In this case, a Polish player may pair the Obuch with archers, as in a way, the Obuch may be played as a counter to anti-archer/anti-building units. It can also also weaken units with strong pierce armor, such as Huskarls, Skirmishers, War Wagons, and Elephants Archers. In this role, the player should consider that Obuchs still lose againsts Teutonic Knights or Boyars in equal numbers, but not in equal resources spent in the case of Serjeants or Bulgarian Two-Handed Swordsmen, Obuchs can be considered a hard counter just by itself. Notable uses include weakening units with heavy melee armor (such as Teutonic Knights, Boyars, Serjeants and Bulgarian Two-Handed Swordsmen with Bagains).

Upon reaching their maximum hit points, all lost armor is restored. The armor loss is permanent until the unit is fully healed (by Monks or repairers). This effect is applied after the Obuch's attack has inflicted damage to a unit. Armor can be reduced to a minimum of 0, so units with negative armor such as Battering Ram (-3/180) cannot lose further normal armor (but can still lose pierce armor). Bonus armor classes such as the Cavalry armor of Cataphracts are unaffected. The Obuch's main strength is its ability to tear armor of units with each hit by –1/–1 (normal/pierce). Despite having less attack, a fully upgraded Elite Obuch can defeat a fully upgraded Champion due to the durability of the Obuch, while the unit also tears the armor of the Champion with each attack. The Obuch, even in its Elite form, however, has less attack than a Two-Handed Swordsman and less Line of Sight. The Obuch is a cheap infantry similar in functionality to the Militia line, but with key differences: the Obuch has 20 more Hit points than the Two-Handed Swordsman, while the Elite Obuch has 25 more hit points than a Champion, and they have more armor than the Militia line, making the unit highly resilient.

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