Retinue question

[Bertouch]

So back on theme: Which are good retinues to hire? Ones to avoid? And are retinues automatically better than levies?

 

[Kimberly]

So back on theme: Which are good retinues to hire? Ones to avoid? And are retinues automatically better than levies?

As a rule, you should hire your cultural retinue, because of the bonus they receive. If you already have a lot of these, you may want to balance it out by adding cavalry/archers if you don't have them already. If you play a culture with a really crappy retinue, such as light infantry, I find going for a heavy infantry-based retinue usually works.

 

[DanubianCossak]

Id argue that the only thing that really matters is the number of units (specially early on) so unless you can get Longowmen, just get whatever the cheapest thing is (avoid light infantry, so get the one with 400 archers and 100 h infantry) and get as much of it as you possibly can. The differences in morale and other values between different unit types is IMO not worth the difference in retenue cap cost between various retenues types (cavalry ones go above 1200+). It appears that one thing that really matters is the number of units, and if you combine retenue doomstack with the regular levies, and if that doomstack is made of crapload of archers, you may end up winning many battles in skirmish phase alone.