Infantry units (Age of Empires II)

Infantry in Age of Empires II is one of the four combat forces on land, the other ones being archers, cavalry, and siege weapons.

General Information
Infantry units are (with a few exceptions) unranged foot soldiers, who in general have comparatively low armor and hit points and are relatively slow. Weak at first glance, they can be extremely important since they are the cheapest unit branch, are available very early in the game, are created quickly, and usually hold a medium to high attack.

Regular infantry units are trained at the Barracks only. The Militia is the first available unit there and the only military unit available in the Dark Age.

Unique infantry units are naturally trained at the Castle. There are two exceptions: Huskarls can be trained at the Barracks also (after Anarchy is researched) and Condottieri are available at the Barracks because they are a team bonus.

All infantry units cost food and gold, with the lone exception of the Spearman line, which costs food and wood.

While inferior in general to archers and cavalry when pitched against each other, infantry units have two advantages: Firstly, their low cost (especially in terms of gold) makes casualties more forgiving and secondly, there is no cheap counter to easily mass against infantry as opposed to archers, which are easily countered with Skirmishers, and cavalry, who are usually countered with Pikemen.

Due to their low speed and zero range, infantry units struggle heavily against Monks.

Units that excel at battle against infantry are: Hand Cannoneers, Cataphracts, Slingers, Teutonic Knights, Jaguar Warriors, and Plumed Archers.

All information that follows is current as of patch 5.0.

List of Infantry Units
Marked with yellow background are unique units.

Technologies
Listed below are all technologies that benefit infantry units. Marked with yellow background are unique technologies. This list does not contain unit upgrades.

Civilizations
A lot of civilizations rely on a strong infantry, the Aztecs, Burmese, Japanese, Slavs, and Vikings arguably have the strongest infantry of all civilizations.

The Celts, Goths, Incas, Malians, and Teutons also have very prominent infantry.

The Incas are the only civilization to have access to all infantry units and technologies.

Civilization Bonuses
The following civilizations have bonuses that specifically benefit infantry units:
 * Burmese: Infantry units have +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Byzantines: Pikemen are 25% cheaper.
 * Celts: Infantry moves 15% faster.
 * Ethiopians: Pikeman and Halberdier upgrades are free.
 * Goths: Infantry is cheaper. Infantry has +1 attack against buildings.
 * Japanese: Infantry attacks 25% faster (starting in the Feudal Age).
 * Malians: Barracks units have +1/+2/+3 pierce armor in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Slavs: Tracking is free.
 * Vikings: Infantry units have +10%/+15%/+20% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

Team Bonuses
The following civilizations have bonuses that specifically benefit infantry units:
 * Goths: Barracks work 20% faster.
 * Italians: Condottiero available at Barracks.