| Dark Elf Spearmen | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Race | Dark Elves | |
| Req. Town Buildings | None | |
| Construction Cost |
 25 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
 1 | |
| ||
| # of figures |
 8 | |
| Moves |
 1 | |
| Melee Attack per figure |
 1 | |
| Ranged Attack per figure |
 1 ( ) | |
| Defense per figure |
 2 | |
| Resistance |
 7 | |
| Hit Points per figure |
 1 | |
| ||
 Ranged Attack x4 | ||
Dark Elf Spearmen are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in Dark Elf Towns, for a Construction Cost of 25. Spearmen are the most basic combat unit available to most Races, and require no special Town Buildings to create. While Dark Elf Spearmen generally don't pose much of a threat to more advanced units, they do become somewhat stronger through 
Experience and, given their initial statistics, can benefit the most from the Dark Elves' signature Ranged Magical Attacks.
Dark Elf Spearmen require an Upkeep Cost of only 1 to maintain. However, failure to pay this does result in the unit being disbanded automatically.
Unit Properties[]
Physical Description[]
Dark Elf Spearmen are a group of slender humanoids with violet-colored skin and white hair. They wear brown leather clothes and carry spears – long shafts of wood tipped with sharp metal points. These are used for stabbing at enemies within hand-to-hand combat range. Dark Elves are inherently magical beings, and can channel magical energy into a destructive force on a whim. They are also incredibly resistant to magic and other ill effects.
Dark Elf Spearmen are a Multi-Figure unit, containing up to 8 soldiers.
Attack Properties[]
Dark Elf Spearmen initially possess a very weak Melee Attack, which will only be threatening to other low-tier Normal Units. They have an Attack Strength of only 1, which has an average "raw" 
damage output of 0.3 – or rather, there is only a 30% chance for each Spearman to inflict any damage on the opponent, which may then possibly be reduced by it through a Defense Roll. Therefore, Dark Elf Spearmen are highly unlikely to get through any armor at all. They do get better with Experience though, both in strength and accuracy. At the 
Elite level, the maximum normally attainable, their attacks will actually do 4 times this much – 1.2 points of "raw" damage, on average, per Spearman.
Characteristic to their Race, Dark Elf Spearmen can wield magic to perform Ranged Attacks four times per battle. These also have an initial strength of 1, which results in the same average damage values as the Melee Attack described above. Ranged Magical Attacks suffer no penalties for range either, meaning that the unit can shoot at targets over any distance with the same efficiency.
The magic of Dark Elf Spearmen is considered to come from the Chaos Realm, and this is what their Ranged Attacks are associated with. As such, they will trigger the conditional Defense modifiers granted by the 
Resist Elements, Elemental Armor, and 
Bless spells, and are much less effective against targets bearing these Unit Enchantments. While they are not considered to be direct Spell Damage, and are not nullified outright by 
Magic Immunity or Righteousness, the effects' 50 will nonetheless make any opponent possessing them virtually impossible to hurt with these attacks.
Defensive Properties[]
The Dark Elf Spearmen possess a Defense score of 2 – just slightly stronger than their attack score. They can deflect about 0.6 points from Conventional Damage attacks, on average. Unfortunately, this is rarely enough to save them from anything but the weakest attackers. As with most common foot soldiers, each Dark Elf Spearman also has only 1 Hit Point. In other words, each point of Damage inflicted on this unit will kill off one of its 
figures. They do possess a remarkably high Resistance score for their tier though – with 7, they have a fair chance of avoiding Unit Curses and combat maledictions. All three of these statistics also improve with Experience.
Other Properties[]
Dark Elf Spearmen move at a slow 1, and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties.
Basic Strategy[]
Spearmen are the most basic, and typically weakest Normal Unit available to most Races, Dark Elves included. However, they are also the cheapest to produce and, most importantly, maintain, as they are unique in that they require no 
Gold to be paid for their Upkeep. This makes Spearmen ideal as garrison troops, particularly in non-contested areas of the map. Because of their high figure count, they also scale well with both Experience and other enhancement effects, although their low initial statistics prevent them from becoming overly powerful.
On the other hand, the Dark Elves' strength 1 Ranged Magical Attack is comparably powerful for a Spearmen unit. It matches their Melee Strength, and effectively grants Dark Elf Spearmen a secondary role as a basic Ranged Attack unit. In fact, they possess qualities that in most regards elevate them above the Bowmen of other Races, a prime example being the higher figure count just mentioned. But Dark Elf Spearmen also have better Armor, and receive no range penalties 
To Hit, making their shots more effective overall. Finally, even with their Race's Construction Cost modifier, they are still cheaper to both recruit and maintain than any Bowmen. The only downside is their lower ammunition count.
Ability Overview[]
Ranged Attack x4[]
- This unit may use a Ranged Magical Attack instead of a Melee Attack up to 4 times in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks.
Experience Table[]
The following table illustrates how Dark Elf Spearmen improve with Experience. Any properties that are not listed here are not affected by Experience in any way.
| Level Icon | Level Name | EP | Melee | Ranged | To Hit | Defense | Resist | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Recruit | 0 - 19
|
1
|
1
|
30%
|
2
|
7
|
1
|
|
Regular | 20 - 59
|
2
|
2
|
30%
|
2
|
8
|
1
|
|
Veteran | 60 - 119
|
2
|
2
|
30%
|
3
|
9
|
1
|
|
Elite | 120
|
3
|
3
|
40%
|
3
|
10
|
2
|
|
Ultra-Elite | 120 *
|
3
|
3
|
50%
|
4
|
11
|
2
|
|
Champion | 120 **
|
4
|
4
|
60%
|
4
|
12
|
3
|
* To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play.
** To achieve this level, both Warlord and Crusade must be in play simultaneously.
Average Damage Output[]
The table below details the average amount of "raw" damage that each Figure in a Dark Elf Spearmen unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on 
Experience Level. It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to approximate the chance of hurting that target.
| Select weapons: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
* Magical Ranged Attacks do not suffer To Hit penalties for distance. Therefore, the values in this column apply at any distance.
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">Acquisition[]
Dark Elf Spearmen may be recruited in any Dark Elf Town, and require no special Town Buildings in order to create. The Construction Cost of this unit is 25. Dark Elf Spearmen may also appear as Mercenaries. In this case, they cost between 50 to 75 to hire per unit, based on their Experience – or half that much for Charismatic Wizards.