Byzantine Army Units

Byzantine unit statistics, attributes and abilities.


Grand Campaign, Vanilla Game (SP)

Introduction

Byzantine Unit Guide

This is a guide listing the statistics, attributes and abilities of the unique units of the Byzantine army. I've tried to replicate the style of the in-game unit info cards as those standard Steam table's can be a real pain and are really boring to look at. These unit combat stats are a bit more detailed than the old in-game versions. I view this work as a companion guide to my Byzantine Empire faction guide.

The guide has been updated and now includes stat's for the local mercenaries available for hire in the Byzantine players starting regions/vicinity.

Guide Terminology

This is a small selection and brief explanation of some of the more obscure and maybe not so obscure terms/factors that appear in this guide

Morale

Low morale unit's are more likely to break and run after a relatively short time in combat or after set backs such as General death, enemy flanking etc. Higher morale unit's such as Vardariotai are more likely to stand and fight and less likely to rout.

Discipline

Low, Normal, Disciplined, Impetuous. This determines the amount of morale lost when morale shocks occur (death of general, flanked, etc). It is more difficult for Disciplined units to lose morale. Impetuous units such as Latinkon can charge without player orders.

Training

Untrained, Trained, Highly Trained. The standard of training affects how well ordered the unit formation is. Untrained unit formations will be disorderly e.g. Peasant's. Highly Trained units like Byzantine Guard Archers and Varangian Guard will have well ordered formations and march in good order.

Heat

Additional fatigue that the unit suffers in hot climates, desert and the like. High heat numbers on these unit cards indicates a higher level of fatigue suffered by the unit. A lot of running about in the desert will make these unit's tire faster than they normally would in "green" map areas. Ranges from -2 to 5, with 5 inflicting the greatest penalty for the unit. It's mostly heavily armoured units like Latinkon and Varangian Guard that suffer the highest level 5 heat penalty. Positive number's are penalties and negatives bonuses.

Ground: Scrub, Sand, Forest, Snow

Unit attack bonus/penalty for occupying these types of terrain. This time unlike Heat, positive numbers here are bonuses, negative are penalties. So a unit with a rating of -4 Forest mean's it incurs an attack penalty of -4 in wooded area's.

Hardy

Hardiness reduces stamina depletion speed and increases the stamina regeneration rate.

Armour Piercing (Weapon Attribute)

In combat opposing enemy unit's armour level is cut by half.

Enemy Mount: Camel/Elephant

This cavalry unit suffers an attack penalty of -4 when fighting enemy elephants and camels.

Spears (Spearmen)

"spear bonus: may be any even number between 4 and 12 inclusive. Must be accompanied by spear or light spear attributes, otherwise it has no effect. It offers a bonus to attack vs mounts which stacks with the default bonuses of these two attributes.

light spear: Gives default bonus of +8 to defence vs cavalry, and penalty of -4 to defence vs. infantry. Offers less pushing power than spear.

spear: Gives default bonus of +8 to attack vs cavalry, and penalty of -4 to attack vs. infantry. Offers more pushing power than light_spear. Units with "spear" attribute tend to lose cohesion and break lines (due to the extreme pushing power) with undesired results, so use is advised only with cohesive formations/attributes like short_pike, shield_wall, phalanx etc."

(Ardan's Complete EDU TWC)

For a more detailed breakdown and analysis of all the various stat's, modifiers, attributes and abilities check out the Complete EDU guide by Aradan at the Total War Center http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?111344-The-Complete-EDU-Guide

Peasants

Very weak unarmoured unit. Usually cut to pieces in melee. Will break and rout very quickly. Unreliable. Useful as decoy units drawing enemy missile fire or using seige equipment, activating wall/tower defences, fort garrison. If they really have to be used in a field battle keep them away from the middle of the line, position on the outside wings so they can attack the enemy rear/flank.

