Best units?

[RAMBO]

So hey guys I was wondering what are the best units in each faction?And what army combination should I make/ :)

[Tuidjy]

Each faction has (at least one) top tier unit in each category available to it. Depending on your style, you can use a combination of all three branches (cavalry, infantry, ranged) or just use two or even one of them.

As for which faction has the best of a particular troop type...
- Heavy cavalry - Swadian knight
- Heavy infantry - Nord huscarl
- Shock infantry - Vaegir guard
- Archer - Vaegir marksman
- Crossbowman - Rhodock sharpshooter

If you play at full difficulty, and eventually you should, you will notice that combined forces work best, if you want to do the most for the least expense. The ultimate army is Swadian knights and Vaegir marksmen in the field, Vaegir guards and Rhodock crossbowmen in most siege defense, and Nord huscalrs and Vaegir marksmen in most assaults. There are sieges where crossbowmen work better in assault or defense.

If you play with reduced damage, heavily armored units are nigh invulnerable. Swadian knights, Nord huscarls, Rhodock sergeant are the way to go, then.

[RAMBO]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

Each faction has (at least one) top tier unit in each category available to it. Depending on your style, you can use a combination of all three branches (cavalry, infantry, ranged) or just use two or even one of them.

As for which faction has the best of a particular troop type...
- Heavy cavalry - Swadian knight
- Heavy infantry - Nord huscarl
- Shock infantry - Vaegir guard
- Archer - Vaegir marksman
- Crossbowman - Rhodock sharpshooter

If you play at full difficulty, and eventually you should, you will notice that combined forces work best, if you want to do the most for the least expense. The ultimate army is Swadian knights and Vaegir marksmen in the field, Vaegir guards and Rhodock crossbowmen in most siege defense, and Nord huscalrs and Vaegir marksmen in most assaults. There are sieges where crossbowmen work better in assault or defense.

If you play with reduced damage, heavily armored units are nigh invulnerable. Swadian knights, Nord huscarls, Rhodock sergeant are the way to go, then.

Thank you for the answer!I want to make an army like Cavalry and sharpshooters something like that.

[Adahn (´ ᴥ `)]

Tuidjy is right in every category but he left out the second and third best troop types so i will give them to you here.
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The second best cavalry in the game is in my opinion the sarranid mamluke. From what i saw in my game they seem to be faster and more maneuverable because of their higher riding skill but also squishier, they do use blunt weapons though which are good for taking prisoners.

Also the third best cavalry in the game has to be the vaegir knight, same story here. Faster and more maneuverable but squishier and arguably better weapons because they use bardiches which do a lot of damage but are way slower. (like slow motion weapons)
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For heavy infantry the second place is rhodok sergeant, they have better shields than huscarls but they need to be upgraded from rhodok spearmen and they are pretty bad.

The third place has to go to the swadian sergeant, i don't know much about them but they just seem like a worse version of rhodok sergeants.
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Sarranid guards for the second spot definitely, they are just a worse version of vaegir guards. They use two handed axes which are absolutely amazing to be honest, they break shields really fast and delivery amazing damage, not only that but they have pretty decent armor.
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Sarranids again, their master archers are from what i know the second best archers in the game. Their bows are fast but they damage is lacking, also from my knowledge they are pretty ok in melee and have good chest armor.
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For crossbowmen i think swadian sharpshooters do the job, they are again a worse version of rhodok sharpshooters but in my opinion look cooler.
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I think that vaegirs and sarranid are the most balanced factions. They have good archers with good armor and melee capabilities and their infantry is also pretty good wielding two handed axes and good armor. Their cavalry is not bad either, good armor with good weapons and good horses.

Correct me if i'm wrong on the second and third spots.

[RAMBO]

Originally posted by Aurourus:

Tuidjy is right in every category but he left out the second and third best troop types so i will give them to you here.
--------------------
The second best cavalry in the game is in my opinion the sarranid mamluke. From what i saw in my game they seem to be faster and more maneuverable because of their higher riding skill but also squishier, they do use blunt weapons though which are good for taking prisoners.

Also the third best cavalry in the game has to be the vaegir knight, same story here. Faster and more maneuverable but squishier and arguably better weapons because they use bardiches which do a lot of damage but are way slower. (like slow motion weapons)
--------------------
For heavy infantry the second place is rhodok sergeant, they have better shields than huscarls but they need to be upgraded from rhodok spearmen and they are pretty bad.

The third place has to go to the swadian sergeant, i don't know much about them but they just seem like a worse version of rhodok sergeants.
--------------------
Sarranid guards for the second spot definitely, they are just a worse version of vaegir guards. They use two handed axes which are absolutely amazing to be honest, they break shields really fast and delivery amazing damage, not only that but they have pretty decent armor.
--------------------
Sarranids again, their master archers are from what i know the second best archers in the game. Their bows are fast but they damage is lacking, also from my knowledge they are pretty ok in melee and have good chest armor.
--------------------
For crossbowmen i think swadian sharpshooters do the job, they are again a worse version of rhodok sharpshooters but in my opinion look cooler.
--------------------

I think that vaegirs and sarranid are the most balanced factions. They have good archers with good armor and melee capabilities and their infantry is also pretty good wielding two handed axes and good armor. Their cavalry is not bad either, good armor with good weapons and good horses.

