Defensive Troops (Guide) [by Rastus]

Each tribe has different troops types with different strengths and weakness to infantry and cavalry.

When building your defensive garrisons, it is vital that you always keep the force balanced against both infantry and cavalry, or else your enemy will just hit you with whatever your weak at and decimate you.

Below I will list suggested defensive troops ratios which have been tried, tested and refined across three servers and under continuous attack.

Romans are all about infantry. Your defensive garrisons should be equal parts Praetorians to Legionairres. You need a 50/50 mix though - don't be a newb and put up and all Praetorian force and wonder why those attacking cavalry just kicked your head clean out of the stadium. A typical feeder holds 600 of each and 20 scouts.

Teutons, many people say Tuetons are bad at defence. Many people are idiots as well, don't be one of them. The magic mix for Teutons is 4 spearman for every 1 paladin. So, a typical completed feeder village has 800 spearman, 200 paladin and 40 scouts. People who have attacked a defensive Tueton never forget it - but thankfully most Tuetons are morons and just build busloads of axemen.

Gauls actually have the most balanced defensive infantry unit and it is the absolute spine of Gaulish players: the Phalanx. Cheap, quick and effective against both cavalry and infantry. A typical Gaulish feeder village holds 1200 Phalanxes and 20 scouts. An even smarter Gaulish player keeps a village which is specialised in making Druidriders as well, and these are sent around quickly to each hotspot to help decimate any mass infantry assaults.

So, in summary, the magic numbers are as follows:

• Roman - 1 Praetorian per 1 Legionnaire
• Teuton - 4 Spearman per 1 Paladin
• Gaul - Pure Phalanx - with a Druidrider force on call

Also, remember, don't defend with 2000 troops against 2000, instead co-operate and defend with 20,000 against 2000. That is the Rise way. We are not happy to stop attacks, we obliterate them with minimal casualties to ourselves. This is why we all need a metric buttload of villages and production spiked through the roof.

Note - the "typical" garrison levels are assuming using gold for the +25%crop which is an absolute huge bonus and if used in isolation is very economical. If playing without +25% crop then deduct about 30% of troops numbers from these suggested totals.

Never attack with defensive troops and never defend with attack troops!