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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For other uses, see Militia. |
| “ | All-purpose infantry unit. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Militia is an infantry unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Barracks. It is the first trainable military unit and the only one available to create in the Dark Age.
Tactics[]
The Militia's main and basically only use is in a Dark Age rush (Drush), which involves quickly training and sending a small band of Militia into the enemy base to harass, disrupt their economic activities, and often prevent early walling. Killing Villagers is not a priority. The player's scout is used to block fleeing low HP Villagers for the Militia to try to kill them. Given the extremely poor town defensive capabilities of the Dark Age, this tactic is very viable if the player can get the drop on their opponents. Enemy Villagers may still attack, though without Loom they will still be felled very quickly by the player's Militia. However, caution is still advisable as enemy Villagers with Loom may be able to defeat their aggressors if they manage to land the first strike, or by garrisoning in the Town Center.
Usually, the aim of a drush is to disrupt enemy walling and/or add extra time for the player to wall. In the first case, players follow their drush up with fast Feudal Age and grab the Man-at-Arms upgrade, which helps kill Villagers, scouts, and walls faster. For infantry-focused civilizations like the Celts, Dravidians, Japanese, or Malians, a Man-at-Arms rush is a potent strategy, since their infantry bonuses kick in. Bulgarians also perform a Man-at-Arms rush, but unintentionally, since they are upgraded for free. Usually a Man-at-Arms rush is followed up by Archers, since Man-at-Arms counter a scout rush and also prevent walling. The second case is a bit of passive approach where the drush is followed up by walling and fast Castle Age for power or unique units. This strategy is common with Aztecs, Bulgarians, Goths, or Portuguese.
With that said, Militia, despite being infantry, are extremely ineffective against buildings and upgraded units. Massing Militia without proper planning is generally a waste of valuable resources that are better spent focusing on building up the economy and advancing to the Feudal Age. All in all, Militia are weak and die very easily, but do provide early offense.
Further statistics[]
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Skirmishers, Scout Cavalry, Spearmen |
| Weak vs. | Archers, walls |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Fereters (+30, Armenians only)
|
| Regeneration |  Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2) Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings) Garland Wars (+4, Aztecs only) Druzhina (gives trample damage in +0.5 tile radius, Slavs only) Chieftains (+5 against cavalry and +4 against camels, Vikings only) Wootz Steel (attack ignores armor, Dravidians only) Comitatenses (+5 charge attack, Romans only)
|
| Armor |  Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1, +2/+2 for the Romans) Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1, +2/+2 for the Romans) Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2) Gambesons (0/+1)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max) Heresy (die upon getting converted) First Crusade (+4 min, +4 max, Sicilians only)
|
| Movement speed |  Squires (+10%)
|
| Resource cost |  Supplies (-15 food) Kshatriyas (-25% food, Gurjaras only) Forced Levy (+20 food, -20 gold, Malay only)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Perfusion (+100%, Goths only) Comitatenses (+50%, Romans only)
|
| Other | Chieftains (generates gold when killing Villagers, trade units, and Monks, Vikings only)
|
| Upgrade |  Man-at-Arms
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Aztecs: Militia are created 11% faster.- Bulgarians: Militia-line upgrades (except Champion) are free.
- Burmese: Militia have +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Researching Devotion and Faith is 50% cheaper.
- Celts: Militia move 15% faster starting from the Feudal Age. Militia can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them.
- Chinese: Technologies that benefit Militia are 5%/10%/15% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Dravidians: Researching Supplies, Gambesons, Squires, Arson, and upgrading to Man-at-Arms is 50% cheaper.
- Georgians: Militia receive -20% (-40% instead of -25%) damage on higher elevations.
- Goths: Militia are 20%/25%/30%/35% cheaper in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age, and have +1/+2/+3 attack against standard buildings in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Incas: Militia are 10/15/20/25% food cheaper in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Japanese: Militia attack 33% faster starting in the Feudal Age.
- Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
- Malay: infantry armor upgrades are free.
- Malians: Militia have +1/+2/+3 pierce armor in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
- Portuguese: Militia cost -20% gold.
- Romans: Militia receive double the effect from armor upgrades, and are empowered by Centurions.
- Sicilians: Militia take -33% bonus damage.
- Slavs: Supplies and Gambesons are free.
- Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Militia cost no gold. Researching technologies that benefit Militia provides 20 gold each.
- Tatars: Militia deal +20% damage (+50% instead of +25%) from an elevation.
- Teutons: Militia have +1 armor in the Castle Age and +2 in the Imperial Age.
- Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
- Vikings: Militia have +20% HP starting in the Feudal Age.
Team bonuses[]
- Armenians: Militia have +2 Line of Sight.
- Bulgarians: Researching Blacksmith technologies that benefit Militia is 80% faster.
- Goths: Militia are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Supplies, Gambesons, Squires, and Arson is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion, Faith and Heresy is 20% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit Militia are researched 25% faster.
- Teutons: Militia are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Age of Kings[]
- Militia have 0 pierce armor.
- Tracking is available for research in the Feudal Age and gives +2 Line of Sight to Militia.
- Celts: Militia move 15% faster starting from the Dark Age.
- Goths: Militia are 10%/15%/25% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age and have an extra +1 attack against standard buildings.
- Vikings: Militia have +10%/+15%/+20% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
The Conquerors[]
- Militia have 1 pierce armor.
- Heresy introduced.
- Goths: With patch 1.0b, Militia are 35% cheaper starting in the Feudal Age. Perfusion introduced.
The African Kingdoms[]
- Arson introduced.
- Vikings: With patch 4.8, Chieftains affects Militia. It gives Militia +2 attack against camels.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Malay: Forced Levy removes the gold cost from Militia.
- Vikings: With patch 5.7, Chieftains gives Militia +4 attack against camels.
Definitive Edition[]
- Supplies introduced.
- Tracking made free.
- Bulgarians: With update 42848, Blacksmith upgrades cost -50% food. As a team bonus, Blacksmiths work 80% faster (up from 50% faster).
- Celts: With update 42848, Militia move 15% faster starting from the Feudal Age.
- Goths: With update 35584, Militia are 35% cheaper. With update 36202, cost bonus is 20%/25%/30%/35% in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age and bonus damage against buildings is +1/+2/+3 in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Goths lose access to Arson.
- Malay: Forced Levy changes Militia's gold cost to food cost.
- Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
- Teutons: With update 35584, Militia have +1/+0 armor in the Castle/Imperial Age. With update 36906, they receive another +1/+0 armor in the Imperial Age.
Lords of the West[]
- Sicilians: Militia resist 50% bonus damage. With update 47820, First Crusade increases the conversion resistance of Militia.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
- Vikings: With update 56005, Militia have +20% HP starting in the Feudal Age.
Dynasties of India[]
- Sicilians: With update 66692, Militia resist only 33% bonus damage.
- Portuguese: With update 73855, technologies are researched 25% faster for the team.
- Update 81058: Gambesons introduced.
- Malay: with update 81058 infantry armor upgrades are free.
- Incas: With update 81058, they cost -15%/-20%/-25%/-30% food in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
The Mountain Royals[]
- Incas: With update 99311, they cost -10%/-15%/-20%/-25% food in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
History[]
| “ | Local peasants and works called up for military duty in times of emergency made up the militia. These temporary soldiers were usually equipped with second-rate weapons and armor. They returned to their normal occupations when the emergency had passed. Levies of militia were often used as second-line troops when great lords assembled their vassals for a campaign. The militia was available for less demanding fighting and other tasks in support of the main army. England's Harold Godwinson stood his ground in 1066 at Hastings with only his vassals. If he had fallen back and called up the Anglo-Saxon militia, known as the furd, some historians believe that he would have not lost his kingdom to William the Conqueror. For much of the Dark Ages there were only small professional armies in the west. Militia led by strong leaders and their few retainers carried on much of the Dark Age fighting. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings manual | ||
Trivia[]
- Although Militia belong to the swordsman-line, they clearly carry some sort of club, making their appearance very similar to the Clubman from Age of Empires. However, the Clubman uses a wooden club with bones embedded in it and visually does not have armor. The Militia uses an iron club and visually has leather armor.
- Before the Definitive Edition, the Militia is one of four military units without any innate attack bonus against anything (the others being the Boyar, the Turtle Ship, and the Knight-line).
- The Militia line is the only unit line in the game with more than three stages.
- The Militia is the only military unit and of only two land units (next to the Villager) available in the Dark Age.
Gallery[]
