«

[Doubler]

The units aren't exactly balanced, though. Most players agree that Swadian Knights and Nord Huscarls are simply the best units in the game. The knights are strong in almost every situation, and the Huscarls beat anything if they can get to it.

Of course it's the player that tips the scales, though

[Eagle of Fire]

Well, I certainly don't remember having any real difficulty against any units. Yeah, the knights are really well armored, but they lack good speed. Just outmaneuveur them, you've won.

Sure, the Huscals are great... I didn't fight with or against them much, but aren't they completely owned by ranged weapons?

Etc.

[Doubler]

The huscarl shields, sheer power and (iirc) quick movement make them excellent against enemy archers. They have trouble with mounted units on flat terrain in general, but keeping them together usually works just fine.

Thing is, as a general rule the player always wins. The AI by itself makes a marginal difference. That's what I meant when I said the player tips the balance
The measure of a unit is therefore not so much determined by how tough they are to fight against, but how useful they are to fight with. That's where Swadian Knights and Huscarls win out by a pretty big margin.

[angry axe]

i dont see the point of castles they might as well be make-shift forts you cant even sell anything!

[Mighty Midget]

What I do when my huscarls face enemy cavalery is: I order them to halt (preferably on a slope if possible, the steeper the better), close together. Others say I should spread them but I found that by having all the huscarls hugging each other the wall becomes much more difficult to breach. The Swadian knights are the toughest but if I succeed in trapping them with my infantry they're pretty much done for.

Also, it's important to remember the difference between how successful the player is against the enemy and how successful your army is. In one battle that I ultimately lost, I won one skirmish all alone against 5-6 Vaegir cavalery units and 15-20 infantry/archers. All by outmanouvering their cavalery, getting them to crash into trees or each other. A lone Swadian knight wouldn't be able to do much damage at all against that force.

EDIT: I really, reeeaaaally would like to see the AI for the cavalery done better. Ordering your cavalery to charge should mean they ride through the enemy ranks, off to a good distance before turning and charging again. Now they don't. They ride up to the infantry and stay there for melee fights which is very, very poor thinking.

[Eagle of Fire]

I never understood why Knights were rated so high anyways...

If you can't kill them, kill their horse. Then kill them with ranged weapons, or use the bonus from thrust to kill them.

Or do what kill any unit in the game: couched lance damage.

[Mighty Midget]

Knights out in the open against archers/xbow men are superior, against a moving mass of infantry, less effective. On slopes: They are dead. Any cavalry should stay well clear of anything that will slow them down. Of course, that is what saves the archers, if they can be on a steep slope, they are pretty safe against knights.

Couched lance means one hit one kill, problem is to hit though. Weapon of choise: Axe while riding. A long and heavy two-handed or a fast, lighter one-handed. With bonus against shields and a 200% speed bonus, there just isn't much that will stop it from cutting through pretty much anything and it's easier to land a hit than with a lance. With a Hunter horse, I found this to be, for me anyway, the most lethal combo.

[angry axe]

lol killed 135 men just by riding in a circle (all infantries were within the circle) and taking their cavalry out was easy but for the infantry i had to do it one by one (did you know soldiers can go unconscious without being hit?)

[angry axe]

I sieged the fortress(or whatever its called its better than castle) with 400 soldiers and i only had one tiny ladder, the only reason i won was because i had a load of arrows. Also, don't you wish you could be knocked unconscious with your men dead and still escape? well you cant but luckily the AI can BTW the guy who went unconscious randomly wasn't in siege

[angry axe]

was meant to get this game today but couldn't =p, this is the best guide i have found so far http://chapterhouse2.nhvt.net/users/momaw/mbmanual/ ( I also thought of similarities between this game and pirates! when i saw the travel map on wikipedia)