Anybody who knows me, knows that I prefer Marksmen over Ballis when given the choice. While Big does include a vital consideration of the cost involved in getting Marksmen. As it is 8k, and about 400 iron, stone and 800 wood.

However, as mentioned by various people, the movement advantage is very important imo. It allows for more tactical strikes.

Boe also hit the head on the nail. Marksmen's biggest job is not to take out range units, but rather to take out the melee protecting the range units. And Marksmen reign supreme here. In a recent clan game, Me and my clanmate were going 2v2, and while both sides had mace and scouts. I had Marksmen and my ally had ballis, as he was forced to go more defensive initially. The other side had mace, some squires and scouts, to protect all the ballis they were bringing out.

To make a long story short, we had a much easier time breaking their lines by taking out their melee, and were able to get our macemen up against their ballis which obviously they die quickly.

To a certain extent it is a matter of taste, However, not all players (even veterans) understand yet how to effectively use marksmen. Because there are subtleties (sp) to using them effectively. And sometimes it is better to use what your comfortable with, and what you have success with.