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Barbarian Swordsmen
Tactical BarbarianSwordsmen
Race Barbarians
Req. Town Buildings Barracks,
Smithy
Construction Cost Icon Production 30
Upkeep Cost Icon Gold 1
Icon Food1
Unit Properties
# of figures Icon MultiFigureUnit 6
Moves Icon Movement Ground1
Melee Attack per figure Icon Melee Normal 3
Defense per figure Icon Defense 2
Resistance Icon Resist 5
Hit Points per figure Icon Hits 1
Unit Abilities

Ability LargeShield Large Shield

Ability Thrown Thrown 1

Barbarian Swordsmen are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in Barbarian Towns containing at least a Barracks and a Smithy. Swordsmen are a basic combat unit available to all Races. They are better defended against Ranged Attacks than other low-tier units, but generally don't pose much of a threat to more advanced units. They can become somewhat stronger through Icon Experience Experience though.

Barbarian Swordsmen have a Construction Cost of Icon Production 30, and require an Upkeep Cost of Icon Gold 1 and Icon Food1 to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically.

Unit Properties[]

Physical Description[]

Barbarian Swordsmen are a group of humanoids, with blond hair and dressed only in green trousers. They each carry a sword for up-close-and-personal combat, and a large brown buckler which protects them from enemy arrows and other ranged attacks. They also carry various throwing weapons which they lob at enemies before charging into them.

Barbarian Swordsmen are a Icon MultiFigureUnit Multi-Figure unit, containing up to Icon MultiFigureUnit 6 soldiers.

Attack Properties[]

Barbarian Swordsmen possess a Melee Attack that will initially only be threatening to other low-tier Normal Units. They have an Attack Strength of Icon Melee Normal 3, which yields an average "raw" Icon Damage damage output of Icon Damage 0.9 per Swordsman. While this can be decent against lighter armor, it's not quite enough to consistently hurt well-protected opponents. Barbarian Swordsmen do get better with Icon Experience Experience though, both in strength and accuracy. At the Icon ExpLevel 3 Elite level, the maximum normally attainable, their attacks will do over twice this much – Icon Damage 2.0 points of "raw" Icon Damage damage, on average, per Swordsman.

Like most Barbarians, Barbarian Swordsmen also have a Icon Thrown Thrown Attack. Whenever they initiate a Melee Attack against an enemy unit, they will precede the "mutual melee" with a short-range attack. This has an initial strength of only Icon Thrown 1 though, as indicated by the magnitude of the Barbarian Swordsmen's Ability Thrown Thrown ability. As a result, it only has a base 30% chance to yield any "raw" Icon Damage damage at all – which the opponent may then reduce through a Defense Roll.

However, this attack has two advantages. First, it is executed before the enemy could retaliate, which means that any Icon Damage damage it does cause may reduce the amount of enemy Icon Figure figures that can strike back at the Barbarian Swordsmen during melee. Second, it allows the unit to engage Icon Movement Airflying opponents, which Icon Movement Groundground units without special abilities are normally incapable of. On the other hand, this Attack Type only works on voluntary attacks – the Barbarians can't use it when Counter Attacking against an enemy assault.

Defensive Properties[]

Barbarian Swordsmen are lightly armored, possessing a Defense score of Icon Defense 2. They can deflect about Icon Damage 0.6 points from Conventional Damage attacks, on average. Unfortunately, this is rarely enough to avoid anything but the weakest attacks. Like all Swordsmen however, they carry Ability LargeShield Large Shields, which grant an extra Icon Defense +2 against all types of Conventional Damage that is delivered at a range. This brings their average Icon Damage damage reduction up to Icon Damage 1.2 against Icon Ranged Bow Missile-, Icon Ranged Boulder Boulder-, and Icon Ranged Magic Ranged Magical Attacks, as well as Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks, Icon Breath Breath Attacks, the hidden Conventional component of most Gaze Attacks, and all spells and effects that deal Conventional Damage, including Area Damage.

As with most common foot soldiers though, each Barbarian Swordsman has only Icon Hits 1 Hit Point. In other words, each point of Icon Damage Damage inflicted on this unit will kill off one of its Icon Figure figures. Their Resistance score is not impressive either. Even with their racial bonus, they only have Icon Resist 5 – barely enough for a fair chance at avoiding even the weakest Unit Curses and other ill effects. Icon Defense Defense, Icon Resist Resistance, and even Icon Hits Hit Points improve with Icon Experience Experience however.