Correct me if i'm wrong on the second and third spots.

How about the Khergit Cavalry?

[Adahn (´ ᴥ `)]

Originally posted by (SquiTbG)Sn1per:

Originally posted by Aurourus:

Tuidjy is right in every category but he left out the second and third best troop types so i will give them to you here.
--------------------
The second best cavalry in the game is in my opinion the sarranid mamluke. From what i saw in my game they seem to be faster and more maneuverable because of their higher riding skill but also squishier, they do use blunt weapons though which are good for taking prisoners.

Also the third best cavalry in the game has to be the vaegir knight, same story here. Faster and more maneuverable but squishier and arguably better weapons because they use bardiches which do a lot of damage but are way slower. (like slow motion weapons)
--------------------
For heavy infantry the second place is rhodok sergeant, they have better shields than huscarls but they need to be upgraded from rhodok spearmen and they are pretty bad.

The third place has to go to the swadian sergeant, i don't know much about them but they just seem like a worse version of rhodok sergeants.
--------------------
Sarranid guards for the second spot definitely, they are just a worse version of vaegir guards. They use two handed axes which are absolutely amazing to be honest, they break shields really fast and delivery amazing damage, not only that but they have pretty decent armor.
--------------------
Sarranids again, their master archers are from what i know the second best archers in the game. Their bows are fast but they damage is lacking, also from my knowledge they are pretty ok in melee and have good chest armor.
--------------------
For crossbowmen i think swadian sharpshooters do the job, they are again a worse version of rhodok sharpshooters but in my opinion look cooler.
--------------------

I think that vaegirs and sarranid are the most balanced factions. They have good archers with good armor and melee capabilities and their infantry is also pretty good wielding two handed axes and good armor. Their cavalry is not bad either, good armor with good weapons and good horses.

Correct me if i'm wrong on the second and third spots.

How about the Khergit Cavalry?

Khergits are by far the worst faction in the game. Their only strength are that they move fast on the map and they get horses pretty early on. Both strength are pretty irrelevant in my opinion.

[iPrecision]

Khergit Lancers though. ♥♥♥♥ those guys.

[Tekkousen]

So for the people who have comment on the best troops from each faction, how in the world are you building them up quickly to be able to swap between "field troops, siege off/def troops?"

[Julius Geezer]

Originally posted by Tekkousen:

So for the people who have comment on the best troops from each faction, how in the world are you building them up quickly to be able to swap between "field troops, siege off/def troops?"

Garrisoning them in cities/castles, and then visiting them and picking whatever troops you think you need for a certain situation.

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Tekkousen:

So for the people who have comment on the best troops from each faction, how in the world are you building them up quickly to be able to swap between "field troops, siege off/def troops?"

When you have eight level 30 companions, and each has training as high as Intelligence allows, you can get knights out of peasants in less than a week. That's without fighting. When you are at war, it is not uncommon to get Vaegir marksmen in a couple of days.

But you are not supposed to raise the troops when you are switching from field battles to assault. You just stash a reserve in your cities, or rather, you make sure that the garrison includes troops that you can use when needed.

Also, by shifting the troops in the party roster up and down, you can make it more or less likely that they will show up on the battle field. So if the battle is an easy one, you move raw recruits up, if the battle is in hilly terrain you move the archers up, etc.

[Tekkousen]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

Originally posted by Tekkousen:

So for the people who have comment on the best troops from each faction, how in the world are you building them up quickly to be able to swap between "field troops, siege off/def troops?"

When you have eight level 30 companions, and each has training as high as Intelligence allows, you can get knights out of peasants in less than a week. That's without fighting. When you are at war, it is not uncommon to get Vaegir marksmen in a couple of days.

But you are not supposed to raise the troops when you are switching from field battles to assault. You just stash a reserve in your cities, or rather, you make sure that the garrison includes troops that you can use when needed.

Also, by shifting the troops in the party roster up and down, you can make it more or less likely that they will show up on the battle field. So if the battle is an easy one, you move raw recruits up, if the battle is in hilly terrain you move the archers up, etc.

Ahh! That is good information! i assumed that training, along with the other skills only go by the highest person who has the skill....I only been playing for 100 hours lol. still learning :D .

[Adahn (´ ᴥ `)]

Originally posted by jayy:

Originally posted by Aurourus:

Khergits are by far the worst faction in the game. Their only strength are that they move fast on the map and they get horses pretty early on. Both strength are pretty irrelevant in my opinion.

debatable. Khergit lancers have a shorter troop tree than most final tier units, so it makes it so you can spam them instantly. 30 khergit lancers would get destroyed by 30 swadian knights, but what about 80 khergit lancers, that don't even take too long to train? I've never tried to use horse archers so i'm lost there.

