| Gnoll Halberdiers | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Race | Gnolls | |
| Req. Town Buildings | Armory | |
| Construction Cost |
 40 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
 1 1 | |
| ||
| # of figures |
 6 | |
| Moves |
 1 | |
| Melee Attack per figure |
 6 | |
| Defense per figure |
 3 | |
| Resistance |
 4 | |
| Hit Points per figure |
 1 | |
| ||
 Negate First Strike | ||
Gnoll Halberdiers are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in Gnoll Towns containing at least an Armory. While Halberdiers are the highest tier generic infantry, they are still weaker than most Race-specific units, although they can get somewhat better with 
Experience. Gnoll Halberdiers are one of only five units in the game capable of negating the 
First Strike ability possessed by many mounted units. They also have a high Attack Strength that can make them quite threatening, but their survivability is not exactly good and tends to ultimately limit their usefulness.
Gnoll Halberdiers have a Construction Cost of 40, 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 Halberdiers are a group of fur-covered humanoids, more akin to jackals than to humans. They wear the blue tunics that are a standard part of the Gnoll army uniform, and carry halberds – long poles topped with large axe blades and spikes, used either for stabbing or hacking at enemies while fending them off. When attacked by mounted troops, these weapons can be employed to dissuade any head-on charge by planting them firmly into the ground facing the enemy unit.
Gnoll Halberdiers are a Multi-Figure unit, containing up to 6 soldiers.
Attack Properties[]
Thanks to the Gnolls' racial bonus of +2, Gnoll Halberdiers possess a rather impressive Melee Attack for a Normal Unit. Each Halberdier attacks with a strength of 6, which has an average "raw" 
damage output of 1.8. With 6 figures, Gnoll Halberdiers have a high chance of scoring at least a couple of hits against most opponents, and may even outright destroy lower tier units. This attack also improves with Experience. At the 
Elite level, the maximum normally attainable, it has an average "raw" damage output of 8 × 
40% = 3.2 instead – close to twice the initial value, and enough to put a dent even into heavier armor.
Defensive Properties[]
Gnoll Halberdiers wear medium armor, and possess a Defense score of 3. They can deflect about 0.9 points from Conventional Damage attacks, on average. Unfortunately, this is barely enough to avoid even the weakest attacks. As with most common foot soldiers, each Gnoll Halberdier also only has 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 quite terrible as well – with 4, they will easily fall prey to most Unit Curses and combat maledictions. Defense, Resistance, and even Hit Points improve with Experience, however.
Gnoll Halberdiers do have one defensive trait, although it is more of a deterrent rather than actual protection. As its name implies, their 
Negate First Strike does exactly that: counters the effect of the First Strike ability, should their attacker possess it. That is, instead of the Halberdiers taking Melee Damage before they could retaliate against such an enemy, their attacks are resolved simultaneously as usual. While they won't take any less damage as a result, at least they can also hurt the enemy in the process, which can make a big difference considering their high Attack Strength versus low survivability.
Other Properties[]
Gnoll Halberdiers move at a slow 1, and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties.
Basic Strategy[]
Gnoll Halberdiers are the strongest Gnoll infantry, and arguably their best unit that can still be maintained for a single Gold per turn. However, the difference in power between Gnoll Swordsmen and Gnoll Halberdiers is generally small enough to not be worth a longer recruitment time. That is, unless both units can be produced in a single turn, Gnoll Halberdiers are rarely a good investment, having only a single point of Melee Strength and Defense over the Swordsmen, while sacrificing ranged protection.
In addition, the Armory required to equip Halberdiers has no economical benefit, which gives it a low building priority in Cities that are not intended to be recruitment centers. It does enable the Fighters' Guild, but again, that is not useful either unless units are being produced. On the other hand, Gnolls are fairly limited with regards to the availability of Town Buildings, and their settlements can quickly reach a point where there is nothing else left to construct – calling for a decision on whether the Barracks, Armory, and Fighters' Guild are affordable to maintain in them or not.
Gnoll Halberdiers are considerably weaker than the Race's signature Wolf Riders unit despite their higher figure count. Even against Cavalry, where the Negate First Strike ability can come into play, the Wolf Riders are often able to exploit their higher speed to achieve a similar effect, simply by not letting the enemy make voluntary attacks. However, this generally only works in open field battles, which means that Gnoll Halberdiers still have some merit during sieges, and are the Gnolls' best option against First Strike units in this case.
High-powered multi-unit enchantments, such as 
Altar of Battle, Charm of Life, or 
Doom Mastery, also tend to favor the unit that can be produced in the highest numbers. Wolf Riders usually require careful planning to be able to recruit in less than two turns, but the same is not true for the Gnoll Halberdiers. By the time a Gnoll Town reaches mid-size, they can often muster enough Production to create a unit of Halberdiers every turn. However, it's worth noting that exploiting this is sure to place a large drain on the empire's Food supply, especially if the units are produced some distance away from where they will be fighting.
Ability Overview[]
Negate First Strike[]
- When an enemy possessing First Strike attacks this unit in Melee combat, it does not get to use its First Strike ability at all, and Melee Damage is instead exchanged simultaneously as usual.
Experience Table[]
The following table illustrates how Gnoll Halberdiers improve with Experience. Any properties that are not listed here are not affected by Experience in any way.
| Level Icon | Level Name | EP | Melee | To Hit | Defense | Resist | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Recruit | 0 - 19
|
6
|
30%
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
|
Regular | 20 - 59
|
7
|
30%
|
3
|
5
|
1
|
|
Veteran | 60 - 119
|
7
|
30%
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
|
Elite | 120
|
8
|
40%
|
4
|
7
|
2
|
|
Ultra-Elite | 120 *
|
8
|
50%
|
5
|
8
|
2
|
|
Champion | 120 **
|
9
|
60%
|
5
|
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 Halberdiers unit will deliver based on 
Experience Level. It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to approximate the chance of hurting that target.
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">Acquisition[]
Gnoll Halberdiers may be recruited in any Gnoll Town that has an Armory already built. The Construction Cost of this unit is 40. Gnoll Halberdiers may also appear as Mercenaries, provided that the player has a presence on Arcanus. In this case, they cost between 80 to 120 to hire per unit, based on their Experience – or half that much for Charismatic Wizards.