My Top Ten Units

[SimonLancaster]

Just for a bit of fun before the serious games start in the Digital League. These are my favourite units to use in the game. I selected units that can make a difference on the battlefield and offer good value for money. In no particular order and you can add your own choices to this thread!

1. Light Horse (with lance) 32

I remember having a discussion with a few players and we didn't think that a lot of the light horse were value for money. You may as well spend an extra 10-15 points on proper cavalry. However, over time this view changed a bit. The light horse can be really effective at harassing cavalry, and getting game changing rear charges on infantry lines later in the game. A good buy. Javelin Horse at 24 also needs to be mentioned.

2. Noble Lancers 48

I think this kind of cavalry represents good value for money. You can get some decent impact charges off and yet at 48 you are not wasting lots of money on expensive cavalry units. Byzantine Lancers at 54 also a good buy.

3. Dailami Foot 42

Medium foot with impact offers a good combo at 42 points. You can do some damage in the open and utilise any rough ground that may be around. They can generally hold the line against average heavy foot in my experience.

4. Massed Archers 36

I have had a lot of fun with this unit. You can get a nice position and fire volleys of arrows at the enemy. From mid-game onwards it is also possible to get some good flank attacks on infantry. Players sometimes forget that they can charge into infantry.

5. Elephants 60

Elephants look great and can perform wonders. They can also get stuck in traffic and do nothing. Overall, I try to take at least one elephant unit if I have the option because they also are good for countering cavalry.

6. Massed Peltasts 33

Pretty good value at 33 and they can give you some extra infantry units in order to build up your army. In a support role they are value for money.

7. Superior Warband 75

Just a lot of fun to play with. A huge unit, impact capabilities and superior quality. With a few of these units you can do a lot of damage.

8. Legionaries 78

Like a tank on the battlefield. Armoured and superior quality. They do everything that they are supposed to do. Excellent unit.

9. Armoured Hoplites 54

For 54 points I think this is great value for money. They are less than Veteran Hoplites at 60 and still fully armoured. Against all the arrows on the Biblical battlefield I find that they perform very well.

10. Veteran African Spearmen 78

I played a lot with Carthaginian armies when I first started playing the game. This unit is veteran, superior quality and offensive spearmen. A great combo. These units really are the lynchpin of the Carthaginian army. They hold the line for ages and inflict a lot of damage!

[greekiraklis]

This is my top 10 units on the Field of Glory 2. My choices based on real war and history too. So I like the next unit in the reality and at the game also:

The first 3 units will be cavalry.

1) Iranian Armoured Cavalry.
As a Greek guy can't ignore that in the classical age the awe rival of Greece was the Persians. The best cavalry Persian unit can't be missing from the list.

2) Cataphracts.
The best expensive cavalry unit in the game.

3) Noble Lancers.
The best cheap cavalry in the game.

The next one will be the best anti-cavalry unit.

4) Elephants.
The best anti-cavalry unit. Also can work against infantry many times.

The next 4 will be the best infantry in the game.

5) Veteran Hoplites (especially Spartan armored veterans. Veteran African Spearmen are so similar too).
The most reliable and balanced infantry. They dominated in the classical age/period. This is my top favorite unit at all, in the game and in the real ancient war and ancient history.

6) Pikemen (especially the veteran one).
The best unit in a frontal attack on smooth ground. They dominated in the Hellenistic age/period.

7) Roman Legionaries (especially elite. Veteran Principe/Hastati are so similar too).
Best melee unit in the game. Can make the enemy unit wavering with one simple attack. They are so scary. They dominated in the Roman age/period.

8: Massed Greek Peltasts (Massed Thracian Peltasts are similar).
One of the best cheap melee units. Good to have it on the flank. Useful to any army.

The last two will be missiles.

9) Cretan Archers.
My favorite archers in the game. The best anti-cavalry and anti-infantry missile unit.

10) Greek Peltasts (Thracian Peltasts are similar).
Can beat almost all other missile units on 1v1, so is the best anti-missile unit in the game.

And now I will choose my favorite 1200 force points army in the game with some of the units above. I mean if the battle is on a flat map.

2 (units of) Cataphracts (134 points).
2 Noble cavalry (96 points).
2 Elephants (120 points).
3 Veteran Hoplites (180 points).
1 Armored veteran Hoplite (78 points). My general unit.
1 Veteran Roman Legionaries (96 points).
1 Veteran Pike Phalanx (96 points).
4 Machimoi Pike Phalanx (192 points).
3 Cretan Archers (117 points).
3 Greek Peltasts (90 points).

