[Chris Byler]

Originally posted by PvK:
I'm not forgetting realism. Real archers would only fire at enemy formations, and not right into the battle line. Without a clear enemy target, they wouldn't just pepper the whole melee with arrows!

PvK

They might try to fire into the enemy's rear ranks, though (aiming far enough from the battle line to not shoot their own allies in the back).

Which, annoyingly, archers can't do in Dom II. Is "fire rear" really that difficult? It would be especially useful for Light Cav if they used the same "move straight forward first" logic as "attack rear".

Maybe IW just doesn't want fire rear because it would be too much like fire mages or fire commanders. But it's easy to counter fire rear (and attack rear, for that matter) by having a tough, well-armored rear guard, or strong troops on your flanks. (I never thought fire mages or fire commanders was all that powerful anyway - commanders usually have armor, and mages can usually cast personal protective spells of some kind.)