Crossbowmen are useful for base and offensive measures. You should build up at least fifteen Crossbowmen at the start. Buy them and place a tower near a stronghold or farm, depending on the landscape. For offensive tactics, build up at least 75-100 Crossbowmen, 2 Balista or 8 Assassins and 2 Catapults. Take out enemy tower first, then move the Baslistas and Crossbowmen in for the kill. Pick off enemy troops and use Assassins to take the gate house, or have a Siege Tower so you can get on to the ramparts. Then, have your Crossbowmen shoot the Enemy Lord while only suffering minimal casualties. Note: This does not work well in multi-player games against human opponents without the support of a lot of Swordsmen. However, this is still a high risk tactic in multi-player mode as the opposing lord may wipe out your Crossbowmen. For base defense, when you have your production up and running, you need to have two to three large Siege Towers full of Crossbowmen. This tactic works very well. To get crossbowmen recruits up and running, build one or two dairy farms. Then build three Tanners to each farm and have three or more armorers to build crossbows. Have eight or more peasants around the campfire. You should have your keep enclosed by now. If you have a money source, you can buy Crossbowmen. Have many iron mines or quarries for income. Also, you can have inns and raise taxes. You should also have gardens for the people.