Man-at-Arms

The Man-at-Arms is the second trainable Infantry unit in the game, being made available to players when they advance to the Feudal Age. Stronger than their Militia predecessors, the Men-at-Arms hold a strong advantage against most units in the Feudal Age, making them an effective unit at disrupting an opponent's economy.

Tactics
As a military unit, the Man-at-Arms fills a similar niche to the Militia, being well-rounded enough to serve both as scouts and occasional raiders. Statistics-wise, they are better than the Militias when it comes to worker line harassment and base razing, though in practice whether or not they are efficient depends largely on the development status of one's enemy, as they are slow, which makes them particularly weak towards Archers and Watch Towers. Also, while somewhat effective against Scout Cavalries, they are susceptible to mobbing and will die very easily if outnumbered.

Men-at-Arms work best when complimented with additional support troops. A good raiding party composition should be of around a dozen Men-at-Arms, some Skirmishers to counter enemy Archers, and optionally some Spearmen if the enemy employs a large number of Scout Cavalries (e.g, when playing against a Frankish AI). As Murder Holes is not available in the Feudal Age, their weakness towards Towers can be circumvented by zig-zagging towards the structures' bases where they cannot target one's units. If possible, having several of the player's own Archers mixed in can yield much greater raiding results.

Men-at-Arms should be upgraded as quickly as possible when transitioning towards Castle Age due to the enemy's greatly expanded tech tree providing them with many effective counters.

Further Statistics
Civilizations Bonuses=
 * Aztecs: Men-at-Arms are produced +15% faster.
 * Celts: Men-at-Arms move 15% faster. Herdables cannot be stolen within a unit's Line of Sight.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefits Men-at-Arms are 10% cheaper in the Feudal Age, and an additional 5% per subsequent age.
 * Goths: Men-at-Arms are 25% cheaper and have +2 attack vs buildings.
 * Japanese: Men-at-Arms attack 25% faster.
 * Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades for Men-at-Arms don't cost gold
 * Vikings: Men-at-Arms have +10% hit points, and an additional 5% per subsequent age.
 * Magyars: Free Forging, Iron Casting and Blast Furnace
 * Slavs: Free Tracking
 * Malians: Men-at-Arms gains +1 pierce armor per Age (starting from Feudal Age)
 * Portuguese: Men-at-Arms costs 15% less gold.
 * -|Team Bonuses=
 * A team containing Goths: Men-at-Arms are trained 20% faster
 * A team containing Teutons: Men-at-Arms are more resistant to conversion.
 * -|Change Notes=

The Conquerors Changes

 * Men-at-Arms gain 1 pierce armor.

History
"Men who had received weapons training and wore armor of some sort in battle were referred to as men-at-arms. By definition, all knights were men-at-arms, but not all men-at-arms were knights. The class of men-at-arms also included professional fighting men of no nobility called sergeants and knights in training called squires. The armies of feudal lords were divided into two distinct groups, the men-at-arms of all classes and the peasant militia. The training fighting men provided the principal fighting power of the army. Men-at-arms on foot fought with swords. This was an effective weapon and helped distinguish the men-at-arms from soldiers of lower social standing like Spearmen, Skirmishers, and missile troops. Men-at-arms wore armor, usually from head to toe, and were highly trained. They were especially effective against Spearmen if they could close under the spear points. They fought beside dismounted knights under certain conditions, such as castle assaults. During the Hundred Years War, the English often fought dismounted because the French knights usually outnumbered them by a large margin. On the open battlefield, a man-at-arms was at a great disadvantage against a mounted knight. Knights kept a body of men-at-arms on retainer to help maintain local order within the local fief and to accompany the knight when called up for military service."

Trivia

 * Men-at-Arms, Long Swordsmen and War Galleys are the only upgraded forms of military soldiers in Age of Empires II and The Conquerors to be available to all civilizations.