The Sipahi is effective against enemy Skirmishers, archers, shock infantry and artillery, but can be countered by heavy infantry and light cavalry. The Sipahi fights with a mace, and deals damage over a certain area rather than a single unit. It is considered one of the most effective units in the game and is almost twice as strong as a Cuirassier. 5 Sipahis can be sent as a Fortress Age shipment, costing only 1,000 food to ship, which means a player can get the equivalent of 9 Cuirassiers in just one Fortress Age shipment, making it one of the best shipments in the game.
Sipahi have a special trait; like the Explorer and his dog, they can regenerate hit points, allowing them to last longer in a game.
It is ill-advised to use the Trample mode with the Sipahi, because the Trample mode has the same Area of Effect as a normal hand attack, while it has lower attack damage and a longer Rate of Fire.
In the original game, the player could have a maximum of 43 Sipahi (3 with the The Grand Vizier politician in the Industrial Age and 40 shipped from the Home City – 22 in the Industrial Age and 18 in the Imperial Age), but in the Definitive Edition, infinite cards of Sipahis were introduced.
Special abilities[]
Health Regeneration: Regenerates hitpoints when idle (0.25% per second after 3.5 seconds idle).
Temporarily reveals all enemies and treasures; Axe Riders can loot treasures for double the resources or XP; hand cavalry get +2.0 attack multiplier against treasure guardians
Fixed a bug which causes Spahis shipped to non-Ottoman players (through "TEAM 4 Spahis") to not be automatically upgraded in the Industrial and Imperial Ages.
With update 14.43676, the unit is renamed to Sipahi, costs 400 food and give 40 XP when trained or killed.
Trivia[]
The original name of the unit, Spahi, is the Western rendition of Ottoman Turkish Sipahi, which itself was borrowed from Persian sepâhi.
Before release, Sipahi were originally the unique Ottoman variant of the European Hussar.
The Sipahi shown in the history portrait is from that time of game development, which shows an unused texture in the final game for a visual upgrade called Elite Sipahi in the game files.
History[]
“
The Sipahis were cavalry for two different nations. Their name derives from a Persian word for soldier, "sipahi." They were elite cavalry in the Ottoman army, performing much the same duties as the janissaries, only mounted. There were more Sipahi than any other cavalry in the Ottoman army. They were also Algerian cavalrymen that fought for the French in Africa. These cavalrymen revolted when the French wanted them to leave Africa to aid France in the Franco-Prussian wars.
Mounted soldiers, they wore baggy pants and riding boots. Long, heavy cloaks, turned out to show the lining, draped them shoulder to calf, and they covered their heads with turbans. Armed chiefly with swords, they also carried firearms and spears.
”
Gallery[]
An in-game Sipahi
The Sipahi's history portrait. This visual shown would be used for one of Sipahi's visual upgrades called "Elite Sipahi", when it was an Ottoman variant of the Hussar.