Athens Spear Infantry

Hoplite Champions

Hoplites date back to the wars between the Greek city-states in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. During the Greco-Persian Wars most hoplites wore a Corinthian-style bronze helm, and a cuirass of bronze or stiffened linen or canvas. They were armed with a short sword and an iron-tipped spear with a bronze counterbalance butt-spike. Hoplites were named, though, after the round hoplon shield they carried. The hoplon-and-spear combination required them to fight as a phalanx, a block of spearmen some eight ranks deep. When closed up, each man would find shelter behind the shield of his neighbour, creating a wall of bristling spear-points. While all hoplites were originally citizen-soldiers, full-time mercenaries took over and became the standard fighting unit of the Greek world. Later, under Phillip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, the shield became smaller, while the spear developed into the five metre sarissa pike. Many armies adopted the phalanx of hoplites as a tactical unit because it was very successful in battle.

Unit Name Hoplite Champions

Main Unit Key Gre_Champion_Hoplites

Land Unit Key Gre_Champion_Hoplites

Naval Unit Key greek_transport

Soldiers 160

Category Melee Infantry

Class Spear Infantry

Custom Battle Cost 890

Recruitment Cost 890

Upkeep Cost 100

Melee Attack 33

Weapon Damage 32

├ Melee Weapon rome_spear_elite

├ Melee Damage Base 21

├ Melee Damage Ap 11

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 17

├ Bonus vs Elephants 19

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 30

Melee Defence 77

├ Base Defence 51

├ Shield hoplite

└ Shield Defence 26

Armour 117

├ Armour bronze

├ Armour Defence 74

└ Shield Armour 43

Health 80

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_heavy

├ Man Health 60

└ Bonus Hit Points 20

Base Morale 60

Abilities

• Hoplite Wall
  The unit moves into close wall formation.
  Bracing, melee defence, shield strength
  Acceleration, speed
• Square
  The unit moves into a close square formation.
  Bracing, morale, melee defence
  Can't move
• Rapid Advance
  Improved unit movement speed over an extended period.
  Speed, acceleration, charge speed
  Exertion: fatigue
• Cavalry Counter-tactics
  Improves unit's ability to endure enemy cavalry charges for an extended time.
  Bonus vs mounted units

Attributes

• Expert Charge Defence
  This unit’s melee attack and damage are increased against charging enemies.
• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• Encourage
  This unit provides a morale bonus to nearby allies.
• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very slow speed
• Weak ramming

• Very good defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Average attack
• Good morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 1	Royal Barracks (greek_military_heavy_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Athens