What-if?

What if the units of the medieval games were accurate:

Different classes of units:

Footsoldiers: 

Conscripts - called upon to serve their country and lord, for needs of war or to pay taxes. Hastily trained, armed with spears, plançon à picots, billhooks, glaives, fauchards, bardiches, war scythes or other kinds of cheap and easy-to-make polearms, these troops lack cohesion and moral to fight a war far from their homes. This leads to high attrition and desertion. Their armor is usually non-existent, except for helmet and occasionally gambeson and mail, making them vulnerable to nearly any weapon wielded with bad intentions. Sometimes, under a good leader who may have risen from their ranks, they can stand up against all odds.

Militia - law and order of the cities. Better trained and equipped than conscripts, these troops are making their living by guarding cities. Wielding spears, guisarmes, voulges or halberds, these troops provide ample resistance on city walls for any attacker. Their armor consists of helmets, gambesons, hauberks and occasional brigadines. However, like conscripts, their cohesion and moral drop rapidly farther away they are from their homes. Keep them in the city and both you and they are happy.

Mercenaries - dogs of war, workers of death. These men are earning their living by serving as soldiers and guardsmen. They can be from anywhere, with wildly varying nationality, morale, skills and equipment. Many have started their careers as conscripts or militiamen, then continued their enlistment and turned necessity into profession. Halberds, bec de corbins, partisans and pollaxes are primary tools of theirs, carrying also swords as backups and for close combat. Gambesons, hauberks, kettle helms, brigandines and other pieces of armor are all used concurrently to maximize protection - they are professionals, after all. Be vary, however, for these troops are not necessarily eager to die for your cause and they are strict about their payment. Training and pay keep their morale and cohesion high, but there is always the uncertainty of them turning sides for him who pays more.

Men of the Isles - bloody good ol' chaps. They can be either English, Irish or Scots, with differing equipment with each. English are usually billmen, using (in)famous English bill with effectiveness of causing fear in any cavalry. Irish are mostly gallowglasses, wearing heavy armor of gambesons and hauberks with helmets and carrying sparth-axes (kind of bardiches). Scots wield pikes and claymores, big swords capable of cutting horse in half. They all operate in companies, and are elite footsoldiers, having honed their skills in endless border clashes and clan wars. They expect they payroll to be higher than average, but reward it with competence and surprising trustworthiness among mercenaries. 

Swiss guard - fierce and feared, these mercenaries from the high are definitely worth of their pay. Armed primarily with Lucerne hammers, pikes and Swiss voulges (halberds) and carrying Swiss daggers and messers as secondaries, these troops can face nearly anyone on the battlefield and come out as victorious. They are best used as steamrolling columns, replicating phalanxies of the Alexander the Great, and turning they lord about as magnificent. Gambesons, hauberks, brigandines, curaissiers, sallets and skull caps under them are utilized and even required from the candidate in order to join the guard. Swiss guard are the finest of the mercenaries, with exceptionally high morale. Their quality and popularity comes with a price, literally, as they are one of the most expensive troops to field. Be prepared to face them in the battle at some point, and be prepared well, otherwise you may end up with bittering defeat.

Landsknecht - German guard, imitating the success of Swiss guard, armed similarly with pikes but also with langmessers, some of which resemble greatswords. Demand creates supply, and these mercenaries from different Germanic states have answered the call. They rival the Swiss guard for the title of the best and finest foot soldiers history has ever seen. However, compared to the Swiss, their quality can vary a bit and their prestige and fear factor is not as high. Fortunately, they also come with little less price, and can thus serve as poor-man's substitute for the the Cantonese. 

Mounted:

Mercenary cavalrymen - fierce but wild, these mounted troops can cause nightmares for the quartermaster of your enemy - and sometimes for yourself. Commonly, only a few can afford a horse, especially a horse bred for war, so being able to do so makes these troops special in their own right. Coming usually from the East, they may have varying degrees of morale and cohesion - but man, they can ride! They wear gambesons, hauberks, lamellar armor, shields, conical helmets or helmets not at all - it depends on their nationality and social status, wealthier leaders of course being better placed in this regard. Their weapons vary in similar kind of fashion - sabers, straight swords, lances, axes, warhammers or maces. They are best employed in harassing enemy troops, running down broken units and in other skirmishing duties. Be vary that they are only loyal among themselves, and loyality towards the lord might not be very good. Also, putting them to sit idling in a city is a bad idea, for they can get frustrated and freak havoc among civilized people.

