Most "balanced" army lists?

[kronenblatt]

Which army lists would you say are the most "balanced" when it comes to both heavy versus light and infantry versus cavalry? If that question can at all be answered, that is, but as a newbie I take the risk...

[Gaznak]

Arab conquest post 636 is worth a look. Competent superior and above average troops if you want to go small. You have bedouin foot, massed archers, and dailami for difficult terrain, and you can spam bedouin horse and protected above average lancers if there is lots of open terrain. And of course you can field a blob of terminator spearmen if you desire.

I don't remember how many light foot they get proportionally but I feel like it was enough to do the job at least.

[MVP7]

Many of the Arab and Carthaginian lists are really well rounded and probably the most potent of balanced lists in FoG2. Macedonian and successor lists are also, unsurprisingly, pretty balanced combined arms lists but they suffer from relying too heavily on the expensive Pike units for heavy infantry. Some of the early imperial Roman lists are pretty balanced as well but they suffer from having no cheap units.

In addition to the heavy-light/infantry-cavalry balance I think it's also very important to have enough medium infantry or you'll have a huge disadvantage in rough or forested terrain. This keeps of lot of the dark age lists from being really well rounded.

Another very important balance dimension in FoG2 is the cheap versus expensive. If you have only expensive units you'll struggle to cover your flanks from the enemy (this is the main issue for Macedonians and Romans). If you have no high quality units it can be hard to start the snowball that you need to defeat the enemy. With a good mix of affordable units and high quality units you can cover and maintain a wide front and concentrate the high quality units to achieve a break through. Many of the Arab and Carthaginian lists are well off in this regard.

[kronenblatt]

Thanks guys!

And good aspects to also include the medium infantry aspect, plus the cheap versus expensive dimension. Hadn't thought of that.

[SimonLancaster]

I think some of the Carthaginian armies in Classical are among the most balanced. In Early Middle Ages, Andalusian and other Muslim factions give you a range of options. I also think some of the Roman lists with the right kind of allies give you decent heavy infantry and a good amount of cavalry.

[Ludendorf]

I personally favour the Hannibal in Africa list in Classical. You're a little light on ranged skirmishers, and you don't get lancers, but there really is nothing that list can't do well or counter effectively. Elephants stomp enemy cavalry and impact foot, the masses of Punic foot make getting around the sides of your army a nightmare, you have both expensive armoured veterans and relatively cheap Noble Cavalry to either smash the enemy horse or ride blithely around them while they're ZOC'd, a veritable horde of Light Javelin Horse supports this, AND if the enemy somehow gets past all of that, Veteran Armoured Spearmen will murder just about anyone stupid enough to engage with them unless they get pitted against veteran legionaries or something ridiculously expensive like that.

The fact that the Veteran Italian Foot slaughter any mediums or Massed Archers cunning enough to hide out on the rough means you can't run away from them either. And to top it all off, bring Moorish and Numidian allies for EVEN MORE skirmishers and light cavalry.