Units and Troops#
This chapter takes the Western Roman Empire, which has the most complete unit roster in Total War: ATTILA, as its sample, and lays out the unit categories, unlock tiers and counter relationships that hold across the whole game. The military system of the late Roman period was divided into two broad layers, the border garrison troops (Limitanei) and the mobile field armies (Comitatenses), and the game faithfully reproduces that structure — the former are cheap, plentiful and hold territory, the latter are expensive, elite and put out fires. Understand this main line and the entire Western Roman unit tree falls into place.
A note on how the figures are stated: this chapter keeps only verified stat anchors, and everything else is a judgement of role and usage. Specific recruitment costs and attributes vary with faction, technology, difficulty and game version, so always go by what the in-game unit panel actually shows.
Unit Roster Overview#
| Category |
Representative units |
Battlefield role |
| Melee infantry |
Legio, Palatina |
Frontal line, holding a position |
| Spearmen |
Limitanei Borderguards, Comitatensis Spears |
Anti-cavalry, holding settlement defences |
| Ranged infantry |
Sagittarii, Elite Ballistarii |
Ranged output, wearing the enemy down |
| Melee cavalry |
Equites Dalmatae, Scholae Palatinae |
Driving off skirmishers, running down routers |
| Shock cavalry |
Catafractarii, Clibanarii |
Piercing the flank, decapitation strikes |
| Ranged cavalry |
Equites Sagittarii, Imperial Dromedarii |
Harassment on the move, dragging the enemy around |
| Siege artillery |
Onager, Cheiroballistra |
Breaking walls in sieges, suppression in field battles |
Melee Infantry#
Western Roman melee infantry advances along three tiers, “provincial defence — field army — palace”, and the higher the tier, the stronger the attributes and the more expensive the upkeep.
| Unit |
Role |
| Cohors |
The lowest-tier provincial defence infantry, used for early settlement garrison, filling out numbers and soaking damage |
| Legio |
The main line of the traditional legionary establishment, balanced in attack and defence, the pillar of the line in the early and mid game |
| Legio Comitatenses |
Legionary infantry of the mobile field army establishment, superior to provincial defence troops across the board |
| Palatina |
The field legions directly under the palace, an elite line that takes on assaults and defence at critical sectors |
| Palatina Guards |
Guard-grade units within the palace legions, one of the top configurations of line infantry |
| Armigeri Defensores |
Heavily armoured defensive infantry, good at absorbing an impact and holding a point |
| Exploratores |
Light skirmishers, used for picketing and driving off enemy missile troops |
| Praeventores |
Fast raiding light infantry, good for outflanking and biting at ranged units |
| Protectores Domestici |
The emperor’s own elite guard infantry, outstanding in morale and melee ability |
| Herculiani Seniores |
A long-established elite legion, one of the top choices for a decisive line |
| Numeroi |
Regionally raised regimental infantry, positioned between provincial defence and the field army |
Rule of thumb for usage: line infantry is divided by armour and morale, not by who wins a duel. At the start of a battle use low- and mid-tier lines to absorb the impact and pin the enemy main force, saving the palace-grade elites for the decisive sector; do not put Exploratores and Praeventores into the battle line — it is better value to keep them on the flanks driving off enemy archers.
Spearmen#
| Unit |
Role |
| Limitanei Borderguards |
Provincial border spearmen, a cheap foundation for anti-cavalry and settlement defence |
| Comitatensis Spears |
The spear unit of the field army line, with more solid anti-cavalry ability |
| Foederati Spears |
Spearmen raised from barbarian allies, good value for money but weak in discipline and morale |
| Cornuti Seniores |
Elite spearmen of the palace auxiliary line, better in attack and defence than ordinary field spears |
| Lanciarii Seniores |
Long-established elite spearmen who also have a missile capability |
| Western Auxilia Palatina |
The top establishment of palace auxiliary infantry, one of the ceilings of the spear line |
Ranged Infantry#
| Unit |
Role |
| Sagittarii |
Standard archers, the backbone of ballistic output and morale suppression through flaming arrows |
| Armoured Sagittarii |
Archers with added armour, able to survive one more round before cavalry reach them |
| Ballistarii |
Crossbow infantry, with a flat trajectory and better armour penetration than bows |
| Elite Ballistarii |
The elite version of the crossbowmen, with clearly improved armour-piercing output |
| Ravenna Elite Ballistarii |
The top-tier crossbow unit, named after the capital of the Western Empire |
| Funditores |
Slingers, effective against unarmoured and lightly armoured targets |
| Levis Armaturae |
Light missile skirmishers, used for mobile harassment and as an early-game stopgap |
| Matiarii |
Javelin-armed missile troops who throw one high-damage volley before melee contact |
| Noble Foederati Javelinmen |
Noble javelinmen of the allied line, effective in both missile fire and melee |
Melee Cavalry#
| Unit |
Role |
| Equites Dalmatae |
The backbone cavalry of the imperial frontier, an all-rounder for driving off skirmishers and running down routers |
| Scout Equites |
Light scout cavalry, prioritising vision and mobility, with limited head-on combat power |
| Equites Promoti |
Cavalry raised by promoting infantrymen, a well-balanced field all-rounder |
| Comes |
Elite cavalry of the general’s personal retinue, strong in both melee and morale |
| Excubitores Cavalry Guard |
Elite melee cavalry of the palace guard line |
| Magister Militum |
Top-tier melee cavalry named after the highest military rank |
| Scholae Palatinae |
Elite cavalry of the palace academy line, the upper-middle range of the Western Roman cavalry roster |
| Tagmata Cavalry |
The cavalry unit of the palace core establishment, one of the ceilings of the melee cavalry line |
Shock Cavalry#
| Unit |
Role |
| Contarii |
Shock cavalry armed with long lances, with outstanding charge damage |
| Catafractarii |
Heavy shock cavalry with horse and rider both armoured, still able to fight on after punching through |
| Clibanarii |
An even more extreme iron can than the cataphracts, with top-tier frontal piercing power |
| Scholae Gentiles |
Palace shock cavalry replenished from foreign warriors, combining charge and defence |
Ranged Cavalry#
| Unit |
Role |
| Equites Sagittarii |
Standard horse archers, the textbook answer for hit-and-run shooting |
| Imperial Dromedarii |
Missile cavalry riding camels, whose mounts’ smell unsettles enemy horses |
Siege Artillery#
| Unit |
Role |
| Onager |
Basic ballistic engine, used for breaking walls and shelling dense formations |
| Bastion Onager |
A reinforced onager with improved range and lethality |
| Large Onager |
The top configuration of the onager line, usable in both sieges and field battles |
| Cheiroballistra |
A direct-fire bolt thrower, accurate and strongly armour-piercing, good for sniping elite units |
Verified Stat Anchors#
The following are verified baseline figures, used as a frame of reference for judging other units; they will vary between factions, technologies and unit