Best men-at-arms for Abysinnia?

[ikko]

I'm in the mid-game, I've formed the Abysinnian kingdom but not the empire. I have to defeat a bunch of Muslim factions to form the Abysinnian Empire. I'm wondering which men-at-arms I should prioritize recruiting since the number you get is limited. Should I go archer heavy or camel heavy? Should I go the maximum expense route and just get a bunch of armored horse? What mix of infantry/archers/cavalry is optimum?

[Avataristche]

Whatever you pick, just dont mix em. Get at least one siege, and fill all the rest with the same type (preferable the one you have buildings to buff)

[garthurbrown]

Originally posted by Avataristche:

Whatever you pick, just dont mix em. Get at least one siege, and fill all the rest with the same type (preferable the one you have buildings to buff)

Risky. If you have one type of combat MaA and they are countered by the enemy, then you have a significantly less effective army.

[Blithe Bob]

Check what your enemy has and get whatever counters that.

[Avataristche]

Originally posted by garthurbrown:

Originally posted by Avataristche:

Whatever you pick, just dont mix em. Get at least one siege, and fill all the rest with the same type (preferable the one you have buildings to buff)

Risky. If you have one type of combat MaA and they are countered by the enemy, then you have a significantly less effective army.

That is the common misconception. The counter effectiveness is based on unit numbers, so if you have like 3500 Nile Archers and the ai has his 500 light cav, you will be countered by like 8%, which can be easily overcompensated by focused domain buildings

[Totally Innocent Chatbot]

Generally speaking, any cultural or region-specific Men-at-Arms that might be available to you tend to be significantly better than the default varieties that everybody gets access to. I have yet to play around in that region, so I'm unable to give you any specifics in that regard, but take a look around for any regional cultural traditions you can pick up (or hybridize with, if you're willing to), or region-specific Innovations that are available to you, and check if they offer you a unique MaA unit and if so how it compares to the basic variety.

[garthurbrown]

Originally posted by Totally Innocent Chatbot:

Generally speaking, any cultural or region-specific Men-at-Arms that might be available to you tend to be significantly better than the default varieties that everybody gets access to. I have yet to play around in that region, so I'm unable to give you any specifics in that regard, but take a look around for any regional cultural traditions you can pick up (or hybridize with, if you're willing to), or region-specific Innovations that are available to you, and check if they offer you a unique MaA unit and if so how it compares to the basic variety.

True. Abyssinia does not start with any special units, except Camel Riders, I believe.

[Сааребас]

camel riders primarly, pikemen secondly.

[SailaNamai]

I second a regiment of Pikeman because nearby enemies will probably have Camel Riders. But don't build those yourself as they are one of the worst MaA.
MaA become good if you can buff them with the corresponding buildings. Those buildings will always give % damage and toughness increase. As such would you rather buff a 15dmg unit by 300% or a 40dmg one? I tend to default to Heavy Infantry and it serves me well.

[CrUsHeR]

Shouldn't they get Horn Warriors?

[CrUsHeR]

Originally posted by SailaNamai:

I second a regiment of Pikeman because nearby enemies will probably have Camel Riders. But don't build those yourself as they are one of the worst MaA.
MaA become good if you can buff them with the corresponding buildings. Those buildings will always give % damage and toughness increase. As such would you rather buff a 15dmg unit by 300% or a 40dmg one? I tend to default to Heavy Infantry and it serves me well.

The Camelry building increases your Knight limit. At tier 1 you get +1 knights and cavalry buffs, at max tier you get +4 knights / 5% effectiveness. So with a domain of 10, you would get +40 knights with +50% effectiveness.

Now imagine having something like 50-60 knights, all with 20+ prowess. The performance of the MAA and levies is probably not that decisive at that point.

https://ck3.paradoxwikis.com/Army#Knights

[SailaNamai]

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

The Camelry building increases your Knight limit. At tier 1 you get +1 knights and cavalry buffs, at max tier you get +4 knights / 5% effectiveness. So with a domain of 10, you would get +40 knights with +50% effectiveness.

Now imagine having something like 50-60 knights, all with 20+ prowess. The performance of the MAA and levies is probably not that decisive at that point.

https://ck3.paradoxwikis.com/Army#Knights

Totally. The number of knights carries the day. When playing in that region I still go for Heavies though. Just get Barracks and Camelry and have those 50 knights backed by Heavies ;). You'd want a good amount of levies anyway.

[garthurbrown]

Originally posted by CrUsHeR:

Shouldn't they get Horn Warriors?

As they are not Horn African heritage, no. But a good move would have been to hybridize with Somalis, get the Horn Warriors and take Horn African heritage, then hybridize with Nubians and get Land of the Bow.