Hypaspists are anti-infantry infantry units in Age of Mythology available to the Greeks from the Heroic Age.
Attack bonus
- Infantry (including Norse Heroes): ×3.75
God Bonuses and Upgrades
Specific
Deimos' Sword of Dread (Ares) increases attack by 15%.
General
Zeus makes infantry do double damage to buildings.
- Aegis Shield (Athena) decreases pierce vulnerability by 10%.
- Oracle (Apollo) increases LOS by 6.
- Bacchanalia (Dionysus) increases hit points by 5%.
- Medium Infantry, Heavy Infantry and Champion Infantry all increase LOS by 1 and attack by 10%, and increase hit points by 10%, 15% and 20% respectively.
- Levy Infantry and Conscript Infantry decrease training time by 20%.
- Copper Weapons, Bronze Weapons, and Iron Weapons increase attack by 10%.
- Copper Mail, Bronze Mail, and Iron Mail decrease hack vulnerability by 10%.
- Copper Shields, Bronze Shields, and Iron Shields decrease pierce vulnerability by 10%.
Strategy
As counter-infantry, Hypaspists will destroy infantry with ease but that is essentially their only use. They are very vulnerable to ranged units due to their poor pierce armor. Cavalry will defeat them as well though at some cost. Like many other counter units, Hypaspists are not cost effective in general use. Toxotes fill the anti-infantry role well enough in most situations. However Hypaspists cost less gold and are around twice as good at defeating infantry as Toxotes are. Additionally, Hypaspists are able to effectively combat Destroyers and Huskarls, which have high pierce armor, making Toxotes very ineffective against them. If an opponent is building a large infantry force, it can be worth training Hypaspists in large numbers. Furthermore, Zeus' Hypaspists do reasonable damage to buildings.
History
| “ | Alexander's great army of conquest included three regiments of Hypaspists. These were apparently the best of his peasant infantry and of equal status and ability to his Foot Companions, most of noble blood. The Hypaspists were capable of fighting as traditional Hoplite infantry, or could switch to javelins and lighter armor for rapid movement in rough terrain. They were used to rapidly close with the enemy and distract them, allowing the Companion cavalry to hit the enemy from a side or the rear. | ” |
| —In-game History Section | ||
Trivia
- Historically, Hypaspists were armed in a similar manner to Hoplites, and only used swords when their spears broke. The in-game Hypaspists could be based on another infantry unit developed during the Peloponnesian War, the Ekdromoi. Armed with sword and shield, their job was to try and break apart the enemy phalanx. They also wore lighter armor to make them more mobile than a hoplite.
Gallery
Template:Human units