The Vaegir Empire feature

The Vaegir Empire fields a relatively balanced forced with a strong focus on archery and ranged combat in general. One of the particularities of the Vaegir army is that all its troops can spawn with ranged weapons : even the infantry often carries crossbows or javelins. Most troops wear light to medium armor, which makes them quite fast but not very durable in a prolonged fight.

A typical Vaegir army will consist mostly of archers supported by a defensive infantry force, horse archers to harass the enemy and cavalry to counter enemy cavalry and act as the hammer. As long as the Vaegir lord manages to keep his archers safe, his superior firepower is likely to grant him victory over his foes.

The bulk of a Vaegir army (tiers 4 and 5) is divided in 6 different troops :

1. Imperial Guards : These are the main defensive infantry troops. They are the toughest foot Vaegir troops and their main role is therefore to protect the archers. Their spears are particularly efficient against cavalry if used with both hands, so you should consider making them drop their shield when facing cavalry if archers aren't an issue. They tend to struggle in melee against infantry if left unsupported.
2. Linebreakers : Their long bardiches and powerful crossbows make them particularly good against infantry. They're rather vulnerable to archers, so they will usually be behind the imperial guards and support them with their crossbows before charging the enemy infantry.
3. Trackers : The bread and butter of any Vaegir army. Their bows are rather slow but particularly deadly, which makes them especially good against unshielded but heavily armored opponents.
4. Recurve Archers : Unlike Trackers, their bows are fast and are particularly efficient against shields, but deal a lot less damage, especially against armored opponents. You should use them when to break enemy shields or if you're facing hordes of weak opponents.
5. Druzhinniki : Your medium cavalry, they carry lances and javelins but aren't good enough to fight Swadian or Khergit cavalry head on. Still, they can deal a lot of damage to enemy formations that are being slaughtered to your archers and can act as a distraction to enemy cavalry in order to protect your ranged forces.
6. Heavy Horse Archers : These act mostly as mounted skirmishers that can fight much better than a standard archers in melee. Thanks to their speed, they can be used to harass enemy cavalry as well.

• Light armor
• Cavalry and infantry tend to be weaker than those of other nations
• Lacks elite infantry, which can be an issue for offensive sieges