Foot Archer Tactics

[Doomsmile]

My main army looks like it made a lot of use of infantry archers historically, but every time I've tried to use dedicated archer TuGs on foot, I've been sorely disappointed by them.

For those of you that use a lot of archer TuGs, how do you go about getting the most out of them?
What advice do you have for someone struggling to make their archers effective?

Thank you all for your insights!

[rayfredjohn]

What army are you using?

[martymagnificent]

A lot depends on the army you are using and on your opposition.

In general I would say

1) Terrain is often your friend.
2) Protected archers or those with a combat weapon in a front rank are often a safer bet.
3) Keep a general attached and back up to get more shooting if you can
4) Skilled is generally always worth it, if you are lucky enough to get access.

Failing all that, I would say that a loose, unprotected experienced bowman (ie your standard foot archer) is, by and large, a dead man walking. He is, however, also cheap so hopefully you have some other good stuff in your list.

Martin

[LawrenceG]

A lot depends on the army you are using and on your opposition.



Failing all that, I would say that a loose, unprotected experienced bowman (ie your standard foot archer) is, by and large, a dead man walking. He is, however, also cheap so hopefully you have some other good stuff in your list.

Martin

So the best tactic is to hide behind impenetrable terrain or at the back of the table and fight with everything else?

[marshalney2000]

Best tactic might not be to use them.

[badhabum]

A lot depends on the army you are using and on your opposition.

In general I would say

1) Terrain is often your friend.
2) Protected archers or those with a combat weapon in a front rank are often a safer bet.
3) Keep a general attached and back up to get more shooting if you can
4) Skilled is generally always worth it, if you are lucky enough to get access.

Failing all that, I would say that a loose, unprotected experienced bowman (ie your standard foot archer) is, by and large, a dead man walking. He is, however, also cheap so hopefully you have some other good stuff in your list.

Martin

I do agree . Using foot bowmen is an art to master . NKE bowmen are unprotected but drilled and can interpenatrate with the spearmen ..to be used carrefully ! Longbowmen are deadly to cavalry, less to infantry . It is always a balance ! And shooting on white might seem not worth it but if you can CONCENTRATE 5 or 6 files vs one enemy TUG ..you might hurt it badly !

But if you want more ideas you need to say what army you play as NKE is not english 100 years war, not venitian crossbowmen, not Janissaries

[martymagnificent]

A lot depends on the army you are using and on your opposition.



Failing all that, I would say that a loose, unprotected experienced bowman (ie your standard foot archer) is, by and large, a dead man walking. He is, however, also cheap so hopefully you have some other good stuff in your list.

Martin

So the best tactic is to hide behind impenetrable terrain or at the back of the table and fight with everything else?

I wouldn't go that far. MeG is often a game of attrition and they can do some damage to the opponent and take some effort to kill. Just have limited expectations

Martin

[AntiokosIII]

Where these dudes are mandatory and you have other stuff to fight with, downgrading to poor, unskilled and combat shy and running a couple of small units makes them cheap enough to use as filler that can hide in, say, woods on a mountain or something. They are just about never to be used where the enemy can get at them.

[rayfredjohn]

Where these dudes are mandatory and you have other stuff to fight with, downgrading to poor, unskilled and combat shy and running a couple of small units makes them cheap enough to use as filler that can hide in, say, woods on a mountain or something. They are just about never to be used where the enemy can get at them.

Agreed

This thread is bordering on meaningless because we don't know the army / type of army he is struggling with. Remember the IWC in January 2020 was won by a bow by a bow army

[LawrenceG]

This thread is bordering on meaningless because we don't know the army / type of army he is struggling with. Remember the IWC in January 2020 was won by a bow by a bow army

That was Royal Achaemenid Persian, though. Immortals are a bit different from your bog-standard experienced bow. The OP is about "dedicated archer TuGs" which I would think means those lacking close combat capability.

[rayfredjohn]

This thread is bordering on meaningless because we don't know the army / type of army he is struggling with. Remember the IWC in January 2020 was won by a bow by a bow army

That was Royal Achaemenid Persian, though. Immortals are a bit different from your bog-standard experienced bow. The OP is about "dedicated archer TuGs" which I would think means those lacking close combat capability.

point well made but we are just guessing.  Not sure what dedicated Archer TuGs are. I used a Christian Nubian Ally for a couple of games, couldn't get them to work. Tribal skilled bow. Other people rave about them. Well, maybe not rave.

[LawrenceG]

Against an average target, a skilled file  does as much damage as two experienced files. That's a huge difference.

I think the question is: how do you get value out of TuGs that will only ever be shooting and meleeing on white dice?

[marshalney2000]

Always annoys me a bit when the tactic for bow armies is keep falling back o get in as many shots as you can before contact. Hell, I do it as well but in terms of historical accuracy, how many armies did this. Sorry, it may just be me.

[AntiokosIII]

Nope, not just you.

[Doomsmile]

Wow! This thread blew up! Thank you all for your insights here!

This thread is bordering on meaningless because we don't know the army / type of army he is struggling with. Remember the IWC in January 2020 was won by a bow by a bow army

Oof. Tough but fair.
I've been using Joseon Korea [later Asia, Ghengis!], whose archers are drilled, protected, and combat shy.
They're quite stylish models, so I keep looking for excuses to use more than my required minimum.
(I've had some moderate success using that army's integrated artillery rule to dupe worthwhile units into chasing them down, but they still fall flat on their face as soon as something comes into bow range— which is a problem for me because that failure tends to cascade across the rest of their command...)

The OP is about "dedicated archer TuGs" which I would think means those lacking close combat capability.

Right on the nose there.
I'm trying to get a read on TuGs that are equipped with bows (or similar), but have 0 or fewer combat claims and no defensive weaponry (e.g. front rank longspear, close/pavise etc.) to prevent them from abruptly dying when caught out by melee units.
Not only does my main army require such a unit, but one of the armies I'm looking at collecting next requires something pretty similar as well (crossbowmen in Free Company [Later Medieval, House of Valois]).

Where these dudes are mandatory and you have other stuff to fight with, downgrading to poor, unskilled and combat shy and running a couple of small units makes them cheap enough to use as filler that can hide in, say, woods on a mountain or something. They are just about never to be used where the enemy can get at them.

That's a pretty grim assessment.
I have looked into putting my archers on KP duty with the camp, but I was hoping to avoid that.
Early Joseon archers really do make for quite pretty models, and— in my specific case— paying for drilled potato-peelers feels a bit excessive.
(From a more practical standpoint, I also have a second required foot TuG that could really use some infantry support.)