Semitic Axe Levy

“[They] burned our cities ruthlessly, razed to the ground the temples of our gods, and treated all the natives with a cruel hostility.” —Manetho, Aegyptiaca

In game

Semitic Axe Levy — Vital statistics
Semitic Spear Levy	Mercenary axe unit. Has far poorer LOS than convention Light Axemen, but is trained faster and moves faster. Strong versus unarmed units, siege weapons and missile units with low accuracy or rate of fire Weak versus melee units, especially heavy cavalry
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrades to
	5.3s (80t)	87	2	16	2.1s (32t)	29	Medium Spearmen
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 110	: 30	1		2	Melee	Defensive bonus versus light missile units. Damage bonus versus buildings, siege weapons. Damage penalty versus horse and camel cavalry.

Overall strategy

While comparable to Regular Spearmen, Semitic Spear Levy are trained faster but suffer from one glaring defect - they have near to no LOS, meaning that they are not the best units for use for attack since their low LOS restricts their initiative. for the best results they, like most Semitic units, need the guidance of a Semitic Battle-Chief to lead them into the field.

Unit summary

• Amongst all other infantry types, Spearmen have the highest cost in resources, so you might wish to supplement them with light infantry.
• Spearmen are most effective but only as either purely defensive or offensive units, due to their speed. This also makes them vulnerable against more versatile units, such as missile infantry and cavalry, which can easily take them apart or massed light infantry.
• Rising Sun — The Japanese spearmen are instead salaried with more food as opposed to metal. While this may seem like a handicap, it in fact makes them very cheap in later stages of the game, helped by their being able to be spawned from the Barracks for free once completed.
• Mental Tartan — Far to the north of Britannia rule the Scots. Their Cliarthaire, while somewhat slow on foot, are highly proficient with the spear, making them the bane of cavalry.

See also

Phrygian Heavy Axemen Parathubara (Scythian Warriors) Kassite Axemen Halberdiers Cimmerian Axemen Balkan Axemen Anatolian Axemen

Semitic Spear Levy Semitic Battle-Chief Semitic Archers

Notes

These units are an upgrade of Spearmen, having some form of armour and a simple helmet, as well as better-looking shields. Armour for infantry, however, remains very poor until the Axial Age when you start getting units with better kit.