Hillmen (RTW Unit)

Hillmen (RTW Unit)
Class	Spearmen
Unit Size	160
Weaponry	Spear
Morale	4
Melee Attack	5
Ranged Attack	N/A
Defence	9
Charge Bonus	2
Accuracy	N/A
Range	N/A
Ammunition	N/A
Region	Global
Recruitment Cost	290
Upkeep Cost	170
Turns to Build	1
Unit Limit	None
Building Requirements	Barracks
Technology Requirements	None
Attributes	Can hide in long grass;

The hillmen are a wild, savage people but they are skilled hunters, making them superb ambushers.

Overview

To outsiders, the hillmen are a wild savage people, but they are also skilled hunters, making them superb ambushers. Although only armed with spears and shields, they are a valuable addition to many forces. Their skills at reading ground allow them to hide where others cannot, and this makes them valuable to commanders with a penchant for tactical ambushes.They are expert raiders and thieves (often taking sheep and goats from their lowland neighbours) and this is, unfortunately, something that makes them occasionally difficult to control. They do not see any need for military formalities!

Details

Hillmen are rather poor infantry. Compared to their main competition, Eastern Infantry, Hillmen have much more nerve as they have higher morale and are impetuous, so they tend to stay in a losing battle for quite a while compared to the easily routed Eastern Infantry. Their attack is also higher, so they can kill enemies faster before their low defense comes into play. However Hillmen have some of the lowest defence in RTW for melee troops so they are best used alongside other tougher troops so they aren't focused on and wiped out. Unfortunately Parthia does not have tougher infantry. They also have small shields instead of the large shields Eastern Infantry possess, so missiles will kill them faster. Importantly, Hillmen have only 160 men instead of 240 for Eastern Infantry. Hillman are fast and have good stamina.

Hillmen should focus on being a somewhat mobile anvil, and they survive much better against cavalry. They have +8 against cavalry so they can do pretty well against lighter varieties but a general will probably be powerful enough to break them, so watch out for that and weaken the general with missiles. Against good infantry Hillmen will die very quickly and not do much damage. Fortunately, in the East most of the good Infantry is Pikemen, who Hillmen can avoid melee with. If they charge Pikemen head on they will die and get almost no kills.

When it comes to surviving attacks the Eastern Infantry are superior but the Hillmen have a better attack and much better morale. All things equal the Eastern Infantry will beat Hillmen but the Hillmens higher morale is usually much more important. Neither unit should be the backbone of an army or expect to hold against even the early infantry of other factions. You may want to not use this unit and have a pure cavalry force instead.