Crossbowmen

Crossbowmen is a Empire missile infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer. The thudding crossbow bolts pack a punch that can bring down most foes.

Description
State troops are paid as full-time professional soldiers, ready to answer the call to arms at all times. In addition to forming a standing army to repel enemy attack, state troops also serve as city guards, the fire watch and the enforcers of the law. However, most of the time these soldiers spend their days drilling and training with various weapons to the barked instructions of grim-faced Sergeants and veteran Marksmen. Every state trains its regiments to fight together, providing each other with mutual protection on the battlefield. State regiments often march to battle with detachments of differently armed troops to aid them. These detachments form up close to their regimental units, where they guard vulnerable flanks and provide battlefield support, either by joining their regimental units in the bloody melee of close combat, or by showering oncoming enemies with missile fire. Swordsmen fight shoulder to shoulder with Spearmen, the close range parries and ripostes of swords complimenting the longer reach of the spear. Handgunners and Crossbowmen fell their foes with withering volleys of fire, but should a foe survive through such salvos, a detachment of Halberdiers will bravely intercept them, cutting them down with heavy bladed pole arms.

Strategy
- This unit is basically a double edged sword. Using them as your main missle infantry is an option, but, if they're left unprotected, they become a liability. Somewhat decent range and decent damage output make them useful, when time is of the essence. On the other hand, they are the easiest units to take down or rout. Halberdiers do help a lot, taking care of large groups or heavy armour with ease. The main problem with these units is their poor Anti-Armour capabilities.

Use them against everything that doesn't have much armour...

Artillery and crossbows match. Don't hesitate to place a few Crossbowmen between the enemy and your artillery. Crossbows can take care of faster "interceptor" units (pistoliers) while artillery can damage all incoming enemy units, making them easy to kill.