HalfMetalJacket
Knight
I don't believe factions should be as one note as you suggest. This isn't Warband anymore, factions actually have a number of facets to them beyond just a single gimmick. The Aserai shouldn't just be the 'archer' faction, but rather the well rounded assault faction. The Empire meanwhile occupies the well rounded 'defense' role. Sturgia is the melee powerhouse, the Khuzaits are the horse horde, Vlandia is the combined arms faction and finally Battania is the foot faction. No Nords for huscarls or Vaegirs for marksmen nonsense please.We both agree Bannerlord needs a unique ranged infantry faction. But there are better candidates for that than Battania. Aserai already have the Master Archer, and its real-life inspiration, the Sassanian Empire, considered archers to be the elite of their infantry, placing high cultural value on skill with the bow and javelins. I think that with slight changes, Aserai can be Bannerlord's ranged infantry faction. Another good candidate is the Empire, who already has a regular archer *and* a crossbowman at T5!
It's also worth thinking about representation of different weapons in the game's armies. Bow users are extremely common, but javelins and two-handed weapons are much less common. So, giving Battania a new two-handed weapon user would make the game more varied; giving them a new bow user would make the game less varied.
Let me just compare our positions quickly.
* You think that Battania should be the game's ranged infantry faction. Your reasoning is that this dev blog says they are masters of the longbow (which Fians being elite bow users satisfies anyway). You also say an unspecified number of other people want it.
* I think that Battania should be the game's shock infantry faction. My reasoning is that when you pick a culture, the game tells you that "Battania's fierce warriors use great axes and two-handed swords with deadly efficiency", and does not mention bows at all, but right now Battania doesn't have any great axes! Also, that their real-life inspirations the Celts were overall not known for their use of the bow and used it less than other cultures, other than a small subset of the Welsh who were elite archers, therefore elite Fians being the only Battanian archers represents real life very well, and giving them regular archers would not. Next, to give javelins and two-handed weapons more representation in the game, which they currently lack. Finally, that to give Battania a regular ranged infantry unit like every other faction in the game has, would be to undeniably make them less unique because you are making them objectively more similar to the other factions.
In fact, Khuzaits snowball much less than they used to, so that isn't really an argument at all anymore against making factions unique.
So, it's not a case of "denying" Battania regular archers. They never needed them in the first place. There's no good reasons for doing it, and plenty of reasons not to.
Welsh nobles absolutely weren't archers, no idea where you are getting this from. Hell, they're not even these elite, exclusive troops either- they were more or less drawn from common stock. Welsh nobles formed the Teulu and Uchelwr more often than not- noble cavalry men.
As for objectively making them more similar? Sure, in this respect I don't care at all. And if my mod is anything to go by, a fair number of people don't care. Hell, mods that go even further in making everyone the same have even more fans than mine. Frankly, you're the only person I've seen arguing so strongly for this.
Again, I don't really care about uniqueness for uniqueness sake, especially since its more of a detriment anyway. Sure, another two handed axe man is more unique than an archer, but tell me what are they really doing that's special? If you think naked archers are not distinct enough, there's absolutely no way an armoured axeman with javelins is going to stand out compared to Heroic Line Breakers or Palace Guard. If they just end up being the superior choice because Battania has to be the superior shock trooper faction, then I have zero interest in the idea.
Even in a perfectly 'balanced' Bannerlord, I can still see shock troops being bullied if we suppose ranged troops form a sensible counter to them. Without enough cavalry to chase down archers, the only other way shock troops will be allowed any sort of fighting chance is to give them proper ranged support to thin out enemy volleys.
A Battanian army would be way too easy to counter if all they had were these defenseless shock troops. Not to mention kind of boring. Having a good proper volley of arrows at least forces a player to deal with two interesting propositions. Much more fun than just a mindless mob of shock troops racing to get themselves slaughtered.
@Apocal answered you in regards to snowballing already. That argument can still be made against the Khuzait's stupid troop tree.
Just taking away melee cavalry is more than enough. Common archers are not this horrible deal you're making them out to be.
There are good reasons for it, you just say nah because of your skewed idea of 'uniqueness' at all costs and this weird notion that Welsh longbowmen were some sort of elite nobles and that the Gaels need to over represent Battania, as opposed to trying to create a more holistic, well rounded Celtic inspired faction that doesn't try to adhere too closely to real life.