Anatolian Axemen

"Spears cannot harm him when he sings the axe song. He can kill ten men in ten blows."

— John R Dann, Song of the Axe (vol 1 cap 2)

In game

Anatolian Axemen — Vital statistics
	Very fast training, and very powerful, as a mercenary, owing to the use of iron tools to substitute bronze. Very powerful especially if pitted against armoured infantry and buildings. Strong versus unarmed units, siege weapons and missile units with low accuracy or rate of fire Weak versus military units, especially heavy cavalry.
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed
31px Military	4.4s (66t)	75	7	18	2s (3t)	27
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 90	: 3; : 1	1		None	Melee	Fast and cheap to create. Attack bonus versus buildings, siege weapons Armour-piercing Not hindered by terrain

Overall strategy

Axemen in Warbirth can be used in lieu of Swordsmen when the need arises, but are specialised in attacking buildings and large units. The power of their weapon means that it is usually foolhardy to attack them en masse, especially with heavy units, so axe infantry, while cheap, can be amassed in sufficient numbers as a means of deterring enemy chariotry and armoured units. Your only problem will be that they are fairly weak and susceptible to missile weapons, so keeping some skirmishers or Chariot Archers of your own would not be a bad idea. Note, however, that axemen take a longer time to hit their targets as opposed to normal spearmen, so it is best to use them offensively - use them to lead the way, then fill in the openings with spearmen to take advantage from the flanks.

Unit summary

See also

• Anatolian Warriors
• Anatolian Warchief
• Anatolian Shepherds

Notes

These units should speak a mixture of Sumerian and Slavic (Russian) in earlier eras, but switch to Greek and Persian.

History

A lot of axes used in battle were just the peasantry using whatever farm equipment came to hand -- which might include pitchforks and billhooks too. A battle axe is an inconvenient weapon to use in close order formations because you need room to swing it, which is why the Romans used short stabbing swords. An axe is less expensive than a sword -- it's a very simple device, easy for a blacksmith to make -- and its chief benefit is that it can smash right through armor because it has a heavy head.

References

• Women in the Bible, Battle Axe – Ancient Bible Warfare