Topic: questions about archer detachments

[Luther kampf]

heya
so, alot of you guys are aparently using archers for detachments. never done this myself mind ya' so i'm keen to know just how big detachments of archers you use? i s'pose you use them for screening line of sight, and of cause shoot people, but are there other uses for them? just curius.

Luther

[Finlay]

6 is about the right size.
screening, march blocking, sending off to divert units, sending off to draw out fanatics etc.

[Raulmichile]

Hi Luther Kampf, welcome to the forum.

First of all people here appreciate correct punctuation and spelling.  Not all forum users have English as their first language.  Please follow these guidelines to avoid future issues with the mods.   

Now to your question.  Archer detachments vary depending on the front size of the parent unit in order to block LOS to it, but normally it is around 5 and 7.  Bigger units tend to become clumsy.  Blocking LOS and shooting are two ways of using them but the most important to me (and the most difficult to master) is as speed bumps and charge re-directors.  In your movement phase you maneuver archers so that when charged, they flee and leave the charger in a bad situation to receive the charge of the parent unit and other detachments/support units (like knights).  There are lots of articles in the War Room.  Take a look at them.

[phillyt]

Comically, our sweet notts then failed to use proper punctuation...

Phil

[DenzvonBergkamp]

The awesome thing is when they are charged and you flee with them, as long as your run away roll is higher than their charge distance from where they would have hit to their max charge, your archers get away leaving your opponent susceptible to your charge on the next turn. Perfect for eviscerating brettonians.

I'm sorry if my description is poor, let me explain. Bret knights have a charge of 16". They're 14" away and charge your archers. You flee and roll your 2d6, resulting in let's say 5. 5 is greater than 2 (the 2 being 16-14), so they get away. Their knights are now sitting right in front of your infantry block, who are chomping at the bit to charge them on your next turn. Queue Jabba the Hutt laugh.

[Luther kampf]

well, thank you for answering my questions, really apriciate it, and i'm defeneatly buing some archer detachments to supply my melee ones.

luther

[Shadowwolf]

An even nastier trick is to let the bretts charge the archers, kill them and run into our parent unit. Thus the combat with your main block will be on YOUR turn, allowing you to soulfire, counter charge with heavy hitters or cast spells like dazzling brightness before the main combat starts.
Suddenl the knight charge is a lot less fearful!

Shadowwolf

[Mathi Alfblut]

Archer screens are made of evil! I realized it quickly. Hence why I will use them heavily in my Stirland army, where they also will be most fluffy! 

[Valetus]

If not in a sacrificial role, they are a great pace to put wizards for a 360 degree line of sight.

[Von Kurst]

An even nastier trick is to let the bretts charge the archers, kill them and run into our parent unit. Thus the combat with your main block will be on YOUR turn, allowing you to soulfire, counter charge with heavy hitters or cast spells like dazzling brightness before the main combat starts.
Suddenl the knight charge is a lot less fearful!

Shadowwolf

I love it when rebel Empire armies use this tactic!  My IC knights over run their archers, slam into the parent unit and butcher it.  After all I have multiple units too!  All your opponent has to do is suffer such a trap once and he will counter it with magic defenses, multiple charges or charge blockers/redirectors. Then he is going to strike first in YOUR turn, have charging bonuses for lances and extra attacks in the case of Brets because of the lance formation...

[Shadowwolf]

Yeah, the weak point in this tactic is to charge both units, thus when the archers are overrun, the combat will be fought in the enemy turn.

Shadowwolf

[Luther kampf]

heya
wow. the archers suddenly have a new meaning to me. it's like taking a bite of a lemon, only to discover that it was a strawberry all along! 
really, i never looked twice at the archers before, but i defeneatly need to get my hands on some now!

Luther, who hopes he can get some archers soon.

[Lord Drakehel]

I have never ever seen the use in archer deteatchments 

But after reading these few posts, I'm going to be in vesting in some!

I too have never truely understood their advantages, however I now see how goos they are, thank you very much!

[ZeroTwentythree]

I'm sorry if my description is poor, let me explain. Bret knights have a charge of 16". They're 14" away and charge your archers. You flee and roll your 2d6, resulting in let's say 5. 5 is greater than 2 (the 2 being 16-14), so they get away. Their knights are now sitting right in front of your infantry block, who are chomping at the bit to charge them on your next turn. Queue Jabba the Hutt laugh.

Well, this depends on how good your opponent is.

A decent player will consider each of their charges carefully. Never declare a charge without first considering what your opponent's reaction will most likely be, and where that will leave you afterward.

You can't expect to throw out obvious traps and then hope your opponent will make stupid moves. Yes, some opponents will fall for them, but you can't rely on that.

[jlutin]

Remember one golden rule for skirmishers being charged.  The E must charge the closest, legal skirmisher.  This can be used effectively to block the multi charge.  That one skirmisher sticking out just a bit will draw charge 1 and be enough to block the second charge and cause it to fail.