Warband (RTW unit)

Warband (RTW unit)
Class	Light Infantry
Unit Size	240 men
Weaponry	Spear
Morale	4
Melee Attack	7
Ranged Attack	N/A
Defence	10
Charge Bonus	4
Accuracy	N/A
Range	N/A
Ammunition	N/A
Region	Global
Recruitment Cost	420
Upkeep Cost	200
Turns to Build	1
Unit Limit	Unlimited
Building Requirements	Muster Field
Technology Requirements	None
Attributes	Warcry; Can hide in forests;

Warbands are bound to the service of a strongman or petty village head. They fight well as personal glory is the way to status, but are often difficult to control.

Overview

Warbands are bound to the service of a strongman or petty village head. They are the basic 'unit' to be found in many barbarian armies. They fight well as glory and loot are the road to status but are often difficult to control. They care little for discipline and less for restraint, but they can be relied on to fight, and fight hard. In warfare it is up to each man to prove his own bravery and worth, so the savage charge into the enemy is about as sophisticated as they ever want to be!

Each man carries a stabbing spear and a large shield.

Details

These soldiers are first units the Britons, Dacians, and Gauls recruit after peasants. Warbands have the distinct advantage in combat of being able to easily defeat the Romans’ first unit they recruit after peasants: the Town Watch. The Warband’s drawback to this is its cost. The Roman Hastati that come after the Town Watch have a recruitment cost of 440 denarii and require a 170 denarii per turn upkeep, when the Warbands has a 420 denarii recruitment cost and 200 denarii per turn upkeep. This makes Warbands in the long run more expensive in comparison to the infantry recruited at muster fields or barracks.

The distinctive feature of the Warband is their warcry and being the basic barbarian counter-cavalry soldiers. The warcry is an option some barbarian units have. Choosing this option makes the unit stop fighting (if they were in the first place) and begin shouting and hitting their shields with their weapons, creating a demoralizing effect on nearby enemy units and a positive effect on friendly soldiers. As a result of this and poorer statistics than later units in the game a common tactic is the barbarian army outnumbers their enemy so that the “extra” soldiers that determined the enemy was outnumbered could swamp their opponents, flank them, or demoralize them with a warcry.