Whoah theres a lot of micro management in this game

[DeadlyShoe]

Also tried using iron dragons set to "attack rear most unit" to take out commanders and archers. Instead they would attack the closest unit (usually some charging cavalry) and get tied up there. Uh? That's completely the opposite of what i wanted you to do...

How exactly do you make decent armies? So far ive been mostly using melee guys in 3 large blocks, buffed by spells, because ive noticed that 50+ composite bows cant seem to kill much, and things like javelins and slings are horrible.

there's alot of subtlety in it, it depends on your nation and magic research settings. And what you are fighting. 50+ composite bows wont do jack to Pythium legion troops, but they'll massacre swarm troops like Flagellants.

there can also be a lot of subtlety in what melee troops are best too, there are a lot of tradeoffs in terms of defence mechanisms and offensive power. Hastatus, for example, have good armor and a shield and their short swords do decent damage. But they have poor reach so they can get Repel'd by most other weapons, and the weight of their tower shield means they will rapidly fatigue in an extended battle.

You also have to weight in the use of magic - Javelins & bows are fantastic if you have destroyed enemy armor using spells... there are many possibilities.