Which faction has the best infantry?

[Knight of Judgment]

militia hoplites the super warriors .....lol.........

berserkers have only 2 votes ? a player can win the half campaign with a full army of berserkers . they don't rout . only missiles and phalanx can kill them .

[Selifator]

They rout if they aren't in heroic mode, I use that against them by shooting fire arrows at them before they reach me.

[Prince of Denmark]

Spartans. They had better training, and unless they get flanked (They don't if you use Greek cavalry right.) they will win. The pila just hit there shields, while the Spartans keep going. There are things that the Urbans do better, but if you micromanage, you can compensate for lack of movement when in Phalanx formation. You can always get out of Phalanx, move then git back into formation if you time it right. They are both better for certain things, but overall, you have to give it to the spartans.


Edit: I am a believer, Romans are the gods of warfare.

[fourganger]

IIRC, doesn't getting hit my javelins impede the charge of enemy infantry? It did in real life, can't remember if it does in the game...can anyone confirm?

[atraps]

well i think spartans and urbans are about equal

spartans get chewed up by arrows, urbans dont
urbans get slaughtered by heavy cav, spartans dont
urbans lose to choosen axemen (if the axemen are used well), spartans eat choosen axemen
urbans lose to elephants, spartans dont
urbans have the awesome pila attack, spartans dont
urbans are better on a open battlefield, spartans are better in bridge battles, settlements and forts
urbans are way easier to get in a campign then spartans
in multiplayer urbans are better then spartans

well that about sums it up

p.s. i voted for spartans cuz im a 300 fan:sparta:

[Lord Thesaurian]

yeah, rome totally has the best inf.

[Papanapupu]

I suppose you haven't played Rome : Total War. When I destroyed the Gauls, the Spanish attacked me. At a battle in actual the Southern France, there were 1478 Spanish soldiers against my 162 men Urban Cohort. I killed 1406 of them, taking 8 casualties in the cohort. What do you say about that?

[Doros_of_Sparta]

Tough question and will always be the subject of opinion more than fact. Purely game speaking i would say the seleucid due to their wide range of units and the ability to use legionnaires as well at top phalanx units. Thus gives the player the ability to be flexible in the open field, fight face to face on walls and use the superior defensive abilities of the phalanx. Their supporting units truly make then a favorite as well. Historically it's easy to say the Romans because they ruled the world, but the Greek city states and macedonians amd successors didnt have the manpower to lose full armies at cannae, tresimiene (sp), and others. Lookat romes history, they win from manpower not from superior skill. The camillion legions won by wearing down the enemy not overpowerimg them. It's the ability to raise and lose 80000 man armies and lose them without being extinct that made Rome a super power. Pyrrus repeatedly beat rome with supported phalanx but didn't have the manpower to replace his heavy losses. Historically IMO the best infantry would go to the germanic tribes because they gave Rome nightmares for years and every other faction to have any success against the legions did so by their supporting troops, and/or tactics. Pyrrus did so with support, Alexander won by his cavalry, hannibal by tactics. Only the German tribes made Rome tremble with shear infantry superiority.

[Doros_of_Sparta]

And yes i know Alexander didn't face Rome, used for context alone

[Jansenfinn]

Urbans are just better just accept it

[Habermas]

Urbans are the best because, spartans are not cost effective. Not counting cost though urbans are better.

[Aymer de Valence]

I suppose you haven't played Rome : Total War. When I destroyed the Gauls, the Spanish attacked me. At a battle in actual the Southern France, there were 1478 Spanish soldiers against my 162 men Urban Cohort. I killed 1406 of them, taking 8 casualties in the cohort. What do you say about that?

Your urbans must have had good experience and weapon upgrades on them against very green Iberian warriors. The Iberian attack must also have been very disjointed, and they can't have attempted to surround you. There is absolutely no way a single urban cohort would defeat 1500 soldiers of any nation in RTW if the opposing player had any degree of tactics.

[Hetman Khmelnytsky]

It's all about German Berserkers

[toyan7]

Probably the romans

[Morshu9001]

It seems like good hoplites always beat Roman infantry if you can't get a charge from the back or sides.

[BullWarrior]

Personally, I find that Armenia has the best infantry.
At first you'll be like "WHAT? They NEVER win the campaign?!?"
But let me explain.

First off, Armenia has great light infantry- Hillmen. Believe it or not, they are not 1/2 bad, when used correctly, but the AI is just too dumb to use them right...
Second off, Armenia has the unit "Heavy Spearmen", which are very good Spearmen in a phalanx formation.
Thirdly, the unit "Armenian Legionnaires" are equivalent to Roman units, so Armenia can't just fall, like other nations.

Finally, getting off the infantry, Armenia has great support archers+cavalry, so I find that Armenia is a very powerful nation, with some great Infantry, but the AI never exploits that fact.

[Nivea for Men]

Gotta be the romans

[Mongolhorde]

The Pila sell it for me. Urban Cohort takes my no. 1 spot.

Thirdly, the unit "Armenian Legionnaires" are equivalent to Roman units, so Armenia can't just fall, like other nations.

They are about equal to Principes in stats, with a somewhat lower moral so I doubt that they are equal. They are better than many infantry units (esp. in the east) but lose against Principes, Early Legions, normal Legions an all heavier roman troops. But they do have they use and are a very very nice addition to any army.
- Good armor + Good shields --> Almost no archer damage
- Armor piercing pila
- Well disciplined troops are always useful to have.

[eugenioso]

Its like watching a horror movie, with this amount of necromancy.

And if we define the "best infantry", do you mean light, or heavy?

If light's the word, we can go with Hastati. They have pila, shields, armor and good stamina, not to mention theyre cheap. Iberian infantry are the close second, but the lack of Pila hurts them.

Heavies would definitely be the urban cohorts, flat out.

Finally, there are the weirder units, like the berserkers, chosen axemen and night raiders. The first is a blunt weapon of doom, and can cause horrendous losses to even elite units, but they will usually lose out in the end. Not to say that it is smart to send them vs light infantry, cuz its not, but sending two units against a unit of urban cohorts will mean a lot of dead urban cohorts, weakened enough to allow other units to do the job.
Chosen axemen are there to kill the urban cohorts, or anything with lots of armor. Again, they are wasted on lesser units and suffer disproportionate losses on the attack, but their ability to ignore half the enemy armor value (armor piercing) is tremendously good against urban cohorts. A unit of good chosen can rip almost half a unit of urbans in seconds, and a second unit will always beat the survivors. By cost and upkeep comparison (one turn for chosen, 2 for urbans), i can say that Chosen axemen are better.
Finally the night raiders, basically somewhat souped up axemen with the frighten enemy infantry trait. Not bad, but 2 turns cost for building is usually too long, especially for barbarian warlords who rely on numbers and aggression to take the day.

[adamgerd123]

If you don't count the cost, spartan hoplites. If you have cavalry even better, as the cavalry will protect their weakness of maneuvelarbility. Heads on- nothing beats it