Rōnin Archers

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Even rotten tai still has its worth.

— Japanese saying

In game[edit | edit source]

Ashigaru1.png
Rōnin Archers — Vital statistics
Rōnin Archers

Unique Japanese light missile mercenary unit. Costs mostly Food and a minimal amount of Wealth, but is weaker against other archer units.

Prereq: Build time HP LOS Attack Attack speed Movement
speed
Upgrade of
  • Level 2: Mercenaries Military
  • Level 1: Caravan Train Commerce
4s
(60t)
60 11 13 2s
(30t)
26

Ashigaru2 icon.png

Cost Created from Armour Weapon range Specialty
Base Ramp Pop
Food.jpg: 140

Wealth.jpg: 1

1 Outpost.jpg 0 1–10
Japan.jpg

Overall strategy[edit | edit source]

Although fairly laughable in accuracy, range and rate of fire, Rōnin Archers still serve a fairly significant role by fleshing out the Japanese army. Japan's best advantages lie in the fact that it has a missile component with variations in price and quality, consisting of cheaper archers and mercenary bowmen all the way through horse archers to costlier Saburai Archers (all being cavalry) — altogether a maximum of three archer units at any time. However, one big problem that Japan always has at the start is that not all of these units are immediately available, but given that Rōnin Archers only require two Military levels as opposed to three for other factions, it is a safe bet to say that Japan can start off very quickly and aggressively — while your opponent is mucking around for three levels of Military research, you should have already assembled an army of Rōnin archers, and only need your Shōen spears and Lancers to join your party. The fact that Shōen can spawn for free from your barracks should be taken advantage of, saving food from them to create your Rōnin.

Equally appealing is the fact that unlike other archer mercenaries, Rōnin Archers cost purely food, not wealth. Since food is a very easy resource to obtain, a Japanese player can easily overwhelm other factions in the early game by using just suicide soldiers and Rōnin, so long as their opponents do not train any cavalry. Much later, you can upgrade your Rōnin Archers to improve their stats.

Unit summary[edit | edit source]

  • Fast-training but inferior bow mercenary unique to Japan; costing entirely of food albeit in large amounts.
  • Will Work For Food — Since food is a very easy resource to obtain, a Japanese player can easily overwhelm other factions in the early game by using just suicide soldiers and Rōnin Archers.
  • Tech Slack — Given that Rōnin Archers only require two Military levels as opposed to three for other factions, Japan can start off a very quickly and aggressively.
  • Partners in Time — Rōnin Archers complement the Shōen Retainers very well: make use of the fact that the latter can be spawned for free, and that like all mercenaries Rōnin Archers can be trained very quickly.

History[edit | edit source]

In ancient times, the term rōnin (Japanese, "wave-man") referred to social drifters who had no allegiance. First referring to runaway serfs and fugitives who had fled their bondage to their master, it soon was held also to refer to those of the Bushi (or martial nobility) caste who served no lord. Although considered as social undesirables in hiearchical Japanese society because they were often broke and resorted to brigandage, local landowners and magnates had one single overriding use for them — unlike Bushi or Samurai, a rōnin’s loyaly could be purchased, making them in some cases ideal cannon fodder. In modern parlance, however, the term is now used to refer to workers switching between employers, or secondary school students who have not made it into a university.