Recruitment Requirement: Motte & Bailey, Mustering Hall (Min)

Town Militia

Equipped with light shield and spear, suffer against heavier infantry. Support with cavalry attacks to enemy rear/flank asap if used in a battleline. They are likely to rout if unsupported when facing and losing against superior infantry (low morale).

Recruitment Requirement: Town, Wooden Wall (Min)

Byzantine Spearmen

Spearmen, nothing fancy just your typical plain old spear unit. Can form Schiltrom (defensive ring).


Recruitment Requirement: Wooden Castle: Garrison Quarters (Min)

Spear Militia

Basic spear unit. Even less frills attached than Byzantine Spearmen, so basic it cannot form Schiltrom (defensive ring). Useful city garrison troops though (free upkeep in towns/cities for a number of these units), which makes it quite handy for public order purposes.


Recruitment Requirement: Large Town, Town Guard (Min)

Byzantine Infantry

Decent unit but as the game progresses it will be outclassed by western heavy infantry opponents in a relatively short period of time. However they remain an effective unit in the east.

Exception: Italy. It's still worthwhile having them in this region as the availability of alternative heavy infantry can be limited due to the greater number of cities and lack of castles on the Italian peninsula.


Recruitment Requirement: Large City, Militia Drill Square (Min)

Dismounted Byzantine Lancers

Similar to Byzantine Infantry. Superior due to better stamina and the ability to be upgraded with Kataphract armour.


Recruitment Requirement: Fortress, Barracks

Dismounted Latinkon

Similar to western dismounted knight units.

Recruitment Requirement: Citadel, Armoury

Varangian Guard

Two-handed axe armed shock troops. Non-essential for an effective army or successful campaign. Construction time and cost of elite barracks may prove units to be poor value for money.

Recruitment Requirement: Huge City, Militia Barracks

Archer Militia

Similar to but slightly superior to peasant archers, similar ranged attack but better melee attack/defence.


Recruitment Requirement: Minor City, City Watch

Byzantine Guard Archers

Excellent missile unit with the added bonus of being good reliable infantry. Long range with good ranged attack. Versatile well equipped unit (composite bow, sword, armour and shield) with good melee capability, stamina and good morale.

Any player should feel confident about using these troops in an infantry battleline, don't be misled by the term missile unit, in melee they are not just another feeble lightweight bow unit. They make better infantry than the available early Byzantine heavy infantry units such as Byzantine Infantry and Dismounted Byzantine Lancers. The morale difference alone is a clincher for me, Guard Archers, Morale: 9 compared to Byzantine Inf and Dismounted Byzantine Lancers, Morale: 5.


Recruitment Requirement: Fortress, Archery Range

Peasant Archers

Best used for walls, settlement garrison, fort garrison. Unarmoured, poor defence stats with weak attack both ranged and melee. Unreliable, prone to rout in combat relatively quickly.



Recruitment Requirement: Wooden Castle, Bowyer

Trebizond Archers

Decent missile unit. Long range, superior to militia/peasant archers a real and very welcome step up in archer quality after using the weak peasant with bow units. Good ranged attack and these units can actually do some ranged damage in groups.



Recruitment Requirement: Castle (stone), Practice Range

Militia Cavalry

Lightly armoured and poorly trained, mediocre..Avoid strong enemy cavalry. Best used against weak/light units, rear and flank attacks and pursuit.


Recruitment Requirement: Merchants Guild

Note:

This unit can only be recruited from the Merchants Guild building. The player has to await an offer from this Guild in a specified city before the Guild building can be constructed.

Byzantine Lancers

Competent cavalry unit. Although better trained and disciplined than western knight heavy cavalry this unit has inferior morale and lacks the punch and power of the Knight heavy cavalry charge. Nonetheless when experienced and upgraded especially with Kataphract armour it can still be an effective unit.


