So you decided battling on horse is too easy and you are going to be a footman, there are several types of footmen paths available to you, I know that several guides have been written, but I didn't see one here in the apprentice guild nor in the library so here goes.
I like to fight I'm a warrior and I like speed, and armor is for cowards! I just need Odin to give me strength and my trusty sword! enter one of my favourites: a man of Odin the Berserker
Often I get in a role playing mood and decide to play a berserker type of unit
skill:
invest a lot in strength and the following subcategories: Ironskin, power throw, power strike
next, invest in agility and: athletics, you don't have to max out athletics as you don't wear armour which makes you a bit faster anyway, tough the points in agility make you fight a bit faster too which is a good thing also the faster you are, the more chance you avoid getting hit by something.
invest in Charisma to be able to train a nice army to act as decoy's while you are on your killing spree on the battlefield.
equipment:
Armour: none you are a berserker
shield: for roleplaying purposes I usually go for the Nordic shield or the big round shield, since you don't wear armour the shield is somewhat of a life saver when facing archers because even tough you can avoid getting hit by zigzagging towards them eventually when you get too close they won't miss anymore and there's a chance you are dead before you strike a blow, so a shield can be usefull here!
weapon(s): ah yes, your trusty tool for inflicting your wrath upon the enemies of you and Odin! again for roleplaying purposes I tend to go for the Nordic sword or the one handed fighting axe, especially the axe is a favourite of mine because it can be used with a shield, has a bit longer reach then the sword, and deals a LOT of damage even against armour and it has a bonus against shields which is also quite usefull! this gives you 2 more slots open, I usually bring some Javelins or throwing axes with me to kill those pesky horsemen charging towards me, if you wait a bit until they are close enough one axe/ javelin to the head is enough to kill them right before they reach you. In the last slot I keep a blunt weapon for capture missions
Marnid& borcha and your army:
Marnid: I usually make him a footman, giving him the Nordic sword, the Nordic shield, some chainmail and a Nordic helmet, if you order him to follow you he won't stray too far and can be quite usefull, I train him heavily by doing the river pirate quest with only him by my side.
Borcha: I make him a cavalry man because it can be usefull against some cavalry opponents with archers like khergits or others and because his starting skills show that he allready has the basics of a cavalry man. I usually give him a bastard sword, a good shield, a warhorse (when his riding skill is at 4) and chain mail and a nice matching helmet.
army: I usually have a big band of footmen with me because they can take on any cavalry army by simply sticking together and mobbing the horsemen foolishly charging in on us and getting mobbed up, i don't have a preference of troops tough I will allways try to save some sea raiders if I see someone has taken them captive.
fighting:
fighting footmen: keep your men together by either telling them to follow you or by holding a position and hack away at the enemy your men should prevent you from being surrounded
fighting cavalry: make your boys hold a position (if possible in a river or between trees) since cavalry is at a disadvantage in that kind of terrain and mob them if they get forced to a halt by your men or trees. Use your throwing axes to kill the first ones that arrive, it's fun.
fighting archers: these guys can be a problem for soldiers without shields, if I have a shield I simply charge them without waiting for the army and hack away at them keeping my shield up until I reach them, eventually your approaching army will finish the job
fighting archers on horseback: ah yes, the agony of every footman and his footmen army, they don't have to come close to inflict damage and when you charge them they simply gallop away. what I usually do is have my troops besides my companions stand still somewhere for 2 reasons 1: if together they raise shields and become less vulnerable then when being all spread out 2 eventually the enemy will run out of ammo and charge your men.
the enemy will circle your men and fire away, your throwing axes are usefull here for taking out the ones that come too close and if you are a fast runner you might be able to hunt down some and kill them, if not, just wait until the enemy runs out of ammo and kill them when they charge
The reason why I don't tell my companions to hold position is quite simple, Borcha is on horse and might be able to take out a few of the enemies, and in the worst case he attracts a lot of arrows towards him which means less of your mortal men will be killed, because I allow Borcha to charge, Marnid will charge too, he won't kill anyone but he'll attract some arrows that would have otherwise killed some of your men which is a good thing.
Pro's of the berserker: you are a fast deadly powerfull killer, your lack of armour makes you fast, your ironflesh and strength make you able to absorb quite a few hits before dying, you can kill enemies and horses sometimes with just one blow of your axe/sword!
Odin is with you!
Contra's of the berserker: arrows are your nemesis make sure your shield isn't hacked to pieces during battles because archers will kill you if it is! archers on horseback are a problem, tough they can be taken out easy when they run out of arrows it takes time and waiting for that to happen can take a while. Dark knights can eat you or your army if you don't play your cards right. don't fight them unless you have a big army or very favourable terrain
if you don't like the prospect of not wearing armour then you can wear chain, tough Berserkers didn't wear armor
the heavy swordsman:
most of the berserker applies I guess tough you wear heavy armour so will need to spend points on agility and athletics, and a lot less on Ironflesh. as for weapons, heavy armor allows you to use a two handed sword since arrows are less of a problem with heavy armor
the Archer: I have no experience as a foot archer and someone allready wrote an archery guide in the library but I assume agility power draw and a large army are important for this character
I hope this was helpfull, and I hope my poor writing skill didn't bore you. remember that this is all just my personal opinion and not necessarily the most effective character
I like to fight I'm a warrior and I like speed, and armor is for cowards! I just need Odin to give me strength and my trusty sword! enter one of my favourites: a man of Odin the Berserker
Often I get in a role playing mood and decide to play a berserker type of unit
skill:
invest a lot in strength and the following subcategories: Ironskin, power throw, power strike
next, invest in agility and: athletics, you don't have to max out athletics as you don't wear armour which makes you a bit faster anyway, tough the points in agility make you fight a bit faster too which is a good thing also the faster you are, the more chance you avoid getting hit by something.
