Peasants (RTW Unit)

Peasants are reluctant warriors, at best. Going to war is just one more burden of a hard life.

Overview

Peasants are reluctant warriors, but numbers are useful in all armies. Forcing peasants to fight is one way of getting lots of men in the field quickly and cheaply. They have little tactical sense, and even less willingness to fight - they would rather be defending their own homes than be dragged to a battle they neither care about nor understand. If nothing else, they are useful when there's digging to be done! They are, however, experts at reading the land and hiding whenever there is cover.

Details

"Civilized" Peasants

Civilized peasants have the lowest stats in the game and nothing but a knife for offense. they are nigh on useless in melee, although their large unit size lets them hang on for a short while against most units as that many take time to hack though. They are also very cheap, so they are great for suicidal tasks like pushing rams or digging risky sap points. They can also be stationed outside settlements during combat so enemy defenses will shoot at them rather than other units. Another great use of them is to guard settlements that are not likely to be attacked by other factions. They have the lowest upkeep of all units and combined with their large unit size they are more effective at public order management than other units. One downside of this use is that you will need a small group of actual combat troops to take care of rebels and brigands. Especially for large empires, this strategy can save you enormous amounts of money.

Factions

Senate

The House of Brutii

The House of Julii

The House of Scipii

Greek City-States

Macedon

Thrace

Seleucid Empire

Eastern Peasants These peasants use a pitchfork. They have much better stats and cost a little more. they can be a tolerable unit for distraction sometimes.