Kipchak Nomad
"[They] maintain the customs of their ancestors in bloodshed and glorifying themselves for such deeds, as well as in eating every dead or unclean thing, even hamsters and marmots." — Primary Chronicle
In game[edit | edit source]
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Ranged cavalry mercenary unit, tactically identical to Horse Archers but trained faster and for high prices in wealth.
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| Prereq: | Build time | HP | LOS | Attack | Attack speed | Movement speed
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8s (120t) |
45 | 9 | 12 | 1.6s (25t) |
34
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| Cost | Created from | Armour | Weapon range | Specialty | ||||
| Base | Ramp | Pop | ||||||
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1 |
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None | 0–8 |
Can attack enemies to the left while moving. | ||
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Overall strategy[edit | edit source]
Between the empires of the Romans and Chinese lie a federation of tribes the likes of which had never seen before: the Kipchak Steppe. Formed out of a coalition of different tribes, either through diplomacy or belligerence, the Kipchaks pose both opportunities and threats east and west. Being expert hunters and horsemen like most Turks, a few of them can be recruited for the cause of their more prosperous neighbours. Unlike most other troops, you do not need to research anything for them — just plonk down an Outpost and pray you have enough wealth. Potential employers be warned, however: these men may be recruited much faster than normal or "unique" ranged cavalry, but the price you pay to recruit them will be hefty indeed, and while other factions may improve their own mobile ranged support units, your Kipchak Nomad contingents will forever stay the same as they would be from the beginning.
Unit summary[edit | edit source]
- Swift of Speed, Sure of Sight — Because they have the best range, rate of fire and speed for any ranged cavalry unit, Horse Archers are highly versatile and fairly lethal if used in sufficient numbers.
- The Weakest Link? — Note, however, that since these units have low constitution you must always keep them out of the range of any other units — being caught by archers must be avoided, and being surrounded by enemy melee units is a no-no.
- Steppe Nomad — Mongolia fields the Steppe Nomad, which not only is vastly superior to Horse Archers but is also capable of resisting attrition.
- Kipchak Nomad — The skills of Turks in horse archery mean that some factions can purchase their services as mercenaries. Although they cannot be upgraded and are very weak in later ages, they still train very fast and face no complexity in their training.
- Bedouin Archers — Bedouin Archers are a special kind of cavalry archer employed by the Saracens, which although slower have more hitpoints and armour. Mercenary variants of these units are also employed by various other factions, most notably by the Turks and Chinese.
See also[edit | edit source]
History[edit | edit source]
Cavalry archery traditions in antiquity were often associated with cultures in Central Asia, where various nomadic tribes made their living off the practice of animal herding and horses ever since the prehistoric period. The land lends itself to breed a people who were used to harsh living conditions and mobility.
Thought to be originally from the lands west of China, the Kipchak were Turkic nomads who pushed west into Central Asia and by the 11th century managed to establish a vast "khanate" which practically covered all of Central Asia, where they clashed with a variety of Christian powers and rival tribes, The Kipchak Khanate was actually a loose confederation of tribes and for this reason, they were sometimes recruited as mercenaries by their more well-developed neighbours and were even assimilated into the same. A few Kipchak clans even managed to exert some influence on the Middle East where they were recruited as mamluks or slave soldiers by Muslim potentates, such as those of Egypt. Following the invasions of the Mongols, the Kipchak were also allowed to settle in Hungary, where they were eventually assimilated into Magyar society. The lands that constitute the present-day eastern frontiers of the present-day Moldovan Republic were once named "Bessarabia" after Bassarab, a prince of Kipchak extraction who made his home near the Black Sea.
