Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

I am currently playing a game as Rohan with a lot of Cav and Archers. I'm wondering how much of a worry the Friendly Fire from Archers is, and also if there is a certain way to "turn off the Archers" when the Cav engages so as to take FF out of the mix altogether (if in fact FF is a big enough factor).

Thanks for the answers.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

Friendly fire is a persistent fact of life as I understand it.

To my knowledge there's no way to have your archers stop firing keyed to whether your front line is engaged or not. "Fire and retreat" is the only common way for you to stop firing after a certain point, other then running out of ammo or losing arms on your archers.

Guiding wind would up your archer precision and cut down on FF abit if you have access to it, and using high parry shield (high prot a bonus especially if your not using crossbows) tanks in your front line would cut down on FF losses. I'm sure there are other useful spells for cutting down FF, I'll defer to the veterans on that.

I'm unfamiliar with Rohan, but if their cav has a good shield or if they have access to infantry with good shield (tower shield and the like for footies) and maybe good prot on top, it would make FF much less of an issue. If your cavalry are fragile to FF, you can always attack rear with them while holding the line with good shield troops.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

Ok this is good info to have. The Rohan Cav have great shield and it's probably the only reason they've survived FF from massed missile units as they charge home (I've only lost a few Cav in these first 10 or so turns).

The Skirmishing Cav though are another issue and at this point I mostly only use them as missile units having seen them get the worst of it from enemy Heavies when my own didn't seem to intercept properly.

I have some Mages who can cast "Aim" and I'll be sure to have more accompany my armies in the future.

Seems kind of odd to >not< be able to have the Archers fire 2 volleys or so and then lay off.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

Ranged units and mages take some care to avoid causing heavy FF casualties, but it's debatable how effective it is. Having heavily armored and shielded units on the front lines will reduce FF casualties, as will increasing precision.

I like to not deploy ranged units directly behind the battle lines; IMO deploying them on the flanks can help with FF issues somewhat.

...and by the way, it's fun to watch entire AI armies annihilate themselves through friendly fire while your well protected SCs and thugs escape unscathed. Who needs weapons?

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

You can also order your archer to fire other archers, they will them probably fire at the rear of your opponent army, against units with probably less armor, and with some chance to hit his mages if they are near their archers.

But of course it depends on your opponent, and humans will expect this and organize their squads so it's less effective.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

Ok and this "Fire & Flee" command...if I win the battle, do the Archers stay in with my main army at the end?

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

No. They retreat to random adjacent provinces.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

Yeah they retreat after firing 3 times i believe (3 times? correct me if I'm wrong). So they should start retreating on round 4.

Now if you win the battle before your archers flee to the edge of the battlefield I think they would stay, but that's highly unlikely as you need to win within 5 rounds or so.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

Arrow fend will make your armies almost immune to archer fire.

Re: Q: Is Friendly Fire an issue?
 

More good info :-)