Rizico

"With a sword in his right hand and a flower in his left he comes. / He breaks open thy door. / He comes not to beg but to fight and conquer."

- Rabindranath Tagore

In game

Rizico — Vital statistics
	Unique Sicilian Skirmisher Levy unit which can generate loot by damaging buildings. Strong versus melee units, especially heavy infantry. Weak versus missile units, cavalry.
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed
[2];	5.3s (80t)	70	11	12	2.1s (32t)	26
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 20; : 20	: 1; : 1	1		0	0–10	Defensive penalty versus ranged units Attack penalty versus buildings.

Overall strategy

Drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including Normans, Italians and Muslims, Rizico reflect best the multicultural ethos of Sicily under Norman rulers, combining what both Vikings and Arabs do best - looting. Although statistics-wise they are identical with most run-of-the-mill Skirmisher Levy, Rizico have one special ability - they can loot resources from enemy buildings that they damage. As levy units go, however, Rizico are still laughably weak and although of some use against enemy archers, their abilities against melee units will only bear tragic results. They therefore are useful as support units, but otherwise are totally helpless and hapless against your opponent's armies.

Thus, the best way to use Rizico would be to use them for border raiding, in tandem with Ghuzat Volunteers and/or Alforrats, as well as picked bodies of either heavy infantry or cavalry on hand. Because they are foot units and don't move very far, the best way to employ these warbands is to train them up at a Barracks located near a combat hotspot, then send them in mass assaults against enemy settlements with very few defences. They may not live long, but their ability to loot buildings means that in in addition to any damage they cause to your opponents' infrastructure, they are also helping by defraying the costs (in Timber and Food) to raise them and do damage to your opponents. Beyond that, however, they have very limited use as since they are foot units, they don't travel far enough, and also don't do well in siege scenarios.

Unit summary

• We're Crossing Borders — Rizico are best deployed in cross-border skirmishes, targetting enemy civilian infrastructure to maximise the amount of loot obtained against prospective losses in combat.
• Rizico are incredibly weak against melee and therefore are useful as support units, but otherwise are totally helpless.
• Ready for War — Unlike Peasant Levies, Rizico can be used to escort your troops on campaign.
• Untrained — The ranged attacks of Rizico will often go wild, making them very vulnerable in frontal action.

History

After the Norman conquests of Sicily and Southern Italy, the Norman counts of Sicily chose to leave their newly acquired Muslim subjects alone and even treated them well, in comparison to more intolerant communities, such as the Iberian Christian kingdoms. Although not Christians, the Muslims of Sicily continued to maintain their penchant for light skirmisher tactics, something which was not lost on their Sicilian overlords and their Hohenstaufen successors. Although Norman knights or milites would dominate the armies of Norman Sicily, Arabo-Norman Rizico were also recruited to make up numbers. These were basically all-comers, who were paid solely in loot and raised for the purpose of military campaigning.