Glossary

CA: Creative Assembly, the development team that created the Total War series.

Counter Fire: Fire directed at missile units by a missile unit, as most missile units themselves have poor armour and are easy prey for missiles.

Flank: The sides of a unit. Charging into the flank is much, much more effective than charging directly into the front. It is also a verb meaning to flank a unit; charging into their side

Focus fire: Targeting all missiles at a particular unit, or group of units to weaken them

HA: Horse Archers

Line Infantry: This is a generic term for any infantry than can take and hold the enemy and fight them in melee, thus forming your battle line. It also means troops you’ll use to form the bulk of your army and thus your line. Spearmen and swordsmen are line infantry. Line infantry are usually well armed and armored as they will be in the middle of the fighting. They will often take the most casualties as well.

TW: M2: Total War: Medieval 2

MTW: Medieval: Total War, the second game in the series. Medieval 2 is a remake of this game.

RTW: Rome: Total War, the previous game in the series

Skirmish: A unit firing missiles and staying out of melee. Skirmish mode, which all missile units have makes them run back to avoid melee if the enemy gets close. Units with javelins are usually called skirmishers.
Differences between RTW and Medieval 2

Despite the obvious changes in eras from Roman times to medieval times, RTW and Medieval 2 share the same engine, as Medieval 2’s engine is a heavily modified Rome one. Thus there are some leftovers from Rome, but there are things that are noticeably different, even if the base mechanics are similar.

Battle speed: The most immediately noticeable thing in Medieval 2’s battles is that they are much slower. Units move much more slowly than RTW and tire faster. Melee is slower and because units have much higher morale it takes a while for the winner to be decided. Individual soldiers block and parry a lot in Medieval 2, meaning it takes longer for a solider to kill his enemy and soldiers stagger and are realistically stunned from hits they failed to block which didn’t kill them, slowing melee down. Cavalry is also a lot slower and their charge is toned down this time around

Impetuous trait: Some units in Medieval 2 are impetuous. This means they generally have good morale and the death of a general doesn’t affect their morale as much. Only elite or religious troops have the impetuous trait with a few exceptions. You can rely on these units. The trait can make them charge without orders however. If you are moving them past a melee, say to flank, sometimes you’ll see them just charge into the melee when you didn’t tell them to. This is caused by the impetuous trait.

Disciplined: Some units, usually tough, elite ones are Disciplined. This means they resist morale shocks; like the general dying or an attack in their rear, losing less morale when these events occur and are therefore much more stable units. Disciplined troops will take a lot more to rout than normal ones and are very good units to have.

Death animations: In Medieval 2 a unit’s solider count goes down after the dying man has finished his death animation. Until then the causality doesn’t affect morale. This is different to Rome: Total War, where as soon as a man died (before he even hit the ground) he was considered dead. This means that units may take a second or two more to rout or otherwise react to something.

Morale: In Medieval 2 units take much longer to rout. Elite units have very high morale and the last ten or so men in a unit will sometimes fight to the death. Even weak units like Spear Militia have good morale and wont rout until half the unit is dead, if they are just in a normal melee. Even units like Peasant Archers have quite good morale compared to RTW. Situations like being flanked and outnumbered and shot by gunpowder will still greatly affect a unit’s morale, but causalities and losing a melee affect it much less.

More effective fodder: Because of the generally higher morale, kills inflicted by missiles (besides fire or gunpowder) have little effect on morale if the unit isn’t in melee. A unit of Spear Militia being killed by arrows will stand their ground as long as the archers stay back until about 20 guys are left, meaning the enemy will have used up plenty of arrows. Using cheap units as fodder is much more effective than in RTW. This is rendered mostly ineffective by gunpowder however, as being hit by gunpowder applies a huge morale penalty so much that units will rout very easily from gunpowder and causalities alone. Will be enough to rout the unit. Flaming missiles also damage morale.
General Unit Notes
Combat Animations

A large change in Medieval 2 is the use of proper combat animations during melee. A solider must hit his enemy with a sword swing or whatever to actually stagger or kill him. There are also new animations for soldiers getting hit but not killed, like staggering or stumbling. While these animations are happening, a soldier cannot block.

The upshot of this is that soldiers that are seriously outnumbered will spend a lot of time getting hit and staggered, due to individual soldiers being targeted by multiple incoming attacks, making it harder for them to hit back against the enemies. A unit of Town Militia getting attacked by twice the number of Peasants will take a while to kill them, as they will be getting hit so often and staggered, unless the men block a hit. Hits that are blocked sometimes cause the blocker to counter attack with a swing that often kills the attacker. While the militia are attacking they also cannot block, so while they are busy hitting somebody, they may be hit and killed themselves.

To take advantage of this, you should move your melee units in huge mobs or send in weaker units along with your stronger ones. If you send in say peasants and knights the peasants will attack and stagger enemies, giving the knights a chance to finish them off without risk and the enemies will attack the peasants and leave themselves open to attack from your individual knights. With massed melee troops, like Highlander Axemen you can hit so often the enemy won’t be able to do much before dying if you have enough. This is an important tactic to grasp in Medieval 2 and a big change from RTW.

Force melee: If you are using a unit with missiles, like archers or javelinmen, holding alt and right clicking on an enemy unit will force them to charge straight into melee. This is useful for getting archers to stop skirmishing if they have a better chance in melee, or getting horse archers to charge foot archers.

Ready Status: If a unit is stationary and an enemy comes close enough, you’ll see an animation where the stationary unit will prepare. They might raise their weapons and shields or skirmishers will raise their javelins, ready to throw them, if they are not on fire at will. The unit’s state in its tooltip will change from “Idle” to “Ready” when this happens. In this state, units resist charges better and you should always try to have your troops stationary if they are going to receive a charge.

Unit Ranges: Archers: 120 Crossbows: 120 Javelins: (foot and mounted) 55 Bombard: 325 Grand Bombard: 375 Ribault: 150 Culverin: 425 Mortar: 300 Cannon: 380 Serpentine: 450 Basilisk: 450 Ballista: 180 Catapult: 200 Trebuchet: 280

Unit Ammunition: Archers: 30 Crossbows: 30 Javelins: 8 Naffatun: 5 Bombard: 30 Serpentine: 36 Elephant Cannon: 20 Basilisk: 30 Ribault: 108 Culverin: 30 Cannon: 30 Catapult: 30 Trebuchet: 30 Ballista: 50

Negative Morale Effects

Casualties: Losses have a lower effect on morale than losing a melee. If a unit has taken a lot of casualties, but starts winning a melee they will often stay and fight. This has far less of an effect on impetuous units, like knights.

Flank attack: Getting attacked in the flank will cause quite a lot of casualties, so this can rout most non elite units if they are already in a melee.

Rear attack: Getting hit in the rear will cause a truckload of casualties and, coupled with the penalty for the rear attack will rout just about anything very quickly.

General/Captain death: The General dying is how many a battle will end and become a slaughterfest, though the higher morale in Medieval 2 causes units to hold much more often than in RTW. The General’s death has a huge effect on morale at first, often causing a mass rout; the effect is largest close to where the general died and radiates out, losing intensity. The penalty gradually lessens, until it affects units to a much lesser degree, if they haven’t routed off the field yet that is. This will Be listed as “general recently died” to “General dead” as it fades.

Routing friends: If a unit can see friendly units routing, they will take a morale drop.

Gunpowder weapons: Gunpowder has to cause casualties in the unit for it to affect morale, but it has a very high effect: a few gunpowder hits will rout even the steadiest units like knights. Its morale crushing effect is one of gunpowder’s biggest advantages.
Positive Morale effects

Proximity to General: Units close to your general receive a morale bonus, depending on how good a general he is and what traits he has. This is visible when you mouse over units close to the general: the tooltip will say “Spirits lifted by the general’s encouragements”. Thus it is good to keep the general close behind fighting units, especially when using low morale troops, or fighting fear inducing enemies.

