Mercenary Fyrd Archers

Whilst archers had their place in the battle lines of Anglo-Saxon armies they were never used in large numbers, as traditional military values placed greater importance on melee infantry and the glory to be gained through hand-to-hand combat; for instance, only one archer is depicted amongst the English forces on the Bayeux Tapestry. Whilst a thegn may have been trained in how to use a bow as a hunting weapon, standard fyrdmen would not have had that advantage. Those who were, however, commonly used the longbow - which became more common across Europe during the early Middle Ages. Made of yew or ash, with bowstrings of looped and corded linen, longbows were superior to selfbows. British proponents of the longbow, mainly the English and Welsh, became renowned for their skill with the weapon in later centuries - the most famous example being the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, when English archers were key to the defeat of a supposedly-superior French army.

Unit Name Mercenary Fyrd Archers

Main Unit Key cha_merc_eng_fyrd_archers

Land Unit Key cha_merc_eng_fyrd_archers

Naval Unit Key cha_longship_transport

Soldiers 160

Category Missile Infantry

Class Missile Infantry

Custom Battle Cost 110

Recruitment Cost 110

Upkeep Cost 60

Missile Damage 32

├ Missile Weapon cha_bow_levy

├ Projectile cha_arrow_bow_levy_normal

├ Missile Damage 28

├ Missile Ap Damage 4

└ Base Reload Time 20

Accuracy 25

Range 150

Reload 25

Rate of Fire 4

Ammunition 14

Melee Attack 7

Melee Damage 9

├ Melee Weapon cha_dagger

├ Melee Base Damage 7

├ Armour-piercing Damage 2

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Attack Against Cavalry 0

├ Attack Against Elephants 0

└ Attack Against Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 2

Melee Defence 2

├ Base Defence 2

├ Shield cha_none

└ Shield Defence 0

Armour 6

├ Armour cha_cloth

├ Armour Defence 6

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 100

├ Man Entity cha_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health 100

└ Bonus Hit Points 0

Morale 26

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

• Resistant to Fatigue
  Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit.
• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

No Strengths and Weaknesses

Age of Charlemagne Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	cha_merc_eng_land	Mercia	Chester Lichfield Lincoln	1	0.025	1	1
2	cha_merc_eng_land	Northumbria	Bamburgh Streonshalh York	1	0.025	1	1
3	cha_merc_eng_land	Wessex	Canterbury London Winchester	1	0.025	1	1