Armoured Militia

"You will find soon that swordsmen can be downed by untutored savages who would slice their fingers if asked to carve meat. And why? because the savage is willing. Worse, he may be a baresark."

— David Gemmell

Armoured Militia: Vital statistics
Unit type	Light infantry
Built/trained at	Barracks
Damage and weapon type	Low
Armour	Low
Production cost	Pop cost: 1 Resource cost: 40, 40 Ramp cost: 4
Range	Melee Low LOS
Unit move and creation speed	Unit movement speed: Medium Creation speed: Very fast
Unit HP	Medium
Technological requirements	Library Imperial Era Military Level 3 (Heraldry and chivalry) Upgrade of Conscript Swordsmen for Mongolia and China; swordsmen for others Upgrade of Swordsmen for others
Factions available

Despite having decent armour and weapons better than crude spears and shortswords, the general lack of training of Armoured Militia will not avail against the more professional sword-and-buckler men of the European factions, or even the surprising rigour of fully upgraded Muslim jundis. But then again, the near-primitive infantry armies of Asia and Eastern Europe are not known for generally concentrating on an individual's strengths, but in the ability of that individual being part of a group. And in this case, a larger group. Whereas European sword-and-buckler mean are meant to serve in the flanks or to fill in gaps, Armoured Militia however are the staple of most armies with a deficit in heavy infantry.

Not all Asian factions, however, may train armoured militia. Due to the warlike nature of Japanese society, Japan trains a different medium infantry unit - the ashigaru. Ashigaru are special in that their abilities are similar to that of an espadachin, but do not require military research as a prerequisite. As for Mongolia, the factor requirements of the Armoured Militia also clashes with that of the Keshig Guard cavalry. Mongolia is better off creating its hardened cavalry units for versatility as opposed to sending human waves against its opponents.

Unit summary

• Eastern infantry, mostly conscripted men but still kitted out with some armour and high-quality weapons, making the slightly more useful and cheaper than normal Espadachines.
• Numbers Maketh Not The Man — Armoured Militia aren't meant to function as a single component, but as a supporting unit for other units.
• Kharash Quandary — Although Mongolia can recruit these units, they are very weak and so a Mongol player should carefully weigh the pros and cons of producing these units for combat — Mongolia's strength lies in its cavalry, not infantry.