| Gnoll Bowmen | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Race | Gnolls | |
| Req. Town Buildings |
Barracks, Sawmill | |
| Construction Cost |
 30 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
 1 1 | |
| ||
| # of figures |
 6 | |
| Moves |
 1 | |
| Melee Attack per figure |
 3 | |
| Ranged Attack per figure |
 1 | |
| Defense per figure |
 1 | |
| Resistance |
 4 | |
| Hit Points per figure |
 1 | |
| ||
 Ranged Attack x8 | ||
Gnoll Bowmen are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in Gnoll Towns containing at least a Barracks and a Sawmill. Bowmen are the most basic Ranged Attack units in the game. Because of their very low initial Ranged Attack Strength, they generally don't pose much of a threat to anything but the weakest enemies, although they can become somewhat stronger through 
Experience. While Gnoll Bowmen do benefit from the Gnolls' racial +2 bonus, their low survivability prevents them from being an effective dual-role unit.
Gnoll Bowmen have a Construction Cost of 30, and require an Upkeep Cost of 1 and 1 to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically.
Unit Properties[]
Physical Description[]
Gnoll Bowmen are a group of fur-covered humanoids, more akin to upright jackals than to humans. They wear the blue tunics that are a standard part of the Gnoll army uniform, along with red loincloths to distinguish them from other Gnoll units. Gnoll Bowmen carry bows and arrows, which can be fired at enemies from a distance. They wield short swords in situations where hand-to-hand combat is unavoidable.
Gnoll Bowmen are a Multi-Figure unit, containing up to 6 soldiers.
Attack Properties[]
Gnoll Bowmen initially possess very weak attacks, which will only be threatening to other low-tier Normal Units. Thanks to their racial bonus, their Melee Attacks are actually stronger than their Ranged ones, having an Attack Strength of 3 – on par with most other Races' Swordsmen. This has an average "raw" 
damage output of 0.9, making the unit distinctively more dangerous in close combat than other Bowmen. This should not be considered the main Attack Type of Gnoll Bowmen however, as 8 times per battle, they can also perform Ranged Missile Attacks instead, targeting enemies at a distance.
Unfortunately, the initial Ranged Attack Strength of Gnoll Bowmen is only 1, which has an average "raw" damage output of 0.3 – or rather, there is only a 30% chance for each Bowman to inflict any damage on the opponent with this attack, which may then possibly get negated by a Defense Roll. To make matters worse, Ranged Missile Attacks also suffer a penalty of 
-10% for every 3 tiles that the projectiles have to cross on their way to a target, although the final chance To Hit can never be lower than 10%. As a result, the arrows of Gnoll Bowmen are highly unlikely to get through any armor at all, and require close proximity to the target for maximum effectiveness.
There is also a further problem with this attack. Due to the way the game handles the targeting of adjacent units, Gnoll Bowmen can not shoot arrows at an enemy standing next to them, unless their Attack Strengths are improved such that their Ranged score is higher than half of their Melee. This is a criteria for being able to execute a Ranged Attack against an adjacent unit. In fact, if this is not true, as it normally won't be for Gnoll Bowmen until they reach the 
Elite level, the game may falsely indicate that they can engage 
flying units in melee combat. This is not actually the case however, the Bowmen can not do any damage in such a scenario, but will still take the full Counter Attack from the enemy unit.
Defensive Properties[]
Gnoll Bowmen wear very little armor, and possess a Defense score of only 1. They can deflect about 0.3 points from Conventional Damage attacks, on average – which is barely anything, and leaves them extremely vulnerable. As with most common foot soldiers, each Gnoll Bowman also has only 1 Hit Point. In other words, each point of Damage inflicted on this unit will kill off one of its 
figures. Their base Resistance score is also quite terrible – with 4, they will easily fall prey to most Unit Curses and combat maledictions. Luckily though, all three of these statistics improve with Experience.
Other Properties[]
Gnoll Bowmen move at a slow 1, and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties.
Basic Strategy[]
Gnoll Bowmen offer the tactical advantage of Ranged Attacks, but are otherwise quite unremarkable. They are weaker than other Gnoll combat units both offensively and defensively, and generally require Experience or enhancement spells to have even a chance at becoming a worthwhile investment. This is partly due to their Ranged Missile Attacks suffering from range penalties To Hit, making their initial Attack Strength of 1 almost worthless; but also because they cost more to recruit than either Gnoll Spearmen or Gnoll Swordsmen. In an early "rush" strategy, such as often employed by Gnolls, this is a major downside, especially when coupled together with the lower survivability of this unit.
On the other hand, weak as their Ranged Attacks are, Gnoll Bowmen are the only Gnoll unit capable of voluntarily attacking Flying enemies. While Galleys can technically also accomplish this feat, they are restricted to fighting on water tiles unless empowered by magic. Fortunately, the AI in the official game tends to attack with Flying units even if they are outmatched, but this is no longer the case starting with the Unofficial Patch 1.50, which means that when playing those versions, Gnoll Bowmen may actually have some strategic value in certain situations. Generally though, they are more of a niche unit that is rarely useful in practice.
Ability Overview[]
Ranged Attack x8[]
- This unit may use a Ranged Missils Attack instead of a Melee Attack up to 8 times in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks.
Experience Table[]
The following table illustrates how Gnoll Bowmen 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
|
3
|
1
|
30%
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
Regular | 20 - 59
|
4
|
2
|
30%
|
1
|
5
|
1
|
|
Veteran | 60 - 119
|
4
|
2
|
30%
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
|
Elite | 120
|
5
|
3
|
40%
|
2
|
7
|
2
|
|
Ultra-Elite | 120 *
|
5
|
3
|
50%
|
3
|
8
|
2
|
|
Champion | 120 **
|
6
|
4
|
60%
|
3
|
9
|
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 Gnoll Bowmen 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: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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* This column assumes a Ranged Missile Attack at a distance of 1-2 tiles from the target. Beyond this distance, To Hit penalties apply that can severely reduce Damage output.
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">Acquisition[]
Gnoll Bowmen may be recruited in Gnoll Towns that have both a Barracks and a Sawmill already built. Because the latter Town Building further requires a Forest or Nature Node in the City's catchment area, it is not always possible to build, which means that this unit can not necessarily become available in every Town.
The Construction Cost of Gnoll Bowmen is 30. They may also appear as Mercenaries, provided that the player has a presence on Arcanus. In this case, they cost between 60 to 90 to hire per unit, based on their Experience – or half that much for Charismatic Wizards.