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 | |
| Upkeep per turn | 639 dn | █████····· 51% |
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
Mercenaries are hired from a regional pool, not recruited from a building. This unit is offered by 2 pools covering 22 regions, at 4,490–4,789 dn to hire and 1–2 experience.
Mercenary pools: Amaseia · Persia
At least one of those pools sells to any faction that has an army in range, with no faction restriction.
Some pools additionally restrict it to Pontus.
The 22 regions where this unit appears in a mercenary pool
Anaouon · Apauarktikene · Arachosia · Ariane · Boreia Hyrkania · Drangiane · Eoritia · Gedrosia · Hesperos Ariane · Hyrkania · Kadousia · Karmania · Margiane · Media · Notia Karmania · Paraitakene · Parthia · Pasargadaia · Persia · Pontos · Rhagiane · Taokene