Winning a melee: Being on the winning side of an ongoing melee will encourage your troops to keep fighting. Elite units, like knights don’t seem to care if they are losing a melee or not. It barely affects their morale. That’s knightly arrogance for you.

Routing enemies: If a unit can see routing enemy units they get a morale bonus.

General’s Rally: The general’s Rally special ability greatly raises nearby unit morale for about 30 seconds and can put units from wavering to steady.
Unit Abilities
Loose Formation

Spread out men! We might be able to live longer that way!

A unit in loose formation spreads out into a looser formation, with space between each solider. This helps the unit resist missiles, as the space in the formation means there is a chance missiles may harmlessly hit the ground between men, instead of hitting one of your soldiers. The formation doesn’t actually have any hard coded effects, like raising defence or the like; it simply works on a physical level by reducing the chance a missile will hit one of your soldiers. The formation is useless in melee however, as men tend get into melee slower and when the unit charges there are less people impacting with the initial killing force of the charge. The unit is also very vulnerable to cavalry charges, as the less rigid formation lacks weight to resist the charge and stop it, like a solid wall of men can and cavalry can ride right into their ranks and flank individual soldiers. Only use this formation when you’re under fire. Loose formation is also good for units serving as arrow fodder to allow them to survive just that little bit longer. It comes in handy also for light cavalry trying to catch horse archers, as they can cover more area in this formation and it makes it easier to catch the horse archers and force them to commit to melee.
Circle and Shoot

Ashes, ashes, they all fall down!

This formation is a lot like the Cantabrian Circle from RTW. Just like that formation the cavalry ride around in a small circle in front of the enemy, launching their missiles. The constant movement makes them hard to hit with incoming missiles and enables them to skirmish back quickly as they are already moving. While the chief users of this formation are horse archers, javelin cavalry are very effective in this formation. In Medieval 2 javelins pierce armour and with the formation’s quick skirmishing and constant fire they can decimate heavy infantry and avoid incoming archer fire better. This is especially effective against two handed weapon units, as their lack of a shield makes them easy to hit.
Fire Arrows

Death has never been so pretty.

Fire arrows are used by all shortbow and longbow archers. Crossbowmen do not have this ability, nor do Horse Archers (they have Circle and Shoot, crossbows have none). Fire arrows can set fire to siege equipment and lower morale of units hit by them, but the effect is hard to notice unless their morale has already been lowered by other factors. Fire arrows cannot actually be aimed at siege weapons themselves, so just shoot at the crew and your arrows should hit the siege weapons as well. A siege weapon hit by a fire arrow has a chance to be set on fire, making it unusable by its crew and destroying it when its damage reaches 100%. Fire arrows fire much more slowly than normal arrows. With Peasant Archers for example normal arrows take about 5 seconds to fire, from the time the archer starts nocking the arrow. Fire arrows take 15 seconds, three times as long. If you are trying to kill men use normal arrows, as you can fire more of them in less time. If you are trying to get a unit to rout use fire arrows.
Spearwall

When spearwall works it can be effective.

The spearwall is a formation used by pikemen and some polearms. It causes the unit to tighten up its formation so men are shoulder to shoulder and the first three ranks to extend their polearms forward, creating a wall of pointy death. This is meant to be effective against cavalry and also work as a wall against infantry, much like a phalanx. Unfortunately it is buggy and often when an enemy touches the pikewall the pikemen will switch to their swords, ruining your defense against cavalry and making themselves very vulnerable. Polearms/pikemen do not have shields so they often die quite quickly in melee. When the spearwall works though, it will stop cavalry and their charge momentum dead, killing many of them and preventing them from attacking since the pikes keep the cavalry out of melee range

When using a spearwall if you use right click+drag to make a formation with multiple units selected, you will notice there are gaps between your units. This makes it easy for enemies to sneak in though the pikewall and attack the pikemen in melee. It is more effective to drag each unit’s formation out making sure they touch with no gaps. This will form a solid wall of pikes with nowhere for enemies to get in, until the unit suffers bugs, or enough men die to weaken the wall.

Schiltrom

Also known as artillery magnets.

A Schiltrom is a tight, round formation in which spearmen arrange themselves in a circle, spears pointing outwards. This lets them protect themselves from all directions at once and they cannot be flanked, as the entire outer edge of the unit counts as its “front”. This is a useful formation for defensive situations, when you have to hold an open area. Since the unit is facing all directions, soldiers will not move to fight enemies, unless they are directly near them, so the unit cannot attack as effectively as it could if it were in standard formation, as only some of the unit will be in combat while the rest stay in formation. They are also very vulnerable to missiles since they are crammed together in a very dense formation. Artillery will also kill a lot of them.

Schiltrom is a very specialist formation; it is really only good when defending an immobile position, like a city’s central plaza or when you are constantly being attacked from all directions. In standard battles there is no reason to use Schiltrom, as it will just lessen your unit’s capacity to attack. Ideally you shouldn’t be getting flanked at all, so this formation is often of little use. While in this formation the unit can march, but not run and when moving they do not have their weapons ready, so make sure to halt them before a melee, as they need a second to redress the formation after halting. Most spearmen can form Schiltrom.
Wedge Formation

If you want to make your charge completely impotent, wedge is for you!

A wedge is a narrow triangle formation that can be formed by heavy cavalry. The leader of the unit is placed on the point of the triangle, so he will be first into the enemy. This is not a good idea with captain led units, as the captain will be first into the enemy and at risk of being killed. A wedge formation is meant to increase a unit’s ability to charge, but it doesn’t matter, because with a wedge only a few men hit with their charge bonus and the men at the back are wasted. Less men get into the initial killing phase of the charge and so less enemy die on the charge. It also results in the men at the front of the wedge being isolated from the rest of the unit and usually killed. The men at the back also take a while to get into melee, because of the depth of the formation, so the unit can’t focus its attacks properly, fighting very ineffectively. Given all this, it is not worth using wedge at all, just stick to standard formation.

Version Info

1.0: 3rd of December 2024: Loads of minor corrections, added morale and other missing stuff and corrected a few missing unit descriptions. First version uploaded to Gamefaqs!

1.1: 4th May 2025: Many fixes and improvements. Many typo fixes. First version on Steam, with a few changes
1.2: 25th May 2025: More fixes, including adding morale for a bunch of units that didn't have it. Added Mercenaries section.

Credits

Thanks to Libreoffice for the best office suit ever!
Thanks to Xander77 for many corrections!

Spearmen
Because who wants a horse in the face?

Spearmen are just as important in The Crusades as they were in Medieval 2. They are especially vital for Islamic factions, who must withstand the onslaught of tough Catholic cavalry.

Spearmen are just as important in The Crusades as they were in Medieval 2. They are especially vital for Islamic factions, who must withstand the onslaught of tough Catholic cavalry.

Al- ‘Ashair Infantry
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 200 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Egypt

These spearmen are weak and worse than many other garrison spearmen let alone stronger ones. They work well as a garrison, but can’t stand up to Crusader spearmen and have poor morale. Their defence is low so get them armour upgrades ASAP and use more of them to compensate. Replace them with Dismounted Arab Cavalry when you can as those men are also cheap but noticeably better than these guys.

Ahdath
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 260 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Turks

Ahdath are exactly like Al- ‘Ashair Infantry.

Armoured Sergeants
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 10 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Venice

Armoured Sergeants are dependable spearmen able to hold a line and take and give pain well. They have average morale and stats and serve well. Their morale is only average so if you are coming from Britannia style AS with their 9 morale remember to be more careful with this version. They can form Schiltrom.

Byzantine Spearmen
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Byzantines

These spearmen are quite good as they are cheap and are trained with a normal mental state. This means that, despite their low morale, they will take a bit more abuse than you’d expect before routing and their stats are good for early spearmen, particularly their defence. Use these men well.