Recruitment Requirement: Fortress

General's Bodyguard

Kataphractoi

Heavily armoured disciplined cavalry with high morale. Armed with a mace as a secondary melee weapon which gives this unit an armour piercing bonus. Weaker charge than Latinkon and other knight units


Recruitment Requirement: Citadel, Kings Stables

Latinkon

Typical western knight style unit. Powerful charge, high morale. When compared to Kataphractoi this unit has a superior charge but lacks the Kataphractoi armour piercing capability and discipline (it has the impetuous trait which may lead it to charge without orders).



Recruitment Requirement: Citadel, Earls Stables

Byzantine Cavalry

Competent missile cavalry. Medium Cavalry when used in melee. Lacks the speed of Skythikon and the speed and stamina of Vardariotai. They tire quicker than Vardariotai. Nevertheless they are still a capable unit especially when they operate in large numbers and they concentrate missile fire on targeted units which they can quickly cut to ribbons from distance.

Their major positive is the fact that they are a high volume unit. They usually have a large unit pool at stables therefore they are widely available and easily replaced and repaired especially when compared to the superior Vardariotai whose frontline unit pool can be quickly depleted after a sustained period of combat. This is an important factor when facing the Mongols/Timurids were armies suffer heavy casualties. They can be used in large numbers because of this.

They should form the greater section of a large missile cavalry force in a Byzantine army supported by a smaller contingent of Vardariotai especially when facing the Mongols/Timurids


Recruitment Requirement: Wooden Castle

Skythikon

Fast moving missile cavalry best used as a skirmisher harassing enemy units. Use to bait and draw enemy heavy cavalry away from their infantry line. Most western enemy cavalry find it difficult to pursue and intercept this unit due to it's speed. (Melee) like light cavalry, vulnerable no armour. Best to avoid direct attacks and enemy cavalry. In melee use to pursue fleeing enemies, attack enemy flank and rear.

Recruitment Requirement: Wooden Castle

Vardariotai

Excellent unit. Superior missile unit, concentrated fire can be devastating when operating as a group also a great all-rounder. When used in melee I would describe them as a heavy medium cavalry. Great for pursuit due to their speed. Faster, superior combat skills and more survivable than Byzantine cavalry. Very versatile, very reliable, good stamina, hardly ever tire or break (excellent morale).


Recruitment Requirement: Castle (Stone)

This part of the guide details the available local mercenaries for hire in the Byzantine starting regions and general vicinity in the early game.

Alan Light Cavalry

An excellent pursuit/interceptor unit, lightning quick, high morale. Can catch most cavalry units. If these horsemen are hired no fleeing enemy general or routing unit can outrun them and escape your righteous indignation.

Interceptor

I have used this unit to pursue and intercept fast moving enemy missile cavalry. Due to this unit's exceptional speed it's possible to intercept ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and Timurid horse archers. Usually a players heavy cavalry cannot catch missile cavalry skirmishers, never send heavy cavalry after horse archers, it's a futile exercise, it will only serve to exhaust your own heavy cavalry.

In order to intercept enemy missile cavalry send Alan light cavalry unit's after them. They will catch them engaging the enemy in melee. This will essentially serve to "hold and pin" these illusive enemy units.

The Alan's will catch and pin them and your slower heavy cavalry will arrive shortly after charging in and destroying the enemy, if you double up your heavy cavalry and get a 3-1 advantage, having 2 HC unit's charging in support of the Alan's, it will speed up the process and increase the chance of the enemy MC routing and fleeing the battlefield. The player should repeat this sequence and quickly move through the enemy missile cavalry until all enemy horse archer's are either dead or routing.

If the player wishes, they can then send their own missile cavalry in pursuit decimating the fleeing enemy with missile fire to their exposed backs. It goes without saying that this tactic require's an army with a large mixed cavalry force.

Armenian Cavalry

Similar to Frankish Knights. Good heavy cavalry option for the Byzantine player in the early period (particularly in the east, near this units spawning regions) as it takes some time for the Byzantines to construct the high status stables required to recruit their own heavy cavalry.

