How BAD is the Veteran Bowman? Bannerlord Ranged Troop Units Guide

This is a 1.8. Bannerlord in Depth Analysis of the Ranged troop known as Veteran Bowman.
This video is part of a Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Playlist where we analyze each unit not only based on their equipment but also on statistics taken after intensive testings.
The Data will be trimmed down and showcased both throughout the video and at the end to allow the viewer to know as much as possible about the unit in question.
A score will also be provided at the end based on Lyon’s opinion, this score shouldn’t be taken as hard evidence, as different playstyles may impact the way viewers evaluate units.
In this here video we are going to talk about the Sturgian Veteran Bowman.
It's no secret this is possibly the worst ranged option in the game.
But are there any redeemable quality to the Bowman? Let's find out.
Units Playlist: • How BAD is The Wildlin...
And remember, criticism and constructive feedback are always appreciated.

[@Harrier_DuBois]

Archers do end up in melee a lot in this game, like those huge battles, when your first wave dies off to a massive spawn of reinforcements and you are left with the archers until your own reinforcements show up. It makes sense to have an archer that excels in melee, except without a shield they are pretty weak, they should get a 2h sword maybe, like how English longbowmen often equipped themselves historically.

[@LyonExodus]

I have been saying for a few patches that they should get a crappy 2H axe. and be less of an archer and more of a Skirmisher. There is potential for the Bowman to be a very special archer, that isn't good at shooting but close to an infantrymen when it comes to shooting.

[@PolishEngineer456]

I really appreciate these vids, keep up the work! ♥️

[@christophesiewecke9208]

I hope you do the noble Sturgian cav next! I also really liked the tier list video you did for Battanian units, I hope you end up doing one for each culture and then eventually for all units in the game cos that would be very useful! Also, at some point after doing every Kingdom's units, it would be great to see how all the Mercenary/Caravan Guard/Bandit units stack up although you mentioned in another comment that the mod you're using for the testing is limited to Kingdom troops but hopefully you'll find a workaround at some point in the future! Thanks for all the great insightful videos! I appreciate your efforts and look forward to your future content!

[@LyonExodus]

Thanks you for the suggestions and i can confirm the next video will be the Druzhinnik Champion. if all goes well it should be live before tomorrow.

[@Oppetsismiimsitsitc]

I always liked Nord Archers in M&B. Not that they were great, but they brought a lot of bang for their buck; long bows, two handed axes and acceptable mail armour. They were never the best archers, but they were great hybrid troops. I really wanted the Sturgians to keep that theme.

[@ivemesseditup6225]

Hmmm, just as a quick recap - is there any place where all of those comparison might be found? Even as an excel or tier video (e.g. summary with archers, cav or infantry options?). Btw, great work. Its really helpful and easy to follow :)

[@LyonExodus]

I have my data on o Google spreadsheet and when i can't release a new video in time i upload a "recap" one. Like i did for the Aserai or Battanians. There is also the playlist that contains all currently uploaded analysis, so the viewer can skip to the ones they need. I will release the data to the public once all videos are done, but i can't say it's going to be easy to read for an outsider.

[@Accentrick]

I've made custom sturgian troops maybe you'd like to see. I've actually reworked all of the troop trees to make them simpler and stronger. As for Sturgian Bowmen - I gave them a two handed swords and axes and is a hybrid unit rather than a ranged unit now. Also changed that awful armor.

[@LyonExodus]

that's what i also had in mind for the Bowmen, some kind of 2H weapon. I'd like one day to make my own "rebalancing" patch for the troops but too busy lately, many video to make, and more.

[@pyscoandco]

Any chance you'll be covering bandit units? Obviously they'll all score very low, but would be cool to see for a bandit only playthrough

[@LyonExodus]

I wanted to but i am yet to find a mod that allows me to use them in custom battles. If someone can make one or update one of the old ones it can be done.

[@savic101]

Wish they were given a 2h axe it’d be fitting for sturgia

[@LyonExodus]

i'd love it too. capitalize on that little melee edge they got

[@zerophoenix8312]

I think it's safe to say the best range troop that stugria has to offer was the pre-patch axemen with javelins

[@christophesiewecke9208]

I miss them dearly. They were so much fun to have, and now they've been so nerfed that I'm just back to using Legionaries which are the best but also, super boring units.

[@Lucasekane1986]

honestly i think of sturgia as training dummy for my men specially the armys with lotsa of archers

[@LyonExodus]

Sturgia low tiers tend to be very easy to take one. if only the AI would bring a lot more high tiers it could be another story

[@Lucasekane1986]

@@LyonExodus totally agree

[@DestroyerOfOgis]

And I think of the massive Battanian hordes as tacticless barbarians who will be drowning in their own blood after a failed charge. As for the Vlandians, they are the easiest enemies. It's fun to make the enemy suffer 5 times more casualties. Sturgia is in no way a training dummy, hence why after a battle with Battania, Nevyansk is suffering from severe flood. (Battanian blood) The Heroic Line Breakers will come out in victory after slicing and dicing massive quantities of Battanian heads.

