Fanatics and barbarians are an odd bunch. Generally they have a good charge and reasonable attack coupled with hideous defence and next to no armour. They either have very high morale or very low morale, the high morale units tend to be impetuous and the low morale units tend to charge, kill a few and then rout quickly. That is about as far as the generalisations can be taken, each unit will have its uses etc explained in its section.
Fanatics.
Charge 6 Attack 3 Defence -4 Armour 1 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 8 Cost 125 Support
cost 50
Fanatics are impetuous so you will need to keep a close eye on them at all times
if you don’t want to find them chasing after a unit they cannot hope to beat
in a premature attack, ruining your whole battle plan. Fanatics are the perfect
example of a unit made to flank and little else. They are speedy, have a great
charge, good attack and horrible defence. Therefore you should always manoeuvre
them so they can smash into the enemies rear and really put that charge to work.
Attacking in this way also helps offset their non-existent defence. Fanatics
kill fast and die fast but remember they are cheap so they are no great loss.
You can only get fanatics from crusades - you cannot build them.
Futuwwas.
Charge 3 Attack 4 Defence -2 Armour1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 4 Cost 300 Support
cost 37
Futuwwas are impetuous so once again you will need to keep a close eye on them.
They are equipped with a large shield, simple bow and sword. This makes
them one of the most versatile units in this category as they function well as
archers and can fight well in a melee as long as you do something to guard
against their terrible defence. Use Futuwwas as archers until they run out of
missiles and then use them as flankers.
Gallowglasses.
Charge 8 Attack 5 Defence 0 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 200 Support
cost 22
Gallowglasses are impetuous and elite. Their large two-handed sword is armour
piercing so you should primarily target armoured units. Once again this unit is
built to attack from the flanks because of their low defence, try charging them
into the rear of the enemy and leaving them to kill until their morale breaks.
Because of their low armour this is a good unit to take into the desert.
Highland clansmen.
Charge 6 Attack 5 Defence -3 Armour 1 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 0 Cost 100 Support
cost 22
Highland clansmen are also impetuous. They have a small shield in addition to
their sword and this helps to offset their awful defence. They are fast and once
again they serve best as flankers, so use them as such. Once again this
unit is good for desert warfare because of the low armour stat – those kilts
must be good for airflow!
Nizaris
Charge 7 Attack 6 Defence -4 Armour 1 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 8 Cost 400 Support
cost 30
Nizaris are impetuous and they have a bow, large shield and sword. They function
in the same way as Futuwwas – use them as archers until they run out of ammo
and then use them to deliver flanking attacks on engaged enemies.