Sparta Spear Infantry

Spartan Youths

Toughened by years of training within the agoge, Spartan youths were moulded into warriors from the age of seven, becoming 'paidiskoi', or Spartan reserves, in their later teenage years. Separated from their mothers, the first stage of their training was the 'paides', in which they lived communally in one of the Spartan syssitia mess halls. Here they trained and exercised together, learning from their elders, and were purposefully underfed to toughen and accustom them to hunger, and teach them resourcefulness. This extended to depriving them of clothing too, providing only their red cloak each year. This taught the boys to steal, for which they were severely punished if caught, but for being caught, not for stealing from the helot slave population. At eighteen, they became paidiskoi, joining the army as reservists for two years. Armed with the hoplite spear and hoplon, and armoured in cloth, they would support the older Spartan men in battle. A chosen few would also be inducted into the krypteia, a secret organisation that were expected to spy on, steal from and kill the helots. Seen as both a test of ability and a necessary means of keeping the helots submissive, a declaration of war against the helots was made each autumn, effectively legalising the krypteia’s activity.

Unit Name Spartan Youths

Main Unit Key Gre_Spartan_Youths

Land Unit Key Gre_Spartan_Youths

Naval Unit Key greek_transport

Soldiers 160

Category Melee Infantry

Class Spear Infantry

Custom Battle Cost 330

Recruitment Cost 330

Upkeep Cost 70

Melee Attack 17

Weapon Damage 30

├ Melee Weapon rome_hoplite_spear

├ Melee Damage Base 16

├ Melee Damage Ap 14

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 10

├ Bonus vs Elephants 12

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 10

Melee Defence 57

├ Base Defence 31

├ Shield hoplite

└ Shield Defence 26

Armour 70

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 27

└ Shield Armour 43

Health 65

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 55

└ Bonus Hit Points 10

Base Morale 35

Abilities

• 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

Attributes

• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• 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

• Average defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Weak attack
• Poor morale

Garrison Buildings
x 2	Village (Amber Shore) (greek_amber_1) Level 0 Village (Glassware) (greek_glass_1) Level 0 Village (Gold Mine) (greek_gold_1) Level 0 Village (Grain Fields) (greek_grain_1) Level 0 Village (Horse Trainers) (greek_horse_1) Level 0 Village (Iron Workshop) (greek_iron_1) Level 0 Village (Lead Mine) (greek_lead_1) Level 0 Village (Tannery) (greek_leather_1) Level 0 Village (Loggers) (greek_lumber_1) Level 0 Village (Marble Pit) (greek_marble_1) Level 0 Village (Olive Grove) (greek_olive_1) Level 0 Village (Murex Snail Farm) (greek_purple_dye_1) Level 0 Village (Silk Trader) (greek_silk_1) Level 0 Village (greek_town_1) Level 0 Village (Vineyard) (greek_wine_1) Level 0
x 4	City (greek_city_1) Level 0

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Spartan Rebels Sparta Spartan Gerousia
Imperator Augustus	Spartan Rebels (Imperator Augustus)