Dismounted Arab Cavalry
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 15 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 360 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Egypt

These are the spearmen you should use most as Egypt until you can recruit Saracen Militia, as they have excellent stats for such early spearmen and average morale.

Dismounted Light Lancers
Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Mongols

While not nearly as tough as the frightening Heavy Lancers, Light Lancers will still hold their own for a long time as they have great stats and are Disciplined with very high morale. Destroy them as quickly as possible with swordsmen or missiles. They will crush most opposing spearmen, but their low armour makes them a good target for missile troops.

Dismounted Heavy Lancers
Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 3 Morale: 11 Cost: 560 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Mongols

Heavy Lancers are by far the toughest spearmen in the game and a nightmare for just about anyone to face, even opposing swordsmen will have problems taking these fierce Mongols without serious causalities. Wipe out as many as possible before they make it to melee with crossbowmen, gunpowder or archers and then send him swordsmen or axemen to cut them down.

Dismounted Sipahi Lancers
Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 520 Upkeep: 175
Factions: Turks

Sipahi are the second strongest unit of spearmen after Mongol Dismounted Heavy Lancers. They are able to fight for a long time vs any threat and can handle any spear task with aplomb. They have excellent morale and all round great stats!

Hospitaller Sergeants
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Principality of Antioch

The only good spear unit of Antioch, Hospitaller Sergeants are pretty tough spearmen but only have average morale. They stack up well against most Islamic spearmen and should do well against them. The Crusaders will face a lot of cavalry on campaign so a few units of sergeants should be standard for any army.

Italian Militia
Attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Morale: 5 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Venice

Italian Militia, just like in Medieval 2 are tougher than average early spearmen. There are a lot more tough spearmen in the Crusades campaign compared to vanilla Medieval 2 so they aren’t as godly as they were in Medieval 2. If you can make Italian Spear Militia you should ignore these guys as they are better in all ways.

Italian Spear Militia
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 15 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Venice

Italian Spear Militia are a stronger version, with with better attack, some armour and better shield skills. This is very different to vanilla Medieval 2 where they simply had the same stats as regular Italian Militia just with some armour. They can stand up to the elite spearmen of other factions like Hospitaller Sergeants so use them well.

Levy Spearmen
Attack 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Mongols

Levy Spearmen are tied with Byzantine Spearmen and are among the weakest spear units. They are really only suited for garrison and light anti cavalry duties. When you fight the Mongols these units will be the least of your worries, so just crush them with swordsmen or missile units.

Sergeant Spearmen
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 13 Armour: 0 Morale: 5 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Venice

Sergeant Spearmen are basically useless in the Crusades campaign. They aren’t as good as Italian Spear Militia, despite being professional soldiers! They have the same morale and attack but worse defence than the militia. Only use these units if you don’t have access to Italian Spear Militia. They can form Schiltrom, which is the only advantage they have over Italian Spear Militia.

Saracen Militia
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Turks, Egypt

Saracen Militia are just like Italian Spear Militia and should be used in the same way; as tough, aggressive spearmen to overrun your weaker neighbours early on. Take them out with axemen or Squires as the Catholics.

Spear Militia
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 11 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Turks

Spear Militia are basic spearmen and tougher than Ahdath. Unless you need a lot of cheap spearmen for a battle you are far better off using the cheaper Ahdath for garrison duties to save a few florins. Don’t use this unit except for garrison duties as they are weaker than just about any other unit of them.

Syrian Militia
Attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Morale: 3 Cost: 210 Upkeep: 100
Factions Both Crusader factions

Syrian Militia are the weakest spearmen in the game with poor attack and low defence. Use them only as garrisons and stick to Sergeants for battles for these factions. They aren’t even very useful against cavalry since their low defence gets them ridden over.

Templar Sergeants
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Templars are just like Hospitaller Sergeants and serve the same role in the KoJ. Like Hospitaller Sergeants this is the only good unit of spearmen the KoJ have.

Town Militia
Attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 240 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Turks, Byzantines, Mongols

Town Militia are weak spearmen that should be used only for garrison duties in your heartlands to save cash as their upkeep cost is the lowest. All factions who have this unit have vastly better spears for a few florins more.

Swordsmen
Converting with swords: Much faster than guns!

Al-Haqa Infantry
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 540 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Egypt

Al-Haqa are a very solid upgrade over Dismounted Ghulams and one of the toughest non knight swordsmen units. They have great status as well as excellent morale and will serve well for hacking their way through the infidels. They have very high morale and are trained. They can stand up quite well to Dismounted Crusader Knights. They will lose after a long melee due to the Haqa’s lighter armour, but with a few units of crossbows or archers to help tip the balance these men will win easily. These guys should be your standard “filler” for Egyptian armies.

Byzantine Infantry
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Byzantines

Byzantine Infantry are the swordsmen of the line for the Byzantines and they will use lots of them. Their stats are on the low side and their morale is only average. These swordsmen can hold a line and chew though most spearmen, but don’t expect them to hold vs most other swordsmen or if the situation turns ugly as they are a good bit weaker than any other swordsmen unit. Use the Byzantine’’s excellent array of archers to tip the balance in their favour.

Canons of the Holy Sepulcher
Attack: 18 Charge: 9 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 1020 Upkeep: 225
Faction: Principality of Antioch

Canons are incredibly powerful two handed swordsmen. They have the best attack in the campaign, ensuring they will cut their way through just about anything they can reach melee with and they also pierce armour, ensuring that nothing can stop them. Their defence is good, but not up to the level of their attack and they will fall foul of crossbowmen, rear missile shots or simply being worn down in melee. Use these men well, but keep them out of missile fire. They have very high morale, are impetuous and are highly trained, ensuring they will die rather than run.

Dismounted Byzantine Lancers
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Byzantines

These men are exactly like Byzantine Infantry, except with better stamina. Use them in exactly the same way.

Dismounted Hasham
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Turks

Dismounted Hasham are strong units and the best regular swordsmen in pure stats in the campaign with high attack and defence and very high morale. They are a good match for most other swordsmen. Excellent morale.

Dismounted Latinkon
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 225
Factions: Byzantines

Latinkon are just like Hasham and are very tough swordsmen with some of the heaviest armour in the campaign, a strong attack and high defence. They should cut their way though most enemies and can hold a line very well. They have excellent morale.

Frankish Swordsmen
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Upkeep: 370 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Both crusader factions

Frankish Swordsmen are a good counterpart to Frankish Axemen, as they don’t pierce armour but have better attack. Both of the Frankish units are useful. The swordsmen can fight the lightly armoured or unarmoured foes, while the axemen hack their way into the heavy troops. Frankish Swordsmen make a solid filler for your early armies; excellent for cutting down the many spearmen found in the early campaign.

Hashshashin
Attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 4 Morale: 11 Cost: 890 Upkeep: 250
Factions: Turks

Hashshashin, elite assassins and members of the fabled suicide-murderers, unsurprisingly can hide anywhere, even on the bare sand. They have the best stats of any swordsmen unit in the campaign, but their small numbers tends to get them pulped quite easily. They have top tier morale and are disciplined, ensuring they will die rather than rout. They are excellent for ambushing generals from cover and shredding any units they can reach melee with. Use Hashshashin for surgical strikes such as charging archers from close range once they get close to your hidden units or picking off vulnerable spearmen. They also excel as flankers as their very high attack lets them quickly destroy enemies as long as they aren’t focused on.

Squires of Tripoli
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 14 Amour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Knights of Jerusalem

Squires of Tripoli are just like Byzantine Infantry and serve well as basic swordsmen. They have solid morale and will likely be your main unit as the KoJ. These men coupled with Sergeants can take out a lot of heathens.

Axemen & Macemen
Budget can openers.

