Army and units
Your army is your holding's shield, the key to the altars and the sword of your raids. There are fifteen units: infantry, cavalry, scouts, siege engines, boats, and special troops that found holdings or take them. This chapter covers each unit's stats, where it trains, what it costs and what it eats.
Units at a glance
| Unit | Attack | Vs. infantry | Vs. cavalry | Speed (km/h) | Carry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spearman | 10 | 20 | 45 | 6 | 170 |
| Archer | 15 | 25 | 10 | 6 | 60 |
| Swordsman | 35 | 40 | 15 | 5 | 210 |
| Shieldbearer | 8 | 56 | 82 | 5 | 75 |
| Guardsman | 50 | 110 | 110 | 6 | 100 |
| Watchman | 4 | 72 | 92 | Stays home | 0 |
| Rider | 60 | 20 | 15 | 12 | 400 |
| Sipahi | 63 | 56 | 100 | 9 | 150 |
| Scout | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Ram | 0 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 0 |
| Trebuchet | 0 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| Naphtha Thrower | 0 | 10 | 10 | Stays home | 0 |
| Boat | 0 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| Governor | 0 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| Settler | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
- Attack: the strength a unit brings when it attacks.
- Vs. infantry / Vs. cavalry: the resistance a unit puts up when defending, depending on how much of the attacking army is infantry or cavalry (Combat).
- Speed: kilometers per hour. An army marches at the speed of its slowest unit.
- Carry: how much plunder one unit can bring back from a raid.
| Unit | Attack | Vs. infantry | Vs. cavalry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spearman | 10 | 20 | 45 |
| Archer | 15 | 25 | 10 |
| Swordsman | 35 | 40 | 15 |
| Shieldbearer | 8 | 56 | 82 |
| Guardsman | 50 | 110 | 110 |
| Watchman | 4 | 72 | 92 |
| Rider | 60 | 20 | 15 |
| Sipahi | 63 | 56 | 100 |
Every unit's entry, legend and details are in the Codex; the name in the table takes you there.
Roles
Infantry
- Spearman: cheap, quick to train and a strong wall against cavalry. The first stone of every army.
- Archer: when defending its own holding, it looses arrows before the clash: every 5 archers bring down one attacking infantryman. Archers sent to reinforce an ally's holding shoot too.
- Swordsman: the striking power of the infantry, heavy on iron.
- Shieldbearer: a pure defender, solid against both infantry and cavalry.
- Guardsman: elite infantry: strong on every front, expensive and hungry for grain.
Cavalry and scouts
- Rider: the star of the raid: fast, hard-hitting and carries a lot.
- Sipahi: heavy cavalry, for cutting down raiders on the road and for defense.
- Scout: doesn't fight; it scouts holdings and altars (Scouting).
Siege and holding troops
- Ram: breaks levels off the wall before the clash.
- Trebuchet: knocks levels off a building in a holding whose wall has fallen.
- Naphtha Thrower: never leaves its holding; it burns an incoming raid's siege engines before they reach the wall.
- Watchman: the wall's sentry; it never leaves its holding and only defends it.
Special troops
Cost, training and upkeep
| Unit | Cost (timber / stone / iron) | Training | Grain / h | Trained at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spearman | 50 / 30 / 10 | 4 min 20 s | 1 | Barracks 1 |
| Archer | 70 / 10 / 20 | 5 min | 1 | Barracks 5 |
| Swordsman | 30 / 20 / 90 | 8 min | 1 | Barracks 1 |
| Shieldbearer | 100 / 30 / 40 | 8 min 40 s | 1 | Barracks 10 |
| Guardsman | 40 / 60 / 200 | 20 min | 5 | Barracks 18 |
| Watchman | 60 / 70 / 70 | 10 min | 1 | Wall 16 |
| Rider | 60 / 30 / 150 | 13 min 20 s | 3 | Stable 1 |
| Sipahi | 50 / 50 / 180 | 18 min 20 s | 4 | Stable 10 |
| Scout | 40 / 10 / 20 | 3 min 20 s | 1 | Stable 1 |
| Ram | 300 / 120 / 80 | 15 min | 3 | Workshop 1 |
| Trebuchet | 450 / 250 / 180 | 53 min 20 s | 6 | Workshop 1 |
| Naphtha Thrower | 180 / 80 / 100 | 15 min | 2 | Workshop 15 |
| Boat | 220 / 60 / 40 | 11 min 40 s | 2 | Shipyard 1 |
| Governor | 900 / 700 / 500 | 40 min | 4 | Palace 1 |
| Settler | 1,600 / 1,300 / 900 | 1 h 30 min | 6 | Palace 10 |
Training
- Every military building has its own training queue, and each queue holds up to 8 jobs. The Barracks, Stable, Workshop, Shipyard, Palace and Wall queues all run at the same time.
- You pay up front. If your resources fall short, as many soldiers as you can afford join the queue.
- Training speed: each level of the Barracks, Stable and Workshop speeds up training of the units trained there by 5%. The Chancery adds 25% to all training.
- Canceling training uses the same deduction steps as canceling construction (Canceling).
- A Drill Manual instantly finishes the first training job in your main holding. A Mercenary Company brings 40 swordsmen and 40 spearmen at no cost.
Upkeep
Every unit eats grain every hour. Upkeep goes on wherever your army is: a march on the road, reinforcements sent to an ally and an altar garrison all eat too. The holding a march set out from pays for it; your main holding pays for reinforcements and altar garrisons.
If grain runs out, 5% of your army deserts every hour (Starvation).
What eases upkeep: the Vault (by 50%), the Farm's Rations and the Barracks' Provision store specializations, and the Ration Chest, which brings grain.
Army and score
Your army is part of your score in the rankings, counted as an average over the last few days: keeping a large army standing carries your score, and soldiers you lose come off it. Governors, scouts and settlers don't count toward your score (Rankings).
Wounded
After a battle, some of your losses can come back as wounded:
- The Drill Yard brings back 20% of your losses.
- House Ataya brings back 20% of the losses the Drill Yard couldn't save; the two apply one after the other.
The wounded return after both attack and defense, and they join your main holding's garrison right away.