Re: Bowmen and crossbowmen balance
Since melee units go on front, they die first. So the player with swords/bows loses most of his valuable sword fighters, while the other player loses his much-easier-to-replace axe fighters. He still has his crossbowmen, and with some new reinforcements (assuming players' economies are equal) he might now hold the advantage.
In addition, when your front line crumbles, trying to save your Crossbowmen feels just as difficult as trying to save your Bowmen, since pretty much any unit can catch or at least keep up with both and any unit can slaughter both extremely easily, especially if you're retreating (thus offering your back).
However, this theory is only valid when crossbowmen slaughter bowmen; which they, as far as I know, are incapable of...
Team 1: 45 Bowmen (855 Corn)
Team 2: 33 Crossbowmen (858 Corn)
Team 1 (Bowmen) won 37 of them.
Team 2 (Crossbowmen) won 63 of them.
This is underwhelming indeed, when compared to how other Leather units fare against equivalent armies of their Iron corrispective.
Mmmm... what about giving Crossbowmen a chance to wound for 2 Life Points instead of 1, proportionally to how close they are to their target, maybe while lowering Crossbowmen's actual Attack stat?
They'd have a reason to stay and fight instead of turning their back and trying to flee (thus actually being able to make use of their superior armor), they'd have to take risks if you want them to be better than Bowmen, and they'd actually feel stronger, more worthy of their price, without becoming all-around better than Bowmen.
(Bowmen would still be better for fighting from long range, and would be able to slaughter Crossbowmen).
What do you think about this?