| Kasatim Shardanim (Sardinian Mercenary Archers) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Unit type | Mercenary stealth archers |
| Base cost | 50  Wealth, 50  Timber
|
| Ramping cost | 5
|
| Creation time | 9.6s (144t) |
| Hit points | 80 |
| Line of sight | 7 |
| Movement speed | 23 |
| Attack strength | 18 |
| Attack range | 6-19 |
| Armour | 4 |
| Population cost | 
|
| Created at |  l 
|
| Prerequisites |  
|
| Upgrades from | Illyrioi Toxotai (Carthaginians) |
| Upgrades to | N/A |
| Available to |   
|
Some of the best archers can be found amongst the many tribesmen who live in the wilds of the island of Shardim in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Being mostly a community of herders and raiders, it is thus not difficult to find men eager to train their bows on your foes as equally as they would upon their neighbours, and excel at putting them down. Plus, their background as raiders and pillagers - much like their cousins across the seas in Spain - also grants them the ability to cloak themselves when not moving or attacking.
Even so, remember that these men are not true soldiers, so while they are proficient with bows, they don't march as fast as most light infantry, and they also don't carry the more powerful composite bows of the Indo-Iranian factions, such as the Sarmatians or the Parthians. Their main draw is in forming a cheap and reliable mass of missile infantry that can be raised at moment's notice for the field.
See also[]
History[]
The Sardinians were an ancient Indo-European people who over time became influenced by the nearby Etruscans, Ligurians, and Iberians. Founders of the so-called Nuragic culture on Sardinian, it is thought that they were one of the "Sea People" named by the Egyptians as the "Sherden". Much later, they must have fallen sway under the Phoenician colonists that began arriving in the 10th century BCE.
Sardinia was renowned for its guerrilla fighters and amongst them, the famous Nuragic Archers (or Sardinian archers) described by Polybius and some authors as used by the Carthaginians as mercenaries in the Sicilian campaign and throughout the First Punic War, and perhaps later during Carthage's expeditions in italy in the Second Punic War). These archers were versatile and skilled infantrymen, and were probably the best renowned mercenary archers throughout the Mediterranean, being rivals of the Cretans.