That's what i said lol

[Asphe]

Originally posted by (SquiTbG)Sn1per:

So hey guys I was wondering what are the best units in each faction?And what army combination should I make/ :)

For what?

Siege / Town Assault:

Crossbowman [Rhodians are slightly better than Swadians... get both*]
- the AI [and a lot of players] finds it hard to headshot crossbowman who bend down while reloading
- they also make good heavy infantry [they carry large board shields, if you tell them to hold fire... you get a de facto shield wall]
- crossbow bolts have high base damage, effective against armor but have a lower rate of fire
- relatively cheap. You're getting artillery and heavy infantry in one package.
- slow. They get to places by walking

Open field combat:

You'd want some heavy knights, some infantry and artillery.
Knights: Mamlukes & Swadian Knights
Infantry: Crossbowman & Khergit Horse Archers** [KHA / vKHAs]
Artillery: As infantry.

Swadian Knights probably have an edge over Mamlukes, but Mamlukes are faster to train and hence easier / cheaper to replace. I'd try to get both*

Wooded Area / Rolling Terrain:
Crossbowman & vKHAs. [bear in mind that the AI for mounted troops... tend to hit trees... headfirst]

Garrison:
Peasants***. Never train them up, never upgrade them. They are the best garrison troops in the game by far.

*why get the 'same' units from different factions? Well say your campaign army's made up of mostly Swadian troops... and you go to war against Swadia. Your Swadian troops will suffer a morale penalty that gets worse with each victory. So unless you're very sure you'll never go to war against a certain faction...be diverse in your recruitment.

In addition, crossbowman from two factions lets you do things like assign them to different battlegroups. So you can have some crossbowman act like shield infantry while the rest can act as archers.

**why use KHAs? Fragile, long to train and expensive. BUT they are mounted. The higher the % of mounted troops in your campaign army... the faster you move on the map. For best speeds, you'd not only want to put extra horses in your inventory but have a 100% mounted force. During sieges, they give your artillery the high rate of fire that the crossbows lack.

***The game's AI assigns a very high value to numbers of troops vs quality of troops. i.e. a 1000 peasant garrison will intimidate a 400 knight army, yet cost less to maintain than a few dozen knights. I'd typically keep stuffing all my fiefs with peasants, both to avoid getting besieged and as a ready source of recruits. The AI follows Lancaster's Law while I follow Murphy's ^_^

-----

Plus it's a matter of personal taste in tactics. I don't use huscarls or similar in my armies. I usually play at maximum difficulty so losses are quite expensive. Instead, I try to 'cheat' as much as I can. So... rather than face a large knight army in the open field... I'd much rather besiege said army where my cheaper crossbowman can impose a high kill ratio on them [typically 8:1 or more... or 24:1 in terms of dinar to dinar].

So while they are 'better' troops... they are also more expensive and time-consuming. My goal is to typically form my 'own faction' before I hit level 15 and rule half of Calradia by level 40 or 1000 days.

There's also the matter of role-playing. If I fancy myself a horse archer lord, I'd just take my 'companions' and a lot of vKHAs. Or try a Roman Republic style army. Infantry centric.

[mafilux]

The only units I've found to be sub par all around are the sarranids, so as long as you don't pick up a ton of sarranid stuff any faction units are perfectly viable.

[khan_raider_alex]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

Also, by shifting the troops in the party roster up and down, you can make it more or less likely that they will show up on the battle field. So if the battle is an easy one, you move raw recruits up, if the battle is in hilly terrain you move the archers up, etc.

Hello Tuidjy! Is this feature confirmed? I always thought your army composition in battle is random+tactics. So if put my archers last in roster they will reinforce last in battle? And this way I can "store" better units for reinforcement waves?

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by khan_raider_alex:

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

Also, by shifting the troops in the party roster up and down, you can make it more or less likely that they will show up on the battle field. So if the battle is an easy one, you move raw recruits up, if the battle is in hilly terrain you move the archers up, etc.

Hello Tuidjy! Is this feature confirmed? I always thought your army composition in battle is random+tactics. So if put my archers last in roster they will reinforce last in battle? And this way I can "store" better units for reinforcement waves?

It absolutely works, but it only modifies the chance of an unit appearing earlier or later, it does not guarantee anything.

For example, if you like to keep your raw recruits last, so that they are not part of the initial deployment, a few of them may still show up. That's why I make them part of a "Newbies" division, and I make them stay out of the fray, or even retreat if needed. They still get some of the shared experience.

I usually keep my army like this:
- myself
- combat companions
- specialists
- high level troops that can still earn experience
- mid level troops
- max level troops that no longer earn experience
- raw recruits that cannot really pull their weight

When a battle is likely to go for many, many rounds, I move some of the specialists at the end of the roster. For example:

If I expect a lot of casualties, I may move the medic last.

If I am just bleeding a much more numerous enemy, and know that I will have to retreat after my character is knocked unconscious, I may move the path-finding last.

If I am making sniping runs on a ladder castle, I may move the engineer last so that she keeps the building stage down to less than an hour.