As Chosokabe: Daikyu Samurai or Bow Warrior Monks?

[Eric]

Which is more effective?

My comparison on the units:
- Daikyu Samurai have 20 more men and 2 more armor. They have less morale but better melee capability.

- Bow Warrior Monks have 5 more ammunition, 25 more reload speed, and 15 higher accuracy.

- Both are capable of killing 300-350 ashigaru before running out of ammunition.

- In 1v1 fights, they inflict about the same casualties.

Also, for a bow unit, should I keep the unit in a square formation or in a line?

[Ivan Teurer]

Thats what we all want to know here

[Delta 1038]

Campaign or Skirmish/Multiplayer match? If the former, upkeep and recruitment cost is something to consider in unit effectiveness.

[Eric]

Campaign.

[rory.b.p]

Bow warrior monks reload almost twice as fast and have access to whistling arrows but in a campaign the upkeep cost of 3 bow warrior monks is the same as 4 daikyu.
Personally I prefer bow warrior monks, make them with a fully upgraded fletchers etc to make sure you are getting full bang for your ukeep buck and yes they just rain death.

[Tocki]

In my opinion, Dayku wins against Bow monks, +20 more men, more damage with missiles and better amour deal with bow monks.

[Ivan Teurer]

maybe try to battle 1v1 1 unit monks against 1 unit daikyu.(u can remove the general after you built the army)

[General Income Tax]

Bow monks sacrifice survivability for raw killing power, samurai bowmen have armour so ashigaru bowmen are much less effective against them but monks can kill other archers at a further range than any other.

It really depends on the situation and your army makeup, but overall monks are better at killing and dying than samurai.

[Shad]

Both are great as they outrange all other archers and arrow towers, making sieges a turkey shoot. Monks are better due to how high their accuracy is. Set up in an bowmakers province, and you can get 100 accuracy without problems. I was actually setting the encampment to have armor bonus, as I had 100 accuracy without it.

It's incredibly satisfying to see a enemy archers on walls getting annihilated like they're in the open. A single units of monks can shoot through at least 3 units on walls

[Teh_Diplomat]

Can I haz both?

[SaltyPeanuts]

Chosokabe Daikyu Samurai:
Soldiers120
Recruitment Cost 700
Upkeep 150
Melee Attack 6
Range 175
Accuracy 55
Reloading Skill 35
Ammunition 25
Melee Defence 3
Armour 4
Morale 8

Chosokabe Bow Warrior Monks
Soldiers100
Recruitment Cost 950
Upkeep Cost 200
Melee Attack 4
Range 175
Accuracy 70
Reloading Skill 60
Ammunition 30
Melee Defence 1
Armour 2
Morale 12

Both specialist units can fire arrows at the same distance. But bow monks can do so more accurately and reload faster.

Originally posted by <VMS>Tocki:

In my opinion, Dayku wins against Bow monks, +20 more men, more damage with missiles and better amour deal with bow monks.

More damage with missiles? Reference? No reference?

[Ivan Teurer]

Just get the bow heros

[ElPrezCBF]

My personal preference is regardless of the archer type, range, accuracy and reloading skills are most important to their specialized role. There's no point in getting an archer unit with greater melee/armor/morale stats at the cost of any of the three "specialized" stats above because being in a melee situation means their ranged killing abilities are not used to max effect. Instead, they should be protected by strong infantry that specialize in melee to free them up to do their "thing".

[Eric]

Versatile units can be useful on occasion. I try to keep one or two multi-role units in my army.

[porkchop]

Originally posted by Bar Bar Winks:

skills are most important to their specialized role.

pretty much. let archers be archers. when you're sending archers into melee, you know something else has gone wrong ;p

[ElPrezCBF]

Originally posted by porkchop:

Originally posted by Bar Bar Winks:

skills are most important to their specialized role.

pretty much. let archers be archers. when you're sending archers into melee, you know something else has gone wrong ;p

Or when archers unwittingly find themselves in melee ;-) Of course, it's good to have all rounded units but these are usually elite units with fewer men or much higher upkeep. Cheaper but no less effective archers are expendable and more easily replenished. In fact, it's an entirely valid strategy to field maxed out ashigaru archers from bow makers/fletchers in some armies instead of bow samurai to keep upkeep costs down, especially when everyone turns on you (and your trade) after realm divide.