Army Compositions

[Buttons]

What sorts of army compositions have you been trying out that you enjoy thematically or in terms of effectiveness in kingdoms or exported battles? I’ve tried a few things

Knights/light archers: I’ve noticed knights are downright broken in Kingdoms, unless you’re massively outnumbered you’ll smash armies that even when exported will be trouble like hordes of light archers. The archers are more for exported battles so I don’t get swarmed by light infantry.

A few raw defensive spearmen: Have generally used them for occupation and siege work, they can handle most rebels that might pop up and are a cheap method of besieging fortresses your mobile knight armies can’t overrun.

Armoured spearmen/light archers: A slower and less lethal but versatile army that can defeat most reasonably sized field armies and can carry out sieges when I don’t have the forces to destroy most enemy armies before starting sieges.

[stormbringer3]

This should be a very interesting and helpful thread. In Empires light cavalry was a necessity. In this game I hardly ever use them. Do others use them?
Thanks.

[Surt]

Heavy crossbow men seem to be a good addition for in game battles.

[Patrat]

I go for the best heavy infantry I can get to fill up the max frontage, with knights on the flanks. I back them up with heavy crossbowmen. It's nice to have extra cavalry too, so you can really punish the enemy in the pursuit phase.

I also add enough medium infantry to fight in forests and mountains, backed up by light crossbowmen.

This kind of army can pretty much defeat anything I've run into. The trick is affording more than a couple of them. I got 3 currently, but I'm now a rich Ascending Empire.

It's kinda cool to see most of the enemy troops get exhausted from the storm of arrows my crossbowmen unleash on them.

I too haven't been using light cavalry in this game. In Empires I used them as a small rapid response team to quell unrest. I really haven't tried that in this game yet. They might be good in the pursuit phase too, but I haven't tried it.

[deadtorius]

Few European armies will have access to light horse so they are not in many armies as a recruiting option. If if can get them I will take them. I normally export my battles unless it is so one sided with only a few enemies its not worth the bother. With that in mind my armies are geared for use in FOGM. I like to have 2 to 3 knights minimum, 4 spear men, 4 med foot archers and if possible 3 or 4 light archers. I tend to stay away from javelins, they do more damage but you have to get up close to use and they can be caught in cavalry charges easier. I might max out knights at 4 units, but if I have the gold I will increase spears and med foot archers. I try to train my heavy foot as sappers when that decision comes up as it helps during sieges. This is for European armies.
If I am playing Arab armies it will vary a bit. I still try to get at least 3 to 4 of their heaviest cavalry, same number of spear units. Most Arab armies will start with light bows but I will try to get at least 3 bows when the med foot becomes available. I will try limit the amount of light horse units I buy, 2 to 4 I find is best. They are handy for enveloping flanks and shooting up the rear of an enemy unit but too many does not work well as they will not hold their ground if charged and can just get in the way. If I can get them I will try for 1 or 2 units of camels and the same with elephants. In FOGM they can cause enemy cavalry to become disrupted if adjacent but are glass cannons that must be supported as they can't hold out for long on their own and are fun to run around the map. Elephants need to be kept clear of enemy skirmishers and camels will not stand up to much shooting or melee.

[SuitedQueens]

So you want to optimize SAUs and "recruit anywhere" decisions. Due to how AI behaves there are four taskforces:

1) Knights/Cavalry 10 units backed up by 8-12 archers/xbows mix or any units with Support value of 8 or above. You pray on the fact that you are on the offense 99% of the campaigns and nothing comes close to cavakry in terms of wrecking multiple weak compositions per turn therefore not giving opps any counterplay. Furthermore even on turn 500 you will rarely find any walls above lvl 2, so Sieges is a waste of time since similar to empires Archers + Heavy or Archers + Cavalry can take anything.

Make sure you are 1 off SAU limit and then pop multiple Knights/Cavalry into existence. 2 stacks like these operating at different fronts can make your life easy. Dont even have to rely on Vassals and Allies to clean up your potential rebels, backstabbers or opportunistic opponent stacks diving deep into your territory. All infantry types can be trained to a SAU status easily if you pay attention to maximizing ME and Castles like you should.

2) Quickly raised Light Troops on the newly conquered or sent in preemptively. While Cavalry plays whack a mole with the opponent mobile stacks these 8+ ranged attack units use decisions to create mop up stacks on the spot to Assault typical backwater territories located off the path to the opp National Capital, Defend gotten possessions from the Rebels or opportunistic opponent divers, Besiege Provincial Capitals, Pillage more regions per turn.

3) Heavies for Defense and padding up Combat Power score. Not only they heavily contribute to defense against raids from nation that hate you after the recent war, but serve as the biggest deterrents preventing AI from declaring on you. Furthermore they serve as an infinite blockers for AI executing Assaults if AI managed to get into your territory.

4) Naval consisting excusively from the light ships. Even combats in the middle against heavier SAU classses that you ocassionaly lose salvaged by Evasion. Be aware that many land units prioritized to get into the reserve lines over your proper light ships, so make sure to travel separately if you expect big naval combats where you gonna need those support values.

[Pocus]

You should see higher levels of walls in 1.02 Beta

[Surt]

already in 1.01 there is a lot of lords who builds fortifications, all at once, then a pause before a new spree.

[oldspec4]

already in 1.01 there is a lot of lords who builds fortifications, all at once, then a pause before a new spree.

My experience also.

[Surt]

already in 1.01 there is a lot of lords who builds fortifications, all at once, then a pause before a new spree.

My experience also.

I'm glad that at least someone agrees with me!

[Surt]

Also Byzant needs an Closed Settlement, to bring it 101 fortification, that is really needed!