Medieval 2: Total War

Unit Guide

Version 3.0 Author: Forlornhope aka Trueforlornhope, Forlornhop3

Welcome to my guide for Medieval 2: Total War. This guide covers every unit in M2TW, and how to use them, tactics for using each class of unit and how to defeat them. This is one of the first versions of this guide and will probably have quite a few errors. This guide will eventually encompass the entire M2TW series including all expansions. Please pm me, Forlornhope. (with a period) to report errors and give suggestions. All fixes and corrections will be credited. Glossary CA: Creative Assembly, the development team that created the Total War series. Counter Fire: Fire directed at missile units by a missile unit, as most missile units themselves have poor armour and are easy prey for missiles. Flank: The sides of a unit. Charging into the flank is much, much more effective than charging directly into the front. It is also a verb meaning to flank a unit i.e. going around their side. Focus fire: Targeting all missiles at a particular unit, or group of units to weaken them HA: Horse Archers Line Infantry: This is a generic term for any infantry than can take and hold the enemy and fight them in melee, thus forming your battle line. It also means troops you’ll use to form the bulk of your army and thus your line. Spearmen and swordsmen are line infantry. Line infantry are usually well armed and armored as they will be in the middle of the fighting. They will often take the most casualties as well. M2TW: Medieval 2: Total War MTW: Medieval: Total War, the second game in the series. M2TW is a remake of this game. RTW: Rome: Total War, the previous game in the series Skirmish: A unit firing missiles and staying out of melee. Skirmish mode, which all missile units have makes them run back to avoid melee if the enemy gets close. Units with javelins are usually called skirmishers. TWC: Total War Centre a cool forum and TW website where I host this guide and I’m a member of.

Differences between RTW and M2TW

Despite the obvious changes in mechanics form Roman times to medieval times, RTW and M2TW share the same engine, as M2: TW’s engine is a heavily modified Rome one. Thus there are some hangovers from Rome, but there are things that are noticeably different even if base mechanics are the same. Battle speed: The most immediately noticeable thing in M2TW’s battles is that they are much slower. Units move much more slowly than RTW and tire faster. Melee is slower and because units have much higher morale it takes a while for the winner to be decided. There is allot more blocking in M2TW meaning it takes longer for a solider to kill his enemy and soldiers stagger and are realistically stunned from hits they failed to block that didn’t kill them, slowing melee down. Cavalry is also a lot slower and their charge is really toned down this time around Impetuous trait: Some units in M2TW are impetuous. This means they generally have good morale and the death of a general doesn’t affect their morale as much, only elite or religious troops have the impetuous trait with a few exceptions. You can rely on these units. The trait can make them charge without orders however. If you are moving them past a melee, say to flank, sometimes you’ll see them just charge into the melee even when you didn’t tell them to. This is caused by the impertutious trait and it’s most common with elite units like knights. Disciplined: Some units, usually tough elite ones are disciplined. This means they resist morale shocks; like the general dying or an attack in the rear, losing less morale when these events occur and are therefore much more stable units. Disciplined troops will take allot more to rout than normal ones and are very good units to have. Death animations: In M2TW a unit’s solider count goes down after the dying man has finished his death animation. Until then the causality doesn’t affect morale. This is different to Rome where as soon as a man died, before he even hit the ground he was considered dead with the effects that went with it. This means that units may take a second or two more to rout or otherwise react to something. Morale: In M2TW units take much longer to rout. Elite units have very high morale and the last ten or so men in a unit will sometimes fight to the death. Even weak units like Spear Militia have good morale and wont rout until half the unit is dead, if they are just in a normal melee. Even units like Peasant Archers have quite good morale compared to RTW. This is considered a straight fight however. Situations like being flanked and outnumbered and especially shot by gunpowder will still greatly affect a unit’s morale, but causalities and losing a melee affect it much less. More effective fodder: Because of the raised morale, kills by missiles besides fire or gunpowder have little effect on morale if the unit isn’t in melee. A unit of Spear Militia being killed by arrows will stand their ground as long as the archers stay back until about 20 guys are left, meaning the enemy will have used up plenty of arrows. Using cheap units as fodder is much more effective this time around. This is rendered mostly ineffective by gunpowder however, as being hit by gunpowder applies a huge morale penalty and that along with some other small penalty like casualties will be enough to rout the unit. Less Armor: Compared to RTW there are far more unarmoured or lightly armoured troops, especially early in the campaign. Plan accordingly.

General unit notes Combat animations A large change in m2tw is the use of proper combat animations and the fact that a solider must hit his enemy with the animation of a sword swing or whatever to actually stagger or kill him. There are also new animations for units getting hit but not killed, like staggers or stumbling. While these animations are happening a unit cannot block. This leads to allot of blocking but the upshot of this is units that are seriously outnumbered will spend allot of time getting hit and staggered making it harder for them to hit back against the enemies. A unit of knights getting attacked by twice the number of peasants will have a hard time killing them quickly as they will be getting hit so often and staggered unless they block a hit. Hits that are blocked sometimes cause the blocker to counter attack with a swing that often kills the attacker. While the knights are attacking they also can not block, so while they are busy hitting somebody, they may be hit and killed themselves. This looks funny sometimes, as you’ll see a solider start a death animation then get killed during it and his victim still die. To take advantage of this you should move your melee units in huge mobs or send in weaker units along with your stronger ones. If you send in say peasants and knights the peasants will attack and stagger enemies giving the knights a chance to finish them off without risk and the enemies will attack the peasants and leave themselves open to attack from your knights. With massed melee troops like highlander axemen you can hit so often the enemy won’t be able to do much before dying if you have enough. This is an important tactic to grasp in m2tw and a big change from RTW. Force melee: If you are using a unit with missiles, like archers or Javelinmen, holding alt and right clocking on an enemy unit will force them to charge straight into melee. This is useful for forcing archers to stop skirmishing and fight back. Unit Ranges: Archers: 120 Horse Archers: 120 Crossbows: 120 Javelins: (foot and mounted) 55 Naffatun: 40 Bombard: 325 Grand Bombard: 375 Ribault: 150 Culverin: 425 Mortar: 300 Cannon: 380 Serpentine: 450 Basilisk: 450 Ballista: 180 Catapult: 200 Trebuchet: 280 Unit ammunition: Archers: 30 Crossbows: 30 Javelins: 8 Naffatun: 5 Bombard: 30 Serpentine: 36 Elephant cannon: 20 Basilisk: 30 Ribault: 108 Culverin: 30 Cannon: 30 Catapult: 30 Trebuchet: 30 Ballista: 50 Negative morale effects Casualties: None, to moderate, depending on number. Less effect on morale than losing a battle. If a unit has taken a lot of casualties, but starts winning a melee they will often stay and fight. This has far less of an effect on impertutious units like knights. Flank attack: Moderate. Getting attacked in the flank will cause quite a lot of casualties, so this can rout lesser units Rear attack: High. Getting hit in the rear will cause a truckload of casualties and, coupled with the penalty for the rear attack will insta-rout even tough units.

General/Captain death: High, to moderate depending on discipline. The general dying is how many a battle will end and become a slaughter fest, though the higher morale in M2TW makes this not quite as devastating as it was in RTW. The general’s death has a huge effect on morale at first, often causing a mass rout; the effect is largest close to the general and radiates out losing intensity, at the time of his death. You could call it a shock effect and then that effect slowly decreases over time till it affects units to a much lesser degree, if they haven’t routed off the field yet that is. Routing friends: Small. If a unit can see friendly units routing, they will take a morale drop tho it’s low. Gunpowder weapons: Extreme. Gunpowder has to cause a causality in the unit for it to affect morale but it has a very high effect: a few gunpowder hits will rout even the steadiest units like knights along with the penalty for causalities. Its morale crushing effect is one of gunpowder’s biggest advantages. Positive effects Proximity to General: Moderate to very high. Units close to your general receive a morale bonus, depending on how good a general he is and what traits he has, you can tell because their morale state will say (Sprits lifted by the general’s encouragements). Thus it is good to keep the general close behind fighting units, especially with low morale troops. Winning a melee: Moderate. Just the opposite to losing a melee, being on the winning side of an ongoing melee will encourage your troops to keep fighting. Elite units like knights don’t seem to care if they are losing a melee or not. It barely affects their morale. That’s knightly arrogance for you ϑ . Routing enemies: Moderate. If a unit can see routing enemy units they will be happy and get a morale bonus. Generals Rally: High. The generals rally special ability greatly raises nearby unit morale for about 30 seconds and can put units from wavering to steady. Ready Status: If a unit is stationary and an enemy comes close enough, you’ll see an animation where the unit will prepare, they might raise their swords/spears and shields or skirmishers will raise their javelins, ready to throw them, if they are not on fire at will. The unit’s state will change from “Idle” to “Ready” when this happens. In this state, units resist charges better and you should always try to have your troops stationary if you’re going to receive a cavalry charge with units not suited to it, like swordsmen, if you aren’t counter charging.

Abilities Loose Formation

Spread out men! We might be able to live longer that way! A unit in loose formation spreads out into a looser formation, with space between each solider. This helps the unit resist missiles, as the space in the formation means there is a chance missiles may harmlessly hit the ground between men instead of hitting one of your soldiers. The formation doesn’t actually have any hard coded effects, like raising defence or the like; it simply works on a physical level: by reducing the chance a missile will hit one of your soldiers. The formation is useless in melee however, as men tend get into melee slower and when the unit charges there are less people impacting with the initial killing zone of the charge. The unit is also very vulnerable to cavalry charges as the less rigid formation lacks weight to resist the charge and stop it like a solid wall of men can and allows cavalry to ride right into their ranks and flank individual soldiers. Only use this formation when you’re under fire. Loose formation is also good for fodder - units stood around solely to absorb missiles - to allow them to survive just that little bit longer. It comes in handy also for light cavalry trying to catch horse archers, as they can cover more area and it makes it easier to catch the horse archers and force them to commit to melee.

Circle and shoot

Ashes, ashes, they all fall down! This formation is allot like the Cantabrian Circle from RTW. Just like that formation the cavalry ride around in a small circle in front of the enemy, launching their missiles, their constant movement limiting damage of incoming missiles and enabling them to skirmish back quickly as they are already moving. While the chief users of this formation are horse archers, in M2TW javelin cavalry are very effective in this formation. In M2TW javelins pierce armour and with the formation’s quick skirmishing and constant fire they can decimate heavy infantry and avoid covering archer fire. This is especially effective against two handed weapon units, as their lack of a shield makes them easy to hit.

Fire Arrows

Death has never been so pretty. Fire arrows are an ability of all shortbow and longbow archers. Crossbowmen do not have this ability, nor do Horse Archers (they have circle and shoot, crossbows have none) Fire arrows can set fire to siege equipment and lower morale of units hit by them, but the effect is low unless their morale has already been lowered by other factors. Fire arrows cannot actually be aimed at siege weapons themselves, so just shoot at the crew and your arrows should hit the siege weapons as well. A siege weapon hit by a fire arrow has a chance to be set on fire making it unusable by its crew and destroying it when its damage reaches 100% Fire arrows fire much more slowly than normal arrows. Normal arrows take about 5 seconds to fire from the time the archer starts nocking the arrow. Fire arrows take 15 seconds, which is much slower. If you are trying to kill men use normal arrows, as you can fire more of them in less time. If you are trying to get a unit to rout, use fire arrows.

Spearwall

When spearwall works it can be effective…unfortunately it doesn’t often. The spearwall is a formation used by pikemen and some polearms. It causes the unit to tighten up its formation and the first three ranks to extend their polearms forward, creating a wall of pointy death. This is meant to be effective against cavalry and work as a wall against infantry, much like a phalanx. Unfortunately it is buggy and often when an enemy touches the pikewall the pikemen will switch to their swords, ruining your defense against cavalry and making themselves very vulnerable; as polearms/pikemen do not have shields they die quite quickly in melee. When the spearwall works though, it will stop cavalry and their charge momentum dead, killing many of them and preventing them from attacking. When using a spearwall if you use rightclick+drag to make a formation with multiple units selected, you will notice there are gaps between your units. This makes it easy for enemies to sneak in though the pikewall and attack the pikemen in melee. If you can it is more effective to drag each unit’s formation out making sure they touch with no gaps. This will form a solid wall of pikes with nowhere for enemies to get in until the unit suffers bugs or enough pikemen die to weaken the wall.

Schiltrom

Also known as artillery magnets. A schiltrom is a tight round formation in which spearmen arrange themselves in a circle, spears pointing outwards. This lets them protect themselves from all directions at once and they cannot be flanked, as in game terms the entire outer edge of the unit counts as its “front”. This is a useful formation for defensive situations when you have to hold an open area. Since the unit is facing all directions soldiers will not move to fight enemies unless they are directly near them, so the unit cannot attack as effectively as it could if it was in standard formation as only some of the unit will be in combat while the rest stay in formation. Schiltrom is a very specialist formation; it is really only good when defending an immobile position, like a cities’ central plaza or when you are constantly being attacked from all directions. In standard battles there is no reason to use schiltrom as it will just lessen your unit’s capacity to attack, as ideally you shouldn’t be getting flanked at all. While in this formation the unit can march, but not run and while moving they do not have their weapons ready, so make sure to halt them quickly, as they need a second to redress the formation after halting. Most spearmen can form schiltrom.

Wedge Formation

If you want to make your charge completely impotent, wedge is for you! A wedge is a narrow triangle formation that can be formed by heavy cavalry. The leader of the unit is placed on the point of the triangle so he will be first into the enemy. This is not a good idea with captain led units, as the captain will be first into the enemy and at risk of being killed. A wedge formation is meant to increase a units ability to charge but it doesn’t matter because with a wedge only a few men hit with their charge bonus and the men at the back are wasted, as less men get into the killing phase of the charge and so less enemy die on the charge. It also results in the men at the front of the wedge being isolated from the rest of the unit and usually killed. The men at the back also take a while to get into melee because of the depth of the formation, so the unit can’t focus its attacks properly and fights very infectively. Given all this it is not worth using wedge at all, just stick to standard formation.

Medieval 2 Total War After emerging from the Dark Ages, Europe is brimming with new ideas, new technology and new threats. Both old and new foes to be fought and old scores to settle. Take control of one of the great powers of this time and steamroll your enemies, taking their land and riches and rewrite history the way it should have been...

Spearmen

And take heart men, for we have sharper pointy things than them! Oh yes! Much sharper! Spearmen are the backbone of almost all M2TW armies. They are cheap and very easily trained; the early ones need almost no buildings in castles and cities, as they can be trained in both. Spearmen are used to add bulk, fight the enemy, especially other spearmen, hold them in place so you can flank and protect archers as a meat shield while the archers shoot the enemy. They are especially useful for crossbowmen and gunpowder infantry as these units need to stay still to have time to shoot. Spearmen aren’t the best killers: they never really cut their way through the enemy quickly, unless they are facing cavalry and even then they will take a little while. They do kill, but they tend to be more defensive; able to stay alive in melee and keep the enemy occupied, making them the best troops for holding units so you can flank them. They also are great for receiving charges as spearmen resist charges much, much better than other infantry and will take far fewer losses. You should make loads and loads of spearmen: early on your entire army will consist of spearmen, archers maybe some light cavalry and a general, so get used to using them. Spearmen are effective against cavalry as they get a bonus and even the starting Spear Militia can wreck general’s bodyguards if there is enough, as generals are far weaker than in previous games. You always need spearmen and should have at least 4 units of them in any army. Later on you can phase some out for swordsmen when you can make them quickly, but you should always have some spears Spearmen get +8 attack vs. Cavalry. Defeating spearmen Spearmen are slow as they are infantry, usually lightly armoured or unarmoured and poor against infantry without help. The best way to kill off spearmen is to attack them with swordsmen or axemen. Both these troops are good against infantry and the spears low attack and poorness against infantry means you can cut them up very easily, unless they are elite spears, who should still suffer against your troops. Their usual lack of armour makes massed missile fire effective against them, especially against the Moors, as they have allot of unarmoured spearmen who will die very quickly. Crossbows are also effective. Spearmen tend to have average morale so a cavalry charge into their rear will either rout them or kill allot. Spearmen are very common units so you’ll be fighting allot of them.

Azabs Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 190 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Turks Azabs are weaker versions of Spear Militia. They have less defence, but otherwise the same stats. This means you must use more of them to have any hope of them defeating the enemy who will have stronger Spear Militia early on. Always use 2 or more of these units to attack most other factions basic spear units. Keep them far away from swords and archers unless you’re using them as fodder. Needless to say armour upgrades are useful. Armoured Sergeants Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Milan, HRE, England, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Armoured Sergeants are simply an armoured version of Sergeant Spearmen. They are much better than basic spearmen and will serve well in the normal spearmen roles. Their morale isn’t much higher than Spear Militia so keep them supported. They can form schiltrom. Berber Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Moors Berber Spearmen are the Moors basic spear unit. They are quite superior to militia spearmen, with better morale and have the same stats as Sergeant Spearmen. Use them to form your line, fight other factions spear units and as fodder. They still have no armour so they will die quickly to missiles. They get a bonus in deserts and can form schiltrom. Byzantine Spearmen Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Byzantium Byzantine Spearmen are the same as Spear Militia so use them in the same way. Dismounted Arab cavalry Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Moors, Egypt These dismounted cavalrymen make good spearmen; they have a good attack for spears and more defence than most. Use them to fight tough cavalry and hold your line. Dismounted Heavy Lancers Attack: 12 Charge: 4 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Coast: 560 Upkeep: 160 Factions: Mongols Dismounted Heavy Lancers are some of the toughest spearmen in the game. They have a very high attack for spearmen and their defence lets them take quite a bit of abuse. When fighting the Mongols use flanking cavalry charges, armour piercing attacks and swordsmen against these spearmen.

Dismounted Light Lancers Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 11 Armour: 4 Cost: 460 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Mongols While not as tough as the Heavy Lancers with quite a bit less attack, Light Lancers are still tough, dangerous spearmen with a high attack and decent defence. Deal with them in the same way as Heavy Lancers. Dismounted Polish Nobles Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 410 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Poland These men are tough and can be relied on to hold your line and cut up cavalry, tho they don’t have the attack of some other spearmen they have good defence and armour making them useful meatshields. They are just like Armoured Sergeants except cheaper. Despite being nobles their morale is average. Dismounted Sipahi Lancers Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Turks The Turk’s elite spearmen. They have very good defence for spearmen and are well armoured, with high morale. They can dish out hurt with their good attack and take quite a while to start taking serious causalities. If you need spearmen as the Turks these men are up to the task. Dismounted Tuareg Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Moors The Moors toughest spearmen; they don’t have the defence of other elite spearmen, as they are still not armoured but still have a good attack and high morale. You should use these for demanding spearmen tasks but don’t rely on them too far. As with all Moorish spearmen keep them away from missiles. Italian Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Milan, Venice, Papal States, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Italian Militia are tougher than normal Spear Militia that non Italian factions have. While they are equal or bettered by many other spearmen, the strength of Italian Militia and Italian Spear Militia is that they are available very early on, only needing a Town Guard to be recruited and they have the stats of Sergeant Spearmen and Armoured Sergeants respectively. This means for the first dozen turns or so the Italian Militia will be facing normal Spear Militia and other weak spearmen and can easily crush them, making it very easy for the Italian states to expand quickly. It’s better to make the superior and armoured Italian Spear Militia than this unarmoured version, but both of these units are excellent early on and stay useful later in the game. Use these units well.

Italian Spear Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Cost: 460 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Milan, Venice, Papal States, Sicily, Milan, Papal States See above for how useful these units are. They are the same as Italian Militia but are armoured making them even more useful. These should be the backbone of your armies. Lamtuna Spearmen Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Moors Lamtuna Spearmen are like Dismounted Tuareg, except that they are disciplined, are highly trained rather than trained and can form Schiltrom. The disciplined tag means they will take a heck of allot of misfortune before they rout, as morale shocks like the general dying doesn’t affect them and they will hold formation better with the highly trained tag. Use them in the same way as decent spearmen with decent stats. These are the Moor’s best spearmen and elites, tho again they are unarmoured, but you’ll at least have some smith buildings by the time you can recruit these to give them some armour. Levy Spearmen Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Upkeep: 125 Factions: England, Mongols Levy Spearmen are the same as Spear Militia. Use them in the same way. Nubian Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Moors, Egypt These men are just like Berber Spearmen, except they don’t get a bonus in deserts and they can’t form Schiltrom Pavise Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Hungry Pavise Spearmen are Sergeant Spearmen with large pavise shields. This gives them good defence against missiles, though they aren’t as invulnerable as you’d imagine. They will still take causalities from missiles, but it will take a long while for causalities to add up. Use these men as your line infantry for Hungry, as they have very good defence for spears and will serve well. Saracen Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Turks, Egypt Saracen Militia are much like Italian Spear Militia except with slightly more armour. These troops should be used the same way: attack your neighbours early and overwhelm them with your powerful early troops while they are stuck with their lesser troops

Sergeant Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 155 Factions: France, HRE, England, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Sergeant Spearmen are superior to the standard militia spears as they have better attack and defence. They also have better morale, tho they are still not armoured. Use them like the militia spears, just remember they are tougher. It is still better to use Armoured Sergeants when you can, as they are just like this unit except they wear armour which helps them out greatly and they are only a tiny bit for expensive. Keep this unit away from missile fire, unless they are fodder. Papal Guard Attack: 12 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 740 Upkeep: 215 Factions: Papal States Exclusive to the Papal States, Papal Guard are elite spearmen with a very high attack for spears, huge morale, tied for highest in the game and are the best defended spearmen in the game. They are the best spears in M2TW and when fighting the Pope you’ll want to kill them with AP weapons as fast as possible, as they will wipe out other spearmen and some swordsmen in melee. Slav Levies Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 210 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Hungry Slav Levies are exactly like Spear Militia and should be used in the same way, Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Cost: 500 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Russia, Poland This imaginatively named unit is Russia’s spearmen of the line. They have good stats for spearmen, a lot like other faction’s later spears and can easily form a line or fight cavalry. Spear Militia Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Spain, France, England, HRE, Poland, Byzantines, Egypt, Russia, Denmark, Moors, Portugal, Hungry, Timurids, Mongols, Scotland, Turks, Portugal, Poland, Mongols Spear Militia is by far the most common unit in the game, especially early on. Spear Militia can be created at just about anywhere and every faction has it. They are one of the weakest spearmen units in the game, but you will use loads of them early on, as will every other faction. Use them as your do everything troops early on, to fight the enemies troops, hold enemies in place so you can flank or hit them with missiles, as one big mass to rout the enemy, in a mass to kill the enemy general and just as basic soldiers. These troops, Town Militia and Peasant Archers will be most faction’s early troops.

Town Militia Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 125 (Spain, France, HRE, England, Timurids, Scotland, Moors, Turks, Denmark, Mongols) Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 160 Upkeep: 100 (Poland, Hungry) Town Militia are exactly like Spear Militia except they can’t form Schiltrom. You don’t really need to worry about that formation too much so use them exactly like Spear Militia. Another version of these spearmen is weaker like Azabs and you should use two of them to attack enemy Spear Militia if you want to win.

Pikemen

Even when defending a gate pikemen are largely useless as they get pushed back fast Pikemen are almost useless in M2TW. They are bugged to high heaven and completely lack cohesion or realism. The problem with pikemen is they switch to using their swords almost instantly after they are attacked in melee. Instead of using their pikes, maintaining the spearwall and stabbing the enemy with their pikes, they change to swords and become useless weak swordsmen with next to no defence. This makes them essentially useless, as they can’t really do anything that swords or spears cant, except actually stop the momentum of a cavalry charge and kill a few of them if they throw themselves on the pikes. Since they are usually very cheap they are good fodder to use to hold troops while you flank them or shoot them with gunpowder or arrows, as it doesn’t matter if the cheap pikemen get hit as well. They never have shields as they wield the two handed pike so they are very vulnerable to archers, especially since they usually lack armour. The buggy pikemen are a real problem for Scotland, as they make the most use of pikes. They also look really cool in formation so it’s annoying they are useless. All pikemen get 8+ attack vs. cavalry when using the pike. The sword gives no bonuses. This is why it’s important to try and hold the spearwall as long as possible. Pikemen are best left on spearwall as this lets them hold their pikes at least for a little while. Guard mode helps as well, as it forces them to stay in formation and not engage when an enemy comes close. Defeating Pikemen Pikemen basically suck at everything, but the best way to kill them is with missiles. They are slow in formation and they usually have little armour and no shields, so shoot them with archers or crossbows or javelins if they are armoured and they will die quick. A cavalry charge into the rear should rout them easily too.

Adventuros Attack: 14 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 5 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Portugal Adventuros are, by far the best pikemen in the game. The Tercio Pikemen might be famous but they are no match for these pikes. Adventuros have a huge attack, great defence for pikemen, are well armoured and have massive morale, more than some knights! They will beat any other pikemen in melee and fight well in the spearwall or out of it. They are impetuous but it hardly matters as they won’t be charging anywhere in spearwall. These pikemen make a great partner for Portugal’s powerful Aquebusiers or Musketeers. Also try these pikemen with upgraded armour, as they look really cool if you upgrade it, with a unique unit model. Heavy Pike Militia Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 8 Cost: 410 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Scotland These pikemen aren’t quite as good as their noble brethren but they are tough for militia and have good morale. They have the stats to hold on for quite a while in melee and their morale makes them good for holding back enemies while dishing out their own kills. Highland Pikemen Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 210 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Scotland Highland Pikemen are much like the normal non militia pikemen but exclusive to Scotland and impetuous. Use them in the same way. Being impetuous, they will take a lot of misfortune before they rout. They can only be upgraded to bronze armour, so their defence against arrows will almost be nonexistent. Noble Pikemen Attack: 11 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 8 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 215 Factions: Scotland Noble Pikemen are tough pikes. They have a high attack for pikemen and better defence. This means they are useful, as the unit has a lot of staying power with their very heavy armour and sky high morale they can fight well when the spearwall collapses and they are much more versatile than most other pikemen. This unit is not as highly trained as some other pikemen so remember it will take slightly longer to get back in position and redress the formation with these pikes. Pikemen Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 240 Upkeep: 155 Factions: France These pikemen are not militia and thus have better stats, but they are still very weak and have almost useless defence. Use them like Pike Militia and get them some armour! Their armour cannot be upgraded as far as Pike Militia. They have superior morale to Pike Militia and can hold for a long time.

