Roman Empire
Infantry in close order form a shield wall: +1 armor against melee and 15% less damage from missiles, but 10% slower; Laborers build 10% faster.
FIELD GUIDE
How to Play
Factions
Every faction builds the same settlement and trains the same soldiers; each adds its own bonuses, an elite soldier at the Fortress, and a crest. Pick one to read about it.
Roman Empire heavy infantry with a tall shield and a short sword: throws a pilum as it closes in, and its shield wall is twice as strong and stops the most missiles. Slow, so Wardens, and Longshots in numbers, still wear it down.
652045125 HP · 11 / 1.3s · armor 3+4 vs infantry
- Shield wall: Roman Pikeguards, Swordsmen, and Legionaries standing with at least 3 more of their infantry within 2 tiles gain +1 armor against melee blows (a Legionary +2) and take 15% less damage from arrows and javelins (a Legionary 49% less; the Testudo raises that to 30% and 58%), but the wall advances 10% slower and a Warden's bolts punch through half of that cover. Soldiers in the wall crouch behind their planted shields, and the unit card shows who stands in it. Keep the infantry together: a lone soldier has no wall, and Riders on the flank or massed Longshots still break it.
- Pilum: a Legionary closing on an enemy throws its javelin from 3 tiles (8 damage, +10 against infantry and +10 against mounted units) before drawing its sword; it has a new one 20 seconds later.
- Builders: Roman Laborers put up every building 10% faster.
- Testudo (Fortress, Sovereignty, Roman Empire only): Roman infantry raise their shields overhead: in the shield wall they take 30% less damage from arrows and javelins (a Legionary 58% less; Warden bolts punch through half of that). 150100120
- Elite Guard (Fortress, Sovereignty): Your Legionaries gain 25 HP and 3 damage, the ones in the field too. 200150