Last week we shared some ideas about how to fight with archers and heavy armored units. While they are very useful and indispensable in the battles, they are only one half of the whole fun. This time we’ll have a look at the guys in the light armor.
Unit types - Light Infantry, Spearmen and Light Cavalry
Light infantry should be the most general unit in a medieval army but in Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade they play a very special role. You simply cannot use them to lead charges because their numbers dwindle away too quickly, their damage output is fairly low and besides archers
they are the most likely to break and panic. So what are they good for? Their most obvious use is their expendable nature – as cannon fodder. When you have to assault a heavily defended place with siege weapons, they are the ones you want to send forward. Also, since the enemy forces usually outnumber your army, sometimes your main units aren’t enough to keep attackers away from your archers. This is where some extra light infantry squads come really handy, tying up and holding back those loose units. You can easily expect to lose entire squads of light infantry during the course of a campaign but as they are the cheapest unit in the game it’s not a big deal. Another advantage of the light infantry is related to their Scouting skill. It is well worth having a squad just for the ability to spot hiding enemy units from afar. At night this means denying the ambush bonus for the enemy and that in turn means all of your units will have an advantage when they attack. Also, upgraded light infantry can be pretty effective on their own. A squad of Styrian infantry can take on heavy infantry one on one, after softening them with their javelins. All in all, it is a good thing to have one or two included in your army.
Some might consider spearmen a useless unit, but that is far from the truth. They are the 
second cheapest unit type in the game, and while not as expendable as light infantry, you can still afford to lose a good number of them without putting a serious dent in your resources. Their biggest value is of course their ability to decimate the enemy cavalry. Their mere presence is often enough to discourage enemy riders from attacking your archers and you definitely want to put them in front of your other infantry units when heavy cavalry is charging. They are also great to delay attackers or hold them in place while your damage dealers flank as long as you don’t keep them in melee for too long.
Light cavalry is probably the most versatile unit in the whole army. Aside from toe-to-toe combat (for which they are a tad too expensive), they can fulfill almost any role from flanking, to mopping up. Since they are a natural choice to kill fleeing units that don’t really fight back, they are quick to gain levels, and they can be upgraded to deal decent amounts of damage. They can be used to temporarily block cavalry charges, and give infantry a chance to engage enemy cavalry without fear from being trampled. They can distract, and harass enemy archers without real danger, and force them to move around instead of pelting your main army with arrows. Thanks to their speed, they are also invaluable against siege weapons, greatly reducing the losses catapults can cause. But best of all, when you decide they’ve gained enough experience, you can turn them into powerful, high level knights with several achievements.
Christophor’s Demo:
So I took these tips from Neocore Games and applied them to a demo scenario.
My troops (all light):
- 2 Archers
- 2 Spearmen
- 2 Light Cavalry
- 2 Vassals
- 2 Styrian Units
The Enemy Troops (all heavy cav):
- 4 Crusader Elite
- 2 Knights Templar
- 2 Chevelier
My troops did outnumber, but cost far less than their army. We won, but lost two units, both archers. We also had one Light Cav unit completely decimated with only 2 survivors in the unit. However, we destroyed all eight heavy cav. I started on a hill with my archers in front which drew in two units, the spearmen moved into a front position covering the archers which made the heavy cav actually pause and turn for a moment before again charging. The AI obviously realized it was a bad position for its army but had no option.
On my flanks were the vassals and the light cav with a Styrian unit on each side. These were effective enough to hold off the heavy cav until either archer or spearman support was available.
The loss of the archers was unfortunate, but if I had kept my vassals in closer to support the spearmen and archers I think they might have survived.
Are you finding these tips useful? Have you got burning questions for Neocore Games in regards to strategy? Need a strategy tip for a specific level in one of their games? Let us know via comments here and we’ll gladly ask them about it. These are meant to help your overall gameplay experience in Lionheart (and other Neocore games), so you can help us guide them in the direction you need help.
-GDN CEO