Pike Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 150 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Spain, France, HRE, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Portugal, Papal States Pike Militia are the weakest pikemen in the game. They have a low attack and because of the bugs above they use their swords which, with their complete lack of armour and nonexistent defence get them killed very quickly. They are extremely cheap however, just a bit more than peasants so you can pump them out as fodder or garrisons and they do stop a cavalry charge. This unit can have its armour upgraded a long way and they can go from unarmoured to partial plate, giving them better defence against archers, tho a lot will still die from them. Always endeavour to get them as much armour as you possibly can to offset their awful stats. Their morale is better than you’d think and they can hold for a while. Scots Pike Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 150 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Scotland This unit is exactly the same as Pike Militia including its morale. Use them in the same way. They cannot have their armour upgraded as far as normal Pike Militia: only silver rather than gold. Tercio Pikemen Attack: 14 Charge: 4 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 350 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Spain Spain’s elite pikes, Tericos have MUCH better attack than most other pikes so they can fight well with pike and sword, except that again their defence is just awful, which is odd for elite troops. Use them like Pike Militia but much more aggressively, taking them off spearwall and letting them charge with their swords if necessary. Make sure to get them some armour upgrades. They have very high morale and it will take a lot for them to rout. Very cheap too for their stats, so use them off spearwall as flankers and put their high attack to work. They are excellent as flankers, as their high attack lets them kill very quickly and when they attack from the flank their low defence is offset by the fact they aren’t the targets of the enemies’ attack so fewer will die. They are also cheap for such a powerful unit so make a lot.

Swordsmen

It’s not the size of the sword, but how you use it. Swordsmen combine with spearmen and archers to produce the typical M2TW army. They tend to have good attack and morale and either very good or bad defence. They are used(with exceptions) for charging in aggressively, doing most of the killing and working as steady, strong troops wearing down the foe in straight melee, flanking the enemy and protecting other units. Swordsmen tend to kill more quickly than spearmen; their weapons have greater kill chances. They are most effective against spearmen but can fight any unit. Use swordsmen as your average aggressive attacking troops: they are versatile and can do anything required besides catch archers and horse archers. If you are using swordsmen to fight other infantry put them in two or three ranks as this allows them to get the most men into the charge killing more enemy on impact so less survive to cause damage. Swordsmen do not work well against cavalry: they take time to kill them and suffer from head on charges. If you are forced to use them to face cavalry put them in five ranks. This will let them absorb charges somewhat better, their ranks adding resistance against them and halting the charge sooner so they can get the cavalry in melee and kill them. A powerful charge by heavy cavalry will kill a LOT of swordsmen though; up to half the unit with really powerful cavally. It’s much better to let spearmen take the charge, and then charge your swords in to help the spearmen kill the cavalry. A deep formation will also cause them to die slower as men gradually get into melee and die gradually, which is useful if you don’t care about kills and just want them to hold their position against the enemy for as long as possible. Defeating Swordsmen The best way to deal with swordsmen is a cavalry charge with a powerful cavalry unit like knights or lance wielding heavy cavalry. They can’t resist charges without spears. Crossbows and javelins work as well against swordsmen as any other unit, as do axemen. Swordsmen are versatile tough units and they don’t die easily to anything besides cavalry charges.

Armoured Swordsmen Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 22 Armour: 8 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England Armoured Swordsmen are not knights but they are heavily armoured and have a very good attack and have knight level stats and morale. Use these men as foot knights as they are the same as knights and will cut up most opposing infantry. Battlefield Assassins Attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 16 Armour: 4 Cost: 660 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Hungry Battlefield Assassins are elite units of just 60 soldiers. They can hide anywhere. They have excellent attack and very good defence. Because units in medieval 2 start further apart than the closer armies of RTW they are actually useful this time, unlike Arcani in Rome: Total War. They have tons of morale and wont rout until more than ¾ of the unit is dead. Use them to fight tough units face to face as they have very good stats, or keep them hidden from sight and then suddenly fall upon the enemies’ artillery, or archers from behind. Keep them hidden till the enemy line has passed and battle has been joined. This can be a very useful unit when used correctly. These troops take experience to use well. They are also excellent in a straight fight: little can match them. Remember that if the unit is led by a captain they cannot hide, as the general’s/captain’s unit can’t hide. They are also lightly armoured and vulnerable to missiles. Remember they have swords and thus do not pierce armour. Try to send them after small units or lightly armoured foes to prevent them getting into a large melee, where their small numbers will get them outnumbered when the enemy moves in reinforcements. Or just charge in from behind where the enemies armour hardly matters and cut them to bits. Byzantine Infantry Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Byzantium Byzantine Infantry are the rank and file for Byzantium. They wield their swords well, are well armoured and have very high defence for such a cheap unit. They serve very well as aggressive infantry, able to last a long time in melee and dish out the hurt too. Dismounted Broken Lances Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 22 Armour: 9 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Venice, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Broken Lances may look like knights but their morale is not up to the knightly standard. These men are men at arms and have an average attack but high defence and are covered in armour. They are like a stronger version of Swordsmen Militia and can dish out the hurt and are good at soaking up punishment. Just use these as general assault troops and they will serve well. Dismounted Byzantine Lancers Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 440 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Byzantium These men are exactly like Byzantine Infantry except they have better stamina and cost a little more. Use them in the same way.

Dismounted Christian Guard Attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 22 Armour: 7 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Moors Christian Guard are the Moors elite tough swordsmen. In contrast to most Moor units, this unit is heavily armoured and has a huge defence. They are incredibly skilled attackers and they are an incredibly tough unit, disciplined and highly trained. They are cheap for their power, and as the Moors you should recruit as many of these units as possible and use them along with Camel Gunners as your late game army. Dismounted Conquistadores Attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 22 Armour: 7 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Spain, Portugal (Only trainable in the Americas) Dismounted Conquistadores are oddly exactly like Christian Guard. They can only be recruited in the Americas from captured Aztec cities, if the city has the building required. They are absolutely devastating against the Aztecs: they have very high stats and great morale making them incredibly useful troops. You should use these and Musketeers as your forces to wipe out the Aztecs as Conquistadores will kill them incredibly easily since the Aztecs mostly lack armour they are easy prey for a sharp sword in a strong hand. Dismounted Latinkon Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 21 Armour: 7 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Byzantium While not as powerful as some other elite swordsmen, Dismounted Latinkon are more than able troops with a very good attack and strong defence. They will slice up a lot of enemies and serve well mixed with the Byzantine’s other powerful swordsmen. They have high morale. Dismounted Men at Arms Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 21 Armour: 8 Cost: 460 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Venice, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Dismounted Men at Arms are powerful swordsmen much like knights. They have an average attack, the same as Sword Militia but are heavily armoured with very high defence. They will chew though enemies by attrition, even though their attack could be better and can soak up allot of punishment. Their morale however is nothing compared to knights and they will run much more easily. Use them like knights but be a bit more careful and don’t throw them into obviously morale crushing situations. Forlorn Hope Attack: 17 Charge: 6 Defence: 12 Armour: 7 Cost: 620 Upkeep: 250 Factions: HRE No I am not named after this unit! Look up the military term Forlorn Hope up on Wikipedia to see where my name comes from. The Forlorn Hope are heavily armoured troops with 2 handed swords. 2 handed swords aren’t bugged, but they lack shields so they die quickly. Despite the huge attack, this unit has just 48 men in it on huge unit sizes and that along with their lack of shields gets them killed. This unit is not worth its cost or its huge upkeep.

Hashashim Attack: 16 charge: 3 Defence: 21 Armour: 6 Hit Points: 2 Cost: 840 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Moors, Turks, Egypt Hashashirm are like an uber version of Battlefield Assassins. They can also hide anywhere and there are just 60 men in the unit. They have amazing stats and are well armoured. They are very deadly in melee because they are very skilled in fighting rather than relying on much armour for protection: this unit can chop up AP units just as well. Basically use this unit like Battlefield Assassins but remember they are a lot tougher and can really slice up any units that aren’t heavily armoured. They have huge morale and often will die rather than break. They are also disciplined. This is definitely one of the best units. Just watch out for missiles and crossbows. Highland Nobles Attack: 14 Charge: 6 Defence: 9 Armour: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Scotland Highland Nobles are pretty good troops able to crush spear units and weaker infantry and cavalry easily. They have a big attack but their light armour and lack of a shield makes them highly vulnerable to missile fire and their low defence makes them rather useless vs. powerful well armoured troops like knights, as the swordsmen find it difficult to damage the armoured foes and die in droves. Use these men against pikemen and spearmen but avoid heavy swordsmen and axemen, unless you flank them since any hit to the back of a solider usually kills that man, enabling them to cut up heavy troops if they can hit them in the rear. Noble Swordsmen Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 22 Armour: 8 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Scotland Noble Swordsmen are the Scots elite infantry. They are very powerful troops just like Dismounted Chivalratic Knights. Their stats are the same and they provide a very solid core of late tough infantry to the Scottish. Norse Swordsmen Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Denmark Norse Swordsmen are just like Swordsmen Militia below and should be used in the same way. Swordsmen aren’t very useful for Denmark because they have superior AP Huscarles. Swordsmen Militia Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Spain, Portugal Swordsmen Militia are useful swordsmen, as they have quite good attack and great defence for a militia unit since they start off with partial plate armour. They have good enough morale and can last a good long time in melee against most things. You should make loads of these units and use them for your main battle line and general assault troops or garrisons. They are great for their cost. As above with highland nobles don’t try to attack heavily armed swordsmen with these swordsmen, unless you’re flanking.

Sword and Buckler Men Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 19 Armour: 5 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Spain, Sicily Sword and Buckler Men are late Spanish swordsmen with light armour and shields. They have a great attack for swordsmen and can soak up quite a bit of punishment. They have huge morale and are powerful units with staying power for Spain. When you have access to them they come in very useful. Urban Militia Attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Moors Urban Militia, much like the MTW version is a powerful early sword unit very effective for filling your army up with good reliable troops. This unit has good attack and excellent defence so they can fight very well despite being called militia. Use this unit as the Moors tough aggressive infantry, complementing their many lighter troops. Zwei Hander Attack: 14 Charge: 6 Defence: 11 Armour: 7 Cost: 680 Upkeep: 150 Factions: HRE Zweihanders are slightly better armoured versions of Highland Nobles and should be used in the same way.

Polearms

Ha! Where’s your advanced technology now, invaders? Polearms are an almost completely useless class of unit in M2TW. The problem is that the last patch for M2TW fixed the shield bug (which caused units with shields to receive negative defence for their shields rather than positive.) that has plagued the series since Rome and this unbalanced the game towards units with shields, as the game’s balance was originally designed for units with the bugged shields. This is coupled with the fact that polearms have very slow attack animations and they can be blocked just as easily as one handed weapons so polearm troops spend a lot of time slowly attacking, getting blocked and having to start their slow attack animation over again, all the time getting attacked the by one handed weapon units’ fast attack animations, getting stunned by the fast attacks and flinching rather than attacking back over and over and then dying. Polearms are very cheap, probably because CA realized the bugs and rather than fixing them they just made them very cheap to compensate for their crapness. Polearms are only useful for fodder and holding the enemy in place as they die. They have a huge attack and a good charge for infantry, so a flanking charge will hurt but they will still be just as useless in melee. The huge attack ratings of these units doesn’t matter at all when they attack so slowly they can be ripped to pieces. Defeating Polearms Polearms are complete crap and can be defeated by just about anything. Send spearmen or swordsmen against them and watch them die. Billmen Attack: 15 Charge: 5 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 230 Upkeep: 125 Factions: England Billmen are bugged as described above and thus suck. Don’t use them. Even if they were not bugged their awful defence would render them useless. The huge attack is meaningless Bill Militia Attack: 13 Charge: 4 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 170 Upkeep: 100 Factions: England Bill Militia are weaker than Billmen, Not that it matters.

Halberd Militia Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 150(Hungry, HRE, Sicily, Poland, Hungry, Papal States) Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 150(Timurids, Turks, Egypt) Halberd Militia regardless of who owns them are useless, like all polearms. The Islamic factions’ version is marginally better however. Heavy Billmen Attack: 15 Charge: 5 Defence: 10 Armour: 7 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England Heavy Billmen suffer from the same bug as regular Billmen and are no use whatsoever except for fodder, as they can take a beating with their heavy armour. Heavy Bill Militia Attack: 15 Charge: 5 Defence: 10 Armour: 7 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England These are exactly the same as heavy Billmen with the same stats despite being militia. The only difference is they are trained in towns. Janissary Heavy Infantry Attack: 12 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 5 Cost: 840 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Turks JHI, a mainstay of Medieval Total War armies and one of the best units in the previous game is an embarrassment here. Due to the bugs they can’t even beat Feudal Knights and they have really lousy defence. Despite their awesomeness in the last game, JHI suck this time around and make it rather pointless to play as the Turks. They are disciplined and highly trained, like it matters. Obudshaer Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 8 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Denmark Elite Danish polearms that are of course no use. They can form spearwall. Swiss Guard Attack: 12 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 7 Cost: 890 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Papal States One of the toughest polearms and one of the Papal States unique units, you’ll fight this unit if you attack the Pope. They are still bugged so they will be cut down easily. They can form spearwall and are disciplined and highly trained. Sword Staff Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 7 Cost: 550 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Denmark While tougher than some Polearms, the bugs still make this unit useless for anything besides fodder. They can form spearwall.

Voulge Militia Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 6 Armour: 5 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 150 Factions: France This is another unit of useless polearms except it has more defence than halberds. They can form spearwall.

Skirmishers

It’s raining death! Hallelujah! It’s raining death! Skirmishers are much like skirmishers in RTW, but far more effective. Skirmishers are missile infantry armed with throwing javelins and a sword. They always lack armour. Javelins are effective against armour in M2TW and will cause causalities to even heavily armoured troops like knights. Vollies from two units of elite javelins like Almughavars can kill 30 Armoured Swordsmen in one volley, which is great when you think that you’re defeating some of the toughest troops in the game. Javelins have quite a low rate of fire: the troops throw them slowly and there is a delay of a few seconds between vollies. They also have a very limited range. This means that javelins are vulnerable to enemy counter charges or missiles. Javelins need another unit to act as a pinning force to hold the unit in place so the javelins can do their work. Cheap Spear Militia is good for this as by the time the Spear Militia have been whittled down you should have slaughtered most of the unit being pinned. Make sure you take them off skirmish mode to stop them pulling back when positioned close behind the pinning unit. Their range is so short they will sometimes pull back before throwing and they take a while to fire so you don’t want them wasting time running around. Javelins only have 8 missiles per man, but the unit fires slowly and seem to fire in a staggered way with some of the unit firing them the rest and so on. This means that their missiles last longer than you’d think. They do have swords and some Javelinmen have good stats to fight as light infantry after their missiles are gone. Javelins never have armour and are very vulnerable to archers or cavalry changes. Some javelin units are expensive so try to keep them safe. Defeating Skirmishers Skirmishers are only effective if they aren’t engaged directly. Since their range is so short and they fire slowly they need to be left alone to throw their missiles without being pulled into melee. If you see skirmishers, focus on them first if possible or hit them with cavalry to crush the unit quickly. If you can’t do that hit them with archers as their range and rate of fire disadvantage and their lack of armour will see them killed quickly. Just don’t ignore skirmishers as that what the enemy hopes you will do.

Afghan Javelinmen Attack: 13 Missile attack: 10 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 0 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Timurids Afghan javelins are some of the best javelins in the game. They have a very good missile attack and are very capable in melee for missile units. They lack armour so they won’t last too long but they have good defence skill and large shields to help therm. They are very vunriable to missiles like all javelins. Get them some armour. When fighting them in the campaign use archers or cavalry charges and lots of them as they have great morale Almughavars Attack: 12 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 4 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Spain Almughavars are the best javelins in the game. They have a huge missile attack letting them cause many losses to heavily armoured units and can back it up with some very good melee skill, making them excellent for charge from the flank as they won’t be focused on and cut down if the enemy is already engaged.. If you’re Spain you should always use these troops but remember they still lack armour and are expensive, so try to keep them out of missile fire as much as you can. They can have their armour upgraded the farthest out of the javelin units in M2TW. Kurdish Javelinmen Attack: 9 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Egypt Kurdish javelins are good javelins as they have good melee ability besides their average javelin skills. Don’t be shy about charging from the flank. Javelinmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 270 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Spain Javelinmen are just basic javelins. They will still cause damage to heavily armoured units and are perfect for parking behind your battle line and tossing their missiles over your mêlée units heads. Try to keep them out of missile fire. Their morale is low so take care of them. They are available very early on from the start of the game for Spain giving them a good advantage in attacking armour Lusitanian Javelinmen Attack: 8 Missile attack 8 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 330 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Portugal While Portugal’s unique javelins can’t stand up to Spain’s, they are still clearly superior to most other javelins. They have a good missile attack to cut down enemies and they can fight ok in melee, again from the flank is best. Their morale is higher than javelins but only about half the Almughavars.

Sudanese Javelinmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 350 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Moors Sudanese Javelinmen aren’t amazing javelins but they are still useful as all javelins are and will definitely help the mostly lightly armoured Moorish army fight armoured units. Make good use of them. Again they have low morale. Turkish Javelinmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Turks Turkish Javelins are another unit of average javelins ready to rain sharp death on armoured units for the Turks. Same morale as Sudanese Javelinmen

Axemen

Axes: thick, heavy and when used properly cracks open people’s heads like an eggshell! In M2TW there are two kinds of axemen: One handed axemen that use a shield as well and two handed axemen using a large two handed axe. The two handed axemen are broken like polearms and are of no use except fodder, one handed axemen work fine however. All axemen in this section are AP. There are some units in M2TW that use axes as secondary weapons such as archers that don’t pierce armour with them and some that do. The units in this category use axes as their primary weapon. Axemen are best used somewhat like swordsmen in that they are aggressive attacking infantry. The difference with axes is that they pierce armour so even tho some axemen stats might look weak they can cut down much tougher units like knights. Always send axemen after the heavy enemy units if you can and leave lighter ones to other troops. Axemen excel in flank attacks on armoured units, especially spearmen but most are tough enough to attack from the front. You should deploy axemen in thin long formations like swordsmen to get the maximum amount of men into the killing zone hitting with their charge bonus as possible. The more men in the melee the less chance of soldiers being cut off and dying. Axmen are far more useful than swordsmen as they can take on both unarmed and heavily armoured units and are versatile. Defeating Axemen Axemen are allot like swordsmen when it comes to killing them, except that they will shred any heavy infantry sent at them, unless it’s overwhelmingly strong. Get them with cavalry charges and crossbowmen to whittle them down; just don’t stay in melee with them for too long if you want your horsemen to stay alive. Two handed axemen are a joke and can be killed by just about anything or wiped out easily with missiles as they lack shields. Berdiche Axemen Attack: 17 Charge: 6 Defence: 9 Armour: 5 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Russia Broken axemen.

Croat Axemen Attack: 15 Charge: 5 Defence: 7 Armour: 4 Cost: 260 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Hungry Croat Axemen are another unit of broken axemen. Dismounted Boyar Sons Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Russia Dismounted Boyar Sons are one handed axemen with good stats and armour. They are great for cutting up armoured units as they are about equal to knights as mentioned above. They will also annihilate spearmen and weaker swordsmen and come in very useful vs. Catholic armies. They cost quite a bit so try to keep them alive. They are well worth the cost. They have knight level morale, so they have plenty of staying power. Dismounted Druzhina Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Russia These axes are exactly the same as Boyar Sons and are just as useful. Dismounted Huscarls Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Denmark Dismounted Huscarles are again just the same as Boyar Sons and should be used the same way. Highlanders Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Scotland Highlanders are early axemen with a good attack but terrible defence. Their low defence means that if they get caught in a protracted melee they will be cut down quickly since most hits will kill them. They are also very vulnerable to missiles. Use Highlanders as flankers or send them into a melee with other troops to stop them being focused on and crushed. They have average morale, but are impetuous so they will take allot of abuse. Norse Axemen Attack: 17 Charge: 6 Defence: 11 Armour: 7 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Denmark Another unit of broken two handed axemen. Tabardariyya Attack: 20 Charge: 6 Defence: 11 Armour: 6 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Egypt Broken axemen whee!

Varangian Guard Attack: 20 Charge: 6 Defence: 15 Armour: 7 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 175 Factions Byzantium Despite extremely good stats and insane morale and the highly trained tag these axemen are still two handed broken ones. Pathetic. Venetian Heavy Infantry Attack: 16 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Venice Venetian Heavy Infantry are some of the best infantry in M2: TW. They wield AP one handed warhammers, large shields and are well armoured. They have excellent stats and good morale and along with their AP weapons this makes them utterly devastating to anything they reach melee with! VHI are the units you charge in from the front with: they will do a ton of damage and cut their way though even knights with their AP weapons and stats. This unit is probably the best infantry in the game and are very, very useful units, which is just as well as Venice needs them to survive. Use them, love them. Viking Raiders Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Denmark Viking Raiders are weak one handed axemen. Their attack is good but their low defence and lack of armour often gets them killed before they can dish out much damage, especially against tough troops like knights. These axemen cannot stand up for long in melee so use them as flankers or against weaker units like Swordsmen Militia and spearmen and try to get them armour upgrades as they can be upgraded all the way to gold level armour making them more effective. Woodsmen Attack: 13 Charge: 4 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 170 Upkeep: 70 Factions: Russia, Poland Woodsmen are utterly useless axemen. Their nonexistent defence coupled with the 2 handed bug makes them completely useless. They aren’t even good for fodder as their defence is so low. As cheap as they are don’t even bother with these men.

Archers

Archers are an essential part of any army, especially early on. Archers are a vital part of any army in M2: TW. Their ability to strike from a distance and cause causalities and lower morale before the inevitable melee to tip the odds in your favour or ease an already sure victory makes them most useful units indeed. Every enemy killed at a distance by an archer is one less your melee forces have to worry about killing or being killed by. They are especially important when you are facing counter units to your army such as axemen when you have heavily armoured infantry as you want as few of them to reach you as possible. Archers use either longbows or shortbows, although the overwhelming majority use shortbows. Only a few units use longbows. Both types are used to shoot approaching enemies, as this will cause causalities and demoralize them before they reach melee with your front lines. Archers are also great for parking behind a melee or basically anywhere they can stay out of melee and constantly whittle down the enemy and kill them without suffering any losses. When used this way archers can kill many, many troops when they are distracted and held by melee troops. Shortbow archers are ineffective against armour. They cannot pierce it and units like knights or heavy infantry will take little causalities from waves of arrows hitting them. Use standard archers against lighter troops. Spearmen, militia level troops and two handed weapon troops are prime targets for archers. Skirmishers and other archers are also good targets. Longbows are exclusive to the English, with two exceptions (French Scots Guard and French Mounted Archers use longbows). They are AP archers and fire at the same rate as other archers. This makes longbows very deadly, as they fire just as quickly as other archers, yet crush armoured units, their extremely long range, far more than most archers makes them very deadly as well. Always target armoured units especially infantry with Longbowmen. Archers cannot work alone, unless they are in such numbers or there are few enough enemy troops that they can be broken with missile fire alone. Archers need a melee unit to protect them, as they are usually poor in melee, though there are some that are good in it. They also need their targets still or moving slowly, this means units held by other troops like spearmen are much better targets for archers.

Most archer deaths will be caused by cavalry charges, make sure you either have infantry units in front of your archers or a cavalry unit right behind or to the side that can intercept charges at the archers. In situations like this you should take the archers off skirmish so they don’t move and instead keep shooting. Most archers can be upgraded to light mail armour or better and you should always upgrade their armour if you can, as they are highly vulnerable to missiles themselves. Defeating Archers Archers usually are easy to beat if you can get close to them. It’s when they are behind other units slaughtering you with their arrows that they are a problem. The easiest way to defeat archers is to hit them with a cavalry charge. They usually have little or no armour so a cavalry charge will kill tons. Light cavalry make good archer hunters, as they are cheap, expendable, fast and strong enough to rip up archers. Heavy cavalry can kill archers easily as well, but they will tire themselves chasing them. It is a waste of their power attacking such light troops. Archer Militia Attack: 2 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 220 Upkeep: 100(England, Russia, Egypt) Attack: 6 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 250 Upkeep: 100 (Byzantium) Archer Militia are exactly like Peasant Archers. See that section for details on using them. The Byzantines Archer Militia are better at melee with far more attack and slightly more defence. Bosnian Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Hungry Bosnian archers are decent in melee for archers but shoot badly. Use them in great numbers to compensate for their weakness and don’t hesitate to use them as flankers if needed. Byzantine Guard Archers Attack: 11 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 710 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Byzantium Byzantine Guard Archers are very tough archers even together than retinue Longbowmen. They have more missile attack than even the Longbowmen but they are not effective against armour or have as long a range they can however really mix it up in melee. They have excellent melee stats for archers and are well armoured so they can definitely act as medium infantry to support friendly units in need and even storm walls in sieges or fight spearmen very effectively. They also have very high morale. Byzantine Guard Archers are some of the most versatile troops in M2TWand you should use them well. They are worth every penny, but try not to throw them away.

Desert Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Moors, Egypt Desert Archers are quite good for early archers. They are clearly superior to the crappy Peasant Archers most Catholic factions have early on. They shoot well and they can fight in melee much better than most early archers, though they are best left out of it. They do lack armour like most archers but their attack is quite good for an archer. Dismounted Archers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Mongols These are tough for archers as they have a very good missile attack and are disciplined. Still they are far less intimidating than other Mongol troops and they will fall easily to a cavalry charge. Dismounted Dvor Attack: 11 Missile attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 770 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Russia Dismounted Dvor are ridiculously multiskilled archers. They have an immense missile attack letting them shred anything lightly armoured, They have a great attack and are well armoured and have an AP axe for a melee weapon as well as a shield, so anything too heavily armoured for their bows can be cut open like a can opener. These troops should be your main line as much as possible as Russia as they are truly do-anything versatile troops. Just watch out for cavalry charges, as Dvor are very expensive. Dismounted French Archers Attack: 11 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 6 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 150 Factions: France Due to an apparent bug Dismounted French Archers are not in the grand campaign. They can be used in custom battles and online however. These archers are strong in melee and shoot well. They are also well armoured so they are versatile. Dismounted Heavy Archers Attack: 9 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 5 Cost: 710 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Timurids, Mongols These badass looking archers are tough. They have high missile attack and high melee attack for an archer, decent defence and are well armoured. They are also disciplined and highly trained with high morale. This archer is deadly at range to lightly armoured troops and can cut down many foes in melee. When fighting the Mongols run these archers down with cavalry charges to kill them quickly. Dismounted Lithuanian Cavalry Attack: 11 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 0 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Poland These archers have a high melee attack and are as good at shooting as most other archers. Despite their decent defence they lack armour which makes them vulnerable. Just use them like normal archers but use them as flankers or support if needed. They are cheap for their versitilty.