Axemen play a larger role in the Crusades campaign. Because this campaign includes a lot of well armoured badasses like, Latinkon, Canons and other elite units a force of axemen is very useful indeed for evening the odds. Nearly every faction has some axemen available, often early on in the campaign. A group of axemen along with some crossbows can mean a very bad day for any heavily armed enemies. Maces are pretty much the same as axes; one handed melee weapons that pierce armour.

Antioch Militia
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 0 Morale: 5 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Principality of Antioch

These militia are more useful than you’d expect, especially early in a campaign. With a low cost, AP weapons, OK stats and average morale, these men are perfect to use in a huge horde to tie up and kill tough enemies and they will hold for a while vs. most enemies. Their AP weapons make them deceptively useful and they make good, cheap filler for armies. Just keep them far away from missiles, as they completely lack armour. Get them armour ASAP.

Dismounted Ghulams
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Morale: 5 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Egypt

Ghulams are a lot worse than they look as, despite having a mace they are not AP They are the only mace using unit that isn’t AP in the Crusades campaign, which is likely a bug. They have pretty lousy stats, replace them with Al-Haqa Infantry when they become available, as they are better in every way. Knights should have very little trouble with this unit as it will have real problems damaging the knights though their armour.

Edessan Guard
Attack: 15 Charge: 9 Defence: 13 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 560 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Edessan Guard are somewhat broken 2 handed axemen. While they will do some damage, they are nowhere near as effective as a good unit of knights. They will take far more causalities that knights would. They are disciplined.

Edessan Squires
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Edessan Squires are a tougher version of Antioch Militia that are able to stand in a line, hold the enemy and smash their way through heavy infantry easily. Use lots of these units. They are available from the start of the game and a large force of axemen is always useful. They only have average morale so be careful with them.

Frankish Axemen
Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Frankish Axemen have average stats, but their AP axes help them cut up their opponents. Make sure to couple them with some spearmen to take cavalry charges and hold enemies.

Khasseki Infantry
Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Egypt

Khasseki Infantry are just like Frankish Axemen. They work well to support your swordsmen, but keep some spearmen nearby.

Kurdish Auxiliaries
Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 10 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 350 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Turks

These axemen are weak and should only be used in support of your Hasham. They can last for a while in melee, but will start dying quickly with their poor armour. Flank with these men if you can.

Pronoia Infantry
Attack: 7 Charge: 3 Defence: 14 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Byzantines

These axemen are much like Frankish ones and serve well for cutting up heavy troops. Their morale is average.

Varangian Guard
Attack: 19 Charge: 9 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 175
Factions: Byzantines

Varangian Guard are much better than their Medieval 2 version and can actually win a melee now. They slice right though armour with their extreme attack and they can take a bit of punishment, although their lack of a shield gets them killed rather quickly in a protracted melee. They should cut up most infantry in melee, as they can even defeat strong infantry like Al-Haqa, although with serious losses. They aren’t too expensive, so they are worth using. As you’d expect from the Guard they have top tier morale.

Mounted Knights
Lance Envy.

Feudal Knights
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 760 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Venice

Feudal Knights are tough cavalry in the Crusades, but their attack is lower than some other cavalry. They serve well as support for your foot knights. Note that like all cavalry in Crusades their charge bonus is toned way down from Medieval 2, so don’t expect them to be as devastating. They are Impetuous.

Knights of Antioch
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 810 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Principality of Antioch

These knights are just like Feudal Knights, except highly trained rather than trained. They are also Impetuous.

Knights of Edessa
Attack: 8 Charge: 7 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 890 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Knights of Edessa are again just like Feudal Knights, except with a stronger charge. They are tied for the strongest charge rating in the Crusades campaign. Use them to charge down vulnerable infantry. They are Impetuous.

Knights Hospitaller
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 920 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Hospitaller are the toughest knights in the game and have a very strong attack, the best defence and a strong charge. Hospitaller should shred just about anything you send them at if they get a good charge on them. They are highly trained. You should replace your Knights of Edessa with these when you have access to them.

Knights of Jerusalem
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 890 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Knights of Jerusalem are another in the line of “me too” knights and are the same as Feudal Knights.

Knights Templar
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 920 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Knights Templar are the same as Edessan Knights. Upgrade your old knights to these. They are Impetuous and highly trained.

Knights of Tripoli
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 970 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Knights of Tripoli are the same as the Hospitaller, except they are Impetuous. They will crush most enemies. They are highly trained.

Mailed Knights
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Venice

Mailed Knights are weaker than other knights. Their stats are all around lower, but they can still do the job vs. weaker enemies. Their morale is still very high, although they only have a low mental state. They are quite overpriced for their stats. They have very light armour for this class and you really want to keep them out of missile fire.

Templar Confrere Knights
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 860 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Confrere Knights are another in the long line of texture swapped identical knights. They are Impetuous and highly trained.

Foot Knights
Good Knight!

Dismounted Feudal Knights
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 225
Factions: Venice

Feudal Knights are tough, dependable swordsmen, packing very high morale and high stats. They should handily carve their way though most enemies, although some swordsmen such as Al-Haqa Infantry or Latinkon will be a match for them.

Dismounted Knights of Antioch
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Antioch

These knights are the main power of Antioch and should be used en mass to cut down the blasphemers! Their heavy armour and high morale ensures they make a stable base for any battle line. They are also impetuous, so they will take a lot of abuse before routing. They really need to beware of enemy crossbowmen. Cavalry charges will kill a lot of them as well.

Dismounted Knights of Jerusalem
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 17 Armour: 5 Morale: 9 Cost: 610 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

These knights are the same as Antioch’s, except they are Disciplined rather than Impetuous and cost a little more in upkeep. Use them in the same way.

Javelinmen
Know what to do if attacked by a pointed stick. Or fruit.

Javelinmen pierce armour and are very useful for the factions that have them, as they need every advantage against the heavily armoured Catholic knights. They will whittle down any unit, as long as they are kept out of melee. Use them with a nice pinning force of spearmen and those pesky knights will cease to become a problem quickly. Both units of javelinmen are untrained. They also both lack armour, so get them armour upgrades as soon as possible. They will often be taking archer fire.

Kurdish Javelinmen
Attack: 7 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 390 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Egypt

Kurdish Javelinmen have all round low stats, but they can still wipe out knights quickly if you pin them with another unit in melee. They are quite weak in melee themselves, but can act as decent light infantry if they run out of ammo.

Turkish Javelinmen
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Turks

Turkish Javelins are much weaker than the Kurdish version and should be kept out of melee and only used to chuck javelins as they are little better than Peasants. Let them hurl their pointy death and survive to gain experience.

Horse Archers
Not “Bowing” to anyone!

Horse archers are very important in the Crusades campaign. The catholic factions have a lot of heavily armoured badasses and the Muslim factions often will need to use horse archers to lead them around in the desert to tire them so they can be more easily crushed.

Many horse archers can do double duty as light cavalry, which is excellent for taking out the powerful Crusader crossbowmen and flanking as your axemen charge home.

Byzantine Cavalry
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Morale: 3 Cost: 560 Upkeep: 130
Factions: Byzantines

Byzantine Cavalry are fairly average horse archers, with a middling attack and low morale. They come in handy vs. the many strong infantry you’ll face, but don’t expect too much from them. They aren’t really strong enough to serve as light cavalry, except to chase routers.

Iqta’dar
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Morale: 9 Cost: 850 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Turks

Iqta’dar are quite tough horse archers with better defence than most and a good missile attack. They serve well for weakening Catholic armies and can also function somewhat as light cavalry, although their attack is quite poor. They have very high morale.

Mongol Horse Archers
Attack: 5 Missile attack 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Morale: 9 Cost: 620 Upkeep: 0
Factions: Mongols

These Mongol horsemen are strangely weak for such a high profile cavalry faction. They shoot well, but their defence and attack are lousy, so they will fall easily in melee. They are disciplined and have very high morale, so even with serious losses they won’t rout.

