Arbalest Dromedaries

"[H]orse cavalry possesses the additional gear ratio which permits it to attain sufficient speed through mountainous country to get behind and hold the enemy..."

— George S. Patton, American WW2 general

In game

Arbalest Dromedaries — Vital statistics
	Unique light cavalry unit, slower but tougher than normal Palace Gamekeepers and also able to resist attacks by melee cavalry. Strong versus melee infantry and melee cavalry Weak versus missile cavalry, missile infantry
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrade of
	15s (225t)	70	9	15	2.3s (35t)	34	Dromedary Jund
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 60; : 40	: 1; : 1	1		1	0–5	Can attack units whilst pursuing. Defensive bonus versus horse cavalry.

Overall strategy

Combining the stopping power of the Frankish Arbalest with the speed of camels, Arbalest Dromedaries may highly useful support units with regard towards skirmish work and infantry support. Not only do they have the speed and anti-horse resistance of most camelry, they now are even more devastating against melee infantry owing to the far reach of their primary weapon, the Arbalest. Thus they can be used not just against melee infantry, but units with inferior weapons, such as simple Archers and Horse Javelineers. Even Mounted Cranequin cavalry don't stand a chance against these units.

Unit summary

• Insurance Policy — Although slower than most missile cavalry units, Arbalest Dromedaries have a good deal of hitpoints and some armour to help them best other units, making them somewhat useful in raiding, as the extra hitpoints and armour can protect them when running away.
• No One Best Solution — For maximum results, team up your Arbalest Dromedaries with your other units, as no one unit in the Saracen arsenal can really work on its own.

History

Despite being slower and much less temperate in behaviour than horses, camels had their uses. The first was their durability — on the march, camels can store all the fat and moisture that they will ever need in the hump on their body. The second was that their scent often spooked horses, which was both a blessing and a curse for the military-minded. Arabs and Asians were not the only ones to recognise the tactical use of camels: a long list of empires, beginning with the Romans, often tried to create their own dromedary squads when venturing into the Middle East and Asia — with mixed results. While Napoleon found dromedary units useful in his Middle Eastern campaigns, attempts at creating dromedary units in America failed for the reason that they caused problems for more conventional cavalry, and camels imported into America for that purpose were released into the wild, ending experiments to create camel units for the US Army.