Highland Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Scotland Highland Archers are poor archers and weak in melee. Remember you can’t upgrade their armour far so they will always be vulnerable to missiles. Janissary Archers Attack: 10 Missile attack: 10 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 780 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Turks Janissary archers are some of the best archers in M2TW. They have a great missile attack for archers and very good melee stats but they are handicapped by having no shields and only wielding knives in melee. They are best used as pure archers as much as possible as knives don’t really cut it in melee, despite the fact they are both disciplined and highly trained. They can plant stakes. Lithuanian Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Poland These archers are poor shooters but can fight somewhat in melee. Don’t bother recruiting them to use as archers as they really are no good at it and only serviceable, not great as light infantry as they lack armour. They can plant stakes in front of their position. Longbowmen Attack: 7 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 560 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England The basic longbowman is a very, very useful archer as your expect. Their missile attack looks low but they will still put a serious dent in armoured or unarmoured units. They aren’t completely terrible at melee but with a unit like this you really want to keep them out of it if you can help it. Remember however they use an AP hammer in melee so they are effective against armour whenever shooting or in melee. Mongol Foot Archers Attack: 2 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Mongols Mongol foot archers are by far the weakest Mongol unit. They suck critically in melee as they have the same stats as Peasant Archers. They shoot decently however. When fighting the Mongols one good cavalry charge should finish these. Mongol Infantry Attack: 11 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 16 Armour: 4 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Mongols Mongol Infantry are much like Byzantine Guard They are equally good in both distance and melee combat and have shields so they can be a real pain to kill as they can do anything. Hit them with heavy cavalry charges to wipe these dangerous troops out as fast as possible.

Muslim Archers Attack: 11 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 550 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Sicily Muslim Archers are some of the best archers for a Catholic faction as they are equal to the best archers for factions that rely on them like the Mongols and make great support for Sicily’s commonly infantry heavy army. They aren’t bad in melee either. Noble Highland Archers Attack: 9 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 5 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Scotland Noble Highland Archers are better than Highland Archers. They are better in every stat and work well for supporting your units in melee as well as shooting, as they are good in both. Don't expect them to outshoot must other faction’s archers however. Norse Archers Attack: 11 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 16 Armour: 4 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Denmark Norse archers are another tough archer unit that can do double duty as light infantry as well as laying down some good missile fire. Nubian Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Egypt Nubian archers aren’t very good in melee as their defence is too low but they are good enough at shooting and maybe as very light flankers. Ottoman Infantry Attack: 11 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Cost: 670 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Turks Ottoman Infantry are amazing infantry. They are equal to the best archers in stats but are vastly better as they have good melee stats and pack swords and SHEILDS which they take off their backs when in melee, a trait which no other archers in M2:TW have. This makes them by far the most versatile and best shortbow archers in M2TW. They can rain death down with their excellent missile attack and can more than pull their weight in melee with their excellent stats (for an archer) and weapons especially against weaker troops like spearmen. Ottoman Infantry are some of the most useful troops in the game and they will come in incredibly handy for the Turkish player.

Peasant Archers Attack: 2 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 220 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Spain, France, England, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Russia, Turks, Egypt, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Mongols Peasant archers are the first archers you get for most factions and are the weakest in the game. They have a poor missile attack and are hopeless in melee, with useless attack and nonexistent defence. Use them early on for whittling down armies from a distance as they are very easy to train, requiring simply a bowyer and as a last ditch melee unit. When using Peasant Archers it’s a very good idea to get them some armour as soon as possible to increase their survival. As weak as Peasant Archers are they are likely to form the mainstay of your normal armies along with Spear Militia. They are quite capable of taking down unarmoured or lightly armoured troops en mass like Spear Militia and they are so cheap it’s easy to have lots of them to cut down enemies before the inevitable melee, so you take less causalities. They also make good fodder and distraction forces with their hails of missiles, as clouds of incoming pointy things tend to get people’s attention regardless if they are accurate or not. Scots Guard Attack: 12 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 800 Upkeep: 175 Factions: France Scots Guard are elite Scottish Longbowmen in French employ. As you’d imagine they are extremely powerful troops, as they are the only non English longbow unit. They can rain death on armoured and unarmoured troops from far away and they also are heavily armoured and armed with swords for melee. Scots Guard are a bit like Ottoman Infantry and do well in melee even although their lack of shields will cause them to take quite a few losses. They are right up there as one of the elite most versatile units. Sherwood Archers Attack 16 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 250 Factions: England Sherwood Archers are pretty ridiculous looking English archers there are 60 men rather than the standard 120 for archer units. They have the highest missile attack for a longbow in M2TW and they are very powerful in mêlée against light troops with their high attack but their smaller numbers means they tend to kill less than standard longbowmen and their lack of armour and small numbers gets them crushed in melee by any decent troops. Despite what their description says Sherwood archers cannot hide in any terrain only forests like everyone else and they really aren’t worth using over larger normal longbow units. Their small number, complete lack of armour and limited volume of fire makes them inferior. Sabadar Militia Attack: 9 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 780 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Timurids Another unit of tough archers, you’d be hard pressed to tell these are militia without their name. They are like Mongol Heavy Archers but even better defended as they are better with their shields. Sabadar Militia are deadly archers and when fighting the Timurids you’ll want to take them out quick with a cavalry charge.

Trebizond Archers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 460 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Byzantium These archers have a great missile attack and somewhat passable mêlée stats, making them useful archers in the archer laden Byzantine Empire. Turkish Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 440 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Turks Average archers they have a decent missile attack and can be used as light infantry to flank enemies. Retinue Longbowmen Attack: 11 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 710 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England England’s elite archers, Retinue Longbowmen are well armoured longbowmen with better stats than the Yeoman Archers. Their good missile attack coupled with the AP power of their longbows allows them to unleash a fearsome storm of pointy death on any enemies and they can handle themselves in melee and work well as light infantry as they wield swords. They still aren’t going to beat cavalry and unlike the other longbowmen their melee weapon does not pierce armour so don’t rely on them too much in melee. But if your meleeing with longbowmen there’s something wrong as they shoot extremely well and can coat the field in the dead. Venetian Archers Attack: 11 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 7 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Venice Venetian Archers are another unit of very useful archers, they have the same high missile attack of eastern faction archers and are heavily armoured enabling them to shrug off quite a bit of counter fire. They work well with Venetian Heavy Infantry to wipe out the enemies of Venice, of which there are many. Yeoman Archers Attack: 9 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Cost: 650 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England Yeoman Archers are basically Retinue Longbowmen without the armour. They can fight in melee better than standard longbows and shoot better, but their low defence gets them killed quickly. Keep them protected and let them shower the enemy with death or use them as flankers putting their good attack to good use. Remember they also carry an AP hammer in melee allowing them to fight heavy infantry more effectively than you’d think.

Crossbowmen

Crossbowmen are some of the most versatile troops in M2TW. Crossbowmen are a very important troop type in M2: TW: they will be useful in almost every battle. They are the first available troops, besides maybe javelins that will allow you to pierce armour for most factions and are very common mercs and are easily trained. Crossbows fire slower than archers, but their missiles have more power and they will usually kill men they hit and go through armour. Crossbowmen should be deployed in front of your troops or on higher ground because they are horrible at arcing their shots and you’ll kill very few. Crossbowmen and Spearmen will likely be the bulk of your early army. Crossbowmen are equally good against lightly armoured targets as well, as they have a high missile attack and will kill them easily. This makes a large force of crossbows more versatile than archers, as they can hold their own against both light troops and heavy ones. The weakness of crossbowmen is they fire more slowly than archers and need to stay still to get the most effect because of their slower weapons. They also tend to be bad skirmishers because of their long animation cycles. Don’t use crossbowmen against archers if you can help it. They may win but usually they won’t and will take a lot of causalities unless the crossbowmen are clearly superior or well armoured. Pavise crossbowmen are crossbowmen with a large shield on their back. They use this shield to shelter behind while reloading They are largely impervious to arrows while reloading, tho the fact you can’t control their reloading cycle makes it difficult to get them to reload and shelter themselves when the enemy fires a volley Their pavise also protects them from rear missile attacks as they will take few casualties when hit in the back. Note that AP missiles like longbows or gunpowder weapons somewhat ignore their shields and will still inflict casualties. When they fire they will often get killed by incoming fire. Defeating Crossbowmen Crossbowmen are deadly if not taken out quickly. They have much the same vulnerability as archers: just charge them with cavalry to massacre them with the charge. They are overall usually worse than archers in melee and they shoot somewhat slower, so massed archer fire will hurt them.

Aventurier Attack: 11 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 7 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 175 Factions: France Aventuriers are the most powerful crossbowmen in the game. They have a huge missile attack making them very deadly to armoured units as long as they are protected and are heavily armoured to protect them from archer fire. They are very expensive troops for archers so keep them in a secure position, especially given the crossbow’s slowness and let them snipe away relentlessly at the foe. They can fight well in melee if the need arises. Crossbowmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Cost: 330 Upkeep: 125 Factions: France, Denmark, Hungry The basic crossbowmen are actually a rather uncommon unit compared to Crossbow Militia and have the same missile attack. They are well armoured however and can fight better in melee. Their stats are still nothing amazing and they are best kept in a secure spot to fire away. Crossbow Militia Attack: 2 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 220 Upkeep: 100 (Spain, France, Portugal, Denmark) Attack: 6 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Cost: 330 Upkeep: 100 (Moors) Attack: 6 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 7 Armour: 4 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 100 (Russia, Poland) Crossbow Militia is some of the most useful militia in M2TW. They have a very good missile attack for missile unit militia and are still quite capable of seriously hurting armoured units. Their cheap cost and effective missiles makes it easy to have many units of them to create a hail of fire that is very effective for defending settlements or killing heavy infantry. Use allot of these units especially as garrisons. Genoese Crossbowmen Attack: 8 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 2 Defence: 16 Armour: 6 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Milan Genoese Crossbowmen are Milan’s elite crossbowmen and are much like Adventuriers but with slightly less armour and less melee ability. They still have a very powerful missile attack and a Pavise shield Genoese Crossbow Militia Attack: 6 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 15 Armour: 6 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Milan Genoese Crossbow Militia are an unsurprisingly weaker version of standard Genoese Crossbowmen. They have worse stats all around and lower morale but are still some of the best crossbowmen in the game and far above most other militia. They pack a powerful missile attack, a pavise shield, good armour and ok melee ability making them extremely useful.

Pavise Crossbowmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Spain, Sicily, Portugal, Papal States Pavise crossbowmen are much like normal crossbows except for the large shield on their back. Use them like normal crossbowmen and take advantage of their pavise as said in the unit class intro. Pavise Crossbow Militia Attack: 6 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Venice, Sicily, Hungry, Papal States Even though these troops are militia, their stats are the same as normal Pavise Crossbowmen, except their upkeep is slightly less for the same unit. Use them in the same way. Peasant Crossbowmen Attack: 2 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 220 Upkeep: 100 Attack: 7 Missile attack: 12 charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Portugal, France, Venice, Milan, Moors, Portugal, Papal States Peasant Crossbowmen are exactly like Crossbow Militia except they are recruited from cities. Use them in the same way. Except for the moors that is. Moorish peasant crossbowmen are very different to the catholic version with a ridiculously powerful missile attack for peasants and far better melee. Their defence is better too, tho they are best kept out of melee so they can work their ranged magic. Used properly Peasant Crossbowmen can make the Moors a nightmare to face, as long as you keep them out of counter fire.

Gunpowder Infantry

Guns: more fun than firing a bow! Ah gunpowder. They sure are fun to use; filling the air with smoke and fire as they send rolling thunder echoing across the hills, loosening the enemy’s bowels. The first thing to remember with gunpowder infantry is they aren’t meant to run around and skirmish like archers. Gunpowder is a slow unwieldy weapon and units that use it fire slowly and take time to get into formation. When using gunpowder you want to let the units get set up, leave skirmish off and not move them until you absolutely have to, so they can volley fire uninterrupted and as quickly as possible. It doesn’t matter how close the enemy gets, the closer they are the more devastating their vollies will become. The second thing to remember about gunpowder is that it scares the crap out of the enemy. Any enemy that take casualties from gunpowder units suffers a large morale penalty and they will rout quite easily. Gunfire also inflicts great damage on armoured and unarmoured units alike as it goes stight though armour. Muskets are deadliest at this as they can pierce any armour in M2TW. Arquebusiers are less powerful against Armour than Musketeers but still far better than most things, and handgunner bullets are the weakest armour piercers. Massed heavy infantry are exactly the sort of target gunners should be used against as they are slow to reach the Musketeers and heavily armoured. When using gunpowder you can and will hit your own troops. They can’t arc their fire like archers and if you fire into a melee with your gunners behind your own troops you’ll hit your own and because of gunpowder’s morale penalty you could easily rout your own men. That said you usually have to accept a certain amount of friendly causalities when using guns as their tactics usually have them behind something else. Gunpowder infantry should be deployed in two ranks. This way they can bring the maximum amount of guns to bear on the enemy and they reload very quickly. In three rows the front gunners wait until the previous front rank has moved to the rear and started to reload before they fire. In two ranks the front rank simply steps to the side moving directly to the back and reloads while the front fires. Then that row moves and so on. The guns will stay far more organised and will fire much more quickly in two ranks. In more than three rows less men are firing at once and the third rank and ones further back will not shoot, making their volume of fire less than it could be and wasting their potential. You should only deploy gunpowder infantry this way when they are firing into a narrow frontage.

Gunpowder infantry use a revolving fire style where the front rank shoots and then reloads. They then run to the back and the front rank fire and the cycle repeats. The front rank usually will not shoot until the previous front rank is in position at the back and facing the front, which is why two ranks are best. This takes a few seconds, which is why gunpowder must be kept still. Gunpowder, because of its slowness and setup time must be used with another unit to protect them, unless you have so many gun units you can shoot the enemy to pieces before they even get close. Pikemen are the classic choice for this, together Musketeers and pikemen for the infamous pike and shot formation. In M2TW however, it’s better to have your pikemen behind your Musketeers. If you’re facing slow infantry this gives the gunners an unobstructed view of the enemy and removes the possibly of friendly fire. If you are facing fast cavalry have the pikemen in front of the Musketeers. Or just to the side to intercept their charge. If you are facing a lot of archers, you shouldn’t even bother with gunpowder as their slowness and lack of armour and bugs make them almost useless and they will take too many causalities. Musketeers are exempt from this rule as they have such a huge range and kill morale so they can rout archers before they can do much damage. Any infantry that can hold a line, like heavy swordsmen, spearmen or even knights can be used instead of pikes. Having cavalry on the flanks to intercept them is a good idea too. (Thanks to cottontail for this idea, said in his words) For the Turks, Janissary Musketeers and archers are a deadly combination. First, you let the Janissary archers deploy stakes, and retreat them behind your main battleline. Then, you move your Musketeers up to the stakes, where they can fire upon the enemy without any fear from any cavalry. This makes up for the fact that the Turks do not have any pikemen. The combination of deadly arrowfire and demoralizing musketfire should rout the enemy even before they reach your battleline. Same with the English, only with longbows and Arquebusiers instead. It is important to keep Arquebusiers and Musketeers out of counter fire. There is a bug in M2TW that causes Arquebusiers and Musketeers that get hit with missiles to get stuck in reforming or just keep shifting men around uselessly instead of just shooting. This is lessened if they are in two ranks but it still sometimes happens. Hand gunners do not have the fire_by_rank attribute that the other gun units have and thus don’t suffer from this problem. Try to use some other unit to draw fire. This again isn’t much of a problem for Musketeers because of their huge range. A hilltop is perfect for Musketeers, because they get an even longer range and it’s harder for archers to shoot back at them. Always deploy your gunners on a hill if you can. All Musketeers have a huge range compared to other missiles and a big missile attack. Musketeers have the longest range in the game and from the beginning of the battle the enemy are almost always in range and they will start blasting away at them. Musketeers are also the most accurate gun unit and piece armour very easily. They suffer from the gunpowder bugs as stated above and can sometimes be useless because of them. When they work however there are few things deadlier, as long as they have support as Musketeers are also weak in melee, though their stats vary. Hand gunners are not meant to stay back and shoot like the others. Handguns have a short range and they have a much better attack and defence: Attack: 11 Defence: 13 Armour: 7 compared to Attack: 6 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 for both Musketeers and Arquebusiers and they are best used to fire a volley or two into the flanks or rear of an engaged unit or simply as the unit approaches to wreck their morale from the gunpowder attack, then charge into the enemy, where their good stats and the enemies’ lowered morale from their gun attack will help them triumph. Against already engaged units this will almost certainly make them rout.

Note that often it’s better to use crossbows than gunpowder. Crossbows have no bugs, they shoot faster and they pierce armour too, just not as well as guns. Crossbows are a more reliable set of units. Defeating gunpowder Gunpowder are very easy to defeat if you can charge them with cavalry, the problem is getting close enough without your units fleeing in terror. Rank fire gun units take a long time to charge direction and get set up for a volley so flanking them with cavalry should ensure they get caught by the charge if you enemy leaves them unprotected. Archers are good too, as the bugs with gunpowder mean the incoming fire will disrupt them and stop them from shooting. Artillery can also disrupt them for a time giving you time to get closer. Long range archers like longbows are great against guns. Arquebusiers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 460 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Spain, France, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Russia, Poland, Hungry, Papal States Arquebusiers are the common gunpowder unit for most factions. They have a much shorter range than musketeers but they still rip up armour. They are very vulnerable to archers because of the bugs with the unit, their short range and the fact they have horrible defence and no armour, their morale is also quite low for such advanced units so keep them out of melee. Cossack Musketeers Attack: 12 Missile attack: 17 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 950 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Russia Cossack Musketeers are very powerful musketeers; only bettered by Janissary Musketeers. They have a huge missile attack, the huge musket range and a big melee attack for a missile unit, but their defence is lower and their lack of armour or shields tend to get them wiped out. Make sure archers don’t get too close. Hand Gunners Attack: 11 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 7 Cost: 650 Upkeep: 150(Spain, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Papal States) Attack: 11 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 850 Upkeep: 150(Moors Turks Timurids) Hand gunners are very different to the other gun units. They have a lower missile attack and much less range. But they make up for it with vastly better defence and being well armoured with a good melee attack. Handgunners can handle melee quite well, especially against spearmen and should be used to fire a short range volley or two into the enemy then charge into the melee with their swords. The huge morale penalty from gunpowder will help them break the enemy after a little melee. They are also good for firing into a melee to make the enemy rout much faster. Just don’t use them entirely at range because they aren’t as effective as other gun units and are less accurate The Islamic version of this unit has far more morale than the Catholic version, has slightly more charge and less armour

Janissary Musketeers Attack: 12 Missile attack: 17 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 830 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Turks Janissary Musketeers have the best missile attack in the game for non artillery (except for Naffatun) with the same huge musket range and are extremely lethal as long as they are working right. They fight well in melee too. They are disciplined and highly trained. If you are the Turks you’ll want lots of these. Musketeers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Spain, Venice, Milan, Portugal Musketeers are the basic musketeers and are the worst in melee. They have the lowest missile attack for a musket but are still deadly at range and have the same huge musket range. If used correctly they come in very useful. Sudanese Gunners Attack: 9 Missile attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 570 Factions: Moors Sudanese Gunners are better than Arquebusiers in melee but should still stay far out of it. They have the same range as Musketeers, but with an even better missile attack. Portuguese Arquebusiers Attack: 11 Missile attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 760 Factions: Portugal Portugal’s Arquebusiers have better stats all round: they have the same missile attack as Musketeers, so their vollies are devastating and they can also fight in melee decently as they have good attack and defence, far better than standard Arquebusiers.

Naffatun

It’s hard to have knightly arrogance when you’re burning alive. Naffatun is a one of a kind unit in M2TW. There are 40 men in the unit on huge unit sizes. The men are armed with Naffatun grenades: pots of lethal fiery chemicals that explode into fire when they hit an enemy. They have a tiny range, the smallest in the game and 5 grenades per man. These grenades are utterly devastating. They hit with area affect damage ignoring armour and killing even heavily armoured troops like knights incredibly quickly. One Naffatun grenade will kill anyone it hits regardless of how much armour or hitpoints they have. Even generals with their many hitpoints will die from one Naffatun grenade. Two units of Naffatun volleying at once can kill half a unit of foot knights in a few seconds they have a huge effect on morale and can just devastate units incredibility quickly. All Naffatun need to be effective is a pinning unit. They are small units and take a few seconds to throw their grenades and have a very small range. First thing is to take them off skirmish. Their range is only slightly more than the one that triggers the skirmisher reaction to pull back. If you don’t turn it off they will just run away. Next you need a cheap unit to hold the enemy, like spearmen. The pinning unit might get hit as well so don’t use something expensive. Charge the enemy with your fodder to make sure they get stuck in a melee with them and run the Naffatun up. If there are any archers around kill them with your cavalry. Then target the pinned unit with your Naffatun. They will throw their grenades into the enemy causing terrible damage ripping the enemy apart in seconds. The enemy will break in seconds no matter what they are and will be utterly destroyed. Anything from General’s Bodyguard to Feudal Knights. Naffatun is deadly like no other unit if you use it correctly. They are cheap for how effective they are. Even tho you’ll usually be using them at a distance, remember that Naffatun has very high morale and they are powerful in melee as they have a high melee attack and good defence and have some armour. They will always be very outnumbered in a melee however. Naffatun Attack: 13 Missile attack: 23 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 5 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 50 Factions: Timurids, Turks, Egypt, Mongols These are the only Naffatun using unit in the game and should be used as outlined above. Thy have all round great stats.

Cavalry Cavalry are mounted troops used for charging into enemies to cause causalities and panic, chase routers and kill missile units and for support for other attacking troops. They are much faster than infantry and come in several classes depending on how well armoured they are. Knights and some heavy cavalry have the most powerful charge bonuses in M2TW and are great for pounding vulnerable infantry like swordsmen or missile troops. More details are found on those classes descriptions. You should always have some lighter cavalry to kill off enemy archers to stop them hitting your slow infantry which are often unable to catch them and for wiping out dangerous enemy artillery before it can bombard your troops Use heavy cavalry to flank and charge into units your infantry are fighting to rout them quickly. Charging from behind or a flank does a LOT more damage. Cavalry in M2TW sometimes have pathfinding problems and they don’t seem to do too well against infantry in melee. Cavalry attacking infantry will often just sit there with their nose against the infantry instead of trotting past to attack. They sometimes just sit there and don’t strike at them or other cavalry and are generally sort of buggy. Don’t charge cavalry head on against infantry unless they are powerful, as light ones will just die. All Cavalry get -6 defence/attack in the trees and will be largely useless in them. Keep cavalry out of the woods.

Light cavalry

For when you just don’t want arrows in your face. Light cavalry are lightly armed fast cavalry. They usually have low defence and armour but most of them are at least decent in melee. They are best used to attack enemy archers and perform flanking attacks on weaker foes. They are also the best unit for catching routing enemy units because of their speed. Don’t use light cavalry in a head on brawl with melee infantry or heavy cavalry, they aren’t designed for a head on fight and will quickly suffer causalities. Javelin cavalry are much like light cavalry but have the advantage of AP javelins as well. If you can you should always get the more versatile and useful javelin cavalry over light cavalry. Arab Cavalry Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Moors, Egypt Arab cavalry are good in a fight for light cavalry. They have good attack and their defence is good for this class of unit. They will still lose to heavy forces head on, but are perfect for decimating lighter troops with a flank and missile units with a charge. They are quite expensive. Border Horse Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 9 Armour: 4 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Scotland Border Horse are weaker light cavalry but they still pack a good attack. Their defence is low however and they will suffer in a serious fight. Just stick to the light cavalry uses outlined above. This unit can be useful to support Scotland’s pikemen and wipe out archers shooting the slow moving pikes.

Byzantine Lancers Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 500 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Byzantium Byzantine Lancers have good defence for light cavalry and have an ok attack and are disciplined. They have a better charge than some other light cavalry, so crashing them into the back of a flanked unit is a good idea. Hobilars Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 4 Cost: 280 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England These light cavalry are one of the original ones from mtw and are still useful for chasing routers and running down missile units. They are too weak to be much use in a serious fight though you could charge them into the back of engaged enemies, don’t expect them to last too long. Militia Cavalry Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 320(Byzantium) Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 4 Cost: 350(Russia) Militia Cavalry are weak light cavalry. They have a low attack and their defence is nothing special though it is higher than some other light cavalry. Their morale is poorer than other light cavalry. Only use these troops for chasing routers and attacking weaker missiles. Even tough archers can cut this unit up. They aren’t too good as flankers because if the enemy hold they will turn around and destroy them. Mongol Light Lancers Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 590 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Mongols Mongol Light Lancers as you’d expect are quite tough and have some of the best stats, though other units beat them in invidual stats. These troops are the small fry of the Mongol invasion compared to the other units the Mongols have. They still can be annoying but they are easy enough to kill with heavy cav or spearmen. They have huge morale as much as elite troops and are also disciplined. Zero upkeep. Mounted Sergeants Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 175 Factions: France, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Mounted Sergeants are common Catholic light cavalry. They have good stats for light cavalry with good attack and decent defence. They come in handy to screen the usually infantry heavy armies of catholic factions and stop them getting picked apart by missiles. Scouts Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 4 Cost: 410 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Denmark Scots are another unit of weak light cavalry. They are about the same as Militia Cavalry and have the same low morale. Use them in the same way.

Stradiots Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Venice Stradiots are elite light cavalry. They have the best attack for light cavalry and a good charge, huge morale and they are fast. They are very useful light cavalry to flank and chase missile units and their morale and speed makes it easy to use them to support your main force and smash into the rear of enemies. These are the most useful light cavalry. Try not to use them too recklessly as they are expensive for light cavalry.

