 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Archaic melee unit capable of killing light infantry and melee infantry as well as structures.
| |||||||
| Prereq: | Build time | HP | LOS | Attack | Attack speed | Movement speed | ||
|
12.5s (188t) |
90 | 9 | 16 | 2s (30t) |
24 | ||
| Cost | Created from | Armour | Weapon range | Specialty | ||||
| Base | Ramp | Pop | ||||||
 : 40; : 60
|
: 1;: 1
|
1 |  |
2 | Melee | Bonus attack versus light infantry and melee units, structures. | ||
    
| ||||||||
Overall Strategy[]
Outside of Europe, the lack of centralisation and control of resources has rendered the sword as being the weapon of choice for the bourgeoisie and the underclasses of working men and ruffians. Thus, Swordsmen make up the rank and file of armies raised in India and the Middle East.
Although lightly armoured, Swordsmen constitute a force to be reckoned with should they come in contact with light infantry, particularly Bowmen and Musketeers. Equally, they are most useful when pitted against buildings, and are highly useful in urban warfare against settlements and to a lesser extent fortifications. Like all light infantry, however, they have a serious problem with heavy cavalry units and frontal assaults by units in numbers equal to them — have the Swordsmen try to form a line against massed artillery or Pikemen, and they will be slaughtered to a man. Equally, they are of little use if pitted against cavalry, particularly heavily armoured units such as Chinese Booi or European Cuirassiers.
Thus, your swordsmen like all light infantry should always be placed on the wings of your army, or used as a flanking force at all time. This is feasible given their fleetness of foot and their cost. Another feasible but far more risky tactic using swordsmen is the sword rush, given the relative cheap cost for producing swordsmen: in the time that it takes to create 1 pikeman, you could easily create at least 2 bodies of swordsmen. The only problem though is that like most cheap pre-modern infantry, they take a very long time to train. Still, the ability to raise these warriors from Public Buildings makes them ideal as an early-game rush unit as long as your enemy has not trained cavalry.
Unit summary[]
Notes[]
Depending on your faction, Swordsmen have two distinct appearances.
