2.2 Archers and ranged units.

To make life easier I will split this section into three, with one section each for normal bows, crossbows and gunpowder. This is because these missile weapons are significantly different in the way they are used and what they are capable of. There are some general points that apply to all ranged units, firstly the higher up the unit is the longer the range and the more deadly their missiles, so always put ranged units on high ground if you have the chance. Secondly rain affects the range and accuracy of most weapons (normal bows and crossbows and gunpowder, arbalests have metal strings so they escape this penalty), wind reduces accuracy by blowing missiles off course. Gunpowder has more specific weather problems, which are noted in its section.

A small note that applies to all missile units (including javelins, mounted missiles, naptha throwers – the whole lot) valour increases accuracy. The difference per level of valour is only slight but it is there. If you keep using valour 0 missile troops don’t be surprised by their relatively low kill counts. Firstly make sure you use them correctly (pick the correct targets etc), secondly make sure they have skill (get them valour, just a few points makes a difference) and you should be able to turn the enemy into a pin cushion every time.

Normal bows
This category includes the standard short bows used by most archers and the longbows used exclusively by the English longbowmen. None of the archers in this category, with the exception of the longbowmen, are armour piercing so they are much less effective against armoured targets. Longbows have a slight armour piercing effect, they are not as effective as crossbow types, but they will do respectable damage when faced with armoured targets. When they are used against unarmoured targets (for example peasants, militia or plain spearmen) archers are quite effective as long as the target is not moving. Archers have difficulty hitting moving targets, especially when the target is moving quickly so you should try to target stationary or slow units where possible. Using archers to shoot at galloping cavalry is a futile exercise that will only waste your arrows. Normal bows shoot in an arc, this is their strong point as it enables them to stand behind friendly units and fire over their heads with slightly reduced accuracy if they are not on a slope with a clear view above the unit’s heads. The firing arc also allows them to shoot over obstacles like uneven terrain that can block missiles travelling in a straight line.

Normal bows possess the highest rate of fire, an archer using a normal bow can release a couple of shots in the time it takes a crossbowman to shoot one, and they can release three or more shots in the time it takes to reload a gunpowder weapon. All archers have exactly 28 arrows in their quiver. When you are defending you can use multiple units of archers to lay down a hail of arrows that will kill the advancing enemy and reduce the morale of the survivors. This tactic works best in the early game when there are fewer armoured units, if you can place your archers on a hill or mountain they will be even more effective as height increases both their range and killing power. If you need to defend a bridge then you should pack several units of archers at the minimum, the enemy get all bunched up when they try to cross the bridge making them an excellent target for missiles. In a bridge battle missile units reign supreme. When you are attacking you can use several units of archers to skirmish and try to draw the enemy out of position, if the enemy have ranged units then you should place your archers in the loose formation and try to get them on the best high ground available to give them some protection against the defending archers who are often well dug in on a good hill.

To draw the enemy out of position you need to shoot at the unit you want to draw and start causing casualties, once men start dying the enemy will either decide to weather the storm or to move and attack you. If they choose to stay put then you should keep shooting, if they move to attack then you should pull your archers back and send in good melee units to cut the enemy unit to pieces as quickly as possible before it can withdraw or get support from other enemy units. Generally speaking most archers are rubbish in a melee, however there are several very worthy exceptions to this and they are noted in the unit descriptions. Because of their low combat ability you should try to keep your archers far away from hand to hand unless you are very desperate for more bodies to throw at the enemy. You should try to use up all a units arrows before sending them into a melee, this allows you to cause maximum damage and use up all your valuable ammo instead of losing it on the body of a dead archer. Foot archers have an inherent advantage against their mounted counterparts as they have both better accuracy and superior range when compared to the mounted missile units. The horse of a mounted archer also provides a bigger target making it even easier for an infantry archer to kill the mounted version. For maximum effect most archers should be left on fire at will, if you let them choose their own targets they will wait until they have a good chance of hitting the target as well as making sure there are no friendly units at risk of getting an arrow in the back. On some occasions you may need your archers to shoot at a specific target, for best results you should put them on hold position. This prevents them from running off after their target or altering their alignment and making themselves vulnerable to flank attacks as well as disrupting your army’s formation. For the most part you should take your archers off skirmish as they cannot pull back fast enough to stay safe, I generally put my archers on hold formation to stop them engaging in melee if the enemy get too close (i.e. if you have the archers behind a unit of spears the archers will stay back and keep firing if they are on hold formation. If the archers were on skirmish they would pull back and if they were on engage at will they would probably charge into the melee.).

