life... you have to use them tactically, not just tell everyone to charge or simply go forward and expect the best of them. Use uneven ground, rivers, trees etc etc to your advantage to break up enemy formations, making them more vulnerable to arrows. Also try and deploy your archers on your right flank (right as if you are looking at your enemy) so they can shoot into the un-shielded side of the shieldwall. Archers can be very effective, its all about how you use them.

 

[Pööukkeli]

And is there something like composite bow? I found only hunting and short ones

Negative. Composite bows are generally an Eastern weapon, bows in Brytenwalda's time and place would be single stave short/long bows.

That's negative for you. Yes, composite bows might not belong in this time and place but they are definitely in. I don't know what's the reason for this but just look at some archers gears.

 

[Glauco]

I have found composite bow after battles at least 3 times in this mod

 

[Magnus Maximus]

i got a Longbow from loot and it was way more accurate than the others. the downside is that i had to dismount to use it and the my idiot troops always get in the way. so i swapped back to Strong Huntingbow, which is semi-ok.
i place my Saethwyd in garrisons and use the lower tier for assaults, which has helped me a lot. rescuing villages is a piece of cake with a small band of Briton archers, i seldom experience loss of even a peasant...