Heavy Cavalry

They may not be knights but heavy cavalry are still a wall of shiny, pointy death. Heavy cavalry are heavily armoured cavalry that are not knights. They are usually just like knights in other ways, since they all have heavy armour, usually great morale and powerful weapons along with a good charge. Read the section on mounted knights and apply the same tactics to heavy cavalry. Broken Lances Attack: 10 Charge: 8 Defence: 13 Armour: 9 Cost: 730 Upkeep: 320 Factions: Venice, Milan, Papal States While not Knights, Broken Lances do a good job as they are very heavily armoured, sharing their armour rating with few other units and a good attack. Their charge is devastating and combined with their massive armour its clear this unit is meant to charge into the enemy repeatedly to smash them apart. They can fight well enough in melee if you prefer to leave them there however. Cavalry Militia Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 7 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Venice, Sicily, Milan For a militia unit this unit is tough indeed as they are as armoured as Feudal Knights and have an ok charge. Their attack is lower than most cavalry but they are still well suited for a flanking charge with their heavy armour and come in handy for chasing missiles because they can resist them with their armour and have a good enough attack and charge to cut them down fast. Just watch their morale as it is only militia level. Christian Guard Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 970 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Moors Christian Guard are very powerful heavy cavalry as they have a great attack and can soak up damage with their armour, their charge is also devastating. This unit is the perfect companion to the Moors other light troops and will do its duty well indeed. They are disciplined and highly trained.

Demi Lancers Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 12 Armour: 7 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 250 Factions: England Demi Lancers are high tech troops England gets late in the game. They have a very high charge and fight well in melee with their knight level attack and armour but their lack of a shield makes them rather vulnerable in melee. There is no real reason to use this unit over England’s excellent English Knights since they just get a basic sword for a secondary weapon and not an AP axe. Druzhina Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 210 Faction: Russia Druzhina are more like medium cavalry than heavy cavalry. They have a good attack and defence and their secondary weapon axe is AP. If you’re facing armoured units charge normally since they won’t use their secondary weapon in the charge then alt+click in melee to get them to use their axes to cut down armoured foes. Famiglia Ducale Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 14 Armour: 9 Cost: 880 Upkeep: 320 Factions: Milan Famiglia Ducale are incredibly heavily armoured cavalry. They are tied for highest armour in the game and can soak up punishment like knights. They are still perfectly vulnerable to crossbows, gunpowder and spearmen, but to just about anything else tho they are wrecking balls with a massive charge bonus to shred infantry. Their attack is very good and with their armour they are perfectly suited to crashing into the front of foot knights and the like to crush them. They lack shields so their defence is less than some but their immense armour and their charge should see them killing a lot of enemy. Just remember they are very expensive. Granadine Lancers Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Moors Granadine Lancers are weaker than some other cavalry and despite being called lancers they don’t have the bone crushing charge units like Famiglia Ducale do. They also have less armour. They still come in handy for flank charges and will still kill quite a lot from the front and they do quite well in melee. Huscarls Attack: 11 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 690 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Denmark Huscarls are axe wielding medium, cavalry with all around good stats and very high morale. They are better left in the melee, as their axe gives them a low charge bonus. Send them and their AP axes crashing into heavy cavalry or heavy infantry flanks and watch the slaughter.

Hussars Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Poland, Hungry Hussars, some of the most famous cavalry in history are elite medium cavalry with morale higher than knights. They have a powerful knight level attack and good defence and are well armoured. They are perfect for chasing missile units, flanking and acting as general purpose cavalry as their sky high morale and strong attack make them very useful. They are expensive however. Latinkon Attack: 10 Charge: 8 Defence: 15 Armour: 7 Cost: 730 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Byzantium Latinkon can’t compare to knights but they are still quite powerful as they are well armoured with a good attack and can still take allot of punishment. Their high charge makes them good for smashing infantry too. They are impertutious. Men At Arms Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 15 Armour: 8 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Venice, Sicily, Milan, Papal States Men at Arms are tough with good defence and very heavy armour, they can take allot of abuse before dying. They aren’t so good at dishing out pain, as their attack is low for heavy cavally. They can handle themselves in melee but you might want to consider pulling them back and charging over and over as they have a good charge. Mamluks Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 6 Cost: 820 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Egypt Mamluks are elite Egyptian cavalry armed with a spear and an AP mace. They are well armoured, disciplined and highly trained but their charge is weaker because they do not have lances. Send Mamluks against heavy cavalry and use Alt+right click to have them change to their maces which will let them cut them up. Merchant Cavalry Militia Attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 7 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 210 Factions: France, Spain, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, England Merchant Cavalry are basically Feudal Knights without the skill. They may look like knights and act like knights but they are much weaker and have very poor charge, less than most infantry and much, much lower morale. Take advantage of their heavy armour and use them to take out archers and chase missile cavalry, since they will take less damage from non armour piercing missiles. They are ok for flank attacks as well because of their good defence. They are much cheaper than knights for this purpose too.

Mongol Heavy Lancers Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 850 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Timurids, Mongols Mongol Heavy Lancers are weaker than you might expect from the Mongols. These are heavy cavalry with better stats than them as they are basically weaker versions of hussars. They are still very powerful and annoying to kill in the campaign because of their experience level, morale, fact they are disciplined and highly trained and the Mongols very skilled generals, but they aren’t as deadly as you might expect. They do however have an AP mace for a secondary weapon so watch out in melee. Norse War Clerics Attack: 10 Charge: 4 Defence: 19 Armour: 8 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Denmark Norse War Clerics are pretty tough heavy cavalry armed with AP maces. While their charge is the worst in the heavy cavalry class (besides Merchant Cavalry) because they have just maces rather than lances they can soak up damage with their high defence and very heavy armour. It takes a lot to kill these horsemen and they will serve well. It’s best to leave these men in melee as they can dish out damage far better than they can with their weak charge stat. Royal Banderium Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 8 Cost: 790 Upkeep: 320 Factions: Hungary Royal Banderium is a powerful unit with great attack for heavy cavalry and they have good defence and very heavy armour. Their charge is high and they have insane morale. They can handle melee and repeated charges with equal ferocity. Polish Guard Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 840 Upkeep: 320 Factions: Poland Polish guard are exactly like Royal Banderium except they have 1 more point in defence. Use them in the same way. Polish Retainers Attack: 10 Charge: 8 Defence: 15 Armour: 6 Cost: 650 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Poland Polish Retainers are the same as Latinkon and should be used in the same way.

Conquistadores Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 17 Armour: 7 Cost: 880 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, Portugal (America only) Conquistadores are powerful troops that are only traininable in the Americas when you can travel to the new world. This means they will mostly be fighting the weak Aztec troops and will utterly crush them. The Aztecs are mostly weak and the Conquisdores’ great stats and sky high morale will let them sit in melee when they are vastly outnumbered and take down loads of enemies. They are excellent at charging the Aztecs too as none of them are well armoured and they will die in droves from a charge even though the Conquistadores’ charge isn’t anything special. Take full advantage of these units when you have the opportunity but I think the dismounted ones are even more useful as they have better stats. Kataphractoi Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 16 Armour: 8 Cost: 790 Upkeep: 250 Faction: Byzantium Another MTW unit, Kataphractoi aren’t as good as some other heavy cavalry as their attack is lower and they share their defence and armour with several others. They are still powerful units especially since they are disciplined but not the best. Just use them for the general heavy cav tasks. Lancers Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 11 Cost: 930 Upkeep: 320 Factions: France Lancers are very powerful heavy cavalry for France. They have a strong attack for cav, a bonecrushing charge and an insane amount of armour the most of any unit. They are also impertutious. They are like spike covered wrecking balls; carving great holes in enemy units. Their charge is deadly and they fight very well in melee. They may be expensive but this is a great unit and some of the most powerful cavalry. Qapukulu Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 18 Armour: 8 Cost: 1100 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Turks Another powerful heavy cav unit this is better than most with very high defence and heavy armour. Their attack is high like some other heavy cavalry, although their charge isn’t that good. This cavalry is best used to charge once or twice then left to fight it out in melee, especially since they have an AP mace. Royal Mamluks Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Cost: 1050 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Egypt While these cavalry aren’t as heavily armoured as some they are tied for best attack in the game and with 14 attack can tear enemy units apart. Their defence is still high even though they have less armour. This is an excellent and powerful cavalry unit and will come in very handy in the Egypt late game. They have an AP secondary mace.

Sipahi Lancers Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Turks Sipahi Lancers aren’t the greatest heavy cav but they still have enough attack to pack a punch. They are best left in melee because; despite being lancers their charge is weak. Gendarmes Attack: 10 Charge: 8 Defence: 15 Armour: 11 Cost: 770 Upkeep: 320 Factions: Spain, France Gendarmes aren’t the greatest heavy cavalry but they are tied with Lancers for having the most armour. Their advantage is they can be trained from cities, the only heavy cavalry that can be. While they are weaker at melee than most heavy cav they still have the crushing charge and heavy armour to fall back on. Repeatedly drive this cavalry into vulnerable heavy infantry and they will be worth their cost.

Knights Cavalry Knights

Quick men while they are distracted by our shiny helmets! Knights are elite heavy cavalry. They are usually very heavily armoured and have very high morale the highest in the game besides the Great Cross and the like. Knights will take on terrible odds with no problems and will fight in a losing melee for a long time. They usually have very good attack and high to very high defence. The thing that makes knights special though is their devastating charge and their huge morale. Knights have a massive charge: a unit of Santiago knights charging into a unit of dismounted Feudal Knights will kill half the unit and they will almost instantly rout. Mounted knights can fight well in melee but the best way to use them is to keep pulling back, allow them to redress the ranks by dragging out a formation and charging them in again to kill another load of enemy. Knights can do this because their heavy armour stops them getting killed while they pull back and their morale lets them pull back without it turning into a rout. The best targets for mounted knights are swordsmen, as they don’t really have any defence against the charge and will suffer many losses. The only drawback to this style of fighting is the micromanagement required. Even I’m guilty of commonly leaving my knights in mêlée and doing something else. Defeating Knights Knights are vulnerable to spears just like other cavalry. Even Spear Militia can defeat knights and stop their charge without too many deaths, if you have enough though they will take major losses in the ensuing melee. A solid wall of spears is the best way to kill them. Crossbows and javelins work very well as the more knights you can kill before they reach melee the better. Gunpowder works well against knights as well. Pikemen are expendable and can stop their charge if they are in spearwall formation. Chivalric Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 930 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, France, Sicily, Denmark, Hungry Chivalric knights are the generic powerful knights for factions that don’t have a unique unit of them. They share their stats with quite a few other units of knights and have a high attack and defence as well as typical heavy knight armour. Their charge is devastating so crash them into swordsmen and light infantry to crush them. This unit can handle itself well in melee.

English Knights Attack: 10 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 8 Cost: 860 Upkeep: 250 Factions: England English Knights seem somewhat weaker than other knights at first glance, but that’s until you see they have AP axes as secondary weapons. The combination of a powerful charge, very heavy armour and an AP weapon lets them absolutely crush other knights and heavy troops. They go though enemy knights very quick and are very useful indeed. Make good use of these knights. Knights of Santiago Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 880 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Spain, Portugal These knights are all around good units similar to other knights and are recruitable only in a province with a chapter house dedicated to this knightly order. Knights Templar Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 880 Upkeep: 185 Factions: France, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, England These are just like the Knights of Santiago Knights Hospitalizer Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 880 Upkeep: 185 Factions: France, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, England Again just like Knights of Santiago Mailed knights Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 680 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, France, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Papal States, England The first knights most factions get, Mailed Knights are the weakest knights in the game especially their low charge and armour. They are still quite powerful however and have the same high morale. Be a bit more careful with these knights and consider charging into the flank or rear of units engaged with your infantry for best effect. Norman Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 17 Armour: 7 Cost: 880 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Sicily Norman Knights are a slightly weaker version of Chivalric Knights; they have a surprisingly low charge. They are available early in the campaign however and replace the Feudal Knight for Sicily. They still have the same attack as the later knights and the same armour as Feudal Knights so they are a powerful unit for Sicily. They are impertutious.

Feudal Knights Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 730 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, France, Venice, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Papal States, England Feudal Knights are the most common knights and for the time you get them they are powerful and are strong enough to crash into the front of a unit and do major damage with their charge but are best used to hit the flanks or rear. They are impertutious. Noble Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 930 Upkeep: 320 Factions: France Noble Knights are just like Norman Knights except they have a more powerful charge. They are very tough cavalry like most knights and fight equally well in melee or charging repeatedly. They are impertutious. Polish Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 840 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Poland Polish Knights are the same as Noble Knights except slightly more expensive. Use them in the same way. Portuguese Knights Attack: 10 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 8 Cost: 700 Factions:” Portugal The Knights of Portugal are exactly like English Knights except they have a sword rather than an AP axe for a secondary weapon making then allot less useful, but still serviceable troops.

Dismounted knights

Dismounted knights can rip up most troops in melee. Dismounted knights, as you have probably guessed are knights without their horses. They fight on foot. They have slightly less morale than their mounted version and none of them are impertutious when some of their mounted versions are, but their morale is still up there with other elite troops like Terico Pikemen. Some foot knights use polearms and thus are bugged and suck. Dismounted knights are best used as elite heavy infantry. They usually have swords and are very well armoured and have shields, so they can take a lot of punishment and take few causalities from most units. Use dismounted knights as the centre of your line to hold the enemy and cut their way though and as an anchor for your army to work around. A mixed force of foot knights and cavalry knights is a difficult one to stop indeed and footknights will always be very, very useful. Just watch out for crossbows and artillery; footknights are very slow as they are covered with armour and will be crushed by massed crossbow or longbow fire. Javelin cavalry are also deadly to foot knights, as they are too fast for the knights to catch and their javelins pierce armour. Knights work best with your own ranged support or light cavalry backup to kill missiles shooting the knights. Defeating foot knights Foot knights are slow and have no way of attacking from a distance, so the best way to deal with them is armour piercing missiles: use your crossbows to soften the knights up. England has the easiest time of it, since their longbows have a huge range and are devastating to armour. Javelin cavalry is very handy too, as it can stay out of melee and use its AP weapon to whittle down the knights. Artillery can also help thin their ranks and cavalry charges into the rear will still kill a lot. Since they only have swords, cavalry with powerful charges; like other knights and any other cavalry with 7 or greater charge will cause a ton of causalities, as the sword wielding knights cannot resist the charge. Whatever you do, kill as many as you can before they make it into melee. If they make it to melee, good quality axemen like Dismounted Druzhina will rip them a new one very quickly as they pierce armour.

Dismounted Chivalric Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 22 Armour: 8 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Spain, France, Denmark, Hungry The common generic knight, they can soak up damage like a sponge with their armour and dish out the hurt as well. They serve well in the foot knight role of shredding enemy units in melee. They are only very slightly better than Feudal Knights as they have one more point in armour. Dismounted English knights Attack: 21 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 8 Cost: 530 Upkeep: 225 Factions: England While these knights are great mounted, they are no use on foot because they use bugged polearms. Their stats are lopsided because they lack shields so they aren’t as good at holding the enemy like other knights are. Don’t bother with them. Dismounted Feudal Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 21 Armour: 7 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Spain, France, HRE, England, Venice, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark, Hungry, Papal States Feudal Knights are the standard knight for catholic factions and all of them have it. They are almost exactly the same as Chivalric Knights and excel in being your front line to cut up the enemy and hold them in place. Most factions will be using these most commonly for their foot knights. Dismounted Imperial Knights Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 225 Factions: HRE These troops look weaker than the other dismounted knights, until you see they use armour piercing maces. This means they will slice up other knights and heavy infantry in melee, which makes them very useful indeed. They have less attack for dealing with lightly armoured foes, but their good defence makes them hard for unarmoured troops to damage as they tend to have light weapons. Just watch out for axemen, as the Imperial Knights can’t kill them as easily as other knights because of their lower attack and they will die quickly to them. Dismounted Noble Knights Attack: 21 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 8 Cost: 530 Upkeep: 225 Factions: France This is another useless bugged knight and is no use at all. Dismounted Norman Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 21 Armour: 7 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Sicily These knights are exactly the same as Dismounted Feudal Knights and should be used in the same way.

Dismounted Polish Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 22 Armour: 8 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Poland Polish Knights are just the same as Dismounted Chivalric Knights and should be used in the same way. Dismounted Portuguese Knights Attack: 21 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 8 Cost: 530 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Portugal Another useless bugged knight, don’t even bother with them.

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General

Sometimes you just have to get down and bust a few heads. Much like generals in RTW your general is the soul of your army. While the men are the body, the general is their soul that keeps them fighting. Over dramatics aside the quality of your general has a huge effect on how your troops fight and their morale. An army can suffer from a bad general as much as it can benefit from a great one. A general will almost always be better than a captain for a leader. There are too many traits to go into here that generals can get but here are some tips on moulding a good general. Start young. As soon as a guy comes of age give him an army and send him off to conquer. The sooner you start getting him command stars and positive traits the better and the longer he has to improve and serve your faction before he dies from old age. Get the general involved. While generals bodyguards are not as devastating as RTW’s, they are still powerful units and are more than capable of contributing to a melee and hacking troops apart themselves; getting the general involved personally is a great way to get him good traits. Keep an eye on your general. Watch the melee closely. If your general is cut off from his bodyguard or is bloody and surrounded by people hitting him, pull the unit back to get him out of the danger, if he’s behind his bodyguard and bloody but not actually getting hit you can risk leaving him there a bit longer. If you can’t see your general, pause and find him: his distinctive armour makes him easy to spot. Some of the most useful traits like the scarred traits (that increase your general’s hitpoints, so it takes more hits to kill him) are gained by surviving a battle but being badly injured. If a general loses most of his hitpoints but survives a battle he will often get a scarred trait. It is a fine line to keep him in mêlée long enough to get good traits and getting him killed. Don’t be afraid of throwing your general into the thick of things. Regardless of his traits all generals have a heavy cavalry bodyguard. The size of the bodyguard depends on the importance of the general and his skills. High command star generals get larger bodyguards, while faction leaders and heirs always get very big ones. Traits about security, like about being paranoid about assassins and such give even more bodyguards. The only faction that doesn’t have a heavy cav bodyguard is the Aztecs, as they lack cavalry. In one historical battle the English have a heavy infantry bodyguard for their king.

Bodyguard Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 860 Upkeep: 250(Timurids, Mongols) Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 18 Armour: 7 Cost: 900 Upkeep: 250(Moors, Turks, Egypt) The early bodyguard for these factions pack good stats indeed and are more than capable of tuning a battle with a charge or in melee and protecting the general. They do not have the AP weapon of the later bodyguard but still serve well. Late Bodyguard Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 19 Armour: 9 Cost: 1070 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Moors, Turks, Egypt The late bodyguard for these factions has slightly less attack and more defence and armour but they also pack an armour piercing mace rather than a sword for a secondary weapon. This makes them more useful, as they can cut up tough units in mêlée with their great stats and AP attack. General’s Bodyguard Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 820 Upkeep: 250 (England Spain, France, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States) Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 18 Armour: 7 Cost: 820 Upkeep: 250 (Russia) The average Christian bodyguard is a powerful unit, able to turn the tide of a melee with good all round stats comparable to knights. Russia’s bodyguard is even more powerful with great defence and very strong attack for a cavalry unit. Take full advantage of this if you are Russia. Khan’s Guard Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 17 Armour: 8 Cost: 950 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Timurids, Mongols Oddly these cavalry based factions don’t have the best general’s bodyguard as they have lesser stats than some. They do pack an AP mace for a secondary weapon which helps them along. They are disciplined which most bodyguards aren’t. Late General’s Bodyguard Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 17 Armour: 9 Cost: 870Upkeep: 250(England France, Venice HRE Spain Sicily, Milan, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark, Poland) Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 18 Armour: 9 Cost: 910 Upkeep: 250 (Russia) While these bodyguards have some better stats they have some worse ones too like Russia losing attack. They also do not have AP secondary weapons unlike most late bodyguards. They are still more than capable of protecting your generals however, with great stats all around. Tsar’s Guard Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 19 Armour: 8 Cost: 840 Upkeep: 320 Factions: Russia Tsar’s Guard are the toughest general’s bodyguard in the game and they guard the faction leader. They have powerful stats with the best defence out of the bodyguards and a powerful attack. Their charge isn’t very good, so it’s better to leave them in melee.

Javelin Cavalry

There’s nothing like finding a javelin in your neck to get a sleepy head up and about. Javelin cavalry are very useful, versatile troops. They are light or medium cavalry with good stats and throwing javelins. Their javelins are AP and are devastating to slower infantry and cavalry chasing them. They have the same staggered firing style of infantry but their much greater mobility makes it far easier for them to shred armoured units under a hail of metal death. They all have skirmish mode so they can pull back from charging infantry while hitting them with their deadly missiles, they are also fast enough to skirmish away from heavy cavalry. Like the infantry version, javelin cavalry work best when they can fire into the flank or rear of a unit bypassing their shields. Use cheap spearmen or the like to hold the unit or use the javelin cavalry to unbalance a melee in your troops favour by hurling javelins into their flank as they try to fight your troops in melee. Almost all of these cavalry are good in melee so so don’t be shy of charging into a flank especially with the powerful Boyar Sons and their AP axes. Boyar Sons Attack: 9 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 670 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Russia Boyar Sons are useful jav cav able to function well as medium cavalry as well as whittle down armoured targets. The axe they use in melee is AP as well so they can charge into armoured units and cut down the weakened survivors after the javelin deluge. They have good morale. This is, I think the best javelin cavalry and one of the most useful units since they can launch AP missiles before following it up with an AP melee weapon. Desert Cavalry Attack: 8 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Moor, Egypt Desert Cavalry are the weakest javelin cavalry in the game, but they still pack the same punch with their javelins as most others but will quickly suffer in melee.

Granadine Jinetes Attack: 8 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 670 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Moors These javelin cavalry are weaker than most others but not by much and they still serve very well as jav cav as they still have a good missile attack. Jinetes Attack: 9 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 4 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Spain Jinetes are slightly stronger than their Moorish brethren in attack, scroll but weaker in defence and have the same missile attack. They should be used in the same way Polish Nobles Attack: 11 Missile attack: 10 Charge: 4 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Cost: 800 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Poland Polish Nobles are the toughest jav cav; they can fight well in melee as they have better stats than some knights and very high morale. Don’t hesitate at all to use them as heavy cavalry with the added bonus of throwing AP missiles. They have high morale as well.

Horse Archers

Horse archers rule the desert. Horse Archers are mounted troops with bows. This combination of missiles and mobility makes them the perfect troops for harassment as they can kill enemies with their arrows then withdraw before the enemy can catch them. Almost all horse archers use bows and their missile attack tends to be lower than foot archers to represent the lessened accuracy from horseback archery. The best way to use horse archers is to ride around to the rear or right flank of the enemy so you can hit them in their unshielded side or weakly armoured back so you’ll kill allot more with their arrows. Attacking from the front with horse archers is much less effective as they have a usually low missile attack and many shots will be blocked by the enemies shield or absorbed by armour, unless they are firing at unarmoured targets like Spear Militia Always move to the flank or rear with them and make sure to keep skirmish mode on unless you have them in a secure position you don’t want them to leave. Make sure to keep horse archers out of melee, as with a few exceptions they are weak in it and are usually lightly armoured or unarmoured with weak weapons. Foot archer and gunpowder are also strong against horse archers, as the horses are a big target and usually lack armour and have less missile attack. If you are facing infantry missile troops besides javelins with horse archers charge them and fight them in melee but remember that some archers are quite tough and will beat horse archers in melee. M2TW also features a few units of mounted crossbowmen and one longbow equipped horse archer unit. Mounted crossbows should be used much like mounted gunpowder except that they don’t cause a morale penalty. Take advantage of their ability to crush armoured units and try to keep them out of counter fire. Byzantine Cavalry Attack: 7 Missile attack 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Byzantine cavalry Byzantine Cavalry are poor shooters but they aren’t bad in melee and work quite well as light cavalry for charging into a flank, though their horrible charge bonus and light armour handicaps them, their defence is good., Their morale is low so be careful with them.

Cossack Cavalry Attack: 9 Missile attack 8 Charge: 4 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Russia Russia’s famous Cossacks, these HAs shoot well and have good attack for such light cavalry and a good charge for horse archers, so they can charge into a flank and use their decent melee stats to fight for a while. They will die quickly however because of their lack of armour. They have very high morale; the same as knights. Dvor Cavalry Attack: 11 Missile attack: 10 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 800 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Russia Dvor are strong horse archers, the best in the game! They have a powerful attack and great defence for horse archers as well as an AP axe for melee. They shoot very well and have very high morale making them very versatile. This unit can shoot at light units from a distance to cause causalities and charge home and fight then well, or charge heavily armoured troops their arrows are ineffective against and crush them using their AP secondary weapon. These are some of Russia’s most useful troops and you should use them tho they are expensive. French Mounted Archers Attack: 9 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 4 Defence: 14 Armour: 6 Cost: 1030 Upkeep: 210 Factions: France French Mounted Archers, like Dismounted French Archers are not available in the grand campaign as they do not appear. This is a crying shame because they are remarkably deadly troops. The thing that makes this unit so powerful is they are armed with LONGBOWS with the power and armour piercing ability that comes with them, as well as possessing the mobility of horse archers. This makes them very deadly vs. slow heavy infantry and other armoured units. I’m not sure why England doesn’t get a mounted longbow unit but sadly you can only take advantage of this unit in custom battles and online multiplayer. Granadine Crossbow Cavalry Attack: 8 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 5 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Moors As one of the few mounted crossbow units in M2TW these are very useful. They are quite well armoured for missile units, tho they have weak defence and you still should keep them out of melee. They can take some counter fire and well beat horse archers. It’s much better to attack the armoured units such as foot knights however. Hungarian Nobles Attack: 9 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Hungry Hungarian nobles are like weaker Dvor. They can fight in melee just as well as shooting their defence lets them take damage and don’t hesitate to charge them into a flank if needed after showering the enemy with arrows.

Kazaks Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Russia Kazaks are basic Russian horse archers. They have a weak missile attack, poor melee and their defence is very low, as they lack armour. Just use them for shooting lighter troops like spearmen and keep them far away from melee. Mamluk Archers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 4 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 900 Upkeep: 210 Factions: Egypt Mamluk archers are another tough unit of horse archers wielding secondary AP maces as small shields making them very handy in melee they have good melee stats which coupled with their AP weapon makes them useful tho they are good shooters as well. Magyar Cavalry Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 4 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Hungry Magyar cavalry are lightly armoured horse archers but their defence still sucks. Besides their armour they are the same as Kazaks and should be used for shooting and kept out of melee. Mongol Heavy Archers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 4 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 900 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Timurids, Mongols Mongol heavy archers are exactly the same as Mamluk archers including the secondary AP mace. This unit has no upkeep so the Mongols don’t go bankrupt. Mongol Horse Archers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 8 charge: 4 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 590 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Mongols These horse archers have better melee attack than some, tho they have weak defence so are best kept out of melee. Being Mongol they unsurprisingly shoot very well. Zero upkeep. Turkish Horse Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Timurids, Turks Turkish horse archers are just like Kazaks and should be used as basic horse archers and kept out of melee.

