Best & Worst Ranged Units Tested 1.6.2. . Did anything change?

[LyonExodus]

It was about time i brought to you guys some more Units testing.

This time it will just be the Ranged units, ranked both in Shooting & Melee, Elite, Standard or Merc unit it doesn't matter, if you are at least tier 4 and recruitable you get tested.

A LITTLE DISCLAIMER:

I was unable to test Hired Crossbows and some other really good units like the Forest Bandit Bosses since in Custom Battles they aren't present (Let me know if i missed them). Please Talewords can you at least add Hired Crossbows to the pool?
If you are interested in knowing how they performed you can find their results in here, just keep in mind it's from 5.10. (link here)

Now let's give you the real sauce:

There are some notable suggestions in both the Shooting and Melee page that you should take in mind when viewing this.
For example the Palatine guard does pretty well in the Shooting category but in any of the tests i couldn't simulate in an effective manner them running out of arrows in a long fight. same for the crossbows.

Lyon Exodus 1.6.2. Ranged Units Ranked

Let me know down below what you think and i hope you can find this one useful.

Also if you are a content creator and you want for any reason use this for your videos you can but please just give a little shout to this piece of work since it did take a few hours to make it in the best possible way.

Thanks.

 

[Antaeus]

It would be good to test overall effectiveness including how many arrows/bolts they have and how that impacts on a fight. Also important considerations within the mechanics of the game are kills at range.

As often as not, a battle between armies comes down to how effectively a unit can maintain fire, and to do so at range.

E.g. Sharpshooters are very effective at range, and often make the first kill, but by the time an enemy enters their more reliable effective range, they've already exhausted their bolts firing ineffectively at long range - in a drawn out battle this leaves them open to attrition from enemy missiles - in combat this sometimes leaves them dropping away to lower tier units without the same effectiveness at range - such as lower tier Imperial archers who haven't yet exhausted themselves due to less range.

Whereas the combination of lower effective range, and low arrows, actually leads lower tier archers to be surprisingly effective against Vlandian crossbows in general, if you can shield them from the initial wave - compared to say Palantine Guards, who again, shoot their load off when they're on the edge of their range, so less effective.

Great topic. Also one that illustrates how battlefield scenarios offer challenges that go beyond a straight shootout.

 

[LyonExodus]

It would be good to test overall effectiveness including how many arrows/bolts they have and how that impacts on a fight. Also important considerations within the mechanics of the game are kills at range.

As often as not, a battle between armies comes down to how effectively a unit can maintain fire, and to do so at range.

E.g. Sharpshooters are very effective at range, and often make the first kill, but by the time an enemy enters their more reliable effective range, they've already exhausted their bolts firing ineffectively at long range - in a drawn out battle this leaves them open to attrition from enemy missiles - in combat this sometimes leaves them dropping away to lower tier units without the same effectiveness at range - such as lower tier Imperial archers who haven't yet exhausted themselves due to less range.

Whereas the combination of lower effective range, and low arrows, actually leads lower tier archers to be surprisingly effective against Vlandian crossbows in general, if you can shield them from the initial wave - compared to say Palantine Guards, who again, shoot their load off when they're on the edge of their range, so less effective.

Great topic. Also one that illustrates how battlefield scenarios offer challenges that go beyond a straight shootout.

What you said is excatly what i managed to do in the other and older test (using a mod)
Using Custom Battles the AI is not smart, quite and simple and there is no way to simulate a long line of infantry from either side. That's what i liked so much about the other test, i used the maximum amount of units allowed and set them in shield wall advance, they were slow and unshielded, simulating exactly what you are talking about. In that one Crossbows and Palatines run out before they could kill all infantry.

i still think the older test draws a better line for ranged units, it's there if anyone wants to see it.

 

[Apocal]

Aserai master archers still the people's champ.

I would have been interested in seeing how they compare to Battanian Fians for a direct tier-for-tier comparison but this is all really good stuff.