Tokala Soldiers have great hit points, excellent speed and good attack (though slightly lower than some other heavy cavalry) and function like a Lancer, good against infantry units and as a cavalry it is also good against archers and artillery. They are also free of cost, and realizable either at the Community Plaza by doing the Tokala Ceremony, by the Lakotan Town Center's Big Button technology, or via the Tribal Council. Because of the large number of Villagers needed to produce Tokala Soldiers at the Community Plaza, Tokala Soldiers are very difficult to make in large quantities. But the Tokala Soldier don't need any Houses since they already have a two hundred population cap from the beginning which makes massing easier, plus they also become improved for free as a player advances in ages. All of these things put together make the Tokala Soldier one of the strongest and most effective cavalry units available in the game.
There are no specific ameliorations that can be made to improve the hit points and attack of Tokala Soldiers, though advancement through each Age will improve the statistics of Tokala Soldiers. Any improvement which improves any non-specific cavalry unit will also affect the Tokala Soldiers.
The "Riding School" Home City Card and Cheyenne Horse Trading do not decrease the training time of Tokala Soldiers, but the 10% cavalry training treasure on certain Asian maps will reduce the training time from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with 25 Villagers.
Upgrades[]
The Tokala Soldier is automatically upgraded in every Age up starting in the Fortress Age.
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
With update 13.12327, the Tokala Soldier portrait and in-game model has been updated.
Trivia[]
The reason why the Tokala Soldier is called "Dog Soldier" in the original The WarChiefs was because the Lakotan word for "horse" (šuŋkawakaŋ) literally means "holy/mystery/wonder dog".[1]
Other Native Americans just borrowed the foreign word for "horseman", e.g. Nahuatl cauallero from Spanish caballero "horseman > knight > gentleman".[2]
Dog Soldiers were an elite warrior society of the Cheyenne tribe that sometimes allied with the Lakota. They wore long sashes that dragged the ground, and carried sacred arrows that they would stab through the sash into the ground to show that they were ready to fight and die where they stood. They had a special song that they would sing when faced with death that only Dog Soldiers were allowed to sing. They were the fiercest warriors of the Cheyenne.
Tokala Soldiers were an elite warrior society of the Cheyenne tribe that sometimes allied with the Lakota. They wore long sashes that dragged the ground, and carried sacred arrows that they would stab through the sash into the ground to show that they were ready to fight and die where they stood. They had a special song that they would sing when faced with death that only Tokala Soldiers were allowed to sing. They were the fiercest warriors of the Cheyenne.
”
Gallery[]
An in-game Tokala Soldier in the original The WarChiefs
Updated in-game Tokala Soldier
Tokala Soldier image from the Compendium section, before update 13.12327
Updated Tokala Soldier image from the Compendium section