What are the best units in game?

[TheSarranid]

Just wanna know. I want to make a perfect army. Then make each hero a general, preferably so Artimenner goes Leiondas against the Vaegirs. 

 

[Vermillion_Hawk]

Swadian Knights are generally agreed to be the best on horseback, and Nord Huscarls the best on foot. My personal opinion is that the Rhodoks have the best ranged but that is subject to debate.

 

[TheSarranid]

So Artimenner+299 Nord Huscarls+ 4500 Vaegirs=Thermopolae? (Curaw?)

 

[Kale_Fellblade]

Swadian Knights are generally agreed to be the best on horseback, and Nord Huscarls the best on foot. My personal opinion is that the Rhodoks have the best ranged but that is subject to debate.

I agree with the above statement. I've yet to field a Vaegir marksman army but in my games a line of rhode sharpshooters always makes short work of any castle defenders that are stupid enough to show up without holding up a shield. Swadian Knights clear the field for me anytime they can charge, and Huscarls will start killing attackers even before they get come close enough to get chopped into tiny bits. As any good commander knows, use the best unit for the best situation, or make the most of terrain. With the right tactics you'll start taking out armies that have a 2 or even 3 to 1 advantage on you.

 

[brognar]

Vaegir marksmen run out of ammo faster, are less accurate and are also under-equipped for melee.

 

[KissMyAxe]

Horses: a tie between swad knights and mamlukes
Foot: huskarls
Range: Brodok Sharpshooters in siege defense; Vaegir marksmen everywhere else.

Apart from that, listen to Lezalit -- the guy has sound tactical ideas

 

[tzlop]

Or play 100% Khergits, the result is quite interesting.

 

[voan]

The boring truth is that nothing is better than an army of 100% swadian knights. Mamlukes are almost as good, but have worse armor, worse horses, and slightly worse stats.

All infantry/archers are only really viable in sieges, although it's not like swadian knights are bad in this area

 

[Articulo34]

Based on stats and equipment:
Cavalry - Swadian Knights
Infantry - Nord Huscarls
Ranged - Rhodok Sharpshooters

Effectivewise I´d say:
Cavalry - Sarranid Mamelukes. Stats and equipment slightly worse than the Knights, but cheaper and almost equally effective when used in great numbers.
Infantry - Swadian Sergeants. Statswise a lesser version of the Rhodok Sargent, but some may carry Morningstars, and that´s a big plus, this guys are the underdogs of infantry.
Ranged - Nord Veteran Archer. I know I know, they quite suck when it comes to put an arrow into the enemy, but they are cheap, tier4 therefore easy to mass and their longbows deal quite good damage. They are also decently armored and fare quite well against melee troops with their twohanded axes.

Special case: Khergit Lancer. This guys are quite flexible. They do nicely on horse but they can also perform well on foot. When equipped with Lances and Heavy Sabres they can kill as well as any Mameluke or Knight. But there is a great advantage to them, being tier4 they are so easy to replace that it won´t matter how many you lose, they´ll be back in a couple of nights. Their tendency to be equipped with onehanded maces makes them excellent for getting prisoners.

 

[Filou]

All infantry/archers are only really viable in sieges, although it's not like swadian knights are bad in this area

I beg to differ, I've made games with no cav.  As long as your Inf is solid and you have lots of shooters behind them you can play horseless.  Ideally you want is inf that have throwing weapons but its not manditory.
Obviously it's easier when you have a few cavs, you can go by with only a dozen of them in an army of about 100 and still dominate.


I will also give my support to the Nord Vet archers.  They are actually pretty good at close range, you simply need to have them hold their fire until the enemy is clsoe so they don't waste their ammo at long range.  Well that goes with all archers, and even crosbowmen in a few situaiton.

 

[Arterra]

well, sharpshooters can actually break up annoying shields far more quickly than marksmen in sieges, and quite frankly a volley of sharpshooters is more effective on charging cav for instant damage than marksmen.  after all, you only get so many shots with them bearing down on you.

 

[wale999]

My favorite unites are:

Cavalry - Swadian Knights,  Sarranid Mamelukes, Slave Chief
Infantry - Nord Huscarls, Swadian Sergeants, Rhodok Sergeants
Ranged - Rhodok Sharpshooters, Swadian Sharpshooters

Why?

