Units

The roles, and why “stronger” is not the same as “better”.

Five roles

Front-line infantry holds the line and shields what is behind it; against masonry it is worth nothing at all.

Ranged units shoot from behind the line, and Archers and Cretan Archers can shoot over a wall — in exchange they are fragile and they run out of ammunition. An archer who runs dry does not die; he simply falls silent.

Flank units are fast and sharp: once they clear the enemy flank they reach the ranged line and the siege engines, and cavalry is more effective still against those. Nobody reaches the support column. Swordsmen go for the ranged line first and strike the front line only last, and weakly; the Heavy Swordsman holds a flank rather than breaking one. While a wall stands the flank counts as behind it; it comes into play once the wall falls.

Siege engines are the only lane that deals with a wall. The Battering Ram and the Chelone strike only the wall, never a man; shooting engines also look for the enemy's engines. All of them take a great deal of room and a great many citizens.

Support units do not fight: they look after the army's morale, its wounded and its broken engines.

A balanced army is infantry holding the line, ranged units behind it, fast troops on the flank, enough siege engines if there is a wall, and a reserve waiting behind them all.

Land units

Unit	Lane	Attack	Defence	Against a wall	Citizens	Building	Research	Ammunition
Slinger	Ranged line	35	20	—	1	Barracks lv. 1	—	Sling shot × 24
Spearman	Front line	45	65	—	1	Barracks lv. 3	Military Organisation	—
Peltast	Flank	65	45	—	1	Barracks lv. 5	Skirmish Tactics	—
Archer	Ranged line	85	35	—	1	Barracks lv. 7	Archery	Arrows × 15
Swordsman	Flank	80	60	—	1	Barracks lv. 8	—	—
Hoplite	Front line	80	135	—	1	Barracks lv. 10	Phalanx Warfare	—
Thureophoros	Front line	105	105	—	1	Barracks lv. 13	Shield Doctrine	—
Prodromos	Flank	140	80	—	2	Barracks lv. 16	Horsemanship	—
Cretan Archer	Ranged line	145	55	—	1	Barracks lv. 19	Advanced Archery	Arrows × 12
Heavy Swordsman	Flank	100	120	—	1	Barracks lv. 20	—	—
Phalangite	Front line	135	160	—	1	Barracks lv. 22	Sarissa Formation	—
Companion Rider	Flank	205	120	—	2	Barracks lv. 26	Companion Tactics	—

The figures come from the game's own content.

Siege engines

Unit	Lane	Attack	Defence	Against a wall	Citizens	Building	Research	Ammunition
Battering Ram	Siege line	100	90	90	4	Siege Workshop lv. 1	Siegecraft	—
Oxybeles	Siege line	180	45	45	2	Siege Workshop lv. 5	Torsion Engineering	Bolts × 18
Stone Thrower	Siege line	160	70	80	3	Siege Workshop lv. 10	Torsion Engineering	Stones × 15
Ballista	Siege line	205	65	61	3	Siege Workshop lv. 15	Advanced Torsion	Bolts × 15
Catapult	Siege line	230	90	161	4	Siege Workshop lv. 21	Heavy Siege Engines	Stones × 12
Helepolis	Siege line	260	170	247	8	Siege Workshop lv. 28	Advanced Siege Engineering	Stones × 24
Chelone	Siege line	660	300	6600	6	Siege Workshop lv. 30	Covered Rams	—

“Against a wall” is what that engine actually brings to bear on the masonry in a round. A high attack value does NOT mean it is good against a wall.

Support units

Unit	Lane	Defence	Against a wall	Citizens	Building	Research	Ammunition
Iatros	Support	2	—	1	Barracks lv. 8	Medicine	—
Mantis	Support	2	—	1	Barracks lv. 12	Drill & Discipline	—
Mechanikos	Support	2	—	1	Siege Workshop lv. 6	Mechanics	—

Support units never stand in a lane and take no frontage.

“Stronger” is not always “better”

Because	So
The ground is finite	A hundred Companion Riders may not fit in the flank.
Citizens	Taken from the city's free citizens the moment you order the unit: one per soldier, eight for a Helepolis. A trained unit is no part of the population.
Role	A thousand Archers cannot breach a wall. A thousand Hoplites cannot walk through one.
Depth	Only your reserve replaces the line you lost this round.
Ammunition	Even your most expensive archers fall silent after fifteen volleys.

The figures come from the game's own content. Balance updates can move some numbers; the rules themselves are as written here.