Do I need to make Jules' squad all-archer?

[Lampros]

From the in-game hints - and Youtube video examples - it seems like you are supposed to stack Jules' stack with all archers or ranged units. But can I mix it up and give him a few defensive infantry to protect those very archers? I tend to favor balanced squads, and I don't think I am good enough in the maneuver phase to keep Jules' squad permanently out of harm's way. Or will doing this dilute and weaken his squad to pointlessness?

[Simple Kind of Man]

you can add some front liners and still do well(i did this at 1st) ,i dont now tho , i make him and his boys all war-bows and delete anything i want out of my way(BUT if you do this you HAVE to keep them protected as the ai will run down an all ranged unit)

so i guess it comes down to how you play, if you dont like having to block off parts to keep your back line out of danger, then by all means give them some front liners as a screen.(keep in mind that some of the classes go for your back line if they are the attackers)

BUT, with a tec your archers get extra shots so just having 3 more archers can add a ton of dmg

[Erudite]

Outside of really big outliers such as Sirens being numerically inferior in their current iteration (soon to be addressed, big props to the devs!), you're going to see there's a huge amount of subjectivity to squad effectiveness.

Personally I'd say that squad unit count does tend to have one of the biggest impact in their performance and prefer most Archery squads to go full attackers with strategic map and unit placement to protect them, but I do not play on the hardest difficulty, and I could also see how micromanaging your archer's position on the battlemap could be annoying. You also have to play them really aggressively and frequently prioritize getting them into the thick of it to make sure they are able to generate experience as much as possible, due to (ideally) not getting the benefit of counterattack experience like your standard frontline units.

[Lyre]

The benefit to stacking Jules with all archers is you can fill his squad faster since he gets a "discount" on their squad cost. Other than that I tend to stick Samurai in his front row simply to protect the archers. You won't get the 3 range out of them that Warbows will have, but they'll still give you a ranged attack, plus they're tankier in melee.

[KaktusKotkuebel]

because of the decent movement range of enemies in this Game it can be hard/micro-intensive to completely shield foot archers, if you can afford the horse cost i prefer 3/2 or later on 4/3 Cav archer/warbow split over a samurai front, so they can retreat after shooting.
This way it feels safe enough to load up on some nice all in offense artifacts as well.

[dustin1280]

I prefer archers teams to have only archers and 1 healer...

It is easy enough to keep them out of danger by putting your tankier units in front of them, so I see no reason for them to have front line defense.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Lord_Of_Death:

BUT, with a tec your archers get extra shots so just having 3 more archers can add a ton of dmg

I did not know that; thanks for informing me! I guess I may re-compose Jules' squad to all-archer at that point then!

Originally posted by Erudite:

Personally I'd say that squad unit count does tend to have one of the biggest impact in their performance and prefer most Archery squads to go full attackers with strategic map and unit placement to protect them, but I do not play on the hardest difficulty, and I could also see how micromanaging your archer's position on the battlemap could be annoying. You also have to play them really aggressively and frequently prioritize getting them into the thick of it to make sure they are able to generate experience as much as possible, due to (ideally) not getting the benefit of counterattack experience like your standard frontline units.

Yes, I realized that I was playing too conservatively with jules' group the first three battles, and they got practically nothing in terms of XP as a result. This was why I thought of turning his group into a more or less a regular mixed composition group.

Originally posted by Lyre:

The benefit to stacking Jules with all archers is you can fill his squad faster since he gets a "discount" on their squad cost. Other than that I tend to stick Samurai in his front row simply to protect the archers. You won't get the 3 range out of them that Warbows will have, but they'll still give you a ranged attack, plus they're tankier in melee.

Yeah, I am thinking of using Samurais as front-line; but I've only done the first three chapters, and I've yet to access them.

Originally posted by KaktusKotkuebel:

because of the decent movement range of enemies in this Game it can be hard/micro-intensive to completely shield foot archers, if you can afford the horse cost i prefer 3/2 or later on 4/3 Cav archer/warbow split over a samurai front, so they can retreat after shooting.