Mounted Crossbowmen
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 3 Morale: 3 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 130
Factions: Venice

Mounted Crossbows are AP so they are very useful for taking out heavy infantry, but they are only available to a faction who usually won’t be fighting the crusaders and isn’t playable by default, so they will be rarely, if ever seen in battle.

Seljuk Auxiliaries
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 110
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Seljuk are another in the line of shoot only, poor in melee HA. They have low morale, a low mental state and are untrained. They are very useful for this faction however, as it puts them on a more even footing with the more mobile eastern factions and helps them counter their horse archers. Use them to run down archers and fight enemy horse archers. They are inferior to most horse archers they will be fighting, so use lots of them to compensate. Get them armour upgrades ASAP to aid them in ranged duels.

Sibyan al-khass
Attack: 8 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 1020 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Egypt

Sibyans are some of the best horse archers in the game, as they have great stats and heavy armour for a horse archer unit. They are able to rain down a storm of accurate projectiles or charge into melee as tough light cavalry. They also have top tier morale and are Impetuous, ensuring they will do their duty either way. They cost a lot, but this unit is worth every penny and will put a serious dent in just about anything, while taking few causalities if used correctly. They are highly trained.

Sipahis
Attack: 7 Missile attack: 8 Charge: 2 Defence: 11 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 130
Factions: Turks

Sipahis are another tough unit of horse archers, able to do double duty as light cavalry or archers. Their morale is only average so be somewhat careful with them.

Skythikon
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 1 Morale: 3 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 130
Factions: Byzantines

Skythikon are the weakest horse archers in the Crusades and have appalling melee stats and low morale ensuring they will pretty much die instantaneously from any sort of melee attack. They aren’t all that great at shooting either. The Byzantines are likely better served with a line of spearmen and their superb foot archers than bothering with these guys.

Vardariotai
Attack: 8 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 3 Morale: 11 Cost: 970 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Byzantines

Vardariotai are much better than Skythikon, they are tough and shoot very well for horse archers. They have top tier morale, are Disciplined and are highly trained

Turkish Horse Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 1 Morale: 3 Cost: 420 Upkeep: 110
Factions: Turks

Turkish Horse Archers are like the weak Skythikon. They also have a low mental state, so it won’t take much to send them running. Despite their weakness they are very useful vs the mostly slow, heavily armoured Crusader factions. They can pelt their vulnerable infantry and chase down their archers. Just keep them far away from any melee action and get them more armour ASAP.

Foot Archers
The Mongols try to blend in with the desert sands to avoid cavalry charges!

Almost all foot archers in the Crusades are best used as pure shooters. Compared to Medieval 2 there are very few archers that are even decent in melee and most are terrible at it. Keep your archers behind a nice line of defensive spearmen. Only Ottoman Infantry and Byzantine Guard Archers should seek melee combat.

Abid-Al-Shira
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 2 Morale: 3 Cost: 320 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Egypt

Abid-Al-Shira are solid archers with a good missile attack and a little armour to help them along. They are dreadful in melee and are best kept well out of it.

Byzantine Guard Archers
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 650 Upkeep: 175
Factions: Byzantines

Guard Archers are among the best archers in the game, with excellent all round stats including a strong missile attack for archers and solid melee skills. Guard Archers will shred just about any enemy, given a few minutes. They also function well as light infantry. They have very high morale and are highly trained.

Desert Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Egypt

Desert Archers are average archers. They have terrible melee stats and low morale, so keep them far away from melee. They are untrained.

Dismounted Archers
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 3 Defence: 4 Armour: 0 Morale: 9 Cost: 450 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Mongols

Dismounted Archers shoot very well and will kill just about anything as long as they are kept out of melee. They have excellent morale and are Disciplined but should still fall easily to one cavalry charge. Chase then down quickly.

Maronites of Lebanon
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Morale: 3 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Maronites are much better than the Sodeer Archers that the Crusader factions start the campaign with. These are the archers you should use if you are determined to use archers with this faction, but the KoJ’s Templar Crossbowmen are far, far superior in every way. There are still plenty of archers that outshoot these ones and they are untrained.

Mongol Foot Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 0
Factions: Mongols

These archers are vastly inferior to the Mongol’s other archers and will rout from one cavalry charge. They are merely average at shooting and have horrible melee stats, so they aren’t much of a threat. Charge them with cavalry and they will melt instantly.

Mongol Infantry
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 0
Factions: Mongols

Mongol Infantry are archers masquerading as swordsmen. They are equally deadly at both range and melee and pack both a powerful missile attack and strong melee stats. They also have a shield and armour, making them formidable in close combat. Mongol Infantry have light armour, so a deluge of missiles will take enough of them down to lessen their threat in melee and cavalry charges will kill a lot. Still, you should beware of these men as they are one of the biggest threats in the Mongol army. They only have average morale, but they are disciplined.

Ottoman Infantry
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Turks

Ottoman Infantry are basically Mongol Infantry with slightly more armour. Use them in the same way; as strong melee swordsmen and expert archers, able to kill well at range and in melee. They are incredibly useful due to their flexibility since they can fight well and shoot even better. Your late campaign Turkish army should consist of these men, a few spearmen and some cavalry. Ottoman Infantry are strong enough to handle melee as easily as ranged, especially if you get them some armour upgrades.

Peasant Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 200 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Turks, Byzantines, Venice

Peasant Archers are extremely weak archers, horrible at both archery and melee combat and there is no reason to use them as anything but garrison troops to maintain order, especially when the Turks and Byzantines have access to much better archers. Venice is out of luck, but they still have access to crossbowmen. Avoid using these except in the opening turns of your campaign. They are untrained.

Sodeer Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 200 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Both Crusader factions

Sodeer are Peasant Archers with a new name. They are the only archers accessible early on to both of the Catholic factions and are severely outclassed by any other faction’s archers. It’s best to ignore these and use these faction’s superior crossbowmen instead. If you must use them, use them in huge numbers and as garrison troops. Get them armour upgrades right away! They are untrained.

Trebizond Archers
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 7 Armour: 0 Morale: 5 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Byzantines

Trebizond Archers are powerful archers. They are tied for best missile attack in the game for an archer. They are almost decent in melee as they have better stats than a lot of other archers, although they lack armour. They do a good job of turning any enemy into a pincushion.

Turkish Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Cost: 400 Morale: 3 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Turks

Turkish Archers are average shooters and are weak in melee, but head and shoulders above Peasant Archers. Use them as standard archers. Their armour helps them out greatly in early archery duels. They are untrained.

Crossbowmen
Crossbows: Making armour practically obsolete since 600 B.C.

Crossbowmen play a large part in the Crusades campaign. Because of the multitude of heavily armoured infantry and knights a few units of crossbowmen are a must have for any army on either side of the conflict. The Templar Crossbowmen is one of the best units in the campaign. Crusader crossbowmen are far superior to their crappy archers, so you should focus on recruiting them. Crusader crossbowmen are so good they should win handily vs horse archers and you can use your cavalry to hunt down opposing archers if there are too many for your crossbowmen to handle.

Hospitaller Crossbowmen
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 3 Morale: 3 Cost: 380 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Hospitaller Crossbowmen are the main missile units for Antioch. This is a vital unit to support your infantry heavy army against the many cavalry archers they will face. These crossbowmen are good shooters and can put a hole in whatever they shoot at with their high missile attack. This is a vital unit. Despite their low morale, they are Disciplined.

Pavise Crossbow Militia
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 12 Charge: 1 Defence: 12 Armour: 3 Morale: 3 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Venice

Pavise Crossbowmen come in handy verses the multitude of horse archers Venice will face. They are pretty tough defence wise, but their low attack makes them useless in melee.

Peasant Crossbowmen
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 2 Morale: 3 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Venice

Peasant Crossbowmen are much weaker than their pavise brethren. While they have the lowest missile attack for a crossbow in this campaign it is still more than enough to hurt enemies that can’t reach them.