Other Properties[]

Barbarian Swordsmen move at a slow Icon Movement Ground1, and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties.

Basic Strategy[]

Barbarian Swordsmen are a step up from the basic Barbarian Spearmen. Stronger on the attack, and better defended against spells and ranged opponents, they can serve as a decent main-line unit in the early stages of the campaign. The Barracks and Smithy required to recruit them are typically cheap enough to build in every Town, especially since the latter is also needed for some of the economical Town Buildings, and is likely to be constructed sooner rather than later.

Because of their defensive advantage, Swordsmen are often a better choice than Spearmen for garrisoning frontier Settlements and contested areas. However, it should be noted that unlike Spearmen, they also cost Icon Gold Gold to maintain in addition to Icon FoodFood, and their lower Icon Figure figure count makes enhancements effects slightly less pronounced for them. At the same time though, Barbarian Swordsmen still get double benefit from most Attack Strength increases because of their Icon Thrown Thrown Attacks, which should naturally be utilized whenever possible.

Ability Overview[]

Ability LargeShield Large Shield[]

Ability Thrown Thrown 1[]

  • Whenever this unit makes a voluntary Melee Attack against an enemy target, it also delivers a Thrown Attack with a base strength of Icon Thrown 1 per Icon Figure figure.
  • As a short-range attack, this is executed before the enemy gets a chance to retaliate. Any Icon Figure figures in the target unit that are killed by the attack do not get to deliver any Melee Damage.
  • This attack does not occur when the unit is Counter Attacking against an enemy assailant. However, it does enable its possessor to initiate Melee Attacks against Icon Movement Airflying units regardless of its own Movement Type.

Experience Table[]

The following table illustrates how Barbarian Swordsmen improve with Experience. Any properties that are not listed here are not affected by Icon Experience Experience in any way.

Level Icon Level Name EP Melee Thrown To Hit Defense Resist Hits
Experience 0 Recruit Icon Experience 0 - Icon Experience 19 Icon Melee Normal 3 Icon Thrown 1 Icon ToHit 30% Icon Defense 2 Icon Resist 5 Icon Hits 1
Experience 1 Regular Icon Experience 20 - Icon Experience 59 Icon Melee Normal 4 Icon Thrown 2 Icon ToHit 30% Icon Defense 2 Icon Resist 6 Icon Hits 1
Experience 2 Veteran Icon Experience 60 - Icon Experience 119 Icon Melee Normal 4 Icon Thrown 2 Icon ToHit 30% Icon Defense 3 Icon Resist 7 Icon Hits 1
Experience 3 Elite Icon Experience 120 Icon Melee Normal 5 Icon Thrown 3 Icon ToHit 40% Icon Defense 3 Icon Resist 8 Icon Hits 2
Experience 4 Ultra-Elite Icon Experience 120 * Icon Melee Normal 5 Icon Thrown 3 Icon ToHit 50% Icon Defense 4 Icon Resist 9 Icon Hits 2
Experience 5 Champion Icon Experience 120 ** Icon Melee Normal 6 Icon Thrown 4 Icon ToHit 60% Icon Defense 4 Icon Resist 10 Icon Hits 3

* To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Icon LifeCrusade spell must be in play.
** To achieve this level, both Warlord and Icon LifeCrusade must be in play simultaneously.

Average Damage Output[]

The table below details the average amount of "raw" Icon Damage damage that each Icon Figure Figure in a Barbarian Swordsmen unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on Icon Experience Level Experience Level. It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to approximate the chance of hurting that target.

Select weapons:
Level Icon Level Name Melee Ranged * Thrown Breath
Experience 0 Recruit
Experience 1 Regular
Experience 2 Veteran
Experience 3 Elite
Experience 4 Ultra-Elite
Experience 5 Champion

<img src="Icon_Melee_Normal.png"><img src="Icon_Melee_Magic.png"><img src="Icon_Melee_Mithril.png"><img src="Icon_Melee_Adamantium.png">

Acquisition[]

Barbarian Swordsmen may be recruited in any Barbarian Town that has both a Barracks and a Smithy already built. The Construction Cost of this unit is Icon Production 30. Barbarian Swordsmen may also appear as Mercenaries, provided that the player has a presence on Arcanus. In this case, they cost between Icon Gold 60 to Icon Gold 90 to hire per unit, based on their Icon Experience Experience – or half that much for Charismatic Wizards.

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