So, how do you play effectively with Battania? Finding them unplayable

[BaronWilhelm]

So to preface, I've been starting off my campaigns in the nation of origin for the characters. My goal is to keep totally purist armies, I don't want to mix faction units.

That being said, Battanians have so much appeal but its like they just put them in the game to get steamrolled. I feel like they're so thematic (maybe the most so), but their learning curve is a hard one to navigate. They don't play in a way that's comparable to any of the other factions, who all end up relying on sturdy ass infantry blocks with archers, or cycle charging cavalry.

How can I use them right, using only Battanian units? It's hard to keep the infantry core from getting last-samurai'd

[Prim]

Battanians have the best foot archers in the game, they just arnt on their standard tree, they come from the Highborn Youth's to upgrade to Fian Champions. Ive used them along with a front line of shield wall battanian infantry and had some great success.

[PureH]

In my games battania tend to do really really well lol and always seem to mow down the sturgians (then again most seem to do that)

[Rusted Cake]

Their highborn can become the best archers in the game (to the point they last samurai cavalry).

Their Veteran Spearman is very durable fodder. Front liners

Their Wildling is a heavily armored skirmisher/infantry hybrid. Front liners

Their Falx is extremely brittle infantry & WILL DIE. (Trash defense good offence)

Their melee cav & skirmish cav are extremely weak compared to other factions.

How to use: for every spearman have 1 skirmisher as they compliment each other really well especially in their final forms.
Their highborn can provide OP range support as archers, keep them from being drug into a melee unless things get very desperate.

Getting them past their early forms is tricky as they die a lot, but once you have a proper core of veteran troops you will have a very mighty army.

(Currently doing well for myself as Battania thanks to a certain youtuber teaching me the various qualities of their troops with his useful video.)

[BaronWilhelm]

Originally posted by Prim:

Battanians have the best foot archers in the game, they just arnt on their standard tree, they come from the Highborn Youth's to upgrade to Fian Champions. Ive used them along with a front line of shield wall battanian infantry and had some great success.

Is there a particular settlement that has them up for recruiting often? They're hard to find

[Heruwulf]

Use terrain since every other faction outranges you. Yeah...pretty awful considering battania was introduced as the 'skirmishing' faction.

[Simka]

Originally posted by Rusted Cake:

Their highborn can become the best archers in the game (to the point they last samurai cavalry).

Their Veteran Spearman is very durable fodder. Front liners

Their Wildling is a heavily armored skirmisher/infantry hybrid. Front liners

Their Falx is extremely brittle infantry & WILL DIE. (Trash defense good offence)

Their melee cav & skirmish cav are extremely weak compared to other factions.

How to use: for every spearman have 1 skirmisher as they compliment each other really well especially in their final forms.
Their highborn can provide OP range support as archers, keep them from being drug into a melee unless things get very desperate.

Getting them past their early forms is tricky as they die a lot, but once you have a proper core of veteran troops you will have a very mighty army.

fully agree, Fian Champions are insane and working wonders, even against heavy cavalary, they just kill the horses in nearly no time, my 160 man army got 70 of them and they just wreck about 200 infantry before they reach my frontline. Falx (and also berserks from the Sturgians) need a buff for the amor, they just die instantly if they get any ranged attacks #NoBodyArmor

[Simka]

Originally posted by BaronWilhelm:

Originally posted by Prim:

Battanians have the best foot archers in the game, they just arnt on their standard tree, they come from the Highborn Youth's to upgrade to Fian Champions. Ive used them along with a front line of shield wall battanian infantry and had some great success.

Is there a particular settlement that has them up for recruiting often? They're hard to find

They randomly become recruitable like normal troops, just keep searching

[Heruwulf]

Originally posted by Simka:

Originally posted by BaronWilhelm:

Is there a particular settlement that has them up for recruiting often? They're hard to find

They randomly become recruitable like normal troops, just keep searching

Grinding the recruitment of highborns just to have ranged troops is bad game design. Furthermore, the AI just ends up with 80-90% infantry as battania.

[HellDuke]

I have not tried much but in my first run Batania obliderated Vladia and took Several setlments from Sturgia, all while being at war with every faction in the game. Second play through they pushed Vladia down to 3 Towns and a few castles and seem to not be letting up to anyone else.

[Muscarine]

If you're talking pure Battanian army then a shield wall of Wildlings, like 20-30, and 50 Fian Champions spread out behind them.
Dozen cavs to run interference and divert the enemy blob into showing their back helps even more, and you get a ~90 men army that's fast enough to catch up with most of the AI's armies while attracting larger ones without scaring them away.

Fian Champions are absolutely terrifying, i take on 1:3 1:4 on a regular basis.