What is an 'archer'?

[atul]

Got too many x-bow bolts coming your way of late?-)

Anyway, that's an interesting question I don't know an answer to. I'd like to add to it in case someone knows: What weapon is enough for an unit to be an archer? More specifically, javelins are ranged weapons. So are javelinists counted as archers?

[LumenPlacidum]

Originally Posted by atul

Got too many x-bow bolts coming your way of late?-)

Damn right! The sorcerers of Machaka officially declared that eclipse of the sun to be a "bad omen, possibly indicating the angering of the spirits," before being impaled by hundreds of bolts.

Continuing with the question, if something is set to Fire Cavalry or Fire Archers, then do they fire at the closest group or does it select randomly / based on expected damage?

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by LumenPlacidum

Continuing with the question, if something is set to Fire Cavalry or Fire Archers, then do they fire at the closest group or does it select randomly / based on expected damage?

ISTR (from the manual?) that it picks a random eligible from all those available and then targets its squad. So if there is a squad of 99 cavalry and another squad of 1 cavalry, 99% it will target the squad of 99.

The reason archer decoys work is because if there is a squad of 1 within range and a squad of 99 out of range, it will target the squad of 1 100% of the time instead of moving into range to shoot at the 99.

-Max