Mounted Crossbowmen Attack: 7 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 5 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Venice, Milan, Portugal, Denmark, Papal States Mounted crossbows are far weaker than their infantry counterparts but are still great against enemy armour as they can skirmish away from enemies and can fire on the move. Their missile attack is low so they won’t really be all that effective against unarmoured units compared to archers so target the armoured enemies with them. They are tolerable as light cavalry in melee too Sipahis Attack: 9 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 760 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Turks Sipahis are yet another unit of HA just like Hungarian Nobles. Use them in the same way. Skythikon Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 175 Faction: Byzantium Again these HAs are just like Kazaks. Lithuanian cavalry Attack: 9 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Cost: 500 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Poland Despite not having armour Lithuanian Cavalry are ok in melee since they have a great attack for horse archers and just about excusable defence. Their missile attack is low but they can be used as light cavalry as well as shooting. Strzelcy Attack: 7 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Poland Strzelcy are mounted crossbowmen that should be used much like the normal mounted crossbowmen. Turkomans Attack: 7 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Timurids, Turks Turkomans are another basic horse archer unit. They have better defence than some as they pack a small shield but should still be used purely to shoot. Vardariotriotai Attack: 10 Missile attack 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Cost: 800 Factions: Byzantines This is another very useful unit of horse archers able to fight well in melee and function as light cavalry if required. Don’t hesitate to throw them against weaker units or into a flank.

Camels

Armour is for pussies anyway! Camels, much like RTW's camels are made for one purpose and that is killing off cavalry. Camels get +2 attack vs. cavalry and at the same time cavalry get -4 attack vs. camels, giving the camels a huge advantage. Camels get -4 against elephants like horses however, so keep them far away. Camels are never armoured and will suffer greatly at the hands of infantry. Keep camels far away from infantry, except weak missile units and focus on hitting the cavalry with them. Tuareg Camel Spearmen Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 300 Factions: Moors The only recruitable unit of camels in M2: TW, Tuareg give the Moors a big advantage over their Christian neighbours. The only other camel units are mercenaries.

Elephants

Don’t call him dumbo. Elephants are well known as devastating units: they were deadly in RTW unless properly countered. In M2TW they are toned down and incredibly rare, but still remain rather dangerous. Because of the much better morale of units, elephants have a hard time routing them quickly like in RTW. Very tough units like knights will just sit in melee with the elephants and steadily wear them down. For best results crash into the rear with elephants and use them in an attack with other units unit at the same time. Elephants Attack: 10 Missile attack: 16 Charge: 9 Defence: 16 Armour: 13 Cost: 2090 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Timurids The basic elephant; they have good stats and hitpoints and serve well for charging into the enemy and scaring them. They have Arquebusiers on their backs and the morale crushing fire from these help the elephants to rout enemies. The Arquebusiers are very accurate compared to foot Arquebusiers and can really put a hole in an enemy unit given a minute or two. This unit cannot skirmish. Note that these units upkeep is zero so the Timurids don’t bankrupt themselves keeping it around. Elephant Artillery Attack: 10 Missile attack: 28 Charge: 9 Defence: 16 Armour: 13 Cost: 2750 Upkeep: 0 Factions: Timurids Elephant Artillery, historically accurate or not are normal elephants with small serpentine type cannons mounted on their backs rather than guys with arquebuses. The cannons have a small area of affect, but since there are 15 elephants in the unit they can unload a hail of lead if you have a few units of them. A volley from two units of cannon elephants basically covers the area in front of them to a good distance with shells. If a unit is caught in there they will usually suffer 1/3 causalities in one go. 2 or 3 vollies will crush that unit so firing them into a mass of troops will kill tons and they will rout very quickly. Don’t underestimate the power of elephant artillery. If enemies make it to the elephants they won’t have an easy time in melee since they are elephants and it will take a while for elephants to start dropping. If you’re unlucky enough to face this unit; use your own artillery, any long range archers and swamp them with melee troops...and pray. They are very, very expensive by far the most in the game so losing the unit will be very bad for the Timurids. This unit also has zero upkeep.

Artillery

Artillery works somewhat better than suicidal peasants ramming a gate on the bigger walls. Artillery are large siege engines designed for bashing down walls and indirect fire on troops. They usually have a long range and an area of effect attack Standard artillery includes all non gun artillery. All artillery is inaccurate and you have to be lucky to hit a unit directly with their missiles, and even if you do it won’t kill that many. Artillery are all different and more information can be found in the unit descriptions. One thing common to all artillery is they need another unit of infantry or cavalry nearby to intercept cavalry charges and stop the artillery crew getting dragged into melee. Artillery crews are small and while they are surprisingly good at melee as they have some armour and knives a cavalry charge will slaughter them and they will be cut down in melee with anything tougher than peasants as they are far outnumbered. Artillery isn’t the crushing deadly force you might expect it to be. They are more a constant low level barrage of missiles chipping away at the enemy and killing some now and then from the safety of behind your lines. They can kill some in a battle but never rely on your artillery to win you a battle, unless it’s a siege. Gunpowder artillery can destroy stone walls very easily, as their shots have a lot of power. The ultimate example of this is the Turkish Monster Bombard that can destroy even the biggest of walls in one shot. Gunpowder Artillery is very useful for destroying towers to make the assault less costly for your troops. The Rocket Launcher, an amusing artillery weapon used by the Mongols fires a huge barrage of 36 rockets which are very inaccurate and land over a large area and are flame weapons. They are excellent for weakening masses of troops and for firing at enemy artillery since the many fiery projective gives them a good chance of hitting an enemy artillery piece directly and destroying it outright or setting it on fire, making it useless. An annoyance of artillery is the fact is has a minimum range. If you tell a unit to fire and it’s in range but the unit wont shoot, that means the enemy is too close to target. Only large cannon type artillery have minimum ranges, Ribaults do not. Use fodder and other troops to keep enemies far enough away from the artillery so it can fire, or target more distant enemy troops.

Ballista Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 10 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Spain, France, Timurids, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Byzantium, Russia, Turks, Egypt, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, Mongols, England Ballistae are common artillery and every faction has them. They fire large arrow like bolts and have a longer range than archers, though its short ranged for artillery. They are mostly useless vs troops. In both flaming missiles and normal mode they will kill 1-6 per missile, as the missiles pierce though men and will often kill the line of men behind the first man it hits if the unit is lined up and marching. While much more effective than RTW’s version, ballistae aren’t really going to make a dent in an army themselves, though they are ok for sitting behind your lines and constantly hitting the enemy with bolts for a constant low level barrage. Ballistae are effective against wooden walls, but stone ones will take allot of hits to destroy and the ballista crew will get killed by wall defences before they can do much. Basilisk Attack: 63 Missile attack: 330 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 1080 Upkeep: 400 Factions: Russia, Portugal, Poland, Hungry Basilisks are the most advanced cannons in the game, needing a ton of buildings and a very advanced city and only few factions get them. They are overwhelmingly not worth their cost. They are seemingly just as inaccurate as the previous artillery and have the same ability to fire solid or exploding shot. They have a huge range but otherwise aren’t really better than cannons. Bombard Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 120 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 250 Factions: France, Spain, Timurids, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Byzantium, Russia, Turks, Egypt, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, Mongols, England Bombards are the first gunpowder artillery you can make and are very powerful at smashing down walls for their cost. While highly inaccurate and needing a high level city to produce they can decimate walls in a few shots and big ones will fall quite quickly. They are too inaccurate to be used against troops, but a hit will kill quite a few. You might as well disband your other arty besides trebs when bombards come along. Cannon Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. buildings: 250 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 870 Factions: Timurids, Sicily, Russia, Turks, Egypt, Denmark, Poland Cannon have just a tiny bit more range than bombards: 380 vs. the bombards 375. They are the later version of bombards and are very powerful at smashing walls.

Catapult Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 30 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Spain, France, Timurids, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Byzantium, Russia, Turks, Egypt, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, Mongols, England One of the first siege engines you’ll use, catapults have a rather short range but can fling large rocks at walls causing much more damage than ballistae. They work well against walls, but large walls will take quite a long time to bash down with catapults. You should use allot of theses early on for your siege needs, but when you can you should switch to trebuchets as their longer range and more powerful missiles make them much better. Whenever you need a wall beat down though catapults are a fine and easily accessible engine that, given enough time, can bash anything down. Grand Bombard Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 180 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 730 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, France, Timurids, Milan, Russia, Turks, Egypt, Portugal Grand Bombards are larger versions of the normal bombard cannon available soon after bombards by constructing the next building in the gunsmith line. They do a bit more damage to buildings and have quite a bit more range. They are worth building instead of bombards, but not really enough to disband your current bombards if you can’t replace them easily, as you’ll be moving onto canons soon. Culverin Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. buildings: 230 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 800 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, France, Venice, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Papal States, England Culverins are much better than bombards. They are more accurate vs. walls and can knock down stone walls in a few shots. Having them for sieges is very handy. They also have a much longer range than bombards Monster Bombard Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 1000(!) Charge: 0 Defence: 9 Armour: 4 Cost: 1900 Upkeep: 400 Factions: Timurids, Turks These massive cannons are the ultimate siege guns, able to breach the biggest of walls in a single shot. They are slow to fire, but there is no other gun more suited to sieges. As you’d imagine this gun isn’t a good one to use against troops as it’s just too big and inaccurate. They have very high morale, more than other artillery crews so they won’t break. Note that this gun doesn’t have a reloading animation unlike the other artillery. When the gun fires it is pushed back and slowly rolls forward again, then the barrel moves forward slowly as well. When the animation finishes, the gun fires again. It has about the same rate of fire as smaller guns, despite its size.

Mortar Attack: vs. troops: 63 Vs buildings: 150 Charge: 0 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Scotland, Sicily, Venice, Papal States, England Mortars are different to other artillery as they fire high into the sky and land on walls rather than being fired at them. This means they can easily arc over walls to hit troops inside settlements and behind obstacles. They aren’t very accurate however and not that good at actually destroying walls as thye don’t dish out that much damage and their range is shorter. They are cheaper than even basic bombards. They work ok as cheap artillery, but cannons are better. Ribault Attack: vs. troops: 63 Vs buildings: 5 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, England Ribaults are a collection of small tubes mounted together on a carriage. They are fired as one, shelling the target with multiple projectiles. The repeated gunpowder hits wreck morale very quickly and they are quite accurate; usually getting at least a few hits every volley. Ribaults have a small range and you should position your troops to the side of a Ribault unless you want them to get nailed when it fires, as they can’t arc their shots. Ribaults are the most effective artillery against troops and are cheap. Rocket Launcher Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. buildings: 10 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 1100 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Timurids, Mongols Rocket Launchers are powerful artillery pieces that are unfortunately only available to unplayable factions. They fire a barrage of flaming rockets over a wide area, causing great damage to units caught in the area. Because they fire a collection of projectiles there is a good chance of scoring multiple hits and the flaming nature of the missiles further lowers morale because of the fire attack. A good hit from the rocket launcher will kill 10-20 enemies and drastically lower their morale, making them one of the most effective artillery. Remember that this artillery has no minimum range and they are useless against walls, as they do no damage. Serpentine Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. buildings: 10 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 150 Factions: France, Denmark, Poland, Hungry Serpentines have a huge range despite their small size. They are designed for use against troops rather than buildings, as they have a tiny building attack and a decent troop attack. They are notably more accurate than other artillery and their shots will hit in a smaller area, rather than the wide random damage area of larger siege guns. If you want to use artillery against troops this is the gun to use.

Trebuchet Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 90 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Spain, France, Timurids, Venice, Sicily, Milan, Scotland, Byzantium, Egypt, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, Hungry, Papal States, Mongols, England Trebuchets, the most advanced non gunpowder artillery is unique as it has three firing modes. Besides the normal fire mode and flaming missiles it also has the ability to fling half a rotting cow at your enemy. The cow stays on the ground after firing and any enemy troops walking over the cow become sick, signified by their banner flashing green. This lowers their morale threshold. While they may still look like they are on eager morale, after a mêlée starts or they are otherwise subjected to morale pressures their morale will fall much more quickly than normal while they are affected by the cow. Anyone who walks over the cow remains on the battlefield will become sick, including your own men if you move them too close. Firing cows is best used on defence where you can fire a few cows in the enemies’ path so they walk over them before the clash with your front line, which will make them rout much more quickly. Just don’t let your men chase them over the cow if there is more fighting to be done, otherwise you men will become sick and you’ll be at a disadvantage. As for the more normal modes of the treb it is much more powerful against buildings than the catapult and can tear down walls quite quickly, although large walls will take some work. Not really accurate enough to be worth using against troops, except for cows.

Native troops

No they aren’t pyjamas... These troops are the Aztec faction’s army. They don’t really fit anywhere comfortably, so they get their own section. All Aztec units have little or no armour and all of them are vulnerable to missiles. Aztec units are weak and their advantage is their great numbers as they will always far outnumber you. Individually Aztec units can’t stand up to any of the other more advanced factions. Arrow Warriors Attack: 7 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 11 Armour: 4 Cost: 400 Arrow Warriors are a javelin unit, tho they do not pierce armour so their missiles aren’t a threat and even tho they use a spear like javelin in melee they don’t get a bonus vs. cavalry. This is another unit you should, mop up with little effort, particularly with swordsmen since they use spear like weapons. Aztec Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 4 Cost: 370 The Aztecs archer unit, these are weak archers that shoot poorly, but aren’t bad in melee for archers. By the time you can reach the Aztecs you’ll have loads of heavily armoured, powerful units that will render these archers mostly useless. Aztec Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 220 These spearmen are the Aztecs only anti cavalry unit. They are very weak with an average attack, but very poor defence and will die very quickly in melee with just about anything. They will do some damage to cavalry, but will die quickly to anything else, especially missiles, as they completely lack armour.

Aztec Spear Throwers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 4 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 220 This unit is remenisant of RTW’s skirmisher units as they throw javelins that are not armour piercing, have next to no defence and are cheap disposable fodder. That is exactly what these troops are; they are not a threat at all and will die in seconds. Their missiles are almost harmless. Aztec Warriors Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 320 Aztec Warriors are the rank and file of the Aztec armies with decent attack and good defence for the Aztecs. They have average morale and are no match at all for most units from Europe. Engage them with knights or swordsmen and they will die in droves. Bodyguard Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 410 This unit is the personal bodyguard of Aztec generals who are of course on foot for this faction. Since the Aztecs lack armour this general is far more vulnerable than any other, so use archers and crossbows to whittle down his guard or just charge it with strong cavalry as they just wield macana clubs and will take a lot of losses from a cavalry charge. You should have no problem killing this general, even tho his bodyguard have good stats. Cuahchiqueh Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 540 Cuahchiqueh are the same troops as the ones used for the bodyguard and they should be dealt with in the same way: massed missiles either AP or not and powerful cavalry charges as they are annoyingly good in melee, have very high morale and are impertutious Coyote Priests Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 480 Coyote Priests have the ability to chant like RTW’s druids, raising the morale of units in the area. They also frighten enemy infantry that are close to them, which is all the more reason to kill them as quickly as possible with missiles or cavalry charges. Try to take out the priests first if you can to remove their morale bonus. They are just as tough as Cuahchiqueh in melee. Eagle Warriors Attack: 20 Charge: 5 Defence 9 Armour: 4 Cost: 340 Eagle Warriors are a step above normal warriors in the ranks of the Aztecs, but in M2TW they are worthless as they are two handed weapon users affected by the bugs. Their two handed macana clubs act like polearms, which makes them little more than fodder. They have great morale so it will take a while to rout them. Jaguar Warrior Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 570 Jaguar Warriors are the Aztec elite, but suck as they use two handed macanas and thus suffer the 2hand bug, just like polearms.

Peasants and non-combatants

No, it’s MY run down village! This category has the peasant type units of factions and other units where combat isn’t their primary use. Peasants, much like the previous games are weak and useful for fodder and as just more bodies to throw at the enemy. M2: TW’s Catholic peasants are surprisingly strong however. Carroccio Standard Attack: 12 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 85 Factions: Venice, Milan The Carroccio Standard is a cart with flags guarded by a small unit of spearmen. These spearmen have very high stats and will never rout. They will fight to the last man no matter what to protect the standard. The standard projects a morale boost around itself, making any troops in its vicinity harder to rout. The spearmen only have 60 men and while they are very tough they will not hold on long if attacked as they are greatly outnumbered by most units. Keep the standard safe. If you alt+right click on an enemy the spearmen will leave the standard to fight and from then on can be moved around normally. If you click on the standard they will reattach to the standard and begin pushing it again. If they are attacked they will detach from the standard to fight. Aztec Peasants Attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 180 Factions: Aztecs Aztec Peasants are the toughest peasants in M2TW: they have the best attack for peasants and good defence. They will of course fall very quickly to your invasion force.

Catholic Peasants Attack: 4 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Cost: 110 Upkeep: 90 Factions: Spain, France, Venice, Milan, Poland, Hungry. Russia, Byzantium Catholic Peasants are actually tough for peasants. They have a low attack but not totally useless and enough defence to take a few hits. Their morale, despite being the lowest in the game keeps them in melee till ½ of the unit is dead as long as they aren’t flanked or anything and they come in handy for fodder or as decoys as they cost virtually nothing. Don’t sell peasants short: early on they can have a place in your army as line troops and later they still come in handy as fodder. Muslim Peasants Attack: 1 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 90 Upkeep: 90 Factions: Moors, Turks, Timurids, Egypt Muslim Peasants are virtually useless units. They are for whatever reason far weaker than catholic peasants and are very weak. Use them for arrow fodder and to push siege equipment, they are also good for holding troops while you hit them with naptha although tougher yet still cheap troops like Spear Militia would be better for that as they will stay alive long enough to finish your movement or attack. Highland Rabble Attack: 2 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 120 Upkeep: 90 Factions: Scotland Highland Rabble are even weaker than Catholic Peasants, but they have allot of morale for peasants and the impertutious trait which means moral shocks have less of an effect on them and they will hold for a long time, even when taking terrible causalities. The combination of great morale and extreme cheapness make these the perfect fodder, able to stay in a fight and hold the enemy, even while getting massacred. Transylvanian Peasants Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 270 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Hungry Transylvanian Peasants, who are army volunteers would you believe are very different to the majority of peasants. They wield armour piercing polearms but have horrible stats and no armour. They have more morale than most peasants and will hold till a lot of them have been cut down. This unit won’t actually kill many enemies because of the fact polearms suck and their stats are terrible, but they can serve as cheap fodder, able to hold an area and dish out some kills of their own for a little while. They are cheap enough to make lots of.

Religious troops Crusade troops

Religion makes people do funny things... These troops are available only when you create a crusading army. Flagellants Attack: 10 Charge: 4 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 90 Upkeep: 70 Flagellants are two handed club users so they won’t be killing much of anything, though they have better stats than the other peasant crusader fodder. They have huge morale and are disciplined, so they will take allot of punishment before routing Pilgrims Attack: 2 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 35 Upkeep: 90 Pilgrims are even weaker than Catholic Peasants stats wise, but at least they have a knife rather than a pitchfork. These men come in huge numbers, as they are very cheap and there are usually a lot of them available for recruitment when you go on crusade. They are excellent for using to push siege engines and to tie up enemies, as well as charging in a huge mass to lower enemy morale with their extreme numbers. They are extra useful on crusade because you can’t afford to lose too many crusade troops and you can keep more crusaders alive to use after the crusade. They are deceptively useful and you should have at least some in your army and use them to fill spare army slots. Crusader Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 17 Armour: 7 Cost: 220 Upkeep: 300 Crusader Knights are just like Chivalric Knights, except only recruitable though the crusade and much, much cheaper. They have more upkeep however which will make them very expensive indeed to keep around after the crusade.

Crusader Sergeants Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 110 Upkeep: 185 Crusader Sergeants are the same as Armoured Sergeants that Catholic factions can normally recruit and thus make good filler for a crusading army. Almost every army needs some spears and these men do their job well. Religious Fanatics Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 70 Upkeep: 90 Religious Fanatics are very cheap troops. They use two handed clubs and have no armour and nonexistent defence, but they have a ton of morale and are impetutous so they are almost unroutable. Their two handed weapons makes them pretty useless at actually killing because of the 2hand bug, but their extreme cheapness and their staying power makes them some of the best cannon fodder in M2TW as they can sit in a melee for a long time and hold the enemy, while dishing out their own few kills and they are good troops to fill a stack when you join a crusade Jihad troops These troops can only be hired on a Jihad and thus only if you are Muslim Ghazis Attack: 10 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 100 Upkeep: 70 Ghazis are just like the MTW unit of the same name. They are AP axemen with a good attack but no armour and low defence, so they will kill fast and die fast. They are very, VERY cheap and are best used as flankers, as hitting the enemy from behind lessens the chance the ghazis will be focused on and killed. They do a good job vs. spearmen and the like, but can also cut up armoured troops. You should always get these when you go on a Jihad as they are very cheap and very useful. They are impertutious and have high morale so they won’t be routing anywhere. Mutatawwia Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 60 Upkeep: 70 Mutatawwia are one of the cheapest units in the entire Total War series. They are just like Religious Fanatics except they are Jihad troops instead, so hire them if you have some spare space in your stack as they also possess huge morale and are impertutious

Mercenaries Missiles Bulgarian Brigands Attack: 9 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 660 Upkeep: 150 Locations: Centre of map Bulgarian Brigands, another returning MTW unit are pretty tough archers; they can handle themselves in melee very well for archers and have some armour. Their lack of shields gets them killed quickly, but they work well as high risk archers on the front lines that will see some melee, as they can shoot well and survive some melee action. Balkan Archers Attack: 2 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 120 Locations Centre of map These crappy mercs are Peasant Archers with another name. They are very cheap and decent early on but hardly worth the cost except for fodder later. Still massed missile fire is useful, so don’t sneer at then if you have some free space. Catalans Attack: 12 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Greece, Venetian lands. Catalans are strong javelin infantry with all round good stats and a powerful missile attack. They will come in very useful against armoured targets and they can mix it up well in melee with lightly armoured foes. They are the only javelin troops in M2TW to have armour without upgrades, so they can take more abuse than the other javelins. They have insane morale, higher than knights so they will do their duty. Free Company Longbowmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Cost: 930 Upkeep: 180 Locations: England, Italy While quite rare and hard to find, the fact they are Longbowmen make these very useful mercs indeed. They come in incredibly handy for any faction for combating heavy troops and should always be hired. See the archer section for more information on Longbowmen. Mercenary Crossbowmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 7 Armour: 4 Cost: 860 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Everywhere Mercenary Crossbowmen are common mercs and you’ll find them all over the place. They are great early on as their wide availability gives you quick access to AP missiles and it can take a little while to get settlements up to where they can start producing crossbowmen. These are always good fillers for an army, as they have a higher missile attack than most

recruitable crossbows, though you should keep them out of melee, as they will die very quickly. Mercenary Pavise Crossbowmen Attack: 6 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 15 Armour: 6 Cost: 930 Upkeep: 180 Locations: These are just like recruitable Pasvise Crossbowmen. See the archer section for more. Needless to say these are very useful mercs. Armenian Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 560 Upkeep: 150 Locations: East of Constanople. Armenian Archers are decent archers: they pack a good missile attack but their lack of armour and defence means they should be kept far away from melee. Irish Kerns Attack: 2 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 125 Location: Ireland only Irish Kerns are javelin infantry with all around terrible stats. They have average aim but their melee stats suck severely and you should keep them far away from melee if you want them to stay alive. They are available only in Ireland, so you won’t be using them much. Cavalry Alan Light Cavalry Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Cost: 830 Upkeep: 250 Alan Light Cavalry are quite powerful for light cavalry: they have good attack for their class, good defence and are lightly armoured. It hardly matters though, as they are extremely expensive and have ridiculous upkeep, as much as knights! Don’t bother with these units as their cost isn’t worth it. Bedouin Cavalry Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 180 Locations: South East of map Bedouin Cavalry are very light cavalry with a decent attack but no armour and low defence. They are ok for chasing routers and attacking archers and missile units, but too light to be useful for anything else. They aren’t really worth their cost. Armenian Cavalry Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 1080 Upkeep: 300 Locations: East of Constantinople. Armenian Cavalry are heavy cavalry, tho their attack isn’t anything to shout about. They have average defence and armour and cost a stupid amount in upkeep. This is another merc that isn’t that great as even knights are cheaper and isn’t worth its cost. They can fill the role of heavy cavalry adequately if you need it however.

Serbian Hussars Attack: 13 Charge: 6 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 1030 Upkeep: 250 Locations: East Europe Serbian Hussars are powerful medium cavally. They have a great attack equal to knights and the same huge morale; though they aren’t impetuous they are like slightly less durable knights, despite being more expensive. If you are a faction that doesn’t get knights or you need powerful cavalry these will be very useful. They have huge upkeep so don’t leave them standing around. Mercenary Frankish Knights Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 16 Armour: 7 Cost: 1080 Upkeep: 300 Locations: Spain Merc Frankish Knights are exactly like Feudal Knights and should be used in the same way. Mercenary German Knights Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 9 Cost: 950 Upkeep: 300 Locations: Central Europe and England Merc German Knights have a low attack for knights, though their defence is average for them. Their morale is also much lower than most knights: the same as most trained troops: 5 compared to the knights 9 or 11. They are still very expensive despite the fact they are weaker than most knights. This is balanced however by the fact they use a secondary AP mace making them powerful against other knights and heavy cavalry. Despite this, their lower morale is a major weakness. Serbian Knights Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 16 Armour: 8 Cost: 1320 Upkeep: 300 Locations: Eastern Europe Serbian Knights are powerful with a great attack and powerful charge, their defence is the norm for knights and they are heavily armoured, making them everything a knight should be and very useful cavalry. They are however the most expensive knights in the game and their high upkeep also doesn’t help. Only hire these knights if you are rolling in money. Spearmen Flemish Pikemen Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Cost: 340 Upkeep: 155 Regions: Central Europe in French lands. Flemish Pikemen actually have armour unlike most pikemen and have a decent attack, though their defence is still very low and with the pike glitches they really aren’t worth recruiting except to fill stacks. Mercenary Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 660 Upkeep: 185 Locations: Everywhere These are basically the mercenary version of Armored Sergeants and as a result are always handy. You always need spearmen in an army and they are cheap, so hire them before you attack. They have good morale and will hold until most of them are dead, unless they are surrounded.

