Which faction has the best infantry?

[Eccentric]

The Romans just seem..right but one on one the long pikes own. Roman Legions need backup units

I kinda agree with you on this one, Ive beaten lots of urbans with sacred band online, and have in turn been beaten by pikes as the romans.

[NobleNick]

Romans have the best infantry (in RTW 1.5 vanilla).

One could make the argument that Spartans are the best infantry unit in the game. I don't know. If I played them off against Urban Cohort in the custom battles, I've forgotten the outcome. I suspect the Spartans had the edge.

However, the most cost effective infantry is, without a doubt, Rome's Legionary Cohort. 'X' denarii worth of LC will beat 'X' denarii of UC or 'X' denarii of Spartans, most of the time. ('X' must be chosen so that both sides can spend all allocated money with very little left over.)

Scipii get a bonus, since their blacksmith and temple systems allow upgrades to both sword and shield, making Scipii gold sword / gold shield LC the king of infantry in the vanilla 1.5 RTW game.

Don't forget that the Roman Hastati are excellent, excellent light infantry.

Scipii is the clear winner for best faction infantry.

[Barry]

Romans have the best infantry (in RTW 1.5 vanilla).

One could make the argument that Spartans are the best infantry unit in the game. I don't know. If I played them off against Urban Cohort in the custom battles, I've forgotten the outcome. I suspect the Spartans had the edge.

However, the most cost effective infantry is, without a doubt, Rome's Legionary Cohort. 'X' denarii worth of LC will beat 'X' denarii of UC or 'X' denarii of Spartans, most of the time. ('X' must be chosen so that both sides can spend all allocated money with very little left over.)

Scipii get a bonus, since their blacksmith and temple systems allow upgrades to both sword and shield, making Scipii gold sword / gold shield LC the king of infantry in the vanilla 1.5 RTW game.

Don't forget that the Roman Hastati are excellent, excellent light infantry.

Scipii is the clear winner for best faction infantry.

well said

[King of Kings]

Romans no doubt had the best infantry as a group, but i think Spartans were better man for man.

[Happykiller]

Spartans are NOT the best infantry in the game, I've tried it out, I've done numerous 1 on 1 battle between legionary cohorts and spartans (both unupgraded, so the legions are much cheaper), in each of these battles i tried to micromanage so that my legionary cohorts can charge the spartan formations from the side, this results in around 20% of the legionaries being retarded and stand right in front of the spears and to get killed with out even fighting back, while the rest completely annihilated those spartan "super soldiers".
Keep in mind this is only a custom battle involving two units where the phanlax gains significant edge since their slowness does not affect their formation a lot, in a real battle where there will be numerous units on both sides as well as archers to insure the legions flank even better, this further weakens the spartan formation.
I've also done other tests involving sillver shield pikes, and sacred bands and the legions massacre them in each of these cases.
This is odd considering the legion's stats are weaker. Legions are also in a sense that much of their defence is armor which means they are not so vulnerble to missiles and flanking since spartans and scredband have high def. skill.
I've also tried using spartans and turning off phanlax and charging the legions head on in close combat and the spartans just got destroyed.
It seems like legions have a bonus against phanlax or something
However i've also tested out single legionary cohorts versus german units and the Legions get massacred each time. Those 25 or so berskers will easily just destroy a whole legionary cohort consisting of 80+ men, praetorians also get destroyed by them. Chosen axemen seems to also be extremly effective against legions as well
However since the Romans have great archers and some pretty descent spears i would have to say the Romans have the best infantry, also roman legions seems to be extremely resistant to missile fire (where as German infantry gets owned by missiles).

[Antissa]

Well in my opinion, I think the Romans definetly offers the best infantry in the game

[NobleNick]

Spartans are NOT the best infantry in the game, I've tried it out, I've done numerous 1 on 1 battle between legionary cohorts and spartans (both unupgraded, so the legions are much cheaper), in each of these battles i tried to micromanage so that my legionary cohorts can charge the spartan formations from the side, this results in around 20% of the legionaries being retarded and stand right in front of the spears and to get killed with out even fighting back, while the rest completely annihilated those spartan "super soldiers".
Keep in mind this is only a custom battle involving two units where the phanlax gains significant edge since their slowness does not affect their formation a lot, in a real battle where there will be numerous units on both sides as well as archers to insure the legions flank even better, this further weakens the spartan formation.
I've also done other tests involving sillver shield pikes, and sacred bands and the legions massacre them in each of these cases...

As much as I root for the LC, I have to take exception to your test method. Spartans do much better in large formations, if you know how to keep them in formation.

Try this experiment again, but this time use, say a dozen units of each type. Pretend that you are the AI: dumb as a rock. Throw your LC directly at the Spartans. DO not do anything innovative. Your LC will get creamed. Then try it the other way: Take the Greek side and line your Spartans up against the Roman LC. Again, nothing innovative, just make a line and let the Romans dogs throw their pila and then throw themselves onto your formation. You will almost certainly be victorious. Even against even numbers of Urban Cohort you should be victorious.