Turkomans (Missile Cavalry)

Turkopoles (Missile Cavalry)

Armenian Archers

Balkan Archers

Bulgarian Brigands

Slav Mercenaries

And..Finally

Thanks for taking the time to read this guide, I've went with the unit card style to display the stat's as I've had tables disrupted and wrecked by steam updates in the past and personally I think the unit cards look better, especially on a phone. Also I'm trying to avoid the dreaded wall of text and information overload, you know after the first couple of tables they all seem to blend into each other.

I've had smart phone use (Steam app) very much in mind in the design of this guide, not only with the unit cards but with the index. Also players should note that touching the unit card picture on your phone will allow you to zoom in to get a closer look.

So hopefully the unit cards and index make the guide a bit clearer and uncluttered for players who would like to view the unit stat's on their phone while they play the game on their pc.

Cheers,

Wrath of Santa.

More Wrath of Santa Guides

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=516731929
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=876478247
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=819119509
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1077314383

Further Reading & Links

Total War Center

The Complete EDU Guide for Rome: Total War: Understanding & Coding the Export_Descr_Unit.Txt (EDU) file by Aradan http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?111344-The-Complete-EDU-Guide

TOTAL WAR WIKI: Units in Medieval II: Total War

http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Units_in_Medieval_II:_Total_War.html


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=909957531

A guide to the export_descr_units.txt file by Mythic Commodore

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?221093-A-Beginner-s-Guide-to-the-Export_Descr_Unit

http://medieval2.heavengames.com/m2tw/mod_portal/tutorials/export_descr_units_file_guide/index.shtml

[Squanchy]

this is super helpful, could you make one for the byzantines in stainless steel mod?

[PaleBlueDot]

this is a high quality guide! I'd love to see guides like this for the other factions.

[Scholar-at-Arms]

Worth mentioning that Bulgarian Brigands are easily the best foot archers available at game start. They're slightly outclassed by Trebizond Archers (need more protection due to their worse morale), but far superior to Peasant Archers or Balkan Archers.

[TallestDavid]

shame they get two of the same militia infantry when they couldve been something they needed. byz spears couldve been their heavy spears like sergents spears or even the armoured variant. and the byz infantry and dismounted lances are the same unit haha
also shame the varangian guard dont get the kaataphratoi upgrade to make me look more accurate with the face thingy mail

shouldve had a late crossbow guards of create that had spears like acurate history crete was still badass then!

[The Wrath of Santa]

In the short term It's a bit more work to do it in this style but it does save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

I can definitely say that I will re-release the Mongol unit guide in this new format in the near future and maybe do one more faction after that. If anybody else wants to have a go at the other factions I wouldn't object to them using this format/layout.

[The Wrath of Santa]

(Arm)_Wafflez I think it's a bit too much work for one person to do all the factions, that's a whole lot of unit's and this one took long enough plus I had a bit of spare time and was in the mood to do it. Particularly as I don't copy and paste existing guides elsewhere but prefer to check the actual game files (EDU) myself. I may do a couple more factions if I have the time, not just now though.

This guide is based on a Mongol unit guide that I published in March 2017, unfortunately I had to withdraw that guide because the tables became badly disrupted and incomphrensible, wrecked in fact. I suspect Steam updates were responsible. That's the reason I decided to do this guide in a unit card picture format as I didn't want to go back on a regular basis to repair the tables.

[Adferiad Brick]

good job, be cool to see the crusades expansion units too, although I think its only the fire throwers, hand gunners and those merc two handed swordsmen I forget the name of xD

[(Arm)_Wafflez]

Nice guide! Would be great to see for all factions in the future!

[jomo]

@Tallestdavid post-Basil II, the Byzantine army was almost completely mercenary units. The tagmata were small elite units under the instruction of the Emperor and were usually only cavalry. Skoutatoi were just standard oval shield infantry, which is in the game.

[TallestDavid]

sucks byz dont have any tagmata infantry or even skoutotai. they didnt relied heavily on mercenarys.
well not more then other nations.