RTW: Eastern Infantry

[Red Harvest]

Surely the worst unit ever. Worse than peasants.

They don't have a lot going for them, except that cav bonus.

What is funny is comparing them to the worst sword infantry unit I can think of: Iberian infantry (you know, the culture renowned for the quality of its swords.) The problem with the Iberians is that they are getting almost no armour credit, 2 lousy points: so their total defense is a whopping ... 8 ... sigh. The buckler is worth only 2 points vs. 5 points for the Eastern wicker shield.

Hmmm...thinking about it now, the eastern infantry have 50% more men, and 2 points more defense. So while their effective attack is only about 2.2, they might actually have a chance in melee vs. those poor Iberians.

[Papewaio]

Actually 2 units of Eastern + 2 units of Hillmen knocked a chariot unit to third of its strength in my last battle. They worked as a speed bumb keeping the chariot off my Horse Archers long enough for them to chew up the approaching spearmen.

Eastern Infantry are old style paper-rock-scissors. They are like the STW Ashi-spearmen. Good against cav, bad against anything else.

They have a role and they do it well.