Slav Mercenaries Attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 350 Upkeep: 150 Locations: Centre of map Slav Mercs are exactly the same as Spear Militia and should be used as such. Their price is hardly any different either. They are not great fighters but serve as good filler for stacks, giving you more numbers and expendable troops. Welsh Longbowmen Attack: 2 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 180 Locations: England Welsh Longbowmen are just as useful as the English basic longbow and its nice as other factions can get access to their power, but they are terrible in melee, featuring the same stats as Peasant Archers so keep them behind a nice line of spearmen. Welsh Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 150 Locations: England Welsh Spearmen are like slightly stronger Spear Militia and have low stats and no armour. They have the same morale as Sergeant Spearmen and serve well as filler like Slav Mercenaries. Infantry Galloglaich Attack: 17 Charge: 6 Defence: 9 Armour: 4 Cost: 830 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Ireland only Galloglaich are broken 2 handed axemen and shouldn’t be used. Free Company Men At Arms Attack: 16 Charge: 5 Defence: 11 Armour: 8 Cost: 710 Upkeep: 180 These men are effectively knights and are very powerful indeed. Their upkeep is quite cheap for how strong they are, so hire then when you see them. Sudanese Tribesmen Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 440 Upkeep: 155 Locations: South of map in desert provinces These mercs are just another unit of swordsmen. They have a very good attack, but their defence is low so they will die quickly, particularly since they have no armour whatsoever. Use them as flankers and keep them far away from missile fire. Tlaxcalan Mercenaries Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Locations: The new world only

Artillery Mercenary Monster Bombard Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. buildings: 1000(!) Charge: 0 Defence: 9 Armour: 4 Cost: 1900 Upkeep: 400 Locations: East Europe (rare) Merc Monster Bombards are just like the Turk’s Monster Bombard and are thus incredibly useful to have at a siege since the biggest of walls crumbles uselessly under their onslaught, they are EXPENISVE however (do they fire solid gold cannonballs??) as they have a ridiculous upkeep and their hire cost is very expensive indeed. If you can afford to keep them around they will be worth their weight in gold in sieges. Just make sure to protect them well. You never really need this unit as sieges are possible with any artillery or just with a wall assault, but Monster Bombards are fun, so hire them if you want them. Missile cavalry Akinjis Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 620 Upkeep: 150 Locations: South east of map Akinjis are very basic horse archers that are weak in melee with very low defence and no armour. They are only average at shooting but are useful for factions that can’t recruit horse archers. They are impertutious, so even tho their morale is low they have much more staying power than their morale would indicate. They are very expensive for a pretty weak unit, so only get them if you really need them or are rolling in money. Cuman Horse Archers Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 620 Upkeep: 180 Location: North East Europe These are exactly like Akinjis and should be avoided unless needed. They cost more in upkeep too. Mounted Crossbowmen Attack: 7 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 5 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Everywhere Mounted Crossbows are very useful mercs, as mobile armour piercing missiles are always useful. They are cheap too. Turkopoles Attack: 6 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 4 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 210 Locations: All along the south of the map Turkopoles are better than some weaker horse archers in melee, though they should still be kept far away from it as they will die quite fast. They shoot averagely and cost allot of money for a weak unit, so again stay away from them unless you really want them.

M2: TW: Kingdoms Britannia campaign It is 1258AD. The isles of Britannia are rocked by conflict, rebellion and war. Rebellion comes from every comer for the English as the Scottish fiercely maintain their independence and the Welsh seek to strengthen their position before England’s invasion of Wales, England’s war in Ireland is still ongoing and she faces rebellion from within as England’s own barons rise up against the established order. Each faction is poised to take control of Britannia and is prepared to die for the cause. Who shall prevail?

Britannia, one of the new mini campaigns in kingdoms focuses on Britain and its internal struggles. New playable factions include Ireland and Wales. There is a nice smattering of new units. There are a lot of AP units in this campaign and there are also new gunpowder troops, which are much better than the old ones. The new culture troops feature adds to the diversity of your army and each of the factions provides a radically different experience. Note that full advice about each unit class is given in the Medieval 2: Total War guide earlier in this document. Please read the class descriptions in that for advice on how to use them. The other guides in this document focus on changes from M2TW’s units. Enjoy!

Spearmen

Armoured Sergeants Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 3 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 155 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance Armoured Sergeants are tougher than their M2TW version with better defence but for some reason actually have less armour. This means they are slightly tougher in melee to an extent, but will still die very quickly from missile fire. Always have some light cavalry to kill archers shooting your sergeants. They have high morale this time around and will stand firm. Cliathairi Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 13 Armour: 0 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Ireland These useful spearmen will be Ireland’s early game spears. They have good stats and do well, but their lack of armour gets them killed quite quickly. Make sure to keep them out of missile fire. They are Ireland’s only spearmen so you will use lots of them. Levy Spearmen Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 125 Factions: England Levy Spearmen are just like Spear Militia and should be used in the same way. Meirionnydd Spearmen Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 3 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Wales Meirionnydd Spearmen are just like Cliathairi, except with a bit of armour. They are very tough for early spearmen and are very important to protect Wales’ vital longbowmen from cavalry.

Morgannwg Spearmen Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 20 Armour: 6 Cost: 730 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Wales Morgannwg Spearmen are very tough spears for Wales’ late game. They pack very high attack for spearmen and high defence with a great charge for infantry. These spearmen excel against cavalry, but will hurt just about any enemy and are perfect for defending your many archers against cavalry. Make good use of them and use lots. They have high morale and are highly trained, making them a strong unit. Spear Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Norway, Scotland Spear Militia are quite different from their M2TW versions as they have much better stats, especially their defence, while they are still the same price. This makes them more useful and even though they are the weakest spearmen in the Britannia campaign; they are capable in battle for all the normal spearmen tasks. They will be much rarer in Britannia as only two factions have them Town Militia Attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 280 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Norway Town Militia, unlike the M2TW version has worse stats than Spear Militia and is just very slightly cheaper. This makes them mostly useless and you should always use Spear Militia rather than these units, as they are better all around for virtually the same price.

Pikemen

Armour envy. Pikemen are better in Kingdoms. They hold their formation better and seem to use their pikes for longer and they do a good job when their pikes are out. They take longer to change to swords if an enemy is close and are all round better troops. Their lack of shields and armour means they will get whooped by melee oriented troops, like swordsmen or axemen, but they do a good job vs. spearmen and cavalry. They work best against low defence troops like Billmen, as then they walk forward, stabbing with their pikes and as long as they keep killing the weak enemies with their pikes they won’t get close enough to draw their swords. This lets them kill off the first rank or three of a unit before getting bogged down into a melee. Pikemen are still cheap too. Only Scotland gets pikemen in Britannia. Heavy Pike Militia Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 12 Armour: 6 Cost: 500 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Scotland

Heavy Pike Militia is just like the M2TW version and is a decent enough unit, but you’re much better off with Highlanders Highland Pikemen Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 360 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Scotland

Highland Pikes are again just like M2TW and are quite weak all around. They have good morale and are inpertutious so will they hold for quite a while, making them good fodder. Noble Pikemen Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 6 Cost: 680 Upkeep: 215 Factions: Scotland

Noble Pikemen are the best pikemen in kingdoms with high morale and stats and will serve well for stopping cavalry and as general solders for Scotland. You are better off with Noble Swordsmen and Spear Militia to absorb charges however.

Scots Pike Militia Attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 260 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Scotland

The weakest pikes, they are better than the M2TW version but still of limited use except for missile fodder and stopping cavalry charges.

Swordsmen

It’s not the size of the sword...wait yes it is! One handed swordsmen in Britannia are much like M2: TW, but two handed swordsmen this time around pierce armour making them much, much more effective. With their huge attack and AP ability, two handed swordsmen rip though opponents in melee very quickly and they are far more useful than they once were, as now they are not outclassed by heavily armoured units who in M2TW could resist their attack and take advantage of the two handed swordsmen’s lack of defence and shield to kill them easily. Two handed swordsmen should be used whenever possible and excel in charging into a melee along with fodder so they can attack and have less chance of having their hits interrupted by blocking as the fodder helps take attention away from them. They also have a devastating charge for infantry. Two handed swordsmen are more than capable of fighting alone, although their defence is still often low and they die from missiles. Armoured Swordsmen Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 18 Armour: 6 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England Armoured Swordsmen are good swordsmen with good stats and high morale able to cut their way though spearmen and the like but they are outclassed by most other swordsmen and two handed ones. Use them as the core of your English army but back them up well with longbows. Gotland Footmen Attack: 18 Charge: 9 Defence 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Norway Gotland Footmen are devastating two handed swordsmen. They have excellent stats, huge morale, frighten nearby infantry, pierce armour and are just badass and look awesome in every way. They shred every other unit in the game including general’s bodyguards. Just keep them away from cavalry charges and massed missiles and they will crush everything in sight.

Gwent Raiders Attack: 7 Chagre: 2 Defence: 5 Armour: 2 Cost: 310 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Wales Gwent Raiders are all round bad swordsmen that are rather useless for anything but fighting spearmen, acting as standard infantry for keeping attacks away from your longbowmen and taking walls if you’re forced to assault fortifications. They are weak with low attack for a sword unit, horrible defence and next to no armour. They are cheap and have good morale and are impetuous, so even though they might take huge causalities they will stay in battle for quite a while. Highland Nobles Attack: 15 Charge: 9 Defence: 11 Armour: 3 Cost: 490 Factions: Scotland Highland Nobles are good two handed swordsmen with a big attack and a powerful charge and decent defence. High morale but they aren’t impetuous. They come in handy as strong assault infantry, especially against armoured targets. They are no match for Gotland Footmen. Muire Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 19 Armour: 6 Cost: 780 Upkeep: 60 Factions: Ireland Muire are late era swordsmen for Ireland with a strong attack and high defence. They have huge morale are disciplined and are highly trained making them a fierce unit indeed. They are excellent infantry and are great for your core heavy infantry force for that cuts their way though enemy lines. They also have a tiny upkeep cost. Noble Swordsmen Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 18 Armour: 6 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Scotland Noble Swordsmen are again tough heavy swordsmen used for forming your core force and slicing your way through heavy enemy formations. They aren’t as good attackers as Highland Nobles are, since they don’t pierce armour and have weaker attack. They have much better defence however. Same morale as them too. Norse Swordsmen Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Norway Norse Swordsmen are, like M2TW rather useless as Norway has very effective axemen instead. They are decent enough for holding a line and fighting other infantry, but axemen are more useful. Ostmen Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Cost: 340 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Ireland Ostmen are quite balanced swordsmen. They have good attack and defence as they have a very high shield value, making them very good at parrying in melee despite their low armour. They have good morale and are also impetuous, so they will stay in combat for a long time, even while taking nasty losses.

Ulster Swordsmen Attack: 13 Charge: 8 Defence: 10 Armour: 3 Cost: 360 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Ireland Ulster Swordsmen are weaker than the other two handed sword units with much lower morale but are still decent enough, tho their lower defence means they die quite fast They also put a dent in most units in a hurry with their large attack and the fact they are AP and work well as flankers or general assault troops. Just don’t except them to crush all and, mostly ignore losses like the other two handed units can.

Polearms

Attack with courage guys! We suck less now! Polearms seem to be somewhat better in Britannia. They seem to kill a lot more than before instead of getting parried all the time and if they outnumber the enemy they can actually defeat units like Feudal Knights as they will get quite a few kills when men hit knights that are distracted by other soldiers in the back or side where they cannot parry. Weaker polearms aren’t very effective, but the class of unit as a whole is somewhat more effective than before. They will still take allot of causalities and you’re better off with axemen. When using polearms; keep them in the spearwall formation, if they have it. This lets them brace their polearms, so when the enemy charge the first rank of enemies will impale themselves on the AP polearms and many will die. Keep spearwall polearms in guard mode too as polearms, like pikemen kill quickly when in formation. Non spearwall polearms should be left with guard mode off. In a melee they are still decent, but their lack of a shield can get them killed. Billmen Attack: 14 Charge: 6 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 240 Upkeep: 125 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance Billmen are much better than in M2TW. They are the weakest polearms and in a straight fight their defence and lack of armour means they die too quickly to dish out any serious damage, but with their huge attack and great charge for infantry they are deadly flankers, able to cut up armoured units quickly. They will still dish out some damage when attacking head on and they are very cheap, so they are easily replaced. They narrowly lose to Noble Pikemen, who cost much more than Billmen and should annihilate weaker troops. Their lack of armour is a serious weakness however and you’re better off with Heavy Billmen. Heavy Billmen Attack: 14 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance Heavy Billmen are just like Billmen except armoured. Their armour really helps them stay alive longer and they do a good job vs. most armoured units. They barely lose to Noble Swordsmen but lesser troops should be cut up handily by them, which is very good when you consider their cost!

Sword Staff Militia Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 12 Armour: 5 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Norway These polearms have decent stats, are well armoured and can form spearwall. This lets them get some more kills in at the beginning of the melee, as the chargers impale themselves on the polearms and as long as they keep formation they will do well.

Axemen

Typical, highly tactical, Scottish strategy. Despite polearms being somewhat fixed, two handed axemen still suck and should not be used. Even against spearmen they take about as many causalities as they dish out. Ceitherne Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 230 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Ireland These axemen are all around average and will die quite quickly with their low defence and attack but are useful cheap filler for an early army and their AP ability lets them do more damage than you’d think These men are very cheap and have low upkeep, so use loads of them and charge them in a big mass and they can defeat stronger troops. They have low morale. Highlanders Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 340 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Scotland Highlanders are you stereotypical fierce axe wielding Scottish infantry wearing nothing but kilts and are inpertutious. They scare enemy infantry. They have a good attack but low defence and no armour, so they kill fast and die fast. You will use loads of them as Scotland as your line troops so try to get them armour upgrades and attack in one huge mass to overwhelm the enemy with their numbers. They can stay in a melee for a long time, even while taking terrible causalities because of their inpertutious trait and are useful at any period in the game. They are one of my fave units. I like to use 10 or more units of them and order them all together as a huge mob, they are very effective this way and last a long time when told to attack together. Dismounted Huscarles Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 3 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Norway These units are the line infantry and main unit of Norway. They will have loads of them as the AI and you’ll make many of them yourself. They have well balanced stats and do a good job at dishing out the pain to pretty much any enemy. Use loads of them as Norway.

Rhyfelwyr Attack: 14 Charge: 8 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Wales Broken two handed axemen Sami Axemen Attack: 16 Charge: 9 Defence: 11 Armour: 5 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Norway More broken axemen. Viking Raiders Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Cost: 450 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Norway Viking Raiders are essentially lesser Huscarles. They have less attack and defence and no armour but still have AP axes. They really aren’t much cheaper than Huscarles when you consider how much weaker they are, so just use them early on when you don’t have access to Huscarles and as dependable garrisons and army filler. Welsh Militiamen Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 270 Upkeep: 125 Factions Wales Welsh Militiamen are weak axemen with all round low stats, but they are very cheap and can be recruited with few buildings making them useful to make loads of and use them in a huge mass to break the enemy with numbers and their AP attacks. Lots of them will die but they are cheap and useful.

Skirmishers

*insert joke about getting shafted here* Skirmishers in Britannia are just like M2TW’s version. Deisi Javalinmen Attack: 11 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 6 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 530 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Ireland Deisi have high morale and good stats making them useful skirmishers. Their melee weapon is not AP even tho it looks like it might be. Welsh Skirmishers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 360 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Wales Welsh Skirmishers have less attack then Deisi but they have an advantage against cavalry as they also use a javelin in melee that counts as a spear and gives +4 attack vs. cavalry like normal spearmen. Make sure to put this to good use when you can.

Archers

Longbowmen are every bit as deadly as they were in M2TW. Gaelic Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 155 Factions: Ireland Ireland’s only archers are ok as archers go; they are average shots but they are better in melee than most and use AP axes, so they can fight in melee better than you’d think.. Helwyr Attack: 5 missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Wales These archers are nothing compared to Wales’ longbowmen as they just use shortbows. There is really no need to use these units when you have the powerful longbows, except as garrisons. Highland Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Scotland Highland Archers are the main archers for Scotland and are all around weak as Britannia archers go, as they have the worst missile attack in the game. There are many archers better in melee, though these archers also pack AP axes. Every faction needs archers in its army but don’t expect miracles with Scotland’s. Longbowmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 550 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England The mighty longbow is again a force to be reckoned with in Britannia. While there are fewer heavily armoured troops, the longbow’s extreme range lets them severely weaken troops before the clash, particularly since there is a lot of infantry in Britannia. Make sure to keep them out of melee with a melee unit close by so they can keep shooting. They are somewhat effective against armour in melee, since they have AP hammers but longbowmen should be used at range; they are too valuable to throw away in melee.

Noble Highland Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 3 Cost: 550 Upkeep: 175 Factions: Scotland Noble Archers are much better than Highland Archers in all ways. They shoot better and are far better in melee, able to dish out some pain and take some abuse with their defence, AP axes and light armour. Use these well and replace highland archers with these when you can make them in large numbers. Norse Archers Attack: 9 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 440 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Norway Norse Archers are well balanced archers, as they shoot well and fight very well in melee for archers; they pack a good melee attack and a shield. Despite what the game says about their bows they are better than or equal to all archers in Britannia, besides longbowmen. Peasant Archers Attack: 3 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Cost: 200 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Norway, England, Scotland Peasant Archers are a little better than their M2TW version, with slightly better melee stats. They still have lousy missile attack and with the abundance of new, stronger archers in Kingdoms these units are of little use and will be killed quickly. Use them if you must for garrisons. They are very cheap at least. Retinue Longbowmen Attack: 9 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 3 Cost: 660 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance These tough armoured longbowmen are the same as the M2TW version. Their armour still isn’t enough to protect them for long against missiles, so try not to get into an archer duel as their expense means you don’t want to waste them. They are decent in melee with a high attack for an archer, but you’re still better off attacking from the flank or with support so they aren’t focused on and killed. They also do not have AP melee weapons, just swords. Saethwyr Attack: 5 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Wales For the creators of the longbow you think Wales would have stronger longbow troops than England, but they don’t. Wales relies on its longbows, as most of its other infantry is just too weak to fight enemies directly and you need to use masses of longbowmen to weaken the enemy and support your forces in melee. You should focus your entire army and economy around longbows and getting more longbows and attack from a distance as much as possible. Make loads of these troops and use a steady wall of spearmen or infantry to protect them as they unleash their storm. They have little armour, so they will suffer from counter fire. Make sure to use cavalry and longbow fire to silence enemy archers. They are better than you’d think in melee since they pack AP hammers.

Yeoman Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 150 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance Yeoman Archers are a lesser version of Retinue Longbowmen. They are a solid improvement over the standard longbows, with better stats all round. They should still be kept out of melee, but obviously this isn’t a problem for a unit with the range of longbows. Again they have AP hammers.

Crossbowmen

A little known fact is that crossbows could fire arrows too. Exclusive to Norway except for mercenary crossbows, crossbowmen work well against any enemy, much like M2TW. They still pierce armour and will shred any armoured units given time. Park them behind some melee troops on a hill or just in front of some so they can charge though to stop enemies attacking the crossbows and let them snipe away at the enemy. They are weak compared to longbowmen however. Crossbowmen Attack: 3 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 3 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Norway The basic crossbows, they shoot well and should be kept far away from melee. Crossbow Militia Attack: 3 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 100 Factions: Norway Crossbow Militia are just like Crossbowmen except they lack armour making them even less use in melee. They are cheaper than crossbowmen and both suck in melee. It is better to just get lots of Crossbow Militia, since you save money and their lack of armour doesn’t matter. Mounted Crossbowmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 5 Armour: 3 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 130 Factions: Norway Mounted Crossbowmen are again available only to Norway like all crossbows and are very useful for their mobility and AP missiles. Use them like mounted gunpowder troops.

Gunpowder

Happiness is a warm musket. The new gunpowder infantry is much better in kingdoms as the rank fire system works properly. The front rank will fire and then reload and stay kneeled until the second rank has finished firing. The first rank will then stand up and fire, while the second rank reloads and kneels and so on. Ranks further back will not shoot, so deploy them in two ranks. Because of the unbugged animations gun units work fine under fire and will keep shooting. It’s still not a great idea to keep them under fire, as gun units have weak defence and little armour. For full details of using gunpowder troops see the section for them in the M2TW section. Arquebusiers Attack: 3 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Norway, England, Baron’s Alliance Arquebusiers are still broken from M2TW and suffer the same problems when under fire and randomly freeze when shooting. If you want to use them, keep them far away from missile fire and off skirmish so they stay still and pour morale crushing rounds into the enemy. They are obviously terrible at melee with that defence. Calivermen Attack: 7 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 2 Defence: 5 Armour: 3 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 125 Factions: Ireland Cavivermen are much, much better than Arquebusiers, as the bugs for them are fixed and they will volley and reload properly even if under fire and never get stuck reloading or reforming. They are extremely useful troops, though they come very late in a campaign and it’s hard to get large numbers of them. They have a short range and aren’t very good in melee, so keep them well protected. When Cavivermen are set up and shooting they will break any enemy in short order. This is the unit Arquebusiers should have been.

Hand Gunners Attack: 9 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 5 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Norway Just like M2TW Hand Gunners don’t fire in ranks and thus are bug free. They aren’t very accurate and won’t kill too many, but they still crush morale and their missiles are backed up with decent melee ability, letting them unload a volley or two to wreck the enemies morale them charge into melee to break them. Magnelwyr Attack: 5 Missile attack: 11 Charge: 1 Defence: 11 Armour: 5 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Wales Magnelwyr are strong Welsh handgunners who are good in melee as they carry an axe and a shield. Their missile attack is lower than normal Hand Gunners, handicapping them but the shield gives them a better chance at surviving a melee. The axe they use is also AP like their missiles. Mounted Calivermen Attack: 9 Missile attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armor:4 Cost: 960 Upkeep: 130 Factions: Ireland Mounted Calivermen are a cavalry version of the Calivermen unit and are utterly devastating. The combination of morale crushing gunpowder and mobility makes them a true force to be reckoned with. They are vulnerable to archers, but against heavy infantry or cavalry they can kill an incredible amount of enemies while taking no causalities themselves.

Heavy Cavalry

That guy loves horses! Demi Lancers Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 10 Armour: 5 Cost: 770 Upkeep: 185 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance Demi Lancers are more useful in Britannia as knights are nerfed somewhat. They still don’t have the defence that knights have, but they have better attack, high morale and equal charge making them great for smashing into non spear units to cause masses of causalities. They are great at flanking charges too. Norse War Clerics Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Cost: 820 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Norway War Clerics are tough heavy cavalry, only bettered by Chivalric Knights. They have all round good stats and are well armoured. They have AP maces making them very useful against armoured foes, but their charge is lousy so they are best left in melee. Ridire Attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Ireland These medium cavalry have a low attack, but enough defence to stay alive for a while. They also have a poor charge, so they are best left in melee and work well against weaker troops like archers. Their morale is decent, but nowhere near knight level. Their all round average abilities makes them not worth their cost. Teulu Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 680 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Wales Teulu are like a stronger version of Ridire; they have all round better stats and pack a good charge for slamming into vulnerable infantry. Besides their good stats Teulu are disciplined, highly trained and have high morale, so they will do their duty or die.

Light Cavalry

A peasant on horseback is still a peasant. Border Horse Attack: 5 Charge: 4 Defence: 6 Armour: 2 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 110 Factions: Scotland Border Horse are one of Scotland’s few cavalry units and are quite weak, their attack is suitable only for killing archers; they have a poor charge and their defence sucks. Use Border Horse to support your infantry, tie up enemy cavalry and run down routers and missile units. Hobiguir Attack: 7 Charge: 5 Defence: 12 Armour 2 Cost: 660 Upkeep: 130 Factions: Ireland Hobiguir are rather tough as light cavalry go with a good defence despite their very light armour. Their attack is decent too and they serve the normal light cavalry tasks of supporting infantry, attacking missile units and chasing routers. The big surprise with this cavalry is that they are disciplined and have high morale. There are few light cavalry that can last as long as these men can and they are excellent for sending in first to wipe out archers or attacking artillery crews and other tasks that have a high chance of the horsemen getting attacked by reinforcements and highly outnumbered or otherwise threatened, because they are fast and have enough morale to finish what they are doing without routing. They are quite expensive, but very useful cavalry. Hobilars Attack: 3 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Armour: 2 Cost: 280 Upkeep: 110 Factions: England Hobilars are extremely weak light cavalry with awful stats, lower than peasants. They will be cut up by just about anything, but are very cheap for cavalry; the cheapest in the total war series. They should be used only to chase routers, as anything tougher than Peasant Archers will probably be too strong for them to kill. At least you can afford to have lots of these units.

Mathrafal Horsemen Attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 11 Armour: 3 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Wales Mathrafal are another tougher than average light cavalry with better than average defence tho their attack is average. Use them as normal light cavalry.

Knights

This heavy metal will rock you! Knights are less useful in Britannia, as some of them have lower stats than they had in M2TW and there is a huge amount of armour piercing units in Britannia that can kill knights easily. They are far from the crushing behemoths they could be in M2TW. They still come in handy as powerful infantry or heavy cavalry as long as you’re more careful with them. Chivalric Knights Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Cost: 920 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Norway Chivalric Knights are the best heavy cavalry in Britannia; they have strong attack and defence, able to crush troops in melee and the armour to take missile fire. They also have good charge for smashing into vulnerable troops. They are inpertutious Dismounted Chivalric Knights Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 18Armour 6 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Norway These knights are weaker than M2TW’s version but still pretty good infantry and are more than capable of holding a line and fighting off other infantry well. Dismounted English Knights Attack: 19 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 6 Cost: 590 Upkeep: 225 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance With the improved polearms in kingdoms English Knights are better than you’d think. They can hold their own against units like Feudal Knights, though they will take almost as many causalities as they dish out. They take a while to kill enemies and are vulnerable to missiles, but for AP uses you have little choice as the English, since they lack axemen except for mounted English knights, though their polearms can do the job too.

