Using Flagellants effectively.

[The Mighty Mulletman]

As with all new units it will take time for us to find out where every unit fits in an army. Flagellants are interesting in that they melt in melee while never breaking. They do do decent damage but they're a bit more expensive than swordsmen or spearmen and won't survive as long as they do.

They're fun to use but how do you think should we be using them? For me they make a decent tarpit or chaff unit. with Crossbowmen or Free Company Millitia behind to fire into the combat.

[[EL] The Emperor of Mankind]

I've been using them as meat shields all day... Usually set them up in front of my main line let them take the artillery punishment while my artillery fires willy-nilly into the close packs of infantry. pounds the enemy that I have them tie up.

[Daliena]

With Volkmar's buffs, they might make decent shock infantry for charging into flanks perhaps.. But in an extended melee, I had a unit of flagellants go up against a unit of spearmen (non-shielded) at Hard battle difficulty, the very first battle too so I'm fairly sure they weren't packing general buffs to boost their effectiveness..

And the flagellants and spearmen were basically grinding eachother down evenly. The flagellants gained a big lead on the initial charge but after that they quickly lost their advantage, and by the time the spearmen broke both units were at around 20 troops left or so I think?

[The Mighty Mulletman]

Originally posted by Daliena:

With Volkmar's buffs, they might make decent shock infantry for charging into flanks perhaps.. But in an extended melee, I had a unit of flagellants go up against a unit of spearmen (non-shielded) at Hard battle difficulty, the very first battle too so I'm fairly sure they weren't packing general buffs to boost their effectiveness..

And the flagellants and spearmen were basically grinding eachother down evenly. The flagellants gained a big lead on the initial charge but after that they quickly lost their advantage, and by the time the spearmen broke both units were at around 20 troops left or so I think?

Flagellants have very low melee defence. That's why they tend to get ripped apart. Perhaps they'd do better with spell buffs?

[DaBo81]

Use flagellents instead of melee state troops with lords that have picked the supporting perks - include warrior priests with the arch lector with the healing support skill. The arch lectors are melee beasts as well as support lords.
They are primarily an anti undead unit as they don't flee and are obviously weaker against an army like dwarfs/another empire faction with lots of ranged units.

[Spotty Dog]

Just see flagellants as unbreakable zombies really. With a bit more damage output.

[Kirb]

Originally posted by ebod1974:

Just see flagellants as unbreakable zombies really. With a bit more damage output.

This, they are fodder infantry that can be used as mini shock cav.

[Smackhead Steve]

The fact that the flaggelants don't break, means that the vampires lose their "terrifying" buff against them. So they don't break and rout from being scared, so in my opinion it's best to use them against "terrifying" units (zombies, monsters etc). they won't win against monsters, but will keep them tied up long enough for you to figure out a way to deal with them also.

[NoSkill]

could it be that the arch lector/Volkmar are having an recruitment/upkeep bonus for flagellants

[Procrastinating Gamer]

Haven't used the Flagellants much myself yet, but could they work better as a flanking force and having them engage units already tied up by your main line infantry?

Also, am I right in assuming that they never lose their Frenzy buff thanks to being Unbreakable? The tooltip for Frenzy (not from the green text on the card, but the Frenzy icon at the bottom) says it's deactivated if "Leadership is wavering", but since Unbreakable means that their Leadership doesn't drop at all...

[NoSkill]

jep thats quiet true , but in campain they don t have theit strength of the pentient or so ability

[[Æsir]Durlek]

Flagellants are terrible front liners. They take too much casualties. They are great for flanking and/or chase down archers behind the line. Their low melee defence makes them lose against most cheaper units 1v1 but they are quite good for supporting your general/hero that is duelling. (High dmg)

I usually run with spearmen frontlines then once the battle has engaged flank around with my flaggellents. Make sure to take advantage of their charge bonus. Many units in the squad and each of them get that juicy charge bonus. Get that in the rear of a line and whatever is targeted will melt.

[Naughty Mouse]

After a few tries, even with full buffs from the Lord I decided they serve no purpose, specially in the mid to end game.
In mid to end game you have to configure your army to have the best use of the 20 units. This means you must have a Strong Solid Line to lock down the enemy, and be able to absorbe missle fire. You must have some units for missle and artillery support. You should have a spot for a Hero, best if your lord is magical, you add a melee hero, if he is melee you add a wizard.
And of course you should have some cav to flank and some hard hitting units to send against monsters and flankers.
In the end there is no real room for Flage. as for instance a Two Handed Sword unit is much more effective at dishing out melee.

I personally find them to waste valuable spaces in my army setups.

[Darkaiser]

They make great tar pits. Place them next to, and slightly ahead of, a hard-hitting unit like Knights or Greatswords. Anyone trying to charge in, you intercept them with the crazy guys. Let them 'pin' the enemy army so the other unit can swing around and hit them from a flank.

Also a worthy sacrifice unit to block a vital lane to tie up enemy units while you flank then.