Militia Bowmen - Unit Guide (english)

Militia Bowmen
The powerful Ordes once made a pact with the emperor and trained militias everywhere. These are the farmers with bows and they probably put less effort into them than with the sticks.

Overview and gameplay

An easy mainstay at Imperial Officer, Noble Lord and Theist Priest and with the worst profile in the game. Movement 5, 3 attacks, Resolve 2 and the rest 1. At least Barrage 3 on 16", but with Volley 1 just more. This is justified by the low point costs, making them by far the cheapest unit there is in the game . Nevertheless, this is probably the least played selection of the Hundred Kingdoms, but you have to free yourself from the idea of viewing them as shooters. Essentially, there is a favorable activation that can unlock important Restricted units that stand in the way of the opponent or him can bind and protect the rest of the army. You should never be afraid to block enemy archers with Move Charge. They usually don't kill the 12 lives in one round and are reluctant to try to retreat against Militia. For me, they hit much more often in close combat when they shoot, because the enemy often simply ignores them on the flanks and doesn't expect me to fall into the flank of his regiments with Move Charge. They don't do much, but they quickly occupy most opponents for two rounds and give the rest of the army time to get into the right position. Investing additional points through officers and larger regiments rarely makes sense.

Veterans

If you decide to upgrade them to veterans you have to buy a standard for 5 points and one of the characters. For 20 points we can either get a Neophyte for Devout and Priest 1 or an Errant for 2 attacks and always inspire. Both things don't help the regiment, since we're unlikely to choose Clash as Veterans bonuses because we can then buy the normal militia straight away. Of course that would be the cheaper option to get to Volley 2, but then a regiment costs 100 points and is simply worse than Crossbows, which themselves are mediocre at best, but have more range and additional armor piercing.

That leaves the Servite for 30 points, which gives us +1 Movement and +1 Resolve. That's nice, but then the regiment with one movement costs more, but 2" less range and no more armor piercing than Crossbows. Since they share places in the relevant Warband, I would never recommend Veteran. The only exceptions that I can think of are 10 regiments as veterans with 10 priests, but this hasn't been possible in tournaments for a long time due to character restrictions.

Relentless Drills
Bigger blocks don't make sense and even then it would just be a nice extra because you get it for free.

Conclusion: cheap nuisance that is usually only bought as an alibi activation and to unlock Restricted Regiments.