I know this because I have done the testing, too. Not just a few rounds of one-on-one; but scads of carefully controlled encounters, where I played dumb as a rock three or more times, then turned the tables and played dumb as a rock for the other side, all the time taking notes of who won and by how much. Then, if the results were even close to in doubt, I repeated the procedure.

The results: UC and Spartans are close, but (IIRC) Spartans were slightly better, on a unit-for-unit basis. Both easily beat LC on a unit-for unit basis. BUT LC beat both Spartans and UC on a denarii-for-denarii basis. IIRC, UC beat Spartans on a denarii-for-denarii basis.

...I've also done other tests involving sillver shield pikes, and sacred bands and the legions massacre them in each of these cases...

As expected. I can confirm your results, based on testing I have done with Sacred Band vs. LC.

...I've also tried using spartans and turning off phanlax and charging the legions head on in close combat and the spartans just got destroyed... It seems like legions have a bonus against phanlax or something...

Phalanx units fighting out of phalanx formation = not good. Also, I believe swords get some kind of bonus against spears (but never have seen it quantified).

...i've also tested out single legionary cohorts versus german units and the Legions get massacred each time. Those 25 or so berskers will easily just destroy a whole legionary cohort consisting of 80+ men, praetorians also get destroyed by them. Chosen axemen seems to also be extremly effective against legions as well...

Hmmm... This is odd. I am dubious, but can't say that I have done any testing which would refute this. Although I would say that I would not do one-on-one testing; and do you realize that the computer gives you a bonus against the AI in custom battle mode? To get fair results, I play both sides multiple times, with multiple (10+) units, and attempt to dumb down my play to emulate the AI. Otherwise, I do not find out which unit is better: I find out which unit is better under my generalship.

...However since the Romans have great archers and some pretty descent spears i would have to say the Romans have the best infantry, also roman legions seems to be extremely resistant to missile fire (where as German infantry gets owned by missiles).

I believe you. Begs for testing.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

The problem is that he's using Legionary Cohorts. As far Multiplayer goes, Urban Cohorts will own Spartans every time at at the low denarii range (which is the level competitive players fight at). The reason for the Urban superiority is that Spartans are way too expensive - the Roman player will upgrade his Urbans whereas the Greek player can't really afford too many upgrades for his Spartans. This is the reason why the experienced MP players will use Armored Hoplites rather than Spartans.

[Double A]

Spartans are NOT the best infantry in the game, I've tried it out, I've done numerous 1 on 1 battle between legionary cohorts and spartans (both unupgraded, so the legions are much cheaper), in each of these battles i tried to micromanage so that my legionary cohorts can charge the spartan formations from the side, this results in around 20% of the legionaries being retarded and stand right in front of the spears and to get killed with out even fighting back, while the rest completely annihilated those spartan "super soldiers".

Yeah, but did you do full stack vs. full stack?

The problem is that he's using Legionary Cohorts. As far Multiplayer goes, Urban Cohorts will own Spartans every time at at the low denarii range (which is the level competitive players fight at). The reason for the Urban superiority is that Spartans are way too expensive - the Roman player will upgrade his Urbans whereas the Greek player can't really afford too many upgrades for his Spartans. This is the reason why the experienced MP players will use Armored Hoplites rather than Spartans.

Unless there is a mess of money!!!

[Joel92]

the greeks or the romans
the germans have the best barbarian infantry

but it has to do with your style

[NobleNick]

As far Multiplayer goes, Urban Cohorts will own Spartans every time ... This is the reason why the experienced MP players...

Ah. Good point. All my sandbox and other experience is geared for SP campaign play.

[_BaSiLeOs_]

im a huge Seleucid fan, but i must grudgingly admit that the Germans have the best infantry
those beserkers wreak so much havoc if they managed to reach your lines. they're like *****in human elephants

[Knight of Judgment]

berserkers can kill many urbans

[johnny5000]

Roman infantry is a great infantry-killer, but there's not a lot of variety there... just different strengths of swordsmen.
I think the lack of spears hurts a bit in the early game. It takes a long time before triarii are ready to go, so in the early game I'm relying on loads of barbarian mercenaries as cav killers.

Hastati/principes are useless against cavalry.

[Imperial Fist]

berserkers can kill many urbans

At least if they get close enough.

[coinich]

I'm gonna disagree with what most people are saying here. Parthia had the best infantry, hands down. Nothing like hordes of pink pajama-clad soldiers rushing down anything in their path to confuse, befuddle, and ultimately rout any opponent.

[Columcille]

Romans, by far.
Although I love the Selucids, you just cant beat an urban cohort sometimes.

[Knight of Judgment]

i think the spartans

[Erwin Rommel]

only in the forward................watch a berserker unit...........trample them

MUWHAHAHAHA

[Summitz]

Beserkers........ they rule the field, spartans win only cuz of their numbers, trying using 2-3units against a unit of spartans, same numbers, and you will see the difference........... Utter destruction.....