Swadian Knights: You and 50 of these, can easy take over 150-200 units in a open field battle, their charge is amazing
Sarranid Mamelukes: They are slightly weaker than Swadian Knights, but they have blunt weapons which make them usefull if you play as a slaver. Only thing wrong with this guys: they dont always spawn with armored horses. Which is very bad
Slave Chief: I love this guys, they dont have a strong charge, but they are quite strong

Nord Huscarls: your best friend in Sieges
Swadian Sergeants: not very strong, but Morning Stars are a big plus
Rhodok Sergeants: I fear alot this troop when in horse, they are like tanks

Rhodok Sharpshooters: No explaning needed here
Swadian Sharpshooters: not as good as rhodok ones, but they are very well armored and can stand strong agains infantry, when out of bolts they are an effective infantry force

Personally I dont like any other troops, Nordic archers are cool, but i dont like arrows, I find them very weak

 

[voan]

I beg to differ, I've made games with no cav.  As long as your Inf is solid and you have lots of shooters behind them you can play horseless.  Ideally you want is inf that have throwing weapons but its not manditory.
Obviously it's easier when you have a few cavs, you can go by with only a dozen of them in an army of about 100 and still dominate.


I will also give my support to the Nord Vet archers.  They are actually pretty good at close range, you simply need to have them hold their fire until the enemy is clsoe so they don't waste their ammo at long range.  Well that goes with all archers, and even crosbowmen in a few situaiton.

Yeah, can can certainly win the game with just about any army, but cavalry really is just the best way to go, even though I wish this wasn't the case. This is actually one of the main reasons i like M&B w/ F&S despite its many flaws. In F&S cavalry is much less of a dominating force

 

[Filou]

Yeah, can can certainly win the game with just about any army, but cavalry really is just the best way to go, even though I wish this wasn't the case. This is actually one of the main reasons i like M&B w/ F&S despite its many flaws. In F&S cavalry is much less of a dominating force

I was mostly reacting to you saying that Inf/archer armies "are only viable in sieges".  Just wanted to point out that they work well in many other situations, even when facing full cav armies.  It's just that they require a bit more management than just charging ahead with full cav. 

 

[Lord Silvabane]

Get thirty or so Swadian knights and you will dominate every field battle.

 

[TheSarranid]

So I can give my compantions said mentioned units and kick ass?

 

[SpruceTrap]

Yeah, can can certainly win the game with just about any army, but cavalry really is just the best way to go, even though I wish this wasn't the case. This is actually one of the main reasons i like M&B w/ F&S despite its many flaws. In F&S cavalry is much less of a dominating force

I was mostly reacting to you saying that Inf/archer armies "are only viable in sieges".  Just wanted to point out that they work well in many other situations, even when facing full cav armies.  It's just that they require a bit more management than just charging ahead with full cav. 

I agree, the AI in this game is terrible. If you get a group of 30 huscarls, stand them on a hill and tell them to stand closer 3 times, they'll come out on top against 30 knights every time. The knights simply charge, get stuck and then get smacked around as they try to use their lances at a dead stop.

When I play on nord, I don't use any cavalry, nor do I need to.

 

[Articulo34]

I agree, the AI in this game is terrible. If you get a group of 30 huscarls, stand them on a hill and tell them to stand closer 3 times, they'll come out on top against 30 knights every time. The knights simply charge, get stuck and then get smacked around as they try to use their lances at a dead stop.

When I play on nord, I don't use any cavalry, nor do I need to.

Most mods include now a fix that make cavalrymen switch to one/twohanded weapons when trapped or dehorsed. I wouldn´t play Native after playing Diplomacy or Freelancer.

 

[killer-blead]

well, sharpshooters can actually break up annoying shields far more quickly than marksmen in sieges, and quite frankly a volley of sharpshooters is more effective on charging cav for instant damage than marksmen.  after all, you only get so many shots with them bearing down on you.

To add to this statement. Strong crossbows can shoot through weak shields this any normal infantry guy with a weak tier 1 or 2 shield is defenseless against a sharpshooter with a siege crossbow.

I would go for:

- Rhodok Sharpshooters
- Nords Huscarls
- Swadian knights

The reason I didn't go for:

- Veagir marksman
- Rhodok Sergeant
- Sarranid mamluke

is because the Veagir marksman aren't as well prepared for melee and because they have (relatively) fast bows they will run out of ammo soon. With the Rhodok Sharpshooter you will have range support for a much longer period of time. I didn't go for the Rhodok Sergeant because the Nord huscarl have great shields as well and throwing weapons which can really help your infantry before they engage in a archer/infantry/cavalry fight and I didn't go for the Sarranid mamlukes because the Swadian knight is just as good and while training them you can already use the Swadian Man-at-arms for heavy cavalry support which you can't do as well with Sarranid horseman. The Swadian knights also have better horses then the mamlukes which makes for a devastating charge.

 

[Articulo34]

...I didn't go for the Rhodok Sergeant because the Nord huscarl have great shields as well and throwing weapons which can really help your infantry before they engage in a archer/infantry/cavalry fight...

There is another even better reason to go after Huscarls instead. The Nord infantry tier 3 and 4 are much better. Those Warriors and Veterans can tear Spearmen and Veteran Spearmen appart with ease. While your Rhodok army might struggle until reaching the Sargeants, your Nords will kick serious ass from tier 3.