My exact concern! And I am not good with the maneuvering phase in these kind of games anyways.

Originally posted by dustin1280:

I prefer archers teams to have only archers and 1 healer...

It is easy enough to keep them out of danger by putting your tankier units in front of them, so I see no reason for them to have front line defense.

In my - albeit brief - experience, the AI squads seem to go around blocking squads I put in front of Jules' squad though. Perhaps this problem will become less severe once I learn to judge AI movement better.

[Simple Kind of Man]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Originally posted by Lord_Of_Death:

BUT, with a tec your archers get extra shots so just having 3 more archers can add a ton of dmg

I did not know that; thanks for informing me! I guess I may re-compose Jules' squad to all-archer at that point then!

Originally posted by Erudite:

Personally I'd say that squad unit count does tend to have one of the biggest impact in their performance and prefer most Archery squads to go full attackers with strategic map and unit placement to protect them, but I do not play on the hardest difficulty, and I could also see how micromanaging your archer's position on the battlemap could be annoying. You also have to play them really aggressively and frequently prioritize getting them into the thick of it to make sure they are able to generate experience as much as possible, due to (ideally) not getting the benefit of counterattack experience like your standard frontline units.

Yes, I realized that I was playing too conservatively with jules' group the first three battles, and they got practically nothing in terms of XP as a result. This was why I thought of turning his group into a more or less a regular mixed composition group.

Originally posted by Lyre:

The benefit to stacking Jules with all archers is you can fill his squad faster since he gets a "discount" on their squad cost. Other than that I tend to stick Samurai in his front row simply to protect the archers. You won't get the 3 range out of them that Warbows will have, but they'll still give you a ranged attack, plus they're tankier in melee.

Yeah, I am thinking of using Samurais as front-line; but I've only done the first three chapters, and I've yet to access them.

Originally posted by KaktusKotkuebel:

because of the decent movement range of enemies in this Game it can be hard/micro-intensive to completely shield foot archers, if you can afford the horse cost i prefer 3/2 or later on 4/3 Cav archer/warbow split over a samurai front, so they can retreat after shooting.

My exact concern! And I am not good with the maneuvering phase in these kind of games anyways.

Originally posted by dustin1280:

I prefer archers teams to have only archers and 1 healer...

It is easy enough to keep them out of danger by putting your tankier units in front of them, so I see no reason for them to have front line defense.

In my - albeit brief - experience, the AI squads seem to go around blocking squads I put in front of Jules' squad though. Perhaps this problem will become less severe once I learn to judge AI movement better.

you can select enemy groups and see how far they can move

[Crim]

You can literally do whatever you want
It's your game
Have fun and let us know how it goes

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Lord_Of_Death:

you can select enemy groups and see how far they can move

I know; but they don't always seem to make full use of their movement. And also I don't know how the AI decides to pick its target squads. I guess they go after the weaker ones?

[Simple Kind of Man]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Originally posted by Lord_Of_Death:

you can select enemy groups and see how far they can move

I know; but they don't always seem to make full use of their movement. And also I don't know how the AI decides to pick its target squads. I guess they go after the weaker ones?

they normally go for the lowest threat but i have seen them break this "rule" a few times

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Lord_Of_Death:

they normally go for the lowest threat but i have seen them break this "rule" a few times

Got it. How about when to make full use of their movement - or when to attack at all? I sometimes see the AI squads doing nothing but sit?

[Simple Kind of Man]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Originally posted by Lord_Of_Death:

they normally go for the lowest threat but i have seen them break this "rule" a few times

Got it. How about when to make full use of their movement - or when to attack at all? I sometimes see the AI squads doing nothing but sit?

many groups have "triggers" (i dont know this for a fact but based on what i have seen)like getting close or crossing a bridge or some other choke point, after that they act normal(some will never move and just hold the towns/forts but will attack anything in range like normal)