1199 force points at all with 22 units. 4 Cavalry, 2 Elephants, 3 elite infantry units, 3 middle-elite type infantry units, 4 middle type infantry units, so 10 heavy infantry at all, and 6 missiles.

[SimonLancaster]

Nice to have greekiraklis back in the saddle.. your selections are great. I like cataphracts, and I am glad someone mentioned the pike phalanx unit which is the mainstay of many Classical armies.

Are Cretan Archers really worth the money? I prefer to spend 24 points on basic skirmishers. I might spend a bit extra on Greek Peltasts..

[greekiraklis]

Nice to have greekiraklis back in the saddle.. your selections are great. I like cataphracts, and I am glad someone mentioned the pike phalanx unit which is the mainstay of many Classical armies.

Are Cretan Archers really worth the money? I prefer to spend 24 points on basic skirmishers. I might spend a bit extra on Greek Peltasts..

Yeah, may you right. Just if you use all ammo with Cretans Archers could be so useful unit. The second choice is to use 1 Cretan Archer and in place of the other two, you could use some cheaper missiles. Anyway, 1 unit of Cretan Archer is useful to begin the missile war. The damage they have is amazing.

[Nosy_Rat]

So here's mine, in no particular order:

1. Light Javelin Horse (24 points) - cheap, fast, annoying, great for all kinds of non-chivalrous warfare and making sure those routing pikes do not come back.
2. Defensive shieldwall (36 points) - cheap and reliable, ultimate choice for the battleline if you don't want to invest too much in infantry.
3. Klibanophoroi (84 points) - the only cavalry unit able to reliably punch their way through the infantry line.
4. Falxmen (48 points) - will hold their ground just fine against much more expensive units, including legionaries and veteran spearmen, for as long as you keep them away from enemy shooting.
5. Brythonic foot (33 points) - with their full swordsmen capability it's the straight upgrade over similarly-priced irregular foot or massed peltasts, can do a lot of things pretty effectively, maybe is even too good.
6. Veteran Dailami (60 points) - superior maneuverable impact foot that isn't disordered by terrain, higher quality improves both their impact and staying power so they are not as reliant on one dice roll as the non-veterans.
7. Bedouin Lancers (36 points) - kinda suck at actual combat, but provide great utility to any list and match-up, could be used as reserve, flankers, to delay the enemy etc, one of the most cost-effective units.
8. Armoured Noble Lancers (64 points) - your classic heavy cavalry through the ages, expensive but reliable.
9. Nomad Horse Archers (44 points) - I used to underestimate them, but it's actually a very good unit for supporting cavalry attacks or just being an annoying distraction on a refused flank.
10. Light Artillery (24 points) - pretty random in it's efficiency, but occasionally dropping morale of enemy unit with just one shot is pretty satisfying.

[SimonLancaster]

I think the Bedouin Lancers are great at 36. I was thinking of them when I posted about the Noble Lancers. I have never thought that the Falxmen were so great. I don't use Light Artillery so much.

[Gaznak]

Not necessarily the most effective units but some of the ones I am fond of.

1) Well armed slaves/poorly armed slaves. I'm counting these as one unit "package" since you always get them together. Can't help but root for the underdogs. Well armed slaves in particular are simultaneously frustrating to use and great when they exceed expectations and pursue into favorable engagements.
2) Roman auxilia. Not the best at holding a main line, but they have rescued my legionaries so many times.
3) Auxilia palatina. Cool looking unit, great at holding ground.
4) Fierce nomad light horse. Can be the most annoying unit in the game in the right circumstances.
5) Assyrian heavy foot. Shoot and scoot, plus competent in melee.

[SnuggleBunnies]