Archers are considered to have a clear view of their target (a clear view aids accuracy substantially) if they are deployed in ranks of two or less in close formation. If they are deployed in more than two ranks in close formation the ranks behind the second one will shoot with reduced accuracy. If the unit is in loose formation it can be deployed in three or less ranks before the men at the back start getting their view blocked. Having units stood in front of archers will reduce their view and consequentially their accuracy; therefore you should always try to deploy your men on a slope so the archers will be slightly higher up than the other men giving them a clear view.

Normal bow units are best at: killing unarmoured units, damaging enemy morale with both casualties and arrow fire, bulking up a defensive army and using the advantage of height to kill the attacking enemy, drawing out defending enemy units, killing enemy ranged units in a ranged duel, massacring enemy units trying to cross a bridge, killing the enemy before they reach you and thereby reducing friendly casualties from melee combat, dealing with mounted missile units.

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M5

Images M4 and M5:This unit of archers has been deployed so it can shoot over the heads of the spearmen without receiving an accuracy penalty because they are higher up than the spears and this gives them a clear view. The spears will protect the archers and the archers can provide ranged support without needing to move to a safer position.

M6

Image M6: This unit of archers is deployed in a four rank deep formation. The rear two ranks are hit by the accuracy penalty but there is an advantage to this deployment in very specific situations. Because the unit is on a very steep slope (a mountain) all four ranks are able to shoot – on flatter ground sometimes the rear ranks will not do anything. The compact formation allows them to focus their firepower on a specific target area, longer formations sometimes only have one half of the formation shooting because the other half is out of range. With this compact formation all the men will be shooting at once so you get more arrows in the air, albeit with less accuracy. Use this formation when you have a nice steep slope and really need more arrows in the air now.

Crossbows and Arbalesters.
The difference between crossbows and arbalests is quite small but very significant. Arbalests have a longer range, more killing power and better armour penetration making them much more deadly than plain crossbows. Although they are different they operate in an identical manner and will be referred to from here on as crossbows. Unlike normal bows crossbows cannot arc their fire, this leaves them unable to fire over obstacles or the heads of friendly troops. If crossbows are placed behind friendly troops on flat ground they will shoot individually with reduced accuracy through any gaps in the friendly unit, this is because they will not shoot through friendly men unless you order them to. In the unlikely event that you are mad enough to order them to open fire in a situation like this they will mow down the friendly unit by shooting them in the back. If you can place your crossbows on a slight slope they will be able to fire over the heads of the friendly units without many problems, it only takes a tiny height advantage to allow them both a clear view and a clear shot. You will be able to tell when your crossbows have enough of a height advantage if you look closely, there should be a small patch of empty ground between the units when viewed from the front. If there is no open ground then you are in danger of shooting the front unit in the back. See pictures F, G, H and I below for a demonstration of this principle.

Crossbow units should be deployed into two ranks if they are in close formation to ensure that all the men get a good view of their targets. If the unit is in loose formation you can deploy into ranks of three before the men at the back get an accuracy penalty. Like their normal bow using counterparts it is best to place crossbows on fire at will and take them off skirmish, since crossbows fire much slower than normal bows they are not exactly good skirmishers anyway as they will only get one, two shots at the most before they have to pull back. If crossbowmen have to move during the reloading process they will have to start from scratch next time they try to fire – they cannot reload on the move and if you don’t remember this you can spend a lot of time waiting for them to shoot, only to move them again before they shoot and slowly becoming frustrated because they won’t shoot at the enemy. Because they fire armour piercing missiles crossbows are devastating against heavily armoured units like knights, they can quite literally kill the entire front rank of a formation in just one volley (but this is a rare event so don’t expect results like this every time). Even when they don’t kill the entire front rank crossbows tend to do plenty of damage because they are more accurate then normal bows and the missiles are more lethal in the first place (they have a higher kill chance).

If you are attacking you can still use crossbows to draw the enemy out of position and if you are anticipating a ranged duel crossbow units have an advantage that normal bows and gunpowder do not – there is a pavise version of each unit. A pavise is a man-sized shield behind which a crossbowman can hide while he reloads his weapon. This makes them very hard to kill with missile weapons and can give them a significant advantage in a missile duel if their opponent does not possess a pavise. However the pavise does slow the crossbowmen’s movement down considerably, so you will want to avoid them in situations that require mobility. For more on the difference between pavise and non-pavise crossbowmen read the relevant sections below (crossbows, pavise crossbows, arbalesters and pavise arbalesters). Crossbow units have exactly the same amount of ammunition as normal bows (28 quarrels) but it will last much longer due to their slower rate of fire, this enables them to keep shooting long after normal bows have run out of arrows. Crossbow units have the same advantage against mounted missile units as normal bows; in fact they are even better due to their longer range and higher accuracy and killing power. Crossbow units are the unit of choice for disposing of troublesome mounted missiles.

