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HomeHome / Total War SAGA: Thrones of Britannia / Irish Usurpers / Units / Kerns
Kerns Irish UsurpersIrish Usurpers Missile Infantry

Kerns

Having learned to survive in the harsh wilderness, these men will thrive at any cost.

The Middle Irish word ‘ceithern’, pronounced ‘kern’, refers to a group of fighters who were one of two essential components of medieval Irish armies, the other being gallowglasses. Often found fighting as light infantry and occasionally light cavalry, the role of a kern was to provide skirmishing support to their heavy infantry counterparts. However, the training afforded them and the eventual roles they filled very much depended on the needs of their clan, which did not exclude them from the cut and thrust of melee warfare. Kerns would frequently be the first or last to launch attacks – their mobility meant that they were well-suited to initiate swift ambushes, after which they would melt back behind the gallowglasses, while later in battles they could also easily run down any fleeing routers.

On the battlefield, kerns wore a light leather coat which ensured unrestricted movement and agility. The throwing spear or javelin was one such genus of weapons they used, with the thrusting variety not always entirely distinct from the thrown variety. The advantage of the javelin thrower was the ability to potentially pierce through shields and armour from distance, but this was offset by the reduced range and limited output compared to standard archers, since there were only so many javelins a thrower could carry at any one time. Javelin throwing was certainly a unique skill, with the most skilful Viking warriors allegedly even able to catch spears in mid-flight to hurl them straight back!

Kerns

Unit Name

Kerns

Main Unit Key

iri_kerns

Land Unit Key

iri_kerns

Naval Unit Key

vik_curach_mis

Soldiers

80

Category

Missile Infantry

Class

Missile Infantry

Custom Battle Cost

250

Recruitment Cost

250

Upkeep Cost

60

Missile Damage

43

├ Missile Weapon

vik_jav

├ Projectile

vik_javelin_normal

├ Missile Damage

30

├ Missile Ap Damage

13

└ Base Reload Time

30

Accuracy

36

Range

80

Reload

50

Rate of Fire

4

Ammunition

7

Melee Skill

8

Melee Damage

9

├ Melee Weapon

vik_dagger

├ Melee Base Damage

7

├ Armour-piercing Damage

2

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Attack Against Cavalry

0

├ Attack Against Elephants

0

└ Attack Against Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

2

Melee Defence

23

├ Base Defence

8

├ Shield

vik_small

└ Shield

15

Armour

7

├ Armour

vik_cloth_helmet

├ Armour Defence

7

└ Shield Armour

0

Health

100

├ Man Entity

vik_inf_mis_light

├ Man Health

100

└ Bonus Hit Points

0

Morale

28

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

  • [[col:yellow]]Resistant to Fatigue[[/col]]
    Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit.
  • [[col:yellow]]Hide (forest)[[/col]]
    This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
  • [[col:yellow]]Ignore Terrain[[/col]]
    Speed penalties caused by the terrain are ignored by this unit.
  • [[col:yellow]]Snipe[[/col]]
    This unit remains hidden while firing.

Strengths & Weaknesses

No Strengths and Weaknesses
Recuitment Requirement
Required Technology Trained Skirmishers Cost 150 Upgrade From Freemen Javelinmen
Upgrade
Required Technology Masters of Missile Warfare Cost 150 Upgrade To Wood Kerns
Garrison Buildings
Kerns x 1 Patrols
Patrols
(vik_garrison_1)
Level 0
Long Hall
Long Hall
(vik_great_hall_1)
Level 0
Ship Camp
Ship Camp
(vik_longphort_1)
Level 0
Trading Post
Trading Post
(vik_market_1)
Level 0
Monastic Community
Monastic Community
(vik_monastery_1)
Level 0
Long Hall of the Mountain
Long Hall of the Mountain
(vik_mountain_hall_1)
Level 0
Offa's Hall
Offa's Hall
(vik_offas_hall_1)
Level 0
Rock of Caisil
Rock of Caisil
(vik_rock_caisil_1)
Level 0
Church of St Ciaran
Church of St Ciaran
(vik_st_ciaran_1)
Level 0
Church of St Columbe
Church of St Columbe
(vik_st_columbe_1)
Level 0
Church of St Patraic
Church of St Patraic
(vik_st_patraic_1)
Level 0