Crossbows firing at point blank range!

[NorseThing]

I used to always autoreolve my combats. I have been trying my hand with the battle map combat. I know that I have a great deal to learn, so this may seem a bit simplistic.
　
I was attacking Marrakesh in a siege as Venice. I thought that I had enough offensive power with 4 companies of italian light militia, two companies of battered pavise crossbows, and of course a faithful general of modest capabilities. It was close though. So close that the Moors kept all hands in the fight including their own general as well as the 6 spear militia. No keeping the general back protecting the flag in the city square. The computer obviously calculated this was going to be a win for the Moors.
　
Two of the light militia companies were occupied trying to take the walls via seige towers. There was no real threat to burn the towers with flaming arrows from archers, so I chose to wait an extra turn for the towers. Besides the council mission had the fleet blockading the port for two turns anyways. Of course that left only two light militia and my own general to take on the forces gatherd at the broken gate. I had brought up the crossbowmen with swords drawn to help even the odds against the Moorish General and spearmen fighting at the gate.
　
The Moors General did that little pull back and then attack again manuaver that is the habit of the artificial intelliagence (AI). I tried something new and when the enemy AI General backed off, I set the crossbows to fire at close range rather than continue with the swords. It was ugly and quick. In a flash, literally, the general was dead and then all combatants broke. I was amazed at the power of the crossbows at point blank range. Have any other members tried this tactic. If so, what are your stories?
　
Also - that little pull back and then charge the AI does with the general -- is this effective? Should I be doing the same? I find that pulling back a bit will cause a loss of some mounted men in the moment, but I wonder if the charge even if not well formed does enough damage to compensate for the pull back losses.

[lolIsuck]

I used to always autoreolve my combats. I have been trying my hand with the battle map combat. I know that I have a great deal to learn, so this may seem a bit simplistic.
　
I was attacking Marrakesh in a siege as Venice. I thought that I had enough offensive power with 4 companies of italian light militia, two companies of battered pavise crossbows, and of course a faithful general of modest capabilities. It was close though. So close that the Moors kept all hands in the fight including their own general as well as the 6 spear militia. No keeping the general back protecting the flag in the city square. The computer obviously calculated this was going to be a win for the Moors.
　
Two of the light militia companies were occupied trying to take the walls via seige towers. There was no real threat to burn the towers with flaming arrows from archers, so I chose to wait an extra turn for the towers. Besides the council mission had the fleet blockading the port for two turns anyways. Of course that left only two light militia and my own general to take on the forces gatherd at the broken gate. I had brought up the crossbowmen with swords drawn to help even the odds against the Moorish General and spearmen fighting at the gate.
　
The Moors General did that little pull back and then attack again manuaver that is the habit of the artificial intelliagence (AI). I tried something new and when the enemy AI General backed off, I set the crossbows to fire at close range rather than continue with the swords. It was ugly and quick. In a flash, literally, the general was dead and then all combatants broke. I was amazed at the power of the crossbows at point blank range. Have any other members tried this tactic. If so, what are your stories?
　
Also - that little pull back and then charge the AI does with the general -- is this effective? Should I be doing the same? I find that pulling back a bit will cause a loss of some mounted men in the moment, but I wonder if the charge even if not well formed does enough damage to compensate for the pull back losses.

If there were no enemies on the wall I'd have put the crossbows there and have them fire down at the blob at the gate as that's far more effective than sending them into melee combat. And yes, crossbows are absolutely lethal and great cavalry-killers.

As for the AI general's manoeuvre it depends whether he was actually able to charge (very hard to do inside a city) and whether that charge was actually effective as he might have some of his own men blocking the path to yours. Cycle-charging your cavalry itself is the most effective way to deal with almost anything in M2TW but seeing as they need quite a run-up and they need to be in formation it's hard to pull off a charge within the city and in sieges cavalry should really only be used to sally out if you're defending or if your infantry can't hold/win it on its own, as well as sweeping up routing units of course.

[Iosif Stalin]

A while back I was fighting Mongols. I don't recall which country I was playing but this battle took place somewhere in the Antioch area which I had conquered after a crusade. There was a battle in that area, which wasn't in a city (I don't recall why; usually I won't fight Mongols outside a city, but this time I either felt the need to for some reason or they attacked me unexpectedly). I had some crossbowmen in my army. I was amazed at the damage they did to the Mongols. I don't recall whether I won the battle or not, I think I might have, but what I remember is those crossbowmen absolutely massacring the Mongol army. Those horse archers were dropping like flies. I hadn't realized before how effective crossbows can be against cavalry, so long as they don't get into melee combat with them. The Mongols heavily outnumbered me so I still might have lost, but damn if those crossbows didn't even the odds. For every man they lost, they took down ten.

[46thCharlemagne]

Used properly, crossbows can get many hundreds of kills in the right situations. As mentioned above, having them in an elevated position with a clear line of sight to their targets will maximize their power, and no unit will last long under their fire. It's not easily done but if you ever have a chance to put them behind or to the right flank of the enemy, they will be most lethal of all bypassing any shield defense. I have absoultely butchered enemy general's bodyguard units this way and that's even with me having modded such units to have incredible armor values (I have an obsession with armor).

The armor-piercing property of crossbows and their usually high attack value are what make up for
their slow rate of fire and need for a relatively open line of fire to the target. Few other missile weapons are armor-piercing and in common use like the crossbow. Javelins and longbows aren't weapons most factions employ, while crossbows are something most factions have from early game to late.