Dismounted Feudal Knights Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 225 Factions: Norway, England, Barons Alliance Dismounted Feudal Knights are much like the M2TW version except with slightly less armour. They still work very well as steady line infantry, but are vulnerable to cavalry charges. Yes they do have more upkeep than the mounted version for some stupid reason. English Knights Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 6 Cost: 840 Upkeep: 185 Factions: England, Baron’s Alliance English Knights are still great units with all round good stats, though their attack is lowish for a knight. They still have secondary weapon AP axes, so they can carve up armoured units. Make sure you use ctrl+right click in melee to get them to use their axes Feudal Knights Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Norway, England, Barons Alliance Despite the fact their stats are all around lower than M2TW’s Feudal Knights these knights are still decent enough heavy cavalry. They are impetuous. Mailed Knights Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 3 Cost: 670 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Wales, Scotland Mailed Knights are the weakest earliest knights, but still have decent enough stats with good attack and ok defence. Their armour is much lighter than later knights so missiles will have much more of an effect on them. Use them early on as your tough cavalry.

General

Forward lads to world domination! (This was taken at Ireland’s last city before I conquered the entire map!) General’s Bodyguard Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 17 Armour: 7 Cost: 960 Upkeep: 55(Norway, England, Baron’s Alliance, Ireland) Attack 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 960 Upkeep: 55(Wales, Scotland) All factions share almost the same general except Wales and Scotland’s one has slightly less armour which is normal for those nations as they have lots of lightly armoured or unarmoured units. Lord’s Retinue Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Cost: 920 Upkeep: 185 Factions: Ireland Ireland’s general’s guard is halfway between the heavily armoured and the lighter armoured generals bodyguard versions. They still do a good job protecting the general from anyone and serve their purpose well.

Javelin cavalry

Its winter and the javelins are falling... Horseboys Attack: 5 Charge: 5 Missile attack: 9 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 130 Factions: Ireland Horseboys are better in melee than Teulu but not by much and are best kept far away from it. They have a very good missile attack and can really put a hole in armoured units. Teulu Skirmishers Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 130 Factions: Wales Teulu Skirmishers are standard javelin cavalry, except they are extremely lousy in melee and should be kept far out of it. Their morale also sucks, but they are for some reason disciplined so they have somewhat more morale than Spear Militia who they have the same morale as.

Artillery

As boring as this picture looks it’s allot more exciting when you’re being shot at. Artillery in Britannia is just the same as M2TW with no real differences. Ballista Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 10 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Wales, Scotland The ancient ballista will get some use in Britannia but isn’t really that effective. It can be good vs. troops if it hits with a flaming missile as it will kill a file of troops, hurting morale but it’s useless vs. any walls tougher than wooden ones. Bombard Attack: 55 Vs buildings: 120 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 250 Factions: All The Bombard is the first gunpowder artillery you can create after gunpowder is discovered. While low compared to later cannons its building attack is powerful; blasting down walls in rather short order. It is way too inaccurate to be used against troops except if they are in a big mass. Cannon Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. buildings: 250 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 870 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Norway Cannon are the biggest guns in Britannia as the Basilisk and Monster Bombard don’t exist. They do a great job vs. walls, but are a bit too inaccurate to hit troops.

Catapult Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 30 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Wales, Scotland The ancient catapult works much the same as every total war game: it throws big rocks that crush walls and enemy troops. They work well again wooden walls and small stone walls but big walls will take quite a long time to bust though. Still they have decent range and given enough time will break though any wall. Their flaming missiles mode can wreck troops if you land a direct hit, as it will kill many. Culverin Attack: vs. troops: 63 vs. Buildings: 230 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 800 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Norway, Wales, Scotland, Ireland Culverins are like slightly smaller versions of Cannon. They still work great vs. buildings and troops if they can hit them. Basically use them like Cannon. Ribault Attack: vs. troops: 63 Vs buildings: 5 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Norway, England, Baron’s Alliance, Scotland, Ireland Ribaults, just like in M2TW fire a barrage of small shots hitting the enemy multiple times and wrecking their morale killing multipliable enemies at once. They are great vs. massed troops but no good vs. walls. Mortar Attack: vs. troops: 63 Vs buildings: 150 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 250 Factions: Norway, England, Baron’s Alliance, Wales, Scotland, Ireland Mortars aren’t that amazing when it comes to destroying buildings, as they have a noticeably lower attack than cannons vs. buildings. They do the same damage vs. troops but good luck hitting them with the high arcing shot of the mortar, unless they are in a huge mass. The mortar does the job against walls but you still should use proper cannons. Mortars can be useful for hitting troops and buildings inside settlements, as their shots arc high over the walls. Serpentine Attack: vs. troops 63 vs. Buildings: 10 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 150 Factions: Norway Serpentines are small cannons which are designed for use against troops only. They are quite accurate even tho they can’t fire exploding shot. They are almost useless against buildings, though they can blast down wooden walls.

Trebuchet Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 90 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 1500 Upkeep: 250 Factions: All Trebuchets are just like the M2TW version and are the best non gunpower artillery. They take down walls quickly and can also fling dead cows to sicken enemy units and lower morale. See the M2TW trebuchet for more info.

Peasants and non combatants

Bar brawl or war? You decide. Highland Rabble Attack: 3 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Cost: 120 Upkeep: 90 Factions: Scotland Highland Rabble are weaker than normal peasants but they are impetuous, meaning they take allot of abuse before routing and morale shocks affect them less. This makes them supreme fodder as they will take 60% losses and still keep going and they are dirt cheap to recruit, so you can recruit hordes of them in a campaign. Send these guys in with your main infantry to distract the enemy and let your infantry get the job done or just to ward off archer fire, so your more valuable units don’t get hit. Don’t underestimate this unit as it’s very useful. It’s also allot of fun watching them kick enemy troops in the guts like they are in a bar brawl. Peasants Attack: 3 Charge: 1 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Cost: 110 Upkeep: 90 Factions: Norway, England, Baron’s Alliance The faithful peasants yet again get their stats changed. Now they are slightly weaker all around. They still serve the same purposes as arrow and sword fodder quite well and have enough morale to stay in melee for a little while.

Culture troops

Having tough gunpowder infantry or javelin cavalry in conquered settlements makes life easier! A new feature of Britannia is when you take over a settlement that has the majority of the population a different culture to yours, like if you’re Wales and take over a Scottish city, you can build some units you normally couldn’t get, such as Highland Pikemen in Scottish population towns as the Welsh. You need a certain percentage of the settlement the previous culture that the settlement was before you conquered it to make each unit and have some buildings. As you own the settlement for longer you’ll slowly convert the population to your culture and eventually lose the ability to recruit the culture units, so get them while the chance is there. Almost all of these units are based on a unit from the culture of the settlement so I will simply list which unit it is based on as the stats are the exact same except for a little hike in price. English Mailed Knights Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 3 Cost: 740 Upkeep: 225 Locations: English pop settlements Mailed knights English Spearmen Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 3 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 185 Locations: English pop settlements Armoured Sergeants Galloglaich Attack: 16 Charge: 9 Defence: 12Armour: 3 Coast: 450 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Irish pop settlements Galloglaich

Highland Pikemen Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 150 Locations: Scottish pop settlements Highland Pikemen Highland Swordsmen Attack: 15 Charge: 9 Defence: 11 Armour: 3 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Scottish pop settlements Noble swordsmen Irish Squires Attack: 5 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 4 Armour: 1 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 155 Locations: Irish pop settlements Horseboys Irish Calivermen Attack: 7 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 2 Defence: 6 Armour: 4 Cost: 640 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Irish pop settlements Calivermen Norse Archers Attack: 9 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 150 Locations: Norway pop settlements Norse Scouts Attack: 3 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 440 Upkeep: 155 Locations: Norway pop settlements These don’t seem to be modelled after another unit, but they are very weak cavalry and are only useful for chasing routers. There are lots of tough archers in Britannia who could even defeat this unit. Welsh Axemen Attack: 14 Charge: 8 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Cost: 360 Upkeep: 180 Locations: Welsh pop settlements Rhyfelwyr Viking Raiders Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 1 Cost: 500 Upkeep: 185 Locations: Norway pop settlements Viking raiders Welsh Hunters Attack: 5 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 340 Upkeep: 120 Locations: Welsh pop settlements Helwyr

Mercenaries

Mercs are great for filling roles in your army that other troops can’t. Infantry Highlanders Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Cost: 1000 Upkeep: 150 Locations North England These mercs are just like Scotland’s normal Highlanders, except very expensive. Highlanders have low defence and die quickly, so spending more than the cost of knights on a unit that will probably be decimated after one battle isn’t a good idea. Steer clear of this unit. Welsh Spearmen Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 150 Locations: South Britannia Welsh Spearmen are decent enough spearmen with a good attack, though their lack of armour will get them killed quickly They have good morale however and will stay in a melee taking major causalities making them a good addition to your battle line for when you just need more melee troops.

Cavalry Hobiguir Attack: 7 Charge: 5 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 830 Upkeep: 155 Locations: Ireland Hobiguir mercs are just like the regular Hobiguir but a bit more expensive. Use them as dependable light cavalry. Remember they have a secondary AP mace. Mercenary Knights Attack: 6 Charge: 6 Defence: 15 Armour: 6 Cost: 870 Upkeep: 225 Locations: South England Mercenary Knights are surprisingly weak as knights go, with an attack more suited to light cavalry and somewhat low defence. Their morale is much lower than you’d think for knights, even tho they are inpertutious and they don’t have AP axes or any advantages like that. They are also very expensive and cost allot in upkeep so I would steer well clear of these knights unless you’re rolling in money. Missiles Irish Kerns Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 150 Locations: Ireland Irish Kerns are just like Ceitherne, except they cost quite a bit more. Don’t expect miracles from these axemen but use them to cut up armoured targets and fill gaps in your line. Keep them out of missile fire. Sherwood Archers Attack: 14 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Upkeep: 250 Locations: South Britannia While these archers are powerful in melee they just wield swords and are not AP. Thye are very deadly at range, with a huge missile attack and wielding a longbow. They are expensive to keep and have useless defence and no armour, so any counter fire will crush the expensive unit and a cavalry charge will kill many of them. They are also only half the normal unit size, making it hard for them to kill enough to be useful because they fire less projectiles. Really you are better off with normal longbowmen than these. Their upkeep is just way too high for such a delicate unit. Welsh Longbowmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Armour: 2 Cost: 1100 Upkeep: 185 Locations: South Britannia These men are just like Saethwyr except they are a lot more expensive. Longbows can still be worth the cost however if you need them.

Welsh Skirmishers Attack: 8 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Cost: 500 Upkeep: 150 Locations: South Britannia Just like the recruitable Welsh Skirmishers, this unit is great if you need to cut down some annoying armoured foes. Their price is fine for how useful skirmishers can be, so don’t hesitate to grab them. They can be used as light infantry from the flanks too. They use a javelin in melee that counts as a spear so they can defeat cavalry, although the skirmishers will die en mass if charged directly. Let a proper spear unit take the charge, then send in the skirmishers to help with melee when their missiles are gone. Artillery Mercenary Ribault Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs Buildings: 0 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 250 Locations: South England As the only artillery merc these are very useful for shredding enemy troops and their morale and blasting though wooden walls. While they can’t touch larger walls, their repeated gunpowder hits will cause major morale problems for the enemy.

A merica

campaign

Americas notes Americas is very different form the other campaigns in M2tw depending on whom you’re playing as. The southern native tribes, including factions such as the Aztecs and Mayans are a powerful faction, even though their soldiers are very weak. They have low slats all round, very limited technology and are outmatched in every way by invading European troops. They also do not have cavalry, gunpowder or heavily armoured troops. What the Natives do have is a lot of high morale, fast moving troops, huge population cities and very cheap unit prices. This lets them crank out massive numbers of cheap weak troops and overwhelm the enemy with them. Nobody can spam troops like the southern natives can: they already have huge cities and a good eco, so you can pump out five stacks in short order after a few turns of getting your economy going. This massive army lest you simply overwhelm any enemy that dares attack you. Move you stacks together and just keep sending them at the enemy until they are completely overpowered. South native tactics When using the Aztecs, Mayans and the like in battle you want to get into melee as soon as possible. Their archers aren’t very good and their spear throwers are worse and don’t pierce armour so just select all your infantry and charge at the enemy. If they have muskets it’s doubly important to charge and get in melee asap. Musketeers are terrible in melee and will wreck your morale if they get to shoot, so it’s important to catch them with your charge and rout them quickly. Tough units like New World Bodyguard and Conquistadores should be swarmed with as many units as possible to overwhelm them. The Aztec Spearmen are quite good so they will do much better than you’d think against Conquistadores. While playing as the Natives try to ignore causalities. You will take hundreds every battle, but it doesn’t matter because you can crank out more units right away and your troops are weak and fragile anyway. Just ignore causalities and keep attacking. All the native infantry are fast, so you can get into melee very quickly but they have a hard time chasing routers. Focus on killing off routing musketeers more than anything else. Try to outnumber the enemy as much as possible; this cannot be stressed enough when playing as the natives. Try splitting up your force sending the elites like Jaguar Warriors or just whatever straight to the enemy and once they are engaged flank with your other half and they will rout in short order. Apache tactics The apaches use a different style of combat as most of their strong units are ranged. An apache army should consist of a lot or archers, some braves to hold the line and provide more missile fire and a war leader. Apaches are the only playable faction who can acquire enemy tech so you should hunt down the French who appear next to you early in the campaign and repeatedly kill them until you acquire muskets and cavalry. This will give you a massive advantage over the other natives and you will be able to sweep the map. Make a lot of units as the Apaches, as their upkeep cost is very low indeed and you can make dozens of them even with their poor economy.

Spanish Tactics The Spanish have a huge advantage over the natives in technogry as they have firearms, cavalry and heavy armour. Their units are all very strong and a good army of sword and buckler men or conquistadores can kill many, many natives even if outnumbered and their cavalry can just shatter the lightly armoured natives with a charge, killing half a unit with the charge alone. Muskets also give the Spanish a huge advantage an you can keep the natives far away and repeatedly break them with gunfire until they finally fail to rally if you have enough gunners. Usually tho you won’t, as Spain’s biggest disadvantage is the extremely limited numbers iof troops they have to work with. You will have very few pure Spaniards in your army unless you crank out a whole lot of expensive troops. You will sometimes receive shipments from Spain but the really good troops like musketeers and germdares can only be received in shipments, so they must be very well taken care of. Spain instead will have the majority of its army made up of native mercenaries. These are very similar to your enemies, so most battles will come down to a huge melee between you natives and the enemies, while the Spaniards turn the tables with their smaller number of strong troops. The best way to turn this in your favour is to shoot the enemies as much as possible with guns as this will cause them to break quickly and you can slaughter them as they retreat.

Unit abilities Note that some abilities, like pikewall are just like m2tw and thus aren’t included here. Chant

I want pyjamas like that. Chant is an ability useable by the various native friendly troops and lowers morale of enemies. This makes a real difference in battles and troops bolstered by chanting priests will hold for much lonleast one priest unit should be standard for every army you create. They are especially useful against European armies and their morale destroying muskets.

Note that some abilities, like pikewall are just like m2tw and thus aren’t included here.

ability useable by the various native priest units. It raises the morale of nearby friendly troops and lowers morale of enemies. This makes a real difference in battles and troops bolstered by chanting priests will hold for much longer than they would otherwise. At least one priest unit should be standard for every army you create. They are especially useful against European armies and their morale destroying muskets.

Note that some abilities, like pikewall are just like m2tw and thus aren’t included here.

units. It raises the morale of nearby friendly troops and lowers morale of enemies. This makes a real difference in battles and

ger than they would otherwise. At least one priest unit should be standard for every army you create. They are especially

Spearmen

A primitive pointy thing is still a pointy thing. Al Holpop Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 240 Factions: Mayans Ai Holpop are weak spearmen and aren’t a match for most factions spear units. Their attack is lower than most, but they are armoured, unlike most spearmen. This unit can still defeat cavalry and hold their own in a melee for a while, but support them well and use alot of them as their morale is low and it won’t take too much to rout them. Aztec Spearmen Attack: 10 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Upkeep: 94 Factions: Aztecs Aztec Spearmen have surprisingly good stats for troops that are low rank. They have a great attack for spearmen and coupled with the generally low defence of most troops they do a solid job even vs. infantry. They are fine to use as line troops early on. They are very important to have when Spain comes knocking as they take down cavalry quick with their high attack and are useful against other infantry as well. Don’t overlook these troops and make loads of them. Their morale is average Chichimec Lancers Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Cost: 270 Factions: Chichimec Lancers might sound like a cavalry unit but they are an infantry spear unit. Lancers have a good attack and have no problems taking down cavalry but their defence is the lowest among the spear units and in a protracted melee they will die quick. Keep them away from infantry. They have no armour at all so watch out for missiles. Chichimec Scouts Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 140 Factions: Chichimec tribes Chichimec Scouts are unarmoured weaker spearmen. They also have no shield bonus so their shield is actually just a decoration and doesn’t help them in melee or against missiles. These men serve decently against cavalry, but will get shredded in no time against other infantry. Their morale is also low. You are better off using lancers.

Onde’s Men Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 9 Armour: 2 Cost: 400 Factions: Apaches Onde’s Men are extremely powerful spearmen. They have truly ridiculous morale: 25. Most knights in m2tw have 10 or 12 morale so you can imagine how ungodly brave these men are. They will never ever rout from anything, they have ridiculously high attack for a spear unit they have a good charge and they are armoured. These spearmen are some of the best troops in the game and will destroy cavalry so quickly it’s insane. They will never rout and you can rely on them to see many victories or die trying. They are highly trained. Tarascan Spearmen Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Factions: Tarascans Tarascan Spearmen are tougher than most with a good attack and defence. They will defeat most other spearmen in melee and take down cavalry quick. They are strong enough to hold on for a while vs. infantry too. Tlaxcalan Spearmen Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 310 Factions: Tlaxcalans These spearmen are exactly like Tarascan spearmen and just as useful.

Pikemen

Organized or not pikemen can be useful. Pikemen seem better in the Americas campaign. They hold their wall better, even if some of the unit is in melee and they actually prevent enemies getting close while the wall is up. Pikemen are stronger from the front, so make sure they aren’t flanked, or flank them depending on who you are. Pikemen Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 270 Factions: England, New France Pikemen are decent troops this time around with good attack but they are still unarmoured. They are highly trained. Pike Militia Attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 200 Factions: Spain Spain’s weaker pikes, there is no real reason to use these except for fodder to hold the enemy. You should have lots of money and Tericos aren’t that expensive. Pike Militia are still good for filling stacks and using as a horde of troops to flank or something, but you are better off with Tercios Tercio Pikemen Attack: 10 Charge: 6 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Cost: 530 2 hit points Factions: Spain Spain’s elite pikes, these are much like they were in m2tw, except they can now actually hold a pikewall and tie up the enemy. Tercios will hold infantry for a white and will shred any cavalry you see. They ahev 2 hit points so they soak up punishment. They are also good flankers, as they have high attack and low defence, so in a straight up fight they will kill and die quite quickly. They are highly trained.

Swordsmen

Swordsmen are the rank and file of European armies. They all have great attack and defence and will prove extremelystats. They all have 2 hit points making them very tough and all have high morale so they will stand for a long time against most enemies. Swordsmen only have 60 men per unit rather than 120 so they are prone to be crushed by weight of numbers. Their power lets them their way though legions of enemies Dismounted Conquistadores Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 670Factions: Spain Dismounted Conquistadores are Sand strong defence with enough armour to resist non AP morale and it will take alot for them to rout. You should use these men as your main army filler as Spain as they are absolutelyfacing. For some reason they but it hardly matters as their morale is already so high New World Cuirassiers Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 670Factions: England, New France New World Cuirassiers are exactly the same as should be used and fought the same way. Swordsmen Militia Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Cost: 390Factions: Spain Swordsmen Militia are just like the M2TW version and have high stats for a mmorale is also surprisingly high. They make great garrisons and can more than hold their own against the natives. They are strong enough to use in your main stacks too.

Swordsmen are the rank and file of European armies. They all have great attack and extremely effective against most native troops due to their superior

all have 2 hit points making them very tough and all have high morale so they will stand for a long time against most enemies. Swordsmen only have 60 men per unit rather

120 so they are prone to be crushed by weight of numbers. Their power lets them their way though legions of enemies, even with this number handicap however.

Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 670

Dismounted Conquistadores are Spain’s main tough infantry. They have a and strong defence with enough armour to resist non AP missiles. They havemorale and it will take alot for them to rout. You should use these men as your main army

absolutely devastating to the hordes of naive troops reason they have a low mental state so morale shocks affect them more

hardly matters as their morale is already so high.

Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 18 Armour: 5 Cost: 670 2 hit points , New France

are exactly the same as Dismounted Conquistadoresshould be used and fought the same way.

Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Cost: 390 2 hit points

Swordsmen Militia are just like the M2TW version and have high stats for a mmorale is also surprisingly high. They make great garrisons and can more than hold their own against the natives. They are strong enough to use in your main stacks too.

Swordsmen are the rank and file of European armies. They all have great attack and effective against most native troops due to their superior

all have 2 hit points making them very tough and all have high morale so they will stand for a long time against most enemies. Swordsmen only have 60 men per unit rather

120 so they are prone to be crushed by weight of numbers. Their power lets them hack handicap however.

have a very high attack have extremely high

morale and it will take alot for them to rout. You should use these men as your main army to the hordes of naive troops you’ll be

ale shocks affect them more

ounted Conquistadores in all ways and

Swordsmen Militia are just like the M2TW version and have high stats for a militia unit. Their morale is also surprisingly high. They make great garrisons and can more than hold their own against the natives. They are strong enough to use in your main stacks too.

Sword and Buckler Men Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 3 Cost: 520 2 hit ponts Factions: Spain Sword and Buckler Men are like a weaker version of Conquistadores. They are lower in every stat but still powerful and more than capable of carving a path though the natives.

General Infantry

Even the most advanced cavalry isn’t much use against a thousand macanas The Americas campaign has a ton of infantry who use differenthatchets who all pretty much work in the same wayguides wouldn’t make much sense. Here tdon’t fit in one of the other categories. Easily defined troops like spearmen or archers will be found in their section. Aztec Warriors Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 330Factions: Aztecs The rank and file of Aztec armies,line and do damage quite well. You’ll be making many, many units of Aztec Warriors and they Aztec armies; the huge blob that you send in to cut up the severely outclassed by European infantryyou can get and rush them en mass. When you can create Jaguar WCuahchiqueh in numbers you should forget about this unit as they are much better. Apachean Scouts Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Factions: Apaches Apachean Scouts are light axe infantry. Their axe does not pierce armour, but they good attack and very high morale. Their defence is low and they have no armourare best used as flankers, but their hithey will hold for quite a long timeBraves early in a campaign. Batab Militia Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 330Factions: Mayans Batab Militia are just like Aztec Wsame way.

Even the most advanced cavalry isn’t much use against a thousand macanas

has a ton of infantry who use different weapons from clubs to who all pretty much work in the same way. Thus categories like my

guides wouldn’t make much sense. Here then is all the other general infantry and units that don’t fit in one of the other categories. Easily defined troops like spearmen or archers will be

harge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 330 Upkeep: 116

armies, Aztec Warriors are balanced stats wise and can hold a line and do damage quite well. They have some armour, but their attack isn’t that great.

many units of Aztec Warriors and they serve as the general body of the huge blob that you send in to cut up the enemy’s infantry. They are

severely outclassed by European infantry, like Conquistadores, so use as many of them as m en mass. When you can create Jaguar Warriors and you should forget about this unit as they are much better.

Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 280

couts are light axe infantry. Their axe does not pierce armour, but they attack and very high morale. Their defence is low and they have no armour

are best used as flankers, but their high morale ensures you can charge them straight and they will hold for quite a long time, even taking heavy causalities. Use these to support your

Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 330

ab Militia are just like Aztec Warriors, despite being militia and should be used in the

Even the most advanced cavalry isn’t much use against a thousand macanas.

weapons from clubs to . Thus categories like my other total war

all the other general infantry and units that don’t fit in one of the other categories. Easily defined troops like spearmen or archers will be

arriors are balanced stats wise and can hold a but their attack isn’t that great.

as the general body of infantry. They are

so use as many of them as arriors and

you should forget about this unit as they are much better.

couts are light axe infantry. Their axe does not pierce armour, but they have a attack and very high morale. Their defence is low and they have no armour, so they

gh morale ensures you can charge them straight and even taking heavy causalities. Use these to support your

arriors, despite being militia and should be used in the

Cuahchiqueh Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 440 Factions: Aztecs, Tlaxcalans, Tarascans Cuahchiqueh are the elites of the southern native factions and have all round great stats and the same insane morale that Ondre’s Men have: 25. They will never ever rout from anything and you can fully rely on them. They frighten nearby enemy infantry so they work great as shock troops to cause mass routs. When you can make these guys en mass you have little reason to use anything else as these factions, besides spearmen. Make good use of these troops and send them against anything. Eagle Warriors Attack: 17 Charge: 8 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: Upkeep: 112 Factions: Aztecs, Tlaxcalans, Tarascans Eagle warrior use two handed clubs and Guachichil Warriors Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: Factions: Chichimec Tribes Guachichil Warriors are strong elite axemen with all round good stats. They are armoured and have the same huge morale as Onde’s Men. They are great flankers too because of their high attack. They are impetuous. Medicine Men Attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 270 Upkeep: 15 Factions: Apaches Medicine Men are some of the toughest native troops and have huge morale and can also chant to keep their fellow warriors fighting. They are still very cheap so you can make loads of them, giving you a big morale boost as well as strong units. They lack armour so watch out for missiles. Nacom Warriors Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 330 Factions: Mayans Nacom Warriors are just like Aztec Warriors and serve the same purpose as basic line infantry for Maya. Jaguar Warriors Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 139 Factions: Aztecs, Mayans, Tlaxcalans, Tarascans Jaguar Warriors are elite, have high stats that are well balanced, have huge morale and are still quite cheap. You should replace all your weaker warriors with legions of jaguars when you can recruit them en mass, as they are strong units and their morale and the fact they are disciplined make them nearly impossible to rout.

Tarascan Warriors Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Amour: 2 Cost: 330 Factions: Tarascans Tarascan Warriors are just like Aztec Warriors and others and should be used as your basic line infantry early on. Temple Guard Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 520 Factions: Mayans Temple Guard are just like Jaguar Warriors, except they are impetuous rather than disciplined. You should replace as many of your normal warriors with these men as you can when you can recruit them en mass. Tlaxcalan Warriors Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 330 Factions: Tlaxcalans These men are yet another in the long line of basic infantry for the southern natives. They should be used in the same way. Zacatecos Raiders Attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 6 Armour: 2 Cost: 310 Factions: Chichimec Tribes Zacatecos Raiders are average axemen. Their defence are a bit too low to function as front line troops even for native troops so they are best used as flankers. Their morale is high but not as high as some other native troops. They are disciplined and highly trained.

