Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:27 am by Akrupt
To answer all your questions.
If you both had max speed and you were defending you will strike first (assuming equal range). So if you have max range, no matter what your archers will hit first. If you don't have max range you kind of need to know his range, you then need to get in range on the same turn he gets in range of you, again you'll strike first.
To take out cats, if he rolls forward move forward on turn 3 (max speed/range) if he decided to wait his cats, move forward turn 1 and 2. If he mixes it up, you need to advance/retreat accordingly.
Extra info - You want conservatively, 6x the archers to his cats to take him out cleanly.