Keshig Guard

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"I will ward off your enemies as felt cloth protects one from the wind."

In game[edit | edit source]

Keshig ico.png
Keshig Guard — Vital statistics
Keshig Guard

Elite medium cavalry archery unit, being the best cavalry archer unit in the game but costs more than normal Khorchin cavalry to create.

Prereq: Build time HP LOS Attack Attack speed Movement
speed


  • High Mediaeval Era [2];
  • Monarchy Politics
17s
(225t)
100 10 17 1.33s
(20t)
40
Cost Created from Armour Weapon range Specialty
Base Ramp Pop
Timber: 60;
Wealth.jpg: 40
Timber: 1;
Wealth.jpg: 2
1

Nobles' Court

2 0–7

Can attack enemies to the left while moving.

Mongol.jpg

Overall strategy[edit | edit source]

Mounted on the enviable breed of horses used by the northern tribes of Asia, the Keshig Guard are heavy cavalry archers, capable of withering down slower units with their composite bows, and are fairly fast enough to be used for the mobile warfare that the Mongols have embraced. These units have the same attack as the Baatur, but have been downgraded by one level in their armour, so they can be expected only to take glancing blows and no more than that in combat.

As a unit, however, the cost of recruiting these warriors isn't cheap. You will face high overhead costs (having to build a Nobles' Court) and while they may cost the same as most cavalry archers, the Keshig Guard requires a fair bit of Wealth with regards to its ramp cost, thus recruiting these units can be quite a controversial choice. All told, the best use for them is probably to counter other cavalry archers, owing to their better stats. Thus, it might be better to let the Khorchin be deployed against the foe for light raiding and harassing, but the Keshig ought to be kept back as an escort for your cavalry against heavy infantry. Still, their higher attack and their solid constitution should help them well in their tasks — a mobile, hard-riding strike force that can be used to decimate soft targets and to harass more powerful foes like Knights and War Elephants.

Unit summary[edit | edit source]

  • Although more heavily armoured than most cavalry archer units, These units have the same attack as the Baatur, but have been downgraded by one level in their armour, so they can be expected only to take glancing blows and no more than that in combat. Still, their higher attack and their solid constitution should help them well in their tasks — a mobile, hard-riding strike force that can be used to decimate soft targets and to harass more powerful foes like Knights and War Elephants.

See also[edit | edit source]

History[edit | edit source]

Mongols have always been proficient cavalry warriors, and while initially they started off fielding fast-moving light cavalry and archers, they soon began to see the need for heavier cavalry units for the job of overcoming infantry and fending off the heavy cavalry of the Muslims and the Europeans. By the time of the Timurids and the Shaybanids in the 15th century, Mongol society was now more complex than it had been many years ago, and many rulers and nobles had their own retinue, or keshig as they were called in the Mongol tongue (meaning "favoured" or "blessed"). These troops functioned as a royal guard and while the keshig themselves did not always see action, they were all proficient fighters, meant to do battle in the role of medium or heavy cavalry. Contingents of keshig also served the children of the Mongols in South Asia — the Persians and the Indians, although by this time the keshig were not guard cavalry, but crack shots with muskets, capable of holding their own in the face of withering enemy fire.