duirixuanyan wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 1:41 am
On hills,8 frontage and flank is 2, so the best is 6HI+2cavalry+8support, is it right?
Plain: 10+4
Hills and arid hills: 6+2
Steppes and arid Steppes: 8 + 6
Desert: 8 + 8
Light cavalry or archer, which is better support?
Is elephant cavalry?
Let's first answer with the most obvious answer: It all depends.
Then the more detailed answers:
Elephants are not cavalry for deployment purposes, if you are asking that. Phants deploy in center, not on the cavalry flanks.
Light cavalry and archers have a different role, so they can't really be compared. Horse Archers and Light infantry (aka skirmishers) provide support from back-row just like archers. Archers and horse archers generally have the higher ranged number (all units who can support have a ranged damage number, which is either "1", "2" or "3"; you can see this number in the unit sheet), which is usually a "2", while most light infantry (slingers etc) usually have a "1"; some exceptional units (like rhodesian archers) have a one higher number.
But not even that is the whole truth. Many light infantry have the "Mountainmen" ability, and if you are going to fight in mountains or hills, their value increase comparatively (as they can then take a place in the front line quite effectively too).
Likewise, usually HI is better than MI, no questions asked. But if you are in hills, you have experieced Medium Infantry, then they will be more effective than not so experienced Heavy Infantry. Make no mistake, Heavy Infantry with their 3 hitpoints usually trumps all (no matter that they have the negative trait for fighting in bad terrain), Experience is a big difference maker. As you know, Experience affects the minimum dice-roll in combat. Thus if you have the option to bring five star Medium Foot or two star Heavy Foot to a battle fought in Hills, I might prefer the Medium Foot (and if fighting in Swamp, Forest or Mountains there would be absolutely zero doubt if the Medium Foot would be the better option or not).
Also remember that some Heavy Foot, such as Legions, can fight from the support rank too. This again changes the equation.
Usually (unless in Steppe terrain) I build generic armies of 4 HI, 2 MI, 2 Cavalry, 2 Light Horse, 6 skirmishers/archers. If money is short, then I swap 2 HI out for 2 MI in. This kind of generic armies will be handle to most frotage issues in non-open terrain For larger battles in open terrain I can then bring two such generic armies together. It is usually smart to have two armies working closely together in tande, within support range of each other. Bring them together for large battles in open terrain, and even if the commanding general croaks then the other general can take command in future rounds.
For Steppe lands build all horse armies, so that you can take advantage of their speed. Cavalry, Horse Archers and Light Horse. If the enemy is using heavy infantry in Steppes, try to avoid them, run around, cut supply-routes, conquer regions to disrupt hostile Provinces (and hopefully be able to form your own in place), and when the hostile heavy infantry army starts to starve it is time to finish them off. Bringing Cataphracts, if you can get them from somewhere, is quite the killer in Steppe battles, as Cataphracts will run over hostile regular cavalry, and they can fight evenly with stubborn heavy infantry lines too.
