Quick Links
Crusader Kings 3,the historical strategy game featuring an interesting mix of RPG elements, gives players the opportunity to live out fantasies of ruling medieval kingdoms across Europe, North and West Africa, as well as swathes of western Asia. With lots of ways to customize play,CK3offers a massive array of different religions, faiths, and cultures for players to choose from, each one with its own unique advantages and disadvantages. TheRoads to PowerDLC kicks it up a notch by adding not only a new government type — that of the Administrative Empire withits Noble Familiesand Governor Issues — but a completely new way to play in the form of the Landless Adventurer.
Roads to Poweralso adds a whoppingsix newtypes of Men-At-Arms.These powerful military units offer great new bonuses to the cultures that can use them — Greek players are especially lucky given that four of the new Men-At-Arms types are exclusive to Greeks. These new Men-At-Arms types are a massive help when it comes to putting together a powerful army.
Akritai (Unique Greek Skirmishers)
The Greek-exclusive Akritai units are anupgrade to the regular Light Footmen, and arecheaper to recruit, too. Akritai are designed to combat Heavy Infantry and have no negative terrain effects either, gaining bonuses in multiple terrain types, including hilly, mountainous, and forested terrain.
These are a cheap and easy way to combat Heavy Infantry, and they can form the backbone of a cheap Men-at-Arms army. But, they havelessToughnessthan the regular Light Footmen, which are already quite poor, so they’re not a strong defensive choice.
Ayrudzi (Unique Armenian Light Cavalry)
These unique Men-At-Arms regiments have bonuses in hilly and mountainous terrain and are uniquely available to the Armenian culture. As acavalry typeMan-At-Arms, Ayrudzi are quite expensive compared with some of the other things on offer, but they’re absolutely worth it thanks to their bonuses and improved stats over the standard Light Horsemen.
Although they have less Pursuit than the Light Horsemen unit, Ayrudzi have a massive upgrade to their Damage and Toughness stats that make them agreat upgrade— and a great choice for the Armenian culture orits hybrids/diverged cultures.
Ballistrai (Unique Greek Exclusive Archers)
These Greek-exclusive archers are more expensive than their generic brethren, but the cost is worth it as they’re much more powerful. Ballistrai counter Spearmen and Heavy Infantry, making them a stronger choice over even the Greek-exclusive Akritai — although they don’t have as many terrain bonuses and are more expensive.
Ballistrai also have smaller units than the regular archer type, so for players looking for pure numbers to counter factions or enemy war declarations, Ballistrai might not be the best choice. But, they have a massive Damage advantage over the regular units, sowhat they lack in numbers they absolutely make up for in Damage, which can be boosted furtherby stationing them.
Conrois (Unique Normal Heavy Cavalry)
Conrois are an expensive Man-At-Arms option, but they’re still less expensive than the regular Armored Horsemen, and they get an upgrade in stats to boot. Because of this, they’re a formidable option on the battlefield, so they’re worth adding to a Norman army just for their heavy counter to Archers.
Unit sizes are small as well as being expensive, so it’s not unsurprising that some players will forego Conrois in favor of cheaper and larger units, butConrois are a straight upgrade to the Armored Horsemen unitsby quite some margin.
Skoutatoi (Greek Spearmen Men-At-Arms)
Skoutatoi are theperfect counterto the many unique kinds of cavalry encountered by the Byzantine Empire on its eastern and southern borders. These troops are spearmen and counter all types of cavalry units. Skoutatoi are more expensive than the regular Pikemen for only a small increase in Damage and Toughness, but they do have+20 Screen compared with 0 for ordinary Pikemen.
At 100 troops per unit size, Skoutatoi are a good mix between heading off factions with troop numbers and efficacy in battle. They gain an additional positive Terrain Effective in Plains-type Terrain, too.
Varangian Guards (Byzantine Empire Unique Heavy Infantry)
The Varangian Guard is a Man-At-Arms type straight out of Byzantine Imperial history: warriors drawn from the wild north of Europe, made up of Vikings and other assorted ‘barbarian’ peoples. Varangian Guard Men-At-Arms units are only available as a uniquetitle troop solely for the Byzantine Empire. They can be a good choice of foot soldier for an attempt toreform the Roman Empire.
These Heavy Infantry units pack a powerful punch, and as an added bonus, they’renot even as expensiveas regular Heavy Infantry type Men-At-Arms. Varangian Guard units are astraight upgrade to the regular Heavy Infantry type, with increased stats in every single category (along with countering an additional troop type). They also have bonuses to fighting in the winter — perfect for a little northern expedition.
