Massed archers has ALWAYS beaten melee calvary in all of ES' past RTS games. It's common sense if you think about it! I DO agree that melee calvary will need a boost, but they certainly don't need to nerf longbows, Britain is easily down there with Russia and France (all slightly UP), you even nerf the longbows in the slightest way and they will become very UP.
5 Mamalukes vs ~10 or 11 longbows (10.5, to be exact), in terms of VS (~1666). Who will win? I think we all know the answer.
~ 5 or 6 hussars (5.5 to be exact) vs 10 longbows, in terms of VS (1570). Again, who will win?
Even 11 hussars against 20 longbows, who will win? Hussars.
22 hussars against 40 longbows? Hussars, by very little, but still hussars.
And remember! Hussars are considered "UP" and longbows "OP". Melee cav suck sometimes, but not always, as proven here.
If you get any further than 50 longbows, it's because your simply not applying enough pressure and playing competitively enough, in which case you probably need to polish your gameplay, not blame it on something that isn't even unfairly balanced. The common error many make is to send in 10 hussars against 50 longbows ... obviously the longbows will win, as the VS are wayyy off (longbows=7850, hussars= 1435). A more exact and equal comparison would be 50 longbows against 27 or 28 hussars (27.3 to be exact), in which the hussars would STILL win, and longbows are considered OP against hussars? Hmm ...
Oh and for the 50 lb vs 27 hussars, with no micro, the hussars won with 13 hussars left.
What will make the difference between hussars and longbows is the micro though, if you can surround the longbow group and force them into melee mode (as many as possible, and keep working your way into the circle, you will easily own them.
[for anyone else who wants to test how longbows compare to other mercs, 10.5 longbows = 1000 gold (usually a typical group of mercs)]
Just tested this, and all mercs beat longbows cost effectively.
Gameranger: _NiGhThAwK_
[This message has been edited by Brtnboarder495 (edited 06-30-2006 @ 04:36 PM).]