[@BaskinTimi]

Maybe you can share your tests with a different categories like Vs cav Vs archers Vs inf For example Your sturgian spearmen didnt include cav test like wtf

[@LyonExodus]

The tests are currently shared but for a selected few. Since i am attempting to grow the channel. If i were to give out the information less people will have to watch the videos. And not only they will miss out the information that simple data can't tell you but my channel will suffer as a result and i won't be able to spend the same amount of time for testings in the future. As of why the spearman didn't include cavalry testings you can find out by doing a quick custom battle, keep your units togheter and let Cav slowly die. then you can tell me if the stats from those tests are relevent. (spoiler they aren't because the difference in units is not significant). There are only 3 units that can use spears well, no need to confuse viewers with preatty much pointless data if there is almost no difference in performance. Performance Vs Horse archers is the only one worth talking about. yet, once again there are only 3 units that use spears well. For those units i'll just tell you in the video if they can use or not a spear. I do my best to avoid redundant infromation in order to not confuse new players. While veterans can quickly understand why the tests against Cav are not included, new players might find the information important, leading them to believe that spears are a good weapon against cav when they really aren't. Hope this explains it.

[@zachariahkeehn2607]

I wish they'd just give unit a shield it would be so much better. Use up all their ammo > support the infantry

[@mortache]

The only viable Sturgian archers are the Forest Bandits

[@colhammer1]

Goedemorgen, Voor het algoritme!

[@LyonExodus]

don't think this video is going to do as good. but they, it's out there. they can't all be bangers

[@takuoku2546]

I think the sturgians should be a worse version of the battanian fian champion. the armor could stay the same, but it should have a 2 handed axe and 2 quivers. I do think sturgia should not have good archers tho. maybe good mellee, good athletics, but I don't think the sturgian veteran bowmen should be buffed in terms of archery other than an additional quiver.

[@LyonExodus]

i am with you on this take. a crappy archer with melee upside is what makes the most sense from a design standpoint. Either by them having a 2H axe or 1 big quiver with a shield, i think TW should capitalize on making them a special kind of unit other than like everyone else but worse

[@Halo-wp3zh]

It's weird how the predecessor of the vaegirs is weak in the archer department, since that's the thing vaegirs excel at,

[@LyonExodus]

Guess they learned that it was an important position on the Battlefield and needed an upgrade

[@vietnguyenhoang5795]

@@LyonExodus I think they might got raided too much by the Khuzaits,and urgent needs for archery splitted the Principality in half.The Nords also improved their archers to a decent level,seeing their counterparts with much superior arrows and having experienced the horror of Battanian arrow rains,they improved to get better at it.

[@thescruug2222]

the Veteran bowman should have better armor, a better bow, and instead of 2 quivers with fewer arrows, give them 1 quiver with alot of arrows and a shield wich makes them much better at combat, and when they run out of arrows they can switch to the shield and absorb enemy projectiles. But that's just me :x

[@LyonExodus]

agree on the take apart for the bow. i find it fine for them to have an accurate but low DMG bow if they capitalized on that melee upside. A good comparison with what you are suggesting would be the Forest Bandit Boss. 1H axe, shield, longbow and 32 arrows.

[@secundus6457]

In other words Sturgia has no archers.

[@vietnguyenhoang5795]

I think they should at least buff the amount of arrows the Veteran Bowman can carry,They were meant to spam their arrows into a formation,they must have at least like 50-60 arrows per quiver.Real life Nords carries a lot of arrows with them,and the Nordic Shortbow is meh,because you are expected to spam them during battles,who cares about the actual range?(In fact the Shortbow's range is javelin throwing range,hence why it is so bad)

😭 seeing this makes me sad ... poor useless archer

[@LyonExodus]

They aren't as useless as i make them sound in the video but very underwhelming in comparison to the others. I'd still prefer having 200 of these guys over 200 crossbowmen just beacuse of the 40 arrows. but they do need captain perks to feel decent

@@LyonExodus i see, but for me personally, crossbows were always dead 🤣 never liked them ... and with perks, other archers are even better

[@DestroyerOfOgis]

Poor useless Battanian infantry and poor useless Vlandian army... Sturgia is not an entity to feel sad for. Instead they are one to be thought about as actually strong and brave warriors. Save your Battanian and Vlandian cowards before they enter the meat grinder.