Guardsmen

"But thy father loves the clashing
 Of broadsword and of shield.
He loves to drink the steam that reeks
 From the fresh battle-field. — Lord Macaulay, "The Prophecy of Capys"

In game

Guardsmen — Vital statistics
Guardsmen	Medium infantry that has more armour and attack (especially against mercenaries) and a faster training speed than normal Swordsmen, making them in effect an Espadachine that comes into play one age earlier, although costing a bit more in food than usual. Strong versus siege weapons, buildings Weak versus heavy cavalry
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrade of	Upgrades to
	12.5s (188t)	145	8	22	1.7s (25t)	24
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 40; : 30	: 4	1		6	Melee	Defensive bonus versus archers.

Overall Strategy

Tough, powerful and incredibly skilled, Guardsmen are elite sword infantry units, armed with some form of sword as well as armour, as befitting their rank. Because of the cost of making their weapons as well as the training required to raise them, they are usually associated with the Warrior Hall, and also cost a fair amount of resources for their training. Armed with sword and shield, Guardsmen form the elite of your forces in the early game, and can change the tide of any battle. The only issue with these units is that they are seldom very affordable for your Late Bronze Age economies, and while they are second to none in footman scraps and are also the best units for assaulting buildings — they have good defensive stats versus missile weapons, they can't face prolonged attacks by missile weapons — even units like javelin cavalry or chariots will make short work of them over time.

Thus a Guardsmen unit, given its cost, should never be let into battle alone, but be held back for specialised occasions, such as defending against melee infantry, or drawing enemy fire during sieges.

Unit summary

• Maryannu Archers — Essentially a Composite Bowman which comes in one Age earlier.
• Long Spearmen, Hoplites — they replace the Guardsmen.

See also

• Swordsmen
• Militia

Notes

• Akkadian and Egyptian - uses Assyrian appearance
• Greek and European - bronze corset or copper-impregnated warshirt, reinforced dipylon and an elaborate helmet like this one.
• Chinese - early Zhou armour being leather helmet, leather vest, and scale armour. Just reuse any Mitanni units and make changes.
• Rejected Boii swords can be reused to represent barbarian versions of this unit.
• Black AFrican - fancier version of Akkadian Swordsman.