1) 24pt Light Javelin Horse. Cheap, annoying, effective.
2) 32pt Bedouin Light Lancers. You can force the enemy's lights into cover, control the field, and successfully charge Disrupted non-light cavalry. What's not to like?
3) 24pt Slingers. Shooting at long range with Light Archers is a waste of arrows 90% of the time, and you pay 6 points for the ability. Slingers are just about as good, and far cheaper.
4) 54pt Veteran Muslim Spearmen. Ridiculously cheap for a unit of Superior Offensive Spearmen. Sure they're Unmaneuverable, but in the middle of the line where you want them that's usually not a big deal.
5) 24pt Sassanid Levy Spearmen. Sure, they're not very good. But for 24pts you get a unit that can slug it out with Legio Comitatensis, a unit more than twice its cost! You can hold the line while the cavalry actually win the battle elsewhere.
6) 33pt Phoenician Style Foot. For 3pts, you get a unit with 62 more melee POA than Irregular Foot. They're Unmaneuverable, which is too bad, but they have a tendency to uncontrollably pursue, which is (if you plan for it) great, allowing you brutal line rollups on the enemy. Their cheapness allows you to threaten flanks very easily.
7) 36pt Celtic Chariots. They can evade, cause automatic cohesion drops, have respectable Impact due to being Superior and are so very cheap.
8) 36pt Indian Light Chariots. They can't charge as effectively as their Celtic cousins, but 36pts is cheap for a non light unit that can shoot and charge.
9) 57pt Zealots. Superior, Lightly Protected, Medium Foot. Impact, Swords. Don't let them get shot and they'll work miracles.
10) 90pt Varangian Guard. Highly Superior, Well Armored, Heavy Foot. Offensive Spearmen. Sometimes I look at these guys and wonder if they're worth the cost. Sometimes I fight them, and know they are.

[Geffalrus]

These won't be my favorites since I have only actively used some of them, but rather a combo of units I like to use, and units I fear to face.

1) Zealots. 250 POA on impact, mobile, rough ground friendly, and superior morale for passing cohesion checks for only 57 points? GTFO
2) Scutarii/Dailami/Etc. 200 POA on impact and -1 to that cohesion check makes them fantastic impact flanking infantry. They make my thureos nervous.
3) Defensive Spears. At 36 points, they're stupidly cheap and yet have very competitive defensive and melee POA. Yes, their offensive impact is TERRIBLE, but with the heavy infantry +1 to cohesion checks in the open, they can sometimes survive that impact and pin the unit for a flanking attack.
4) Veteran Pikes and other 90 point infantry. Expensive as hell, but at least you get a big scary unit that you can usually rely on to bust through whatever is in front of it. Lot of care and tending is required to make sure they are used properly.
5) Veteran Muslim Spears. Individually they're nice, but at 54 points and when they can be massed, that's pretty scary. Real good bargain for Superior Spears.
6) Light Javelin Cav. At 24 points, 5 omnidirectional movement, light spear impact, and evasion, everyone knows why you fear this unit. Their utility is incredible for their cost.
7) Light Archers. Here I disagree a bit with Snuggles, since I value their ability to sit at long range and poke someone that's not a massed archer or hybrid infantry. 30 points is a bit of a jump over 24 points, but the option of landing hits at range 4 is worth it to me. You can walk into range 4 of slingers and start whittling them down. If they move up, you then get the ability to shoot at close range without moving and deal even more damage.
Elephants in small amounts. At 60 points, they can flummox a much larger point value amount of enemy cavalry. A single unit can add a lot of anti-cav protection to part of your army. Definitely a glass cannon against infantry and archers, though. Hence why I prefer them in small amounts.
9) Thureophoroi. 42 points of flexibility. So long as they're not trying to slow down powerful heavy infantry, they can serve a lot of support roles in a Hellenistic army.
10) Armored Hoplites. Absolute murder machines in the Biblical timeline. Armor limits ranged damage, heavy infantry helps with cohesion, offensive spear stomps most infantry units in that era, and while 54 points is a solid step up from Citizen hoplites, most Ancient Greek lists have little else to spend their money on, soooooooo.......

[SimonLancaster]

I think Zealots are very good. Veteran Muslim Spears at 54 are value for money. Light Archers I am not sure about.. maybe players who play with more skirmishers can use them best?

[cromlechi]

1. Egyptian Spearmen, below average defensive spearmen for 30 points. You can get so many of these they really make your enemy work as it's difficult not to get flanked.
2. Massed archers to sit between the defensive spearmen. In combination a deadly force as you can march forward shooting up your enemy and the defensive spearmen protect you from being charged
3. Irregular foot, great for holding off cavalry and flanking. Can hold their own on rough ground against quite a lot enemy units
4. Celtic Chariots, reasons already stated by others
5. Elephants because they can turn a game in one turn
6. Limitanei, raw, cheap but only 24 pts
7. Camels - think they are cool and can disrupt horses
8. Pike, just for the steam roller effect
9. Poorly armed rabble - great satisfaction getting them to rout an enemy in the flank when emerging from woods at a cost of 15 pts
10. Raw Romano British fake legions sadly no longer available