invest in Charisma to be able to train a nice army to act as decoy's while you are on your killing spree on the battlefield.
equipment:
Armour: none you are a berserker
shield: for roleplaying purposes I usually go for the Nordic shield or the big round shield, since you don't wear armour the shield is somewhat of a life saver when facing archers because even tough you can avoid getting hit by zigzagging towards them eventually when you get too close they won't miss anymore and there's a chance you are dead before you strike a blow, so a shield can be usefull here!
weapon(s): ah yes, your trusty tool for inflicting your wrath upon the enemies of you and Odin! again for roleplaying purposes I tend to go for the Nordic sword or the one handed fighting axe, especially the axe is a favourite of mine because it can be used with a shield, has a bit longer reach then the sword, and deals a LOT of damage even against armour and it has a bonus against shields which is also quite usefull! this gives you 2 more slots open, I usually bring some Javelins or throwing axes with me to kill those pesky horsemen charging towards me, if you wait a bit until they are close enough one axe/ javelin to the head is enough to kill them right before they reach you. In the last slot I keep a blunt weapon for capture missions
Marnid& borcha and your army:
Marnid: I usually make him a footman, giving him the Nordic sword, the Nordic shield, some chainmail and a Nordic helmet, if you order him to follow you he won't stray too far and can be quite usefull, I train him heavily by doing the river pirate quest with only him by my side.
Borcha: I make him a cavalry man because it can be usefull against some cavalry opponents with archers like khergits or others and because his starting skills show that he allready has the basics of a cavalry man. I usually give him a bastard sword, a good shield, a warhorse (when his riding skill is at 4) and chain mail and a nice matching helmet.
army: I usually have a big band of footmen with me because they can take on any cavalry army by simply sticking together and mobbing the horsemen foolishly charging in on us and getting mobbed up, i don't have a preference of troops tough I will allways try to save some sea raiders if I see someone has taken them captive.
fighting:
fighting footmen: keep your men together by either telling them to follow you or by holding a position and hack away at the enemy your men should prevent you from being surrounded
fighting cavalry: make your boys hold a position (if possible in a river or between trees) since cavalry is at a disadvantage in that kind of terrain and mob them if they get forced to a halt by your men or trees. Use your throwing axes to kill the first ones that arrive, it's fun.
fighting archers: these guys can be a problem for soldiers without shields, if I have a shield I simply charge them without waiting for the army and hack away at them keeping my shield up until I reach them, eventually your approaching army will finish the job
fighting archers on horseback: ah yes, the agony of every footman and his footmen army, they don't have to come close to inflict damage and when you charge them they simply gallop away. what I usually do is have my troops besides my companions stand still somewhere for 2 reasons 1: if together they raise shields and become less vulnerable then when being all spread out 2 eventually the enemy will run out of ammo and charge your men.
the enemy will circle your men and fire away, your throwing axes are usefull here for taking out the ones that come too close and if you are a fast runner you might be able to hunt down some and kill them, if not, just wait until the enemy runs out of ammo and kill them when they charge
The reason why I don't tell my companions to hold position is quite simple, Borcha is on horse and might be able to take out a few of the enemies, and in the worst case he attracts a lot of arrows towards him which means less of your mortal men will be killed, because I allow Borcha to charge, Marnid will charge too, he won't kill anyone but he'll attract some arrows that would have otherwise killed some of your men which is a good thing.
Pro's of the berserker: you are a fast deadly powerfull killer, your lack of armour makes you fast, your ironflesh and strength make you able to absorb quite a few hits before dying, you can kill enemies and horses sometimes with just one blow of your axe/sword!
Odin is with you!
Contra's of the berserker: arrows are your nemesis make sure your shield isn't hacked to pieces during battles because archers will kill you if it is! archers on horseback are a problem, tough they can be taken out easy when they run out of arrows it takes time and waiting for that to happen can take a while. Dark knights can eat you or your army if you don't play your cards right. don't fight them unless you have a big army or very favourable terrain
if you don't like the prospect of not wearing armour then you can wear chain, tough Berserkers didn't wear armor
the heavy swordsman:
most of the berserker applies I guess tough you wear heavy armour so will need to spend points on agility and athletics, and a lot less on Ironflesh. as for weapons, heavy armor allows you to use a two handed sword since arrows are less of a problem with heavy armor
the Archer: I have no experience as a foot archer and someone allready wrote an archery guide in the library but I assume agility power draw and a large army are important for this character
I hope this was helpfull, and I hope my poor writing skill didn't bore you. remember that this is all just my personal opinion and not necessarily the most effective character
