Shield Biters

Howling like animals at their enemies across the battlefield, the Berserkers of Viking armies often took on the semblance of wild animals, entering battles in an almost trance-like state. They would work themselves into a frenzy so intense, it is said they bit on the edges of their shields and could even ignore the pain of wounds. Their apparently feral appearance is alluded to in the Old Norse etymology of their name – ‘ber’ meaning bear, and ‘serkr’ roughly translating to shirt, thus literally, ‘a bear-skinned warrior’. Indeed, they had little protection other than the skins they wore, and were utterly convinced of their invulnerability against fire, blade, or any blow that came their way. The roots of this mentality came from the old Norse religions, in which many warriors clung to the belief that Odin, the God of War, gave them both protection and superhuman powers, so that they would have no need of armour. To encounter these enraged warriors on the battlefield was to face crazed men who were defying the standard logistics of battle at the time – it is no wonder that some who did so and lived to tell the tale thought them to be shape-shifters that actually became the animals whose skins they wore. Other, more rational views suggested that they were simply carried along by a wave of group euphoria.

Unit Name Shield Biters

Main Unit Key vik_shield_biters

Land Unit Key vik_shield_biters

Naval Unit Key vik_skeid

Soldiers 80

Category Melee Infantry

Class Melee Infantry

Custom Battle Cost 800

Recruitment Cost 800

Upkeep Cost 200

Melee Skill 45

Melee Damage 38

├ Melee Weapon vik_axe_elite

├ Melee Base Damage 15

├ Armour-piercing Damage 23

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Attack Against Cavalry 0

├ Attack Against Elephants 0

└ Attack Against Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 48

Melee Defence 75

├ Base Defence 45

├ Shield vik_medium

└ Shield 30

Armour 27

├ Armour vik_mail_long

├ Armour Defence 27

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 100

├ Man Entity vik_inf_heavy

├ Man Health 100

└ Bonus Hit Points 0

Morale 50

Abilities

• Shield Castle
  "Heads down, lads, things are about to get a little hairy around here!"
  Units cannot move in this formation.

Attributes

• [[col:yellow]]Berserk[[/col]]
  This unit can go berserk during the battle. This makes them uncontrollable; they will automatically attack nearby enemies.
• [[col:yellow]]Hide (forest)[[/col]]
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
• [[col:yellow]]Raider[[/col]]
  This unit may set buildings on fire, cause more fire damage with torches and capture faster than other units.
• [[col:yellow]]Scare (everyone)[[/col]]
  This unit frightens all enemy units.
• [[col:yellow]]Immune to Fear[[/col]]
  This unit is immune to the fear effects of scary units.

Strengths & Weaknesses

No Strengths and Weaknesses

Faction Availability
Thrones of Britannia	Dene Dubgaill Finngaill Haeden Jorvik Nordmann Norse Viking Rebels Viking Usurpers Wicing

Faction Pool

Pool
No.	Pool	Faction	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	viking	Dene Dubgaill Finngaill Haeden Jorvik Nordmann Norse Viking Rebels Viking Usurpers Wicing	1	0.05	1	1