Crossbow units are best at: Killing armoured units, inflicting high amounts of damage on enemy units, inflicting the morale penalty for missile fire on enemy units, defending a strategic location (e.g. bridge) for long periods of time, drawing enemy missile fire without taking much damage (as long as you are using the pavise version of the unit), luring the enemy down from a defensive location, reducing the number of enemy that reach hand to hand with your troops, dealing with mounted missile units, providing a relatively cheap way to kill powerful units like knights.

M7

M8

Images M7 and M8:These crossbows are deployed badly – the second unit will shoot the first in the back.

M9

M10

Images M9 and M10:With a tiny adjustment both units receive a clear view and the second unit is not going to shoot their comrades in the back. This is a small difference in deployment but it is vital to master if you want to use these units well.

Gunpowder units.
Gunpowder units are very different to the other missile units and not exactly in a good way. Firstly they have a very short range; they can improve their range by standing on high ground but generally speaking the enemy must be very close before the guns can open fire. Secondly, they have very low accuracy, it is not uncommon to watch a unit of 80 arquebusiers fire three volleys into a unit of 133 men and only kill two or three men. Thirdly, they have serious problems with the weather, heavy rain or falling snow will stop them from firing because the primitive gunpowder gets wet. In lighter rain or falling snow the units will fire at an even slower rate than usual. Fourthly the guns take a long time to reload so unless you arrange them carefully you will often only get one volley before the enemy are on you. Gunpowder units do have some advantages and proper usage can alleviate their problems a little but you should never consider gunpowder a replacement for more conventional bow and crossbow weapons. At best they are a useful novelty that should be used in small numbers and in specific circumstances, at worst they are a liability and a waste of space.

To improve the rate of fire you must deploy the gunners in ranks of three or more as this will force them to use a revolving reload system where the front rank will fire before retiring to the rear to reload leaving the man behind to fire his weapon before the process repeats. This speeds up the rate of fire considerably although it still takes a few seconds for a man to prime his weapon upon reaching the front rank. Three ranks is the most efficient balance between speed of fire and maximum number of shots per volley. If guns are deployed in one or two ranks they will fire one massive volley before taking a long time to reload, you should never use your guns in this way.

Accuracy is a more important, and harder to fix, problem. Valour helps slightly so try to use guns in an army commanded by a good general and build them in a master gunsmith, or in custom battles you should buy them several levels of valour. Valour is only a slight fix, you should also try firing at close range to maximise the chance of hitting something so use a junk unit to pin the enemy in place before flanking with a unit of guns and firing into their rear at close range. Pinning an enemy like this also counteracts the gun’s short range. Gunpowder does have some advantages, it causes fear in units so units that are under fire from a gun unit get two penalties one for being under fire and one for being shot at by gunpowder. Secondly gunpowder units take even longer to use all their ammo than crossbows, which enables them to last a long time even though they only have 10 rounds per man. Honestly I can’t really recommend the use of gunpowder troops apart from the Catholic hand gunners and I only recommend them because they are good melee swordsmen who benefit from firing a single volley into their enemy before charging.

M11

Image M11:These arquebusiers have been run around the enemies flanks so they can fire into the rear of the pinned unit.

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Archers.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence –2 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale –1 Cost 225 Support cost 37

Archers are the simplest ranged unit in the game. They are the most basic and have no advantages like shields so you should use a more specialist type of archer (i.e. one with a longer name) whenever there is one available. The basic archer is still very useful as a ranged unit although you should never send it into a melee as they really cannot hold their own. Archers have low morale so you need to keep a close eye on them if your units start routing or if the archers start to get into a disadvantageous position.

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Bulgarian brigands.
Charge 1 Attack 2 Defence 0 Armour 2 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 0 Cost 300 Support cost 30

Bulgarian brigands are slightly better at hand-to-hand combat than the standard archer as well as being faster and having slightly better morale. The fact that they are fast for infantry allows this unit to skirmish more effectively than many foot based ranged units, as there are only a handful of melee infantry units capable of catching the speedy brigands. Because brigands still have low morale you must be careful to stop them getting surrounded or skirmishing themselves into a morale damaging position as it is likely they will loose their nerve and run away if this happens. Bulgarian brigands are not very good in a fight but they can cause some damage if they charge from a flank or the rear and they should be able to hold their own against most infantry units for a short time, allowing you to send aid. They have a small shield.

