Mercenary Median Horse Archers
Mercenary. Hired from a regional pool, not recruited from a building.
Class: missile · Category: cavalry · Men per unit: 32
Description
The Horse archer had a very wide and varied reign. The first to terrorise all of the middle east, were the Scythians, who, at the invitation of the Assyrians wrought havoc on all they met. This, in turn aided many of the Assyrian neighbours to join forces and destroy them utterly. Then the Neo-Babylonian empire rose along with the Median one to the North. Persians (dwelling in present day S. Iran to N. Iran) took power and they, in turn, under Cyrus annihilated the Neo-Babylonian empire, allowing the Israelites to return to their native land and rebuild the Temple. A big part of Median power were the Horse Archers. Even as Persians won supremacy over the Medes, by 216 BCE Medians were coalescing into a Atropatene-Median state. Not as good as their Northern neighbours whom they called "Dahae" or "robbers" as they were civilised and sedentary, not nomad, but they could pack a punch, dressed in their gear. They are depicted in the Achaimenid stele of 6th cent. BCE at King's court where a guardsman is depicted in Median dress. This indicates that Medians, along with the Persians, were both the "Royal troopers" or part of the "Royal Agema" or "King's army" in the Macedonian terminology.
Stats
| Rank in roster | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men per unit | 32 | ██········ 23% |
| Attack | 10 | ██········ 19% |
| Charge bonus | 15 | ██████···· 64% |
| Defence | 14 | █········· 6% |
| · armour | 1 | █········· 0% |
| · defence skill | 13 | █········· 13% |
| · shield | 0 | █········· 0% |
| Morale | 9 | ███······· 26% |
| Discipline | Normal | |
| Training | Trained | |
| Recruitment cost | 2,508 dn | ███████··· 71% |
| Upkeep per turn | 639 dn | █████····· 51% |
| Turns to recruit | 2 |
Weapons
| Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | 10 | 7 | Charge bonus | 15 | 15 | Type | missile · archery | melee · blade | Damage | piercing | piercing |
| Projectile | arrow | — | Range | 170 | — | Ammunition | 25 | — |
Defence
| Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 14 | — | Armour | 1 | — | Defence skill | 13 | — | Shield | 0 | — |
Condition and terrain
| Hit points | 1 | Mount | light horse | Ground: scrub / sand / forest / snow | 0 / 0 / -3 / 0 | Charge distance | 40 |
| Formations | Square |
Technical stats
| Time between blows (primary / secondary) | 2.5 s / 2.5 s | Extra fatigue in hot climates | 0 | Spacing between men: close / loose | 2.2 × 5.2 m / 3.96 × 7.28 m | Default ranks | 5 |
In battle: Can form Cantabrian circle · Good stamina
Where to hire it
No mercenary pool on the campaign map offers this unit, so it cannot be hired.