| Nomad Bowmen | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Race | Nomads | |
| Req. Town Buildings |
Barracks, Sawmill | |
| Construction Cost |
 30 | |
| Upkeep Cost |
 1 1 | |
| ||
| # of figures |
 6 | |
| Moves |
 1 | |
| Melee Attack per figure |
 1 | |
| Ranged Attack per figure |
 1 | |
| Defense per figure |
 1 | |
| Resistance |
 4 | |
| Hit Points per figure |
 1 | |
| ||
 Ranged Attack x8 | ||
Nomad Bowmen are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in Nomad 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 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.
Nomad 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[]
Nomad Bowmen are a group of men (humans), dressed in long grey robes. They 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. Like most Nomads, Nomad Bowmen are quite mundane, possessing no great or fantastic qualities, but also no glaring disadvantages.
Nomad Bowmen are a Multi-Figure unit, containing up to 6 soldiers.
Attack Properties[]
Nomad Bowmen initially possess very weak attacks, which will only be threatening to other low-tier Normal Units. Both their Melee- and Ranged Attacks have Attack Strengths of 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, which may then possibly be reduced by it through a Defense Roll. In fact, unless they fire at a point blank distance of 2 tiles or closer, their Ranged Missile Attacks are even less dangerous than this, as they suffer a penalty of 
-10% for every 3 tiles that the arrows have to cross on their way to a target.
As a result, Nomad Bowmen are highly unlikely to get through any armor at all. They do get better with Experience though, both in the strength and accuracy of their attacks. At the 
Elite level, the maximum normally attainable, they will do 4 times this much with both Attack Types – 1.2 points of "raw" damage, on average, per Bowman. However, the range penalties for the missile attacks do still apply, although it's worth noting that the final chance To Hit can never go below 10%, regardless of modifiers. Nomad Bowmen also have a limited amount of ammunition, and can only use their Ranged Attacks 8 times during any given battle.
Defensive Properties[]
Nomad 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 Nomad 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[]
Nomad Bowmen move at a slow 1, and can only traverse land tiles. The unit has no special movement properties.
Basic Strategy[]
Nomad Bowmen offer the tactical advantage of Ranged Attacks, but are otherwise quite unremarkable. They are weaker than close 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 attacks suffering from range penalties To Hit, making their initial Attack Strength of 1 almost worthless; but also because they cost more to both recruit and maintain than the basic Nomad Spearmen. As a result, they are overall less ideal for Town garrisons early in the campaign, despite their ranged capability.
Compared to Nomad Swordsmen, Nomad Bowmen have the same Upkeep Cost, and offer ranged offense instead of ranged defense. This gives them at least some strategic viability when defending walled Cities from melee attackers, especially if the gates can be blocked by a tougher unit. Other than this specific scenario however, they will require significant upgrades to be able to consistently damage anything in combat. Their low speed also means that they generally can't move and shoot on the same turn, and are thus incapable of using hit-and-run tactics. Therefore, to utilize their full potential, which calls for close range targets, they need a line of other units in front of them in open field battles, otherwise they will fall very quickly to enemy melee attacks.
Nomads also have two racial Ranged Missile Attack units that are superior in almost every respect: Horsebowmen, and Rangers. They have none of the above shortcomings, possessing a higher Movement Allowance, stronger attacks, better Armor, and more Hit Points per figure. They are also more expensive however, although Horsebowmen may actually become available at roughly the same time as Nomad Bowmen, since both units require a Barracks and one other Town Building, the latter being the Stables for the Horsebowmen, which is slightly cheaper than the Sawmill. On the other hand, the Sawmill has an economical role as well, and will improve the City's Production output from the moment it's built.
In addition, both of the higher tier units have one disadvantage compared to Nomad Bowmen: a lower figure count. This means that they only have a total of 32 arrows to fire in every battle – which is exactly two-thirds of what Nomad Bowmen do. At the same time though, they can typically make up for this with their speed advantage and better statistics, which mean that they are much less helpless when they do run out of ammunition.
Ability Overview[]
Ranged Attack x8[]
- This unit may use a Ranged Missile 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 Nomad 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
|
1
|
1
|
30%
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
Regular | 20 - 59
|
2
|
2
|
30%
|
1
|
5
|
1
|
|
Veteran | 60 - 119
|
2
|
2
|
30%
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
|
Elite | 120
|
3
|
3
|
40%
|
2
|
7
|
2
|
|
Ultra-Elite | 120 *
|
3
|
3
|
50%
|
3
|
8
|
2
|
|
Champion | 120 **
|
4
|
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 Nomad 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: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
* 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[]
Nomad Bowmen may be recruited in Nomad 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 Nomad 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.