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Desert archers.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence -2 Armour 1 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 0 Cost 250 Support cost 37

Desert archers are faster than standard archers which allows them to skirmish effectively, just like Bulgarian brigands. Desert archers also have slightly better morale but they are still likely to flee the field if things get hairy, and just like Bulgarian brigands you must watch them while they skirmish to prevent any unfortunate morale problems. They have a small shield.

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Genoese sailors.
Charge 1 Attack 0 Defence –2 Armour 1 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 2 Cost 275 Support cost 30

Genoese sailors are slightly better in a melee than plain vanilla archers because they have one point more in attack. They are also faster than ordinary archers and this allows them to skirmish effectively with other infantry units. They have a small shield.

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Golden horde warriors.
Charge 2 Attack 3 Defence 0 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 300 Support cost 22

Golden horde warriors are disciplined, which makes them very valuable in a fight where things are going badly. Routing units, unless they are also disciplined or elite, will not affect their morale. The death of your general will have less of an impact on this unit’s morale. Golden Horde archers also have a large shield to protect them from missiles; this makes them very handy in a ranged duel if you have no pavise units. If this unit is not already appealing enough they are very good light infantry and capable in a melee. This is one unit of archers that can kill effectively at both long range and close up.  

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Hashishin.
Charge 2 Attack 6 Defence 5 Armour 2 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 12 Cost 500 Support cost 15

Hashishin have 12 men per unit. They come with a small shield to protect them from missiles and they are very deadly in melee combat. The major problem is that there are only 12 men total – this means they often get pulverised by weight of numbers before they can do much damage. To get maximum benefit from this unit you need to remember their other, special talent – they can hide anywhere on the battlefield, not just in trees like everyone else. This enables you to set ambushes and run this unit behind enemy lines to snipe at the general. Since they are good in melee combat you can charge your Hashishin into the rear of an enemy unit that is already engaged to cause significant damage without risking them being outnumbered and slaughtered. You should try to train Hashishin up a few valour levels by killing peasants and other easy targets; because there are only 12 men they will level up quickly. After gaining several valour levels they become much more deadly and can take on larger, tougher units like the enemy general without too many problems. You should remember that they will become visible the moment they move so you should take them off skirmish when using them to ambush.

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Janissary archers.
Charge 1 Attack 1 Defence 0 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 4 Cost 275 Support cost 52

Janissary archers are both disciplined and elite. This makes them very reliable when things get hairy, as only other elite units will affect their morale by routing. Janissary infantry can act as a capable set of flankers after you run out of arrows because they have high morale and tolerable melee stats, however this is not their best use and they should only be used like this in emergencies. They have a small shield.

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Janissary infantry.
Charge 1 Attack 4 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 4 Cost 350 Support cost 52

Janissary infantry are elite, disciplined and generally a very scary set of men. Like the Golden Horde warriors they can kill effectively at both long and short range, they make brilliant flankers and can be used as a reserve to plug gaps in your line or intercept new threats to your flanks. They have small shields to improve their survival rating. Because they have high morale in addition to elite and disciplined status they will take a heck of a lot of misfortune before they rout. When you can use Janissary infantry you have no real reason to use any other infantry based archers unless you are very short of cash.

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Ottoman infantry.
Charge 2 Attack 1 Defence 0 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 275 Support cost 37

Ottoman infantry have a small shield that makes them valuable in ranged duels if there are no pavise units. They have similar melee stats to the Janissary archers so they can do some melee fighting but they won’t be outstanding at it, although they will do better if they face armoured opponents – this unit has an armour piercing attack. Even so they are just pepped up standard archers and should be used as such, with an emphasis on fighting armoured opponents rather than unarmoured ones.  

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Trebizond archers.
Charge 1 Attack 3 Defence –2 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 275 Support cost 52

Trebizond archers are disciplined and have a small shield; they also have a high (for an archer) attack so they can kill other units surprisingly quickly in a melee. At the same time they will die quickly due to their low defence, however the shield does alleviate this problem slightly.

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Turcoman foot soldiers.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale –1 Cost 300 Support cost 30

Turcoman foot have a small shield alongside reasonable defence and armour. This makes them quite tough for simple archers. They are also fast and these two facts combine to make an effective skirmisher who excels in a ranged duel. Turcoman have low attack values so they should stay away from melees as much as possible. If you send your Turcoman to skirmish you must remember to watch them more carefully than usual as they have a very low morale and it won’t take much for them to rout while skirmishing. Turcoman foot also possess a ‘rabble’ formation – no matter what you tell them to do they look like a rabble. This makes them harder to hit with missiles because the men are strung out and disorganised but at the same time it can make them harder to include in tight formations with other units. This unit is one of the best pure archers.  