Templar Crossbowmen
Melee: 6 Missile attack: 15 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 3 Morale: 11 Cost: 590 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

Templar Crossbowmen have the highest missile attack in the campaign with the exception of some gun units. They are devastating troops, able to unload a storm of highly accurate bolts that will shred any unit that comes within range.

This unit should form a large part of your army as the KoJ, as it is utterly deadly and, with some infantry to keep enemies away from them, they will destroy anything, They also have excellent morale: 11, which is equal with the highest morale units. They are also Disciplined, so they won’t be routing anywhere.

They are even tolerable in melee! If you are fighting against these crossbowmen charge them with cavalry ASAP or they will destroy you. If you’re using the crossbowmen, just find a nice hill, protect them with spearmen and watch the carnage. Make sure to have some light cavalry to hunt down archers if there are a lot of them to stop them being whittled down.

Turkish Crossbowmen
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 9 Charge: 1 Defence: 4 Armour: 3 Morale: 3 Cost: 360 Upkeep: 100
Factions: Turks

Turkish Crossbowmen aren’t the greatest shooters, but they are still useful against the large numbers of heavily armoured knights the Turks will be fighting.

Gunpowder
Christians with guns. Be afraid.

Firearms are as useful in the Crusades as they are in any other campaign. Both sides in the campaign have access to guns. Non-Christian factions can use them to wipe out the heavily armoured Crusaders easily, while the Crusaders can use them to shoot down strong Islamic cavalry and pick off their archers. Christian gunners are well armoured and very resistant to archers.

To wipe out guns, charge them with cavalry or shoot them with crossbowmen or large numbers of archers. They aren’t that great in melee and their slower rate of fire makes them more vulnerable to missiles than their stats would indicate.

Arquebusiers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Morale: 3 Cost: 470 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Venice

Arquebusiers are just the same as they have always been in Medieval 2 able to shoot down armoured units easily and suffer from a short range and horrible melee stats. Charge them down quickly and they will melt. They still have bugs.

Byzantine Gunners
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 2 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Morale: 5 Cost: 600 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Byzantines

Byzantine Gunners lack the melee skill of other handgunners in this campaign and the Byzantines will rarely use them. Use the above strategies to take them out.

Hand Gunners
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 150 (Turks)
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 5 Morale: 5 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 150 (Venice)

Both of these units are good in melee and at slinging morale crushing missiles. The Turkish ones are superior however as they have high morale: 9, compared to the Venetian unit’s 5, so they will take a heck of a lot of punishment before routing. They also have a slightly stronger charge, but less armour.

Hospitaller Gunners
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 13 Charge: 2 Defence: 7 Armour: 5 Morale: 5 Cost: 580 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Principality of Antioch

Hospitaller Gunners are the weakest in melee among the handgunners but this unit is very useful for Antioch and complements their crossbows well.

Mamluk Handgunners
Attack: 9 Missile attack 13 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Egypt

This unit is just like the Turkish version of Hand Gunners with the same high morale and will serve very well in helping to remove the infidels from the Holy Lands. They have lower armour than Christian gunners, but still enough to resist arrows to an extent.

Sudanese Gunners
Attack: 8 Missile attack: 16 Charge: 3 Defence: 5 Armour: 1 Morale: 9 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Egypt

Sudanese Gunners have high morale and wield the more accurate arquebus, rather than a handgun. They have the highest missile attack for a gun unit in this campaign and aren’t buggy. Once you have access to these, you can absolutely rip up the Crusader knights with a steady storm of gunfire. They have no armour to speak of so keep them well away from missiles and secure armour upgrades ASAP. They also have 9 morale.

Templar Gunners
Attack: 6 Missile attack: 14 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 3 Morale: 11 Cost: 700 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

This unit finally makes their debut a good decade after the first version of this guide! I forgot to add them, despite them being the header image for this category! Anyway, Templar Gunners are better in all ways than their Antioch brethren, with better melee stats and a better missile attack. They do have less armour although that doesn’t mean that much. They are the only gunpowder unit with 11 morale so they are virtually unbreakable. They can defeat all other hand gunner units one on one.

Light Cavalry
I am not fodder!!

Light cavalry are lightly armoured and fast cavalry designed for flanking enemies and hunting down missile units. They also excel in silencing artillery crews and chasing routers. They will suffer badly in melee with spearmen and heavier cavalry. They tend to have rather delicate morale. Try not to leave light cavalry in melee with melee oriented infantry as they will be chewed up quickly. Like Knights their charge values are toned down compared to the Medieval 2 campaign so lancers aren’t as strong as you might think.

Light cavalry is very important in the Crusades campaign as there are large numbers of powerful archers and crossbowmen that will make a mess of your units unless you rout the missiles with cavalry. Always have some light cavalry to dispatch missile units. Light cavalry tend to be better for this as they tire less quickly in the desert compared to knights and they tend to be quite cheap, disposable and easy to train.

Arab Cavalry
Attack: 5 Charge: 4 Defence: 11 Armour: 4 Morale: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 130
Factions: Egypt

Arab Cavalry are weak, useful only for hunting down missile units and routers. Their attack is way too low for any serious flanking.

Byzantine Lancers
Attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 530 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Byzantines

Although they are called lancers, these cavalry only have an average charge stat and a low attack stat. While they can be used for flank charges you should except too much. They are Disciplined and highly trained.

Cavalry Militia
Attack: 6 Charge: 4 Defence: 14 Armour: 5 Morale: 5 Cost: 570 Upkeep: 110
Factions: Venice

This cavalry isn’t bad and can be used as flankers with a decent charge stat. They are well defended due to their armour, which aids them greatly in chasing down missiles. They have a low mental state.

Hasham
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 14 Armour: 4 Morale: 9 Cost: 760 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Turks

This is the main cavalry unit for the Turks and they do a good job in melee and as flankers. They can give foot knights a good hammering with their high for this campaign charge bonus. They are Disciplined and highly trained. This is one of the strongest light cavalry units.

Mamluks
Attack: 7 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 4 Morale: 9 Cost: 730 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Egypt

Mamluks are very similar to Hasham with the same excellent morale, good charge and their defences. Use them as flank chargers and for the general light cavalry tasks. They are Disciplined and highly trained.

Militia Cavalry
Attack: 3 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Morale: 3 Cost: 340 Upkeep: 110
Factions: Byzantines

Militia Cavalry are hopelessly weak cavalry, with a terrible attack and should be used only for chasing routers and perhaps attacking archers, but even then the stronger archers should be able to kill them. They have low morale and are untrained so be careful with them.

Mongol Light Lancers
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 11 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 630 Upkeep: 0
Factions: Mongols

The weakest Mongol cavalry, Light Lancers will still be more than a match for most other light cavalry. They have very high morale and are Disciplined. Their defence is on the low side and they have light armour so they won’t last too long at least.

Mounted Sergeants
Attack: 5 Charge: 4 Defence: 11 Armour: 2 Morale: 5 Cost: 490 Upkeep: 130
Factions: Jerusalem, Antioch, Venice

Yet another below average light cavalry unit, these men serve well for the standard light cavalry tasks. They use spears, but they do not get a bonus vs other cavalry. They are tolerable for flank charging.

Royal Mamluks
Attack: 10 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 4 Morale:11 Cost: 920 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Egypt

These Mamluks are very tough for their class, with a strong attack, charge bonus, and good defence. Their high attack and charge make them excellent for slamming into flanks and they are also fast, so they are excellent for chasing down archers and artillery crews. They have top tier morale and are Disciplined and highly trained. They are the best light cavalry in the campaign.

Sipahi Lancers
Attack: 7 Charge: 5 Defence: 13 Armour: 3 Morale: 9 Cost: 720 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Turks

Sipahis are just like Mamluks stats wise, except they have slightly less armour. They are not Disciplined or highly trained like the Mamluks are however. Use them in the same way.