Men-at-arms - knights in all but name and social status, these mounted warriors are the most skillful soldiers you will encounter. Most of them started as mercenaries, and were awarded the place alongside the knights for their skill and courage. Fulfilling the role of shock cavalry, armed with lances as primary weapons and swords, axes and warhammers as secondaries, they can turn the tide with one heavy blow. They are nearly as well armored as knights, wearing gambesons and hauberks under their full plate armor. For their effectiveness, they are also insanely expensive troops, thus only the richest lords can afford them. Unlike most of the mercenaries, these men are loyal to their lords. 

Knights - the cream of the society and warring men. Most of them are raised from the childhood to become leaders and soldiers, getting wide education on military and civil matters alike. They are nobles, and they know it. Usually accompanied with a band of men-at-arms, they create a force to be reckoned with.  However, not always is the son like the father, and even the purest bloodlines have produced rulers with abilities that families would like to forget. Also, being lords themselves, their ambition can sometimes blind their conscience, and thus their loyalty can be dubious. They are expensive and require possessions of land for their own rule and taxation. 

Missile:

Crossbowmen - potentially dangerous adversaries - at least for the first shot. Crossbow is an evolution of common bow and known for the mankind quite a while. Give a simple peasant a crossbow and he becomes perilous. Ease of use comes with higher labour of manufacturing and slower rate of launch. However, crossbowmen are among the most available missile troops and especially useful during sieges. They carry knifes and swords as backups, but you don't want to waste them in close combat. Similarly to conscripts, their armor is non-existent or light. 

Archers - skillful but not masters. Heavy warbows require special breed of men to operate them, and thus they are far rarer than crossbowmen. Bow is far easier to manufacture than crossbow, though, so they can be recruited from hunters and alike. Do not confuse their bows to English longbows, however, for their bows, although more powerful than average hunting bow, are not nearly powerful enough to pierce but the lightest of armor from medium to short distances. Their main advantages are rate of launch and good accuracy. 

Genovan crossbowmen - masters of most powerful handheld weapons seen to date. Although crossbow is popular among peasants for its ease of use, it doesn't mean there aren't masters in art of crossbow. Genovans are elite mercenaries, operating heavy crossbows. Some crossbows reach over 500 kg draw weights, in order to compensate their shorter draw lengths. Although not as good at penetrating armor than English longbows, due to short draw length and light bolt, they can still cause hindrance for lightly and moderately armored opponents. They carry pavises, large shields to protect them from arrows and bolts while reloading. Genevans have perfected their art and expect it to be shown in their payroll. Charge at them, and you may see why. 

English longbowmen - best of the best in the art of launching arrows. Finding a man capable of launching common warbow is far and few between, but finding a man capable of launching English longbow... These troops are big and strong as a bull and can launch rain of arrows at you with pinpoint accuracy. They come from rural regions and poor conditions - mastering longbow is for them a way to elevate social class and enjoy extensive pay, as longbowmen are heavily sought-after mercenaries. Even armored knights should be careful in presence of English longbowmen, for they can do nasty damage to shiny armor and hit open visors from longer-than-anticipated distances. They also carry shields and also swords and warhammers, but like Genovans, you don't want to waste them is close combat better suited for foot soldiers. 

Special:

Engineers - building the road others to march on. Skillful carpenters and engineers, these troops are necessary in nearly every situation: building roads, bridges, siege machines, fortifications, tunnels to breach walls and alike. They can defend themselves in battle, but they are not chosen by their battle skills. Use their brain, not their sword.

Bandits - merry fellows to rob you and cut your throat. Many different kinds of men operate as bandits: deserters, hard-boiled criminals, poor peasants... Some have chosen the path to break away from shackles of society and become free, whatever it means for them. Nevertheless, bandits can be useful - they can recon areas, act as skirmishers and harass enemy population. Trustful is however not the attitude with which you should deal with these guys - rather that they can choose between this and gallows.