OMG - Super Heavy ..erm...slaves?

[bovi]

You cannot see the full stats from that picture, you need to go to the source (export_descr_units).

Any missile attack has no bonus from experience, only from weapon quality bonus, so in this case it's at 3, despite what the screen says. They also have a very short effective range (thrown stone) with skirmish mode, meaning they rarely get to use their missile weapon at all unless you ignore them. The attack rating and melee defence does get a bonus from experience, however their extremely low lethality means they are still no threat to any regular soldier. When testing their stats, I attacked a garrison of 5 such units with a single sword+shield unit (can't recall which) and only barely lost the battle, killing more than four times the number of men lost even though they surrounded my unit from the start. They are suitably useless.

[athanaric]

When testing their stats, I attacked a garrison of 5 such units with a single sword+shield unit (can't recall which) and only barely lost the battle, killing more than four times the number of men lost even though they surrounded my unit from the start. They are suitably useless.

I once had a single unit of Khûveshavagân bodyguards ride over a whole army of Apeleutheroi... well, they were assisted by others, but still. Makes for an impressive kill ratio.

[the man with no name]

I once had a single unit of Khûveshavagân bodyguards ride over a whole army of Apeleutheroi... well, they were assisted by others, but still. Makes for an impressive kill ratio.

I did the same thing to a full stack of slaves with only 2 carthaginian bodguards taking 10 casualties, vs like 1500 casualties, and took the city too.

[Alexokrat]

i got those strong slaves in my ongoing saba campaign, while Bostra was rebelling to my side, the city makes no profit so I decided to raid the ptolemaic city Hierosolyma with them and i destroyed quite a big army, so their had a use for me ^^

[athanaric]

i got those strong slaves in my ongoing saba campaign, while Bostra was rebelling to my side, the city makes no profit so I decided to raid the ptolemaic city Hierosolyma with them and i destroyed quite a big army, so their had a use for me ^^

Yes, that's the smartest thing to do early on. Those rebellious cities just cause the AS and Ptolies to ally against you...

[Cute Wolf]

Yes, that's the smartest thing to do early on. Those rebellious cities just cause the AS and Ptolies to ally against you...

LOL!!! Seconded!!!
He should have been in super big trouble now...

[Intranetusa]

You cannot see the full stats from that picture, you need to go to the source (export_descr_units).

Any missile attack has no bonus from experience, only from weapon quality bonus, so in this case it's at 3, despite what the screen says. They also have a very short effective range (thrown stone) with skirmish mode, meaning they rarely get to use their missile weapon at all unless you ignore them. The attack rating and melee defence does get a bonus from experience, however their extremely low lethality means they are still no threat to any regular soldier. When testing their stats, I attacked a garrison of 5 such units with a single sword+shield unit (can't recall which) and only barely lost the battle, killing more than four times the number of men lost even though they surrounded my unit from the start. They are suitably useless.

Why do slaves cost money to upkeep? And a hefty sum at that. You'd think these people who rebeled to whatever nation would be working for free...

[ARCHIPPOS]

Why do slaves cost money to upkeep? And a hefty sum at that. You'd think these people who rebeled to whatever nation would be working for free...

Because in ancient societies slaves assumed a vital role in the productive proccess. Slave workforce was heavily used in agriculture, small and medium scale industry, mineworks etc,etc,etc. So freeing all those slaves (iplementing them into an army) largely diminishes the productive base of an economy...because the guys who used to create profit and wealth are now busy throwing stones and pretending to be soldiers. Hence their extremely elevated upkeep...

[A Very Super Market]

Also, it was to convince the AI not to rely on them (Although I think that was an earlier release of EB).

[Ludens]

Also, it was to convince the AI not to rely on them (Although I think that was an earlier release of EB).

Actually, it is a hint for the player to disband them. The A.I. does not seem aware of upkeep. Apeleutheroi were added as an easier workaround for the rebellion CTD. This had the added advantage that the spawned rebel stack mostly consisted of worthless units, even when given absurd upgrades. However, the player should not use them as garrisons, so they got a hefty upkeep to encourage immediate disbanding.