Problems with my army strat (cav/archer)

I'm level 9 with and currently am farming a nice little group of forts levels 1-3 (almost 4) with about 3k inf and 1k cats. I'm a bit frustrated with the slowness of cats especially when attempting to raid another players army for prestige.

After reading some guides i decided to experiment with a cav archer combo for higher speed. I'm not very rich yet so i can't afford huge amounts of cavs which is why i'm gonna use archers to try to decrease my losses in battle. Aside from fielding overwhelming numbers i can't get around the huge advantages the inf have over my cav and archers. The inf get a 1.5 modifier against cav which makes a slugfest between cav and inf very expensive for me unless i completely outnumber the inf...which is expensive in itself because inf are so much cheaper to build then cavs. The archers have terrible attack and only do .77ish modifier against inf. I could use inf vs their inf but that seems redundant and why have cavs then? Plus inf will take tons of losses charging someone's cats while their inf meat shields. What is wrong with my logic and what can i change with my strategy? I've read the guides that matter from start to finish and they all seem to assume that i can take out the enemies inf with one shot from my archers which isn't possible. Maybe cav and archer army isn't feasible unless you spend the same amount that it would take to build a inf cat army?

Here's my battle strat:

Beginning of battle:

Archers and cav wait. Enemy charges and archers do what small damage they can. Damage cavs inf and archers until round 6ish when enemy cats get into range.

Round 6ish:

Cavs charge and do their best to fight their way to the cats while soaking up the damage. Archers continue to pick off enemy troops helping out the best they can.

It would all depend on the speed and the opponents shooting tech.

It would all depend on the speed and the opponents shooting tech.

I understand. My techs are pretty low at the moment (around 4) but lets assume that the other tech is 0 (for an oasis or fort) or equal to less than mine for an opponent.

Edit: Simply meaning that i'm not way out teched.

cav/arch armies run purely on numbers and techs, this army combo relies on these factors heavily. archers with max range can hit cats before cats hit the archers but you need roughly 6-8x as many arch as cats.

thats what is going wrong you need max techs and terrifyingly large numbers

with a strategy as mixed as this, send your arch and cats forward 1 turn, the others wait. then pull your arch back on the next turn. that way you sneak an attack in on any troops out of archer and cat range. then pull arch back and leave them paused the whole time. now move your blockers forward, and tell your arch and cat to take out the other archers/cats. then worry about the inf for last, as they are the least threat, if you are able to make it that far.

with a strategy as mixed as this, send your arch and cats forward 1 turn, the others wait. then pull your arch back on the next turn. that way you sneak an attack in on any troops out of archer and cat range. then pull arch back and leave them paused the whole time. now move your blockers forward, and tell your arch and cat to take out the other archers/cats. then worry about the inf for last, as they are the least threat, if you are able to make it that far.

hes not using cats... hes using archers and cavs

then he needs some cats, to take some effort off his archers.... quicker end to battle.

quicker ennd but slower to travel round the map and therefore making it pointless having any arch, he just needs more numbers and better techs

Again as said before this army type relies heavily on tech, gear, stats, and most importantly battle experience. To be able to use this army effectively you'll also need decently sized numbers as well. For your level and experience I recommend sticking to catapult and infantry set up.
Archers have the capability of taking out catapults at the rate of 5:1 as well as being able to hit the enemy first. They are greatly improved with tech and equipment.
Cavalry can reach catapults in two turns and also have a 1.5x multiplier against them. They can take out catapults at a rate of 3:1.

If commanded correctly this can be a serious threat.

Most strategies are
#1 Use archers to clear out meatshields then hit catapults with cavalry reducing as much cavalry lost as possible.

#2 Use the archers to take out catapults in 1 hit and cavalry as an aid.