Stradiots
Attack: 7 Charge: 5 Defence: 6 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 590 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Venice

Stradiots are far weaker than the tough Medieval 2 version and should be used only to chase routers. Their excellent morale gives them some staying power at least.

Heavy Cavalry
Heavy Metal!

Archontopoulai
Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 870 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Byzantines

These heavy cavalry are pretty tough and pack a good attack and heavy armour. They are perfect for smashing into infantry. They have top tier morale and are Disciplined and highly trained.

Kataphractoi
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 6 Morale: 9 Cost: 820 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Byzantines

Kataphractoi use AP maces rather than swords so their attack is lower than Archontopoulai so they are best only used vs the well armoured foes. They have the same defence as the other unit and a little more armour.

Kataphractoi do a good job of melee in their own right vs any enemy however and their solid defence give them lots of staying power. They have excellent morale and are Disciplined and highly trained.

Khassaki
Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Morale: 11 Cost: 970 Upkeep: 155
Factions: Egypt

Khassaki are the toughest heavy cavalry in the Crusades besides knights and pack a punch both in melee and on the charge. Take full advantage of this unit.

General
Try to blind them with your armour, men!

Bodyguard
Attack: 10 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 1010 (Turks, Egypt)
Attack: 10 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 6 Morale: 11 Cost: 1000 (Mongols)

As usual, the general is one of the toughest cavalry units around and comes in very useful as powerful cavalry backup. They are Disciplined. The Mongol version of this unit has an AP mace as a secondary weapon.

General’s Bodyguard
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 1010 Upkeep: 250
Factions: Knights of Jerusalem, Antioch, Byzantines, Venice

Almost identical to the Muslim bodyguard, these men make powerful cavalry. They are Disciplined and highly trained.

Constable of Jerusalem
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Morale: 11 Cost: 1380 Upkeep: 375
Factions: Knights of Jerusalem

These men protect the “heir” to the KoJ. They are almost the same as the standard bodyguard, except with more defence and less armour. They are highly trained and Impetuous however, while the normal bodyguard is not. They have AP maces.

Khan’s Guard
Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 6 Morale: 11 Cost: 980 Upkeep: 185
Factions: Mongols

The personal guard of the leader of the Mongols is oddly weaker than their other leader’s bodyguard as they have less defence but they are still Disciplined and highly trained. They too pack an AP mace as a secondary weapon. You definitely want to keep your general out of melee with the Mongol one and whittle him down with axemen or crossbows as their maces give them a large edge.

Marshal of the Hospitallers
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 17 Armour: 6 Morale: 11 Cost: 1380 Upkeep: 375
Factions: Antioch

The leader of the Antioch faction is exactly the same as the KoJ Constable, except they use a normal sword rather than a secondary AP mace, making them inferior. They are Impetuous.

Marshal of the Templars
Attack: 11 Charge: 7 Defence: 17 Armour 6 Morale: 11 Cost: 1450 Upkeep: 375
Factions: KoJ

Despite being more expensive than the Antioch leader, the KoJ leader isn’t any different. They are Impetuous and highly trained

Crusade Troops
Forward men for our BS!

Like in Medieval 2 these troops are available as mercs when you begin a crusade.

Crusader Sergeants
Attack: 9 Charge: 4 Defence: 16 Armour: 3 Morale: 5 Cost: 510 Upkeep: 185

Crusader Sergeants are tough spearmen and are a must have for pretty much every crusade army. Every army needs a good force of spearmen and these men are up to the job. They can form Schiltrom.

Crusader Knights
Attack: 11 Charge: 5 Defence: 16 Armour: 5 Morale: 11 Cost: 920 Upkeep: 225

Crusader Knights are pretty strong as knights go with great attack, but they cost a lot in upkeep. They are fine to keep during a crusade, but after it ends and you have to pay upkeep for your units its best to disband them. There is no real need for these guys when more effective and cheaper knights are available to crusading factions. They are Impetuous.

Great Cross of Jerusalem
Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 18 Armour: 3 Morale: 11 Cost: 480 Upkeep: 85

Just like other Great Crosses, this unit is extremely useful, as it raises the morale of all nearby units. This makes them noticeably tougher to break and the spearmen that guard the cart are very powerful and will never break. They will fight to the last man to protect the cross. If you attack a unit with this unit the spearmen will leave the cart to attack. They have very high stats, but the small number of them hinders them. If you need an extra push in battle don’t hesitate to have them join the fray. They are Disciplined.

Peasants and Others
Pitchforks: Not just for pitch anymore!

Carroccio Standard
Attack: 14 Charge: 5 Defence: 18 Armour: 3 Morale: 11 Cost: 750 Upkeep: 85
Factions: Venice

This is exactly like the Great Cross except Venetian and highly trained rather than trained. It works in the same way, complete with morale locked guards. They are Disciplined.

Naffatun
Attack: 10 Missile attack: 23 Charge: 3 Defence: 8 Armour: 3 Cost: 290 Upkeep: 50
Factions: Turks, Egypt, Mongols

Naffatun is a one of a kind unit in Medieval 2. There are 40 men in the unit on huge unit sizes. The men are armed with Naffatun grenades: pots of lethal, fiery chemicals that explode into fire when they hit an enemy. They have a tiny range, the smallest in the game and 5 grenades per man.

These grenades are utterly devastating. They hit with area affect damage, ignoring armour and killing even heavily armoured troops like knights incredibly quickly. One Naffatun grenade will kill anyone it hits regardless of how much armour or hitpoints they have. Even generals with their many hitpoints will die from one Naffatun grenade.

Two units of Naffatun volleying at once can kill half a unit of foot knights in a few seconds they have a huge effect on morale and can just devastate anything incredibility quickly. All Naffatun need to be effective is a pinning unit. They are small units and take a few seconds to throw their grenades.

First thing is to take them off skirmish. Their range is only slightly more than the one that triggers the skirmisher reaction to pull back. If you don’t turn it off your men will just run away.

Next you need a cheap unit to hold the enemy, like spearmen. The pinning unit might get hit as well, so don’t use something expensive. Charge the enemy with your fodder to make sure they get stuck in a melee with them and run the Naffatun up. If there are any archers around kill or distract them.

Target the pinned unit with your Naffatun. They will throw their grenades into the enemy, causing terrible damage and ripping the enemy apart in seconds. The enemy will break in seconds, no matter what they are and will be utterly destroyed. Naffatun is deadly like no other unit if you use it correctly. They are cheap for how effective they are.

Even though you’ll usually be using them at a distance, remember that Naffatun has very high morale and they are powerful in melee as they have a high melee attack and good defence and armour. They will always be far outnumbered in a melee however.

Peasants
Attack: 2 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Morale: 1 Cost: 90 Upkeep: 90 (Turks, Egypt, Mongols)
Attack: 3 Charge: 1 Defence: 3 Armour: 0 Morale: 1 Cost: 110 Upkeep: 90 (Byzantines, Venice)

Peasants aren’t available for Catholic playable factions, so you’ll mostly be dealing with the Muslim version. Just like Medieval 2, Muslim peasants are extremely weak and useful only as battering ram pushers and arrow fodder. They at least have 2 attack now rather than 1! The other versions are just like the Medieval 2 version and are non-threats if you should fight them.

Pisan and Genoese Sailors
Attack: 12 Charge 6 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Morale: 9 Cost: 300 Upkeep: 125
Factions: Kingdom of Jerusalem

This odd unit has two handed weapons and no armour. While their morale is very high and they are Impetuous, their lack of defence makes them pretty useless and you’re better off using Sergeants for your enemy holding needs. They are untrained.

Artillery
Because fire is fun.
Every artillery unit in the Crusades is exactly like the Medieval 2 version, except the new Mangonel. They all have Melee: 7 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 and Morale: 9 and are Disciplined and highly trained.

