Light Infantry... what the ****

[Nephelim]

Originally posted by Jasper:
Sword Fodder?! Oh wait, that's probably sarcasm...

No, light infantry is supposed to suck. It's the peasants that you hand a pitchfork to.

Gandalf's description of them is spot on. Their job is to die.

[HotNifeThruButr]

Heavy infants do a much better at dying, they've got almost 4 times the shielding power light infantry give at not even twice the price.

Militia are peasants you give a pitchfork to, light infantry usually get paid as much as heavy (10 gold), not counting the national elites like Men at arms.

[Taqwus]

They might live a bit longer with something like Marble Warriors, Fog Warriors or Antimagic. With those spells and anything else that boosts all friendlies on the battlefield, the more the merrier.

[Firebreath]

As Taqwus mentioned, the moment that you can make the fight drag on, and on, and on (using spells or simply 20-1 numbers - light infantry (low encumberance) becomes an advantage rather than a waste of space...I would hate to think what a large group of flaggelants blessed with fire 9, and an air shield, and an ironskin could do to any heavy infantry or cavalry...especialy if you combine that with the surround bonus, enemy encumberance, and any defence lowering spells like web or tangle vines, etc.

[HotNifeThruButr]

That's your solution to everything, isn't it, Taqwus?

Hey, at least you don't have to hire 'em.

[Peter Ebbesen]

Originally posted by Firebreath:
As Taqwus mentioned, the moment that you can make the fight drag on, and on, and on (using spells or simply 20-1 numbers - light infantry (low encumberance) becomes an advantage rather than a waste of space...I would hate to think what a large group of flaggelants blessed with fire 9, and an air shield, and an ironskin could do to any heavy infantry or cavalry...especialy if you combine that with the surround bonus, enemy encumberance, and any defence lowering spells like web or tangle vines, etc.

Two words, two awesome words that really show the potential of a mass surround strategy:

MASS FLIGHT

That high-level spell was designed for the horde-mentality player, I swear Every single enemy unit that can be surrounded will be surrounded each round, so long as you have enough troops.

[Spacepain]

Light infantry serve the core and bulk of a persons army.

Their primary purpose is to die so that other more expensive units don't die. And in turn can focus on hitting while not being hit back.

Also, secondary, they serve to finish games where encumberane would force most other units to stop fighting.

And yes for the hoarde mentality of some players (R'lyeh and Ermor) they may be almost the only thing in your army.