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Crossbow.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 200 Support cost 22

Crossbows are the first unit available to use the armour penetrating crossbow type weapon. This is both their advantage and their disadvantage. It is their advantage because there is no one else who can do their job until the appearance of arbalesters. It is a disadvantage because arbalesters are available only a few short turns after the crossbowmen appear. In multiplayer and custom battles the two units are always available together. The thing is arbalesters are everything crossbows are and then some – they can do everything crossbows can and they do it far better. There is only a small price difference between the units and arbalesters really do provide enough extra bang for that buck. This means that you should always take arbalesters over crossbows when offered the opportunity. Crossbowmen are poor in melee combat, have low morale and are not very speedy so you should keep them safe and well protected and let them snipe away at the foe.  

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Pavise crossbows.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 4, 8, 9 Morale 0 Cost 225 Support cost 22

Pavise crossbows are the anti-missile version of normal crossbowmen. The giant pavise shield makes them almost immune to missiles so they are the unit of choice when it comes to ranged duels. The pavise is so heavy it slows the bearer down making this unit ineffective at skirmishing and manoeuvring quickly. Otherwise this unit is exactly the same as a normal crossbowman.

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Arbalesters.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 275 Support cost 22

Arbalesters are crossbows +1. Statistically speaking they are identical – arbalesters are just as bad in a melee as their lesser counterparts. The real difference is in the ranged weapon. Arbalesters use a larger, stronger crossbow with a steel string. This means that the wet weather doesn’t reduce their accuracy, as well as making each shot more powerful. Arbalests also have a longer range, more killing power, and more armour piercing power – this makes them deadly.  

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Pavise arbalesters.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 4, 8, 9 Morale 0 Cost 300 Support cost 22

Pavise arbalesters are arbalesters with pavise shields. In function they are exactly the same as pavise crossbowmen but they have the advantage of the more powerful arbalest crossbow.  

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Longbowmen.
Charge 1 Attack 3 Defence –2 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 4 Cost 350 Support cost 45

Longbows have a small shield and they use a unique bow – the long bow. This is the only standard bow with anti-armour capabilities; while it may not be as good against armour as an arbalest, or even a crossbow, it will prove effective against most targets. In the original release of MTW these guys fired faster than ordinary archers but in 1.1 and onwards they fire at the same rate. Against unarmoured units like peasant longbows will perform at the same standard as ordinary shortbow equipped archers, therefore you should always try to target armoured units to get maximum usage from them.  Longbowmen also have the ‘rabble’ natural formation making them harder to hit with missiles and generally look untidy!

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Handgunners.
Charge 1 Attack 1 Defence 3 Armour 4 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 4 Cost 200 Support cost 30

Handgunners are one of the better gunpowder units because they are also very handy swordsmen. If there is a melee you can rely on your handgunners standing their ground unless they are facing cavalry. The guns they use have incredibly short range and are very inaccurate, the unit will often only get one shot before the enemy reaches and engages them. Because of their short range the enemy are often very close when the unit fires – this does compensate for the poor accuracy to some extent. The best way to use handgunners is as swordsmen with the benefit of firing a single volley before charging. Therefore you should put them in two ranks and on hold formation (skirmish will let them pull back before doing any good, engage at will risks them charging prematurely), have them fire one volley at the enemy before switching them to engage at will and ordering them to charge. Alternatively you can put them in three ranks and hold formation before using them to run around the enemies flanks and firing a few volleys before charging (once again switch to engage at will before the charge for maximum efficiency) into the stunned enemies rear. Remember that gunpowder will apply a –6 penalty to morale if a single casualty is caused in a unit, therefore all your handgunners need to do is kill one man before charging to stand a good chance of breaking a unit shortly after impact.

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Mamluk handgunners.
Charge 1 Attack 0 Defence –2 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 100 Support cost 30

Mamluk gunners are no where near as good as their western counterparts. They are rather rubbish in combat and they have the same dodgy handgun complete with short range, slow rate of fire and long reload times. Put them in three ranks on hold formation, run them around the enemies flanks and let them fire into the rear, there is little else you can do with them.  

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Arquebusiers.
Charge 1 Attack –1 Defence 3 Armour 4 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 175 Support cost 22

Arquebusiers are a slight upgrade from handgunners in one sense but at the same time they are a significant downgrade when compared to the western handgunners’ melee capabilities. Like the Mamluk handgunners arquebusiers are no good in a melee and should stay well out of it. To get the best usage out of your arquebusiers you should put them in hold formation and three ranks before sending them around the enemy’s flanks and shooting the foe in the back.  

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