Archers (Empire)

Not to be confused with Archers or Archers (Light Armour), which are High Elves units.

Archers are an Empire missile unit from The Hunter and the Beast DLC.

Description
Units of archers are often irregular bands of hunters and trappers that band together to form their own regiments of scouts and support units, and are ready to answer the call to arms at any given time. The northern provinces of the Empire are famous for their bowmen and tend to have a high proportion of Archers in their armies, with Hochland having the most celebrated Archers of all.

Archers are adaptable troops and often fight in a loose skirmish screen, falling back into Imperial ranks when the enemy approaches. Alternatively, archers can also form up into wedge formations flanked by blocks of infantry, or else are put on rises behind the main battle line.

Recently, archers have faced competition from other missile units, such as crossbowmen and handgunners. However, archers still have the advantage of rate of fire. An archer may be able to shoot six arrows per minute, while a crossbowman can only fire one.

The greatest archers often form into regiments of elite skirmishers, known as Huntsmen.

Attributes

 * ↓ Weak Against Armour: This unit's attack can hardly punch through armour and is thus wasted on heavily armoured enemies.

Strategy
Archers are deceptively good for a number of reasons. First, they have a loose formation which enables them to better survive enemy missiles. They also are incredibly cheap in both singleplayer and multiplayer (In singleplayer, Archers and Spearmen are the most basic units you can recruit). Finally, volume of fire means damage can add up quickly regardless of a foe's armor. That being said they should not be relied upon to win a battle singlehandedly, but can prove a distraction for other elements of your army to do the heavy lifting. From a campaign perspective, they are outclassed quickly by other missile units, although the Huntsman General does provide bonuses that can make them more deadly.