High Men Swordsmen | ||
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Race | High Men | |
Req. Town Buildings |
Barracks, Smithy | |
Construction Cost | 20 | |
Upkeep Cost |
1 1 | |
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# of figures | 6 | |
Moves | 1 | |
Melee Attack per figure | 3 | |
Defense per figure | 2 | |
Resistance | 4 | |
Hit Points per figure | 1 | |
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Large Shield |
High Men Swordsmen are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in High Men 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 Experience though.
High Men Swordsmen have a Construction Cost of 20, 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[]
High Men Swordsmen are a group of men (humans), dressed in colored tunics. They each carry a sword for up-close-and-personal combat, and a large steel buckler which protects them from enemy arrows and other ranged attacks. Like most High Men, High Men Swordsmen are quite mundane, possessing no great or fantastic qualities, but also no glaring disadvantages.
High Men Swordsmen are a Multi-Figure unit, containing up to 6 soldiers.
Attack Properties[]
High Men Swordsmen possess a Melee Attack that will initially only be threatening to other low-tier Normal Units. They have an Attack Strength of 3, which yields an average "raw" damage output of 0.9 per Swordsman. While this can be decent against lighter armor, it's still not quite enough to consistently hurt well-protected opponents. High Men Swordsmen do get better with Experience though, both in strength and accuracy. At the Elite level, the maximum normally attainable, their attacks will do over twice this much – 2.0 points of "raw" damage, on average, per Swordsman.
Defensive Properties[]
High Men Swordsmen are lightly armored, possessing a Defense score of 2. They can deflect about 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 Large Shields, which grant an extra +2 against all types of Conventional Damage that is delivered at a range. This brings their average damage reduction up to 1.2 against Missile-, Boulder-, and Ranged Magical Attacks, as well as Thrown Attacks, 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 High Men Swordsman 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. Defense, Resistance, and even Hit Points improve with Experience however.
Other Properties[]
High Men Swordsmen move at a slow 1, and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties.
Basic Strategy[]
High Men Swordsmen are a step up from the basic High Men 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 Gold to maintain in addition to Food, and their lower figure count makes enhancements effects slightly less pronounced for them.
Ability Overview[]
Large Shield[]
- This unit receives a Defense bonus of +2 against all types of Conventional Damage delivered at range – including all Ranged Attacks, short-range attacks, and Spell Damage.
Experience Table[]
The following table illustrates how High Men Swordsmen 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 |
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Recruit | 0 - 19 | 3 | 30% | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
Regular | 20 - 59 | 4 | 30% | 2 | 5 | 1 | |
Veteran | 60 - 119 | 4 | 30% | 3 | 6 | 1 | |
Elite | 120 | 5 | 40% | 3 | 7 | 2 | |
Ultra-Elite | 120 * | 5 | 50% | 4 | 8 | 2 | |
Champion | 120 ** | 6 | 60% | 4 | 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 High Men Swordsmen 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[]
High Men Swordsmen may be recruited in any High Men Town that has both a Barracks and a Smithy already built. The Construction Cost of this unit is 20. High Men Swordsmen may also appear as Mercenaries, provided that the player has a presence on Arcanus. In this case, they cost between 40 to 60 to hire per unit, based on their Experience – or half that much for Charismatic Wizards.