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Personally, I like to maximize the number of archers (4 for the large battles), and put only 2 units of knights (used for flanking in the beginning, as even if the enemy formed a shield wall, breaking them at the side is much easier than charging through the center). The rest would be men-at-arms forming tight formations to prevent any units getting to the Norman archers. And since the archers have the most range, those of you who have faith in your aim can place them along the furthest line so that enemy archers can't reach you, but I recommend that you focus on their archers and possibly the king in the beginning.
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The Normans are quite frankly have the most powerful units in the game in my opinion. The knights have incredible damage, especially when you use charges, but they deplete quickly, so it's best if you don't invest too much on them aside from shocking the enemy lines before they form shield walls at the start.
The men-at-arms are extremely versatile, while they don't have the high defenses like the English spearmen, but the shield walls can still hold a Varangian charge. And their Boar-snout attacks can still punch a hole in the enemy defenses. Also, regading their morale, I find it that as long as they stay in formation, and William the Bastard survives/gives taunts every so often, it doesn't really matter.
Now, let's not even get started with the Norman Archers, there extreme range/damage/accuracy makes them the most formidable unit in the game. In most of my games as the Normans, half of my kills are from the archers, and about 1/3 from kamikaze knight charges.
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So I did a hard mode practice skirmish with the (norman) computer. Killed their king, massacred their army, had half of mine left and rushed to finish off their single remaining archer. Just as I neared him (staying out of range) my 2 varangian guards and 1 warriors all flee at once. So I tried to finish the map with just my king. He too decided to flee just as he got close enough to attack. So.... my whole army lost to a single unit of archers that didn't fire a shot basically. Seeing as my side had higher morale the whole time (dropped to 3 against their 3 on the last turn) I really don't think that should have happened.
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"Soldiers, why did you retreat?!" "They were shouting mean names at us, sir!" "..." I had over half the enemy of the first battle surrender because I dropped their morale to the minimum with taunts. Were we that emotional back then?
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lol. just found this bug out: if you charge too hard the soldiers apparently charge through the enemies and breaking the game :}
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I really wish taunt was less effective. I want to play hard mode for the strategic challenge without automatically losing due to the endless taunts.
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Lol, the enemy outflanked a section of my men so hard, they glitched through our forces and went deep into our territory, permanently stopping my game from continuing.
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Why isn't there a sequel to this near-perfect game? Set in a different time period, a follow-up to 1066 would be AWESOME! Just do not include the typing taunts as a minigame, it kind of ruins the game. 4.5/5
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I am a Viking, and my profile pic displays it. As a Viking I confirm that these tactics were historical. I love this game 5/5.
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Being a strategy-gamer, I had to rate this game highly for its superbly intricate strategy gameplay. Hell, even if you find Ancient History a bit drab, you can't help but find wonder in the "splatter-for-color" art themes and "hero" units. Best of all, it gives you a nice lesson about the Battle of Hastings in a historically accurate storyline (History buffs rejoice!). 10/10
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I hate this game because of the taunting thing. It makes the game very stupid for me. I would absolutely love the game if it wasn't for that taunting, i hate it so much.
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I love this game. Includes lots of strategy, and I enjoy how it follows a real storyline (go history!). Fun, gives you a good hour and a half of gameplay, and is enjoyable throughout. 9000/5