for ranged units is it better ro focus on one unit or to spread it out

i usually aim for what unit will hurt me the most on their initial attack, and usually that would be either a mark or a heavy, so yes, i keep my initial attacks with my marks aimed toward one army

The question is extremely circumstantial. Is there a specific scenario you have in mind (are in the middle of right now) that you are looking for an answer for?

I was taught early on, take out even amounts from HC as 4 stacks of 6 is better than 3 stacks of 10 coming at you. I also try to concentrate on crippling opponents ranged when possible. If one piece is a real threat, go after it, but otherwise attack broadly.

*counts on fingers* 4x6=24..... 3x10 = 30.... *scratches head and looks to mog for some kind of prophetic answer to his query.

4 attacks or 3 attacks?
3 stacks that can with stand more damage or 4 stacks that will die sooner than the 3 stacks would.
4 stacks that the enemy must keep track of and try to kill rather than 3 stacks that can easily be targeted.

thats all relative..... what if you dont have room for 4 stacks? you then have to rotate. and are killed much faster, damage more costly and severe.... it depends really. but 4 stacks of 6 = faster kills... than 3 stacks of 10.

In battles it's GENERALLY better to spread out the damage from marks. Here's the idea: In battles, you can usually only attack with 4 melee troops at a time... So, if you can take out some of each of the most dangerous stacks (probably HC, but it'll depend on your setup as well as your opp's), then the enemy can only attack with less. If you destroyed, say most of a stack of HC and left the others alone, the enemy could simply replace the HC with say some knights as well as attacking with the other 10 pop HC, getting more damage.

HOWEVER, this isn't always the case. Sometimes the enemy has only one stack that you need to focus on first. It'll depend on your setup and the enemies. But say for example that you went mass knights (with some mace/marks) and the enemy went balanced with only one HC. Well, you'd be much better off shooting the HC first, and trying to take it out, as it poses the greatest threat.

ALSO, this isn't as true for campaigns, where you can usually attack with more stacks at once. They can also rotate their stacks and get more attacks in per turn than you can in battles. Still (with your ranged), you'll usually want to work on taking out the largest stacks of melee that your melee will have trouble with. But taking out the enemies' RPS advantage or further increasing the RPS advantage that you have should be the primary goal when choosing the targets for your ranged.

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beautiful explanation card