Skirmishers

Who blunted our javelins??? Skirmishers work the same way as m2tw, but this time around they do not pierce armour, but almost everyone in the Americas campaign has little or no armour anyway so this isn’t much of a problem. There is also far less cavalry in this campaign, so skirmishers have an easier time staying alive. Arrow Warriors Attack: 11 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Cost: Upkeep: 112 Factions: Aztecs, Tlaxcalans, Tarascans Arrow Warriors are versatile troops as they have a strong melee attack and decent ranged stats as well. Their melee weapons count as spears, so they can defend themselves well against cavalry as well so they aren’t as vulnerable to cavalry as other skirmishers. Aztec Spear Throwers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 250 Upkeep: 94 Factions: Aztecs These men are mostly useless spear throwers; they are unarmoured with weak all round stats. Only if you do not have archers available and want ranged support should you recruit this unit. Apachean Braves Attack: 9 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Upkeep: 30 Factions: Apaches Apachean Braves are the main infantry for the Apaches at the start of the game. They are skirmishers but also have good melee and missile stats. Braves have pretty low morale and it won’t take too much to make them rout. They use spears in melee so against other infantry such as axemen they will have a hard time winning. Always order your braves to throw as many javelins as possible before the melee to whittle down the enemies’ numbers. Trying to use them like pure melee troops against more melee oriented natives will just get your men decimated.

Mayan Javalinmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 280 Factions: Mayans Mayan Javelins are weak skirmishers with a low melee attack and missile attack. They won’t really be killing much of anything with javelins, as their lousy aim and lack of ammo mostly castrates them. They are at least armoured unlike some other skirmishers but they are still best used as fodder and battering ram pushers. Tarascan Spear Throwers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 250 Factions: Tarascans These men are just like Mayan Javalinmen, except unarmoured. They really aren’t much use for anything and you’re better with just more warriors. Tlaxcalan Spear Throwers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 250 Factions: Tlaxcalans This unit is just like the Tarascan version and should be used only for fodder.

Archers

It’s so much nicer without all that annoying armour! Archers serve a much larger role in the Americas than the m2tw campaign,. All native troops have very little armour, so arrows will completely devastate even the strongest native troops. Elites units with high status mean less in America because the almost universal lack of armour means elites die just like anyone else to a hail of shafts. This means elite expensive units, like Koitsenkos will die just as fast and easily as rank and file Apachean Braves. Battles in the Americas will sometimes just be two sets of archers wiping everyone else out before shooting each other, since so many men will die from arrow fire. Some factions, like the Apaches revolve around using archers and a large force of archers will cause immense damage to enemies. You should use up to 25-50% archers and at least have a few units of them in every army in the Americas, as they are a huge threat in battle and will crush the strongest enemies if kept safe. Aztec Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 94 Factions: Aztecs Aztec Archers are average archers. Their low missile attack isn’t much of a problem since it is shared with many other natives and since armour is rare they will still be able to dish out many causalities to enemies. They aren’t much weaker than Aztec Warriors in melee, so feel free to use them as support. Chichimec Hunters Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 250 Factions: Chichimec Tribes These men are just like Aztec Archers, minus the armour and will serve well for wiping out other native troops.

Dog Soldiers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Cost: Upkeep: 15 Factions: Apaches Dog Soldiers are good archers with a better missile attack than almost all other archers in Americas and better melee attack. Hordes of Dog Soldiers will likely be your army’s mainstay as the Apaches. Just watch out in melee because they have no armour and horrible defence so they will drop very quickly. Counter fire is a major danger too, since even the weakest archers will drop Dog Soldiers in seconds. Holkans Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 380 Factions: Mayans Holkans are another average archer unit able to crush natives if given enough time. Their armour helps them along. Koitsenkos Attack: 12 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 630 Factions: Apaches Koitsenkos are elite archers, by far the best ones in the Americas. They have a deadly missile attack that will decimate any enemy, native or not that comes into range. They have a equally huge melee attack and they are armoured. Their defence isn’t that great, they will still drop to missiles and melee quickly, so do your best to keep them out of a protracted melee or counter fire. The biggest problem with Koitsenkos is obtaining them. A script needs to trigger to get them and sometimes it is bugged and they never unlock. They are also expensive for the poor apaches. Longbowmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 490 Factions: New England Longbowmen are much the same as the M2tw version except with less morale. They still pierce armour, although that is of little use against the natives. It comes in handy against other European powers however. They still have a huge range which helps them against the mostly infantry natives. Mayan Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 330 Factions: Mayans Mayan Archers are just like other southern native archers except they are unarmoured. Still use them in the same way. Rabbit Boys Attack: 2 Missile attack: 4 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Cost: 230 Upkeep: 10 Factions: Apaches Rabbit Boys are very weak archers, inept in both ranged and melee combat. Their morale is terrible, their missile attack is almost useless, their melee is pathetic and they will rout very easily. They are just awful troops, only saved by how powerful archers are in Americas. You will probably end up using them, but don’t rely on them at all in battle.

Tarascan Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge:1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 380 Factions: Tarascans Another in the line of average native archers. Tlaxcalan Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: Factions: Tlaxcalans Ditto. Zacatecos Archers Attack: 7 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Cost: 360 Factions: Chichimec Tribes Zacatecos Archers are like a stronger version of Dog Soldiers as they have slightly more defence but otherwise the same stats. Use them in the same way.

Crossbows

They might not fire bullets but crossbows are just as deadly as ever. Crossbowmen aren’t so useful in the armour, but they will still dish out plenty of causalities to any units and alsoagainst European forces. Adventurier Attack: 9 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 ArmourFactions: New France Adventuriers are the strongest crossbows they were in m2tw. They have somewhat less moraleunit. When facing these you’ll want to swarm them with as many are strong in both melee and ranged. Mounted Crossbowmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 5 Armour: 3 Cost: 480Factions: Spain Mounted Crossbowmen are somewhat less use than their m2tw armoured units. They are still useful for shooting into hordes of natives and dish out their own kills but they are best against other European powers, heavy infantry. Mounted unitswho are chanting or native Chief B Crossbowmen Attack: 5 Missile attack: 11 Charge: 2 Defence: 5 Armour: 3 Cost: 370Factions: Spain, English, New France Crossbowmen are the bog standard unit of xbowssustained fire will put a serious hunt on any unit. They are keep them out of it.

They might not fire bullets but crossbows are just as deadly as ever.

Crossbowmen aren’t so useful in the Americas because of the almost totalthey will still dish out plenty of causalities to any units and also

Attack: 9 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 3 Cost: 540

are the strongest crossbows in Americas by far and are just as powerfulhey have somewhat less morale now, but it’s still very high for a missile

unit. When facing these you’ll want to swarm them with as many units as possibleare strong in both melee and ranged.

Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 5 Armour: 3 Cost: 480

rossbowmen are somewhat less use than their m2tw version as there are so few . They are still useful for shooting into hordes of natives and dish out their

are best against other European powers, especially agaunits are also effective for surgical strikes against

native Chief Bodyguards as they will die quickly to sustained missile

11 Charge: 2 Defence: 5 Armour: 3 Cost: 370 , New France

Crossbowmen are the bog standard unit of xbows. They still pack a punchsustained fire will put a serious hunt on any unit. They are lousy in melee however

total lack of heavy they will still dish out plenty of causalities to any units and also come in effective

as powerful as it’s still very high for a missile

as possible, as they

s there are so few . They are still useful for shooting into hordes of natives and dish out their

inst powerful against units like priests

sustained missile fire.

still pack a punch at range and however, so try to

Gunpowder

Give them some red coats! Gunpowder is one of the Europeanin short supply and gun units are still bugged kill them very fast. The natives musketeers so a large line of impossible for the natives to combat as the musketeers as they try to close and the repeatedcan get near you. They will then rally, only to be routed once they start again. This can often continuemusketeers to keep up constant firereward from Spain so be very using gunpowder see my Medieval 2 T Aquebsuiers Attack: 3 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Factions: Spain, English, New France Chichimec Gunners Attack: 5 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 560Factions: Chichimec Tribes Mounted Thunder Braves Attack: 5 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 900Factions: Apaches These men are remarkably deadly to just about anything that gets within range. Their mobility and devastating guns give them a huge advashooting infantry down in droves and stay away from them allowing them to dish out insane amounts of causalities. Just keep them far away from meleemorale and are expensive

of the European’s main advantages against the natives. Musketeers are and gun units are still bugged like in m2tw but they destroy native morale

kill them very fast. The natives have no cavalry to quickly charge in and disrupt your musketeers so a large line of musketeers with some strong infantry can be

for the natives to combat as the musketeers will inflict great causalitiesand the repeated gunpowder hits will rout them often long before they

can get near you. They will then rally, only to be routed once they start gettingnue until the enemy finally fails to rally if you have

musketeers to keep up constant fire. Musketeers can only be given to you in shipments as a so be very careful with them as you will have few. For more details on

see my Medieval 2 Total War unit guide for full details.

Attack: 3 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 410 , New France

Attack: 5 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 560

Attack: 5 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 900

These men are remarkably deadly to just about anything that gets within range. Their mobility and devastating guns give them a huge advantage over their enemies letting them shooting infantry down in droves and stay away from them allowing them to dish out insane amounts of causalities. Just keep them far away from melee as they have horrible stats,

t the natives. Musketeers are in m2tw but they destroy native morale and

no cavalry to quickly charge in and disrupt your can be just about

causalities on them them often long before they

getting hit by gunfire have enough

. Musketeers can only be given to you in shipments as a For more details on

These men are remarkably deadly to just about anything that gets within range. Their ntage over their enemies letting them

shooting infantry down in droves and stay away from them allowing them to dish out insane as they have horrible stats, low

Musketeers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 16 Charge: 2 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Cost: 530 Factions: Spain Musketeers are going to be a battle winning force for Spain, as they can dish out a ton of kills to the natives, who have no easy way to counter them. Musketeers suffer from the same bugs as they did in m2tw so use them in two ranks and watch out for archer fire. Spanish Dragoons Attack: 8 Missile attack: 17 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 6 Cost: 1400 Factions: Spain Spanish Dragoons are extremely powerful mounted gunpowder troops they have a devastating missile attack and will rip up virtually anything left in their range. They have the best accuracy for gunpower cavalry in the total war series and you can crush native armies with them alone. They are even strong enough to serve as light cavalry as they have decent stats and good armour. They are so rare and hard to get in the Americas campaign however you should be very careful with them and use them solely as missile troops. Thunder Braves Attack: 5 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Armour: 0 Defence: 1 Cost: 560 Factions: Apaches Thunder Braves, who are obtainable by defeating European forces in battle enough, are a huge coop for the natives, as they allow the apaches to fight fire with fire. Their combination of mobility and very strong firepower lets them dominate other infantry based natives and take virtually no casualties. They also come in very useful for defeating strong Spanish infantry. Just keep them far, far away from melee as they will be shredded in seconds.

Cavalry

Headress vs cavalry sabre. Cavalry are a big advantage forforces because of their lack of lousy charge stat absolutely shredding your cavalry when playing as a huge numbers of natives you’ll be fighting can whittle down cavalry if they are left in melee. Chichimec Riders Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Cost: 330Factions: Chichimec Tribes These native riders allow the have a decent attack, tho their weak long. These cavalry are best used to charge into the flank or rear to support an allied unit or to chase routers as they are not strong enough to charge into the front of quite a few losses. Conquistadores Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 1180Factions: Spain Conquistadores are one of thehave high stats and will decimatepoints helping them along greatlyinfantry like all cavalry and should be used Gendarmes Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 13Factions: Spain, New France Gendarmes are strong cavalry with very heavy armour and a strong chargeperfect for repeatedly driving into native unisince they have such weak weapons, so feel free to charge them into melee as they will last a long time.

for the European factions. Cavalry charges will decimate native forces because of their lack of armour; even though cavalry in the Americas has a generally

shredding them and insta-routing units Take full advantage of as a euro faction. Cavalry are best used to charge

es you’ll be fighting can whittle down cavalry if they are left in melee.

Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Cost: 330

Chichimec tribes to turn the tables on the invaders a ltho their weak defence means they shouldn’t be left in

. These cavalry are best used to charge into the flank or rear to support an allied unit or are not strong enough to charge into the front of units

Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 1180 2 hit points

the main units you’ll be using in the campaign as Spainhave high stats and will decimate just about any native troops, except spearmenpoints helping them along greatly. They will still die if left in melee with a large force of

should be used for charging the lightly armed natives.

Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 13 Armour: 9 Cost: 760

Gendarmes are strong cavalry with very heavy armour and a strong chargedriving into native units. The natives will have a tough time killing them

since they have such weak weapons, so feel free to charge them into melee as they will last

charges will decimate native even though cavalry in the Americas has a generally

units Take full advantage of Cavalry are best used to charge, as the often

es you’ll be fighting can whittle down cavalry if they are left in melee.

tribes to turn the tables on the invaders a little. They y shouldn’t be left in melee for too

. These cavalry are best used to charge into the flank or rear to support an allied unit or units without taking

as Spain. They , except spearmen, their 2 hit

large force of for charging the lightly armed natives.

Gendarmes are strong cavalry with very heavy armour and a strong charge, making them tough time killing them

since they have such weak weapons, so feel free to charge them into melee as they will last

Mounted Cuirassiers Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Cost: 870 Factions: England These heavy cav are the same as Conquistadores, except with higher charge.

Generals and Bodyguards

Real generals don’t need to ride around on an animal to look tall. General’s Bodyguard for native factions are They are smaller units of elite generals bodyguards would be from playing the mass from cavalry charges and missiles thin them down real quicktroops, so killing them will be much easier than usual. Also remember that since the general is in an infantry unit it’s much harder to run him away from danger. Trythe general himself is fighting personally is a great way for him to get hit in the back as he turns to run and killed. Be much more careful if you are playing as a nacommit your general to combat against weak opotherwise he will die fast. Bodyguard Attack 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 3 Cost: 500Factions: Aztecs This bodyguard is pretty tough Conquistadores. They are also very except keep the general alive.so they will win or die. New World Bodyguard Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 CosFactions: Spain, England, New France The New World Bodyguard is the bodyguard for all European too comparable to European knights. They decent armour and 2 hit pointswatch out for spearmen. Theylarge group of enemies, so dohighly trained and have very high morale so

Real generals don’t need to ride around on an animal to look tall.

odyguard for native factions are completely different from Europeanare smaller units of elite infantry that are far, far more delicate than you’d think

generals bodyguards would be from playing the previous games. Native bodyguard die en ss from cavalry charges and missiles thin them down real quick, just like any other native

troops, so killing them will be much easier than usual. Also remember that since the general is in an infantry unit it’s much harder to run him away from danger. Trying to run away while the general himself is fighting personally is a great way for him to get hit in the back as he turns to run and killed. Be much more careful if you are playing as a native faction commit your general to combat against weak opponents or with other units supporting him

Attack 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 3 Cost: 500

h for native troops but no match for European They are also very vulnerable to missiles so don’t except them to do much

except keep the general alive. They have 25 morale and are disciplined and highly trained

Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Cost: 1090 , New France

odyguard is the bodyguard for all European generals andto European knights. They pack great attack and a good defence with

points. This unit will be very devastating against native They can also still be easily overwhelmed if you leave them inso don’t except them to be invulnerable. They are disciplined and

ned and have very high morale so they won’t be routing anywhere.

European factions. are far, far more delicate than you’d think

bodyguard die en just like any other native

troops, so killing them will be much easier than usual. Also remember that since the general ing to run away while

the general himself is fighting personally is a great way for him to get hit in the back as he ive faction and only

ponents or with other units supporting him,

European elites like except them to do much

They have 25 morale and are disciplined and highly trained

and a tough unit it is attack and a good defence with

native infantry, but still be easily overwhelmed if you leave them in a

. They are disciplined and be routing anywhere.

Supreme War Captains Guard Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 500 Factions: Mayans Despite the name this bodyguard isn’t supreme to other native bodyguards and should be used the same way. War Captains Guard Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 500 Factions: Tarascans Another bodyguard just like the others. War Chiefs Men Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defece: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 450 Upkeep: 110 Factions: Apaches This bodyguard is different to the others as they have zero shield stats so their shield is simply a decoration and doesn’t help them in battle. This makes them quite weak, defenceless against missiles and they will die quick if the unit is focused on. When playing as the Apaches you should be very, very careful about sending in your general to fight, as their horrible defence and the fact they can’t pull back quickly will put him in major peril.

Javelin Cavalry

The epic battle of long sticks vs. There is one unit of jav cav in Jinetes Attack: 7 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 650Factions: Spain Jinetes are just like the m2tw javelins while staying out of melee to whittle them doas useful as in m2tw as there are hardly any heavily armoured units for them to skewer but they still serve well as general purpose cavalry.

vs. flying sticks!

There is one unit of jav cav in Americas and it’s just like the M2: TW version.

Attack: 7 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 650

version and are useful for showering native infantry with javelins while staying out of melee to whittle them down and charging into flanks.

as there are hardly any heavily armoured units for them to skewer but general purpose cavalry.

version.

useful for showering native infantry with n and charging into flanks. They aren’t

as there are hardly any heavily armoured units for them to skewer but

Peasants and others

The battle for peasant supremacy! While Spanish peasants are just like the m2tw version, Aztec peasants arepeasants, and it’s worth usingquite well and much better than European peasants. Aztec Peasants Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 200Factions Aztecs Much like M2tw, Aztec Peasants are surprisingly too much weaker than Aztec Winfantry blob to tie up enemies and take the hits so your better troops don’t have to. They are easy to train just about anywhere and nice and cheap. They are also good for the classic peasant tasks of suicidally pushing battering rams and acting as arrow fodder. Don’t overlook these men. Chichimec Shamen Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 270Factions: Chichimec Tribes Chichimec Shamen are just like the latermore careful with them. They have insane morale and will cut up other use them well. Just watch out for missiles Coyote Priests Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 300Factions: Aztecs Despite being in this section because they are priests Coyote Priests are strong elite warriors with all round great stats for native troops and very high morale. They fight to the last man rather than rout. They have a special ability to chant which raises the morale of nearby troops and lowers that of enemies. This is an extremely valuable tactic with the Aztecs as you will lose allot of men in most battleimportant. You should always have some priests if you can. They fight very well in melee and are also good for sending in to relive a friendly unit or as shock troopsthat they will stop broadcasting the mo

The battle for peasant supremacy!

While Spanish peasants are just like the m2tw version, Aztec peasants aret’s worth using them to add bulk to armies or push rams as they can fight

quite well and much better than European peasants.

Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 200 Upkeep: 68

easants are surprisingly good at holding a line and actually aretoo much weaker than Aztec Warriors. It’s good to send them in just before or with your main infantry blob to tie up enemies and take the hits so your better troops don’t have to. They are

anywhere and nice and cheap. They are also good for the classic peasant tasks of suicidally pushing battering rams and acting as arrow fodder. Don’t

Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 10 Armour: 0 Cost: 270

Chichimec Shamen are just like the later priest units but lacking armour so you need to be more careful with them. They have insane morale and will cut up other nativesuse them well. Just watch out for missiles. They are impetuous

Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 300

Despite being in this section because they are priests Coyote Priests are strong elite warriors with all round great stats for native troops and very high morale. They fight to the last man rather than rout. They have a special ability to chant which raises the morale of nearby troops and lowers that of enemies. This is an extremely valuable tactic with the Aztecs as you will lose allot of men in most battles and preventing mass routs is very important. You should always have some priests if you can. They fight very well in melee and are also good for sending in to relive a friendly unit or as shock troopsthat they will stop broadcasting the morale bonus when combat is joined.

While Spanish peasants are just like the m2tw version, Aztec peasants are very strong for them to add bulk to armies or push rams as they can fight

good at holding a line and actually aren’t arriors. It’s good to send them in just before or with your main

infantry blob to tie up enemies and take the hits so your better troops don’t have to. They are anywhere and nice and cheap. They are also good for the classic

peasant tasks of suicidally pushing battering rams and acting as arrow fodder. Don’t

so you need to be natives in melee so

Despite being in this section because they are priests Coyote Priests are strong elite warriors with all round great stats for native troops and very high morale. They will usually fight to the last man rather than rout. They have a special ability to chant which raises the morale of nearby troops and lowers that of enemies. This is an extremely valuable tactic with

s and preventing mass routs is very important. You should always have some priests if you can. They fight very well in melee and are also good for sending in to relive a friendly unit or as shock troops, but remember

Hornet Throwers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 4 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Factions: Mayans This no doubt historically accurate unit flings hornet’s nests at the enemy. This causes a major morale penalty and can also kill some of them. These units are very useful to have behind you battle line hurling their fear into the enemies ranks. Note that the hornets will hang around in the area for a while after being thrown, so you can also affect your own troops if you don’t watch out, although hornet throwers themselves are not affected. Mayan Peasants Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 200 Factions: Mayans These peasants are just like the Aztec ones and should be used in the same way. Peasants Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: 200 Factions: Tlaxcalans, Tarascans Again these are just like the other native peasants. Priests of Kukulcan Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 300 Factions: Mayans Priests of Kukulcan are just like Coyote Priests with the same chant ability and should be used in exactly the same way. Priests of Quetzalcoatl Attack: 12 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 300 Factions: These are the same as the other priests.

Horse Archers

There is only one unit of Horse archers in Americas. Mounted Apaches Attack: 5 Missile attack: 4 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 380Factions: Apaches Mounted Apaches can only be obtained by unlocking them via fighting European forcedefeating their cavalry. They aremissile attack which is hardly had to master horsemanship. They aren’t really thaattack and lack of melee strengthchase routers much more effectively than you could before.natives as the Spanish are usually too heavily armoured for their weak arrows to kill them. They have low morale so be careful with them.

one unit of Horse archers in Americas.

Attack: 5 Missile attack: 4 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: 380

Mounted Apaches can only be obtained by unlocking them via fighting European forcey. They are very weak horse archers with all round low stats especially

missile attack which is hardly surprising given the very short time the apache would have horsemanship. They aren’t really that useful because of their low missile

and lack of melee strength, but at least you can use them as harassment and to chase routers much more effectively than you could before. They are more effective agsitn natives as the Spanish are usually too heavily armoured for their weak arrows to kill

They have low morale so be careful with them.

Mounted Apaches can only be obtained by unlocking them via fighting European forces and weak horse archers with all round low stats especially

the very short time the apache would have t useful because of their low missile

but at least you can use them as harassment and to They are more effective agsitn

natives as the Spanish are usually too heavily armoured for their weak arrows to kill many of

Artillery

It doesn’t get more unfair than this., Only European factions get artillery in AmericasStill artillery is great for scaring the natives and smashing down their walls. Basilisk Attack: 63 vs. buildings: 330 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour:Factions: Spain Basilisks are the best cannons just like m2tw and do loads of damage to walls. Bombard Attack: Vs troops: 55 Vs buildings: 120 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 760Factions: Spain, England, New France The bombard is just like the m2w version and dishes out plenty Culverin Attack: Vs troops: 63 vs. buildings: 230 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Factions: Spain, New France The Culverin is strong against walls an Grand Bombard Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 180 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 ArmourFactions: England Exclusive to England, the Grand B Mortar Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 150 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour:2 Cost: 650Factions: England The mortar isn’t that great and is just like the m2tw version. Its high arcing shots are not accurate and it doesn’t do that much damage. It is good for hitting enemies inside settlements however.

It doesn’t get more unfair than this.,

actions get artillery in Americas unsurprisingly and it is quite uncommonscaring the natives and smashing down their walls.

ings: 330 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 1350

Basilisks are the best cannons just like m2tw and do loads of damage to walls.

55 Vs buildings: 120 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 760, New France

The bombard is just like the m2w version and dishes out plenty of damage to walls.

Attack: Vs troops: 63 vs. buildings: 230 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 1000

The Culverin is strong against walls and does a good job.

Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 180 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 910

ve to England, the Grand Bombard is better in all ways than the basic bombard

Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 150 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour:2 Cost: 650

The mortar isn’t that great and is just like the m2tw version. Its high arcing shots are not accurate and it doesn’t do that much damage. It is good for hitting enemies inside

quite uncommon. scaring the natives and smashing down their walls.

Basilisks are the best cannons just like m2tw and do loads of damage to walls.

55 Vs buildings: 120 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 760

f damage to walls.

Armour: 2 Cost: 1000

Cost: 910

is better in all ways than the basic bombard

Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 150 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour:2 Cost: 650

The mortar isn’t that great and is just like the m2tw version. Its high arcing shots are not accurate and it doesn’t do that much damage. It is good for hitting enemies inside

Ribault Attack vs. troops: 63 Vs buildings: 5 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Cost: 500 Factions: England The Ribault, just like in m2tw is a great weapon for wrecking morale: its repeated gunpowder hits can rout troops very easily, tho it is less effective against the hyper morale native troops. Mercenaries This section is very incomplete and will be added to. Arrow Warriors Attack: 11 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 6 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 112 Eagle Warriors Attack: 17 Charge: 8 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Cost: 410 Upkeep: 112 Native Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Cost: Upkeep: 75 Locations: Everywhere Native Mercenaries Attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Cost: Upkeep: 117 Locations: Everywhere Native Warriors Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 280 Upkeep: 94 Locations: Everywhere Tlaxcalan Archers Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost 410 Upkeep: 75 Tlaxcalan Mercenaries Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 94 Version Info 1.0: 21 April 2009: First uploaded version of guide M2TW section done mercs missing maybe a bit rough needs unit cards.29931 words, 83 pages. 1.0.1: 23 April 2009: Held back on uploading to fix more errors with guide before uploading: missing pictures formatting few unit descriptions. This one is being uploaded 30,078 words, 88 pages 1.2 16 May 2009: Fixed many, many typos and grammar errors and added more mercs. 2.0: 27 June 2009: Finished Britannia section and fixed numerous minor things and typos in M2TW section. 3.0: 20 June 2010: Finally got around to finishing Americas section except for some unit upkeep and the mercenaries section. Will finish these next update, along with Teutonic section. Numerous minor wording and typo fixes.

Credits Pinkbeard of TWC for telling me how the size of General’s Bodyguards works Slurricane of TWC for making the frames on my images. I didn’t use them as there were problems but he still tried. Dafonts for providing great fonts for my guide. Drpic for providing easy to use image tools, though now I use the GIMP. The developers of the GIMP for making a awesome free Photoshop.