Ballista
Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 10 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 370 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Turks, Mongols

Exactly like the Medieval 2 version.

Catapult
Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 30 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 400 Upkeep: 150
Factions: Turks

Exactly like the Medieval 2 version.

Mangonel
Attack: Vs troops: 63 Vs buildings: 5 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 590 Upkeep: 250
Factions: Antioch, Jerusalem

The Mangonel, the only new siege engine, is a huge trebuchet like device that flings an explosive barrel. The barrel explodes in midair, raining down fiery debits that can kill dozens of troops with a direct hit. The Mangonel is surprisingly accurate and its huge blast radius means you’ll usually end up hitting something. This engine is devastating vs. closely packed infantry and it can easily claim many kills. Mangonels are hands down the best artillery to use against troops.

Trebuchet
Attack: vs. troops: 55 vs. buildings: 90 Charge: 0 Defence: 7 Armour: 2 Morale: 9 Cost: 430 Upkeep: 250
Factions: Turks

Exactly like the Medieval 2 version.

Other

Greek Firethrower
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 18 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 3 Morale: 9
Factions: Byzantines

Greek Firethrowers are unlike any other unit. they use Flamethrower like weapons that completely and utterly destroy any unit they hit one volley will probably kill 3/4 of the unit and they will rout nearly instantly.

A few units of firethrowers stationed just inside a gate or on a bridge can repel just about any number of melee units that attempt to cross it. Armour is no defence. The main drawback with them is they are very short ranged and there are only 40 men in the unit. Cavalry charges will be able to make it to melee before the men can prepare their fire throwers and missile units will pick them off easily from range.

Firethrowers are best used exclusively as siege troops to hold gates and bridges. You will probably only ever see these men as mercenaries. If you should fight them keep your men far away and shoot them with crossbows or guns.

Mercenaries
Killing for fun and profit.

There are a much smaller variety of mercs in Crusades. Each faction seems to have access to its own mercs, so you’ll only meet Alamanoi if you’re not Muslim for example.

Spearmen

Slav Mercenaries
Attack: 6 Charge: 2 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Morale: 3

Slav Mercenaries are nothing special and are handy for just more bodies to throw into the enemy’s ranks. Every faction can recruit far better spearmen than this, so unless you’re unlucky enough to be caught with insufficient spearmen this unit isn’t much use. They are very cheap at least! They are untrained.

Swordsmen

Alamanoi
Attack: 15 Charge: 9 Defence: 11 Armour: 3 Morale: 9

Alamanoi are pretty tough mercs. Their two handed sword is AP and they have very high morale and are highly trained. Their defence is rather low, but they fight well, are quite cheap and should rip though just about any armoured enemy with ease. They have a comically massive change stat for infantry, so make sure they get to use it! They are highly trained.

Frankish Swordsmen
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Morale: 5

Frankish Swordsmen are just like the recruitable version and like them and axemen both of the Frankish merc units are useful, as the swordsmen can fight the lightly armoured or unarmoured foes, while the axemen hack their way into the heavy troops.

Sudanese Tribesmen
Attack: 11 Charge: 3 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Morale: 5

Sudanese Tribesmen have a very strong attack and are Impetuous, but their lack of armour is a serious handicap. These men are best sent in along with your other units, so there is less chance they are focused on and crushed. They are somewhat costly for their horrible defence, so only use them if you really need swordsmen. They are untrained.

Axemen and Macemen

Dismounted Ghulams
Attack: 9 Charge: 2 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Morale: 5

These are exactly the same as the recruitable version. They still don’t pierce armour.

Frankish Axemen
Attack: 7 Charge: 2 Defence: 13 Armour: 2 Morale: 5

Frankish Axemen are just like the recruitable version and like them and swordsmen both of the Frankish merc units are useful, as the Axemen can fight the well armoured foes, while the swordsmen hack their way though the lighter troops. They are worth hiring en mass for the Muslim factions to help them against the heavily armoured Catholics.

Ghazis
Attack: 8 Charge: 3 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Morale: 9

These are just like the recruitable Ghazis. They are Impetuous.

Javelins

Afghan Javelinmen
Attack: 11 Missile attack: 10 Charge: 3 Defence: 12 Armour: 0 Morale: 9

Afghan Javelins are again just like the recruitable version. They are useful troops for anyone with their AP missiles and very high morale.

Two Handed Weapons

Mutatawwi’a
Attack: 12 Charge: 6 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Morale: 9

Another mercenary version of a recruitable unit, Mutatawwi’a are two handed club users with horrible defence, a strong attack and very high morale. They are Impetuous. They are supreme fodder because of their high morale and cheapness. They are also great to push siege engines.

Pisan and Genoese Sailors
Attack: 12 Charge 6 Defence: 5 Armour: 0 Morale: 9

Again these are just like the recruitable version and make good fodder. They are Impetuous and untrained.

Archers

Armenian Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Morale: 3

These are just like the recruitable version and serve well as basic archers, but keep them far away from melee. They are useful to hire for Catholic factions to replace their poor Sodeer Archers.

Armenians of Cilcia
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 9 Armour: 3 Morale: 3

These are like a slightly stronger version of Armenian Archers. They have better melee stats and a little armour, but are still best kept far out of melee.

Balkan Archers
Attack: 3 Missile 5 Charge: 1 Defence: 2 Armour: 0 Morale: 3

Balkan Archers are very weak archers similar to Peasant Archers and are useful only if you really need a lot of missiles in the air or some disposable fodder. They are untrained.

Maronites of Lebanon
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 7 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Morale: 3

These are another unit of decent archers, useful to fill gaps where you need skilled archers. They are untrained.

Cavalry

Alan Light Cavalry
Attack: 7 Charge: 5 Defence: 11 Armour: 2 Morale: 9

Alan Light Cavalry are useful cavalry as they pack good enough stats to hunt down archers and charge light infantry.

Armenian Cavalry
Attack: 8 Charge: 5 Defence: 15 Armour: 5 Morale: 9

Armenian Cavalry are a slightly stronger version of Alan Light Cavalry and should be used for the same tasks. They are Impetuous and very nice to have if you are caught cavalry short.

Bedouin Cavalry
Melee: 5 Charge: 4 Defence: 9 Armour: 0 Morale: 5

These Cavalry are very weak and have horrible all round stats and no armour. Use them only for charging the weakest archers and chasing routers. Don’t expect them to live long. They have a low mental state.

Ghulams
Attack: 5 Charge: 4 Defence: 12 Armour: 4 Morale: 5

Ghulams are the same as Bedouins, except with even worse defence that is only boosted by their armour. Their amour makes them better for charging archers, as arrows will kill fewer of them. They also can last a bit longer in melee and have more staying power because they are Disciplined. You should hire these over Bedouins when you can, even though neither of these cavalry are very useful. They are, somehow, highly trained.

Horse Archers

Akinjis
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Morale: 3

Akinjis are the weakest horse archers in the game, but there are no troops more suited to the desert and these troops can reap a heavy toll on tired infantry. They are Impetuous.

Cuman Horse Archers
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 1 Armour: 0 Morale: 3

These horse archers are just like Akinjis except they are not Impetuous.

Turkomans
Attack: 5 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 6 Armour: 0 Morale: 3

Turkomans are tougher than Akinjis and are OK for charging archers, but their lack of armour will get them killed fast.

Turkopoles
Attack: 3 Missile attack: 6 Charge: 1 Defence: 8 Armour: 2 Morale: 3

Turkopoles are the only horse archers who are armoured. Their good defence helps them along, but they are still poor in melee. They have a low mental state.

Other

Greek Firethrower
Attack: 9 Missile attack: 18 Charge: 3 Defence: 7 Armour: 3 Morale: 9

Greek Firethrowers are just like the Byzantine unit and should be used as described there. They are the rarest mercs in the game so take good care of them!