I have had a go with the infamous Desert Axemen:

type egyptian infantry
dictionary egyptian_infantry ; Desert Axemen
category infantry
class heavy
voice_type Light_1
soldier egyptian_infantry, 40, 0, 1
officer egyptian_standard
attributes sea_faring, hide_forest, can_sap
formation 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, square
stat_health 1, 0
stat_pri 10, 5, no, 0, 0, melee, blade, piercing, axe, 25 ,1
stat_pri_attr no
stat_sec 0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, no, no, none, 25 ,1
stat_sec_attr no
stat_pri_armour 3, 6, 4, leather
stat_sec_armour 0, 0, flesh
stat_heat -1
stat_ground 2, 2, -2, -2
stat_mental 8, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 420, 200, 50, 70, 420
ownership egypt

I have left them pretty powerful as they are fairly high up the Egyptain tech tree, but has replaced there invisible metal armour with reduced leather armour, a defensive skill bonus and a slight shield bonus... This actually puts them more inline with the Desert Horsemen whom look very similar... And tests show they can still put up a good fight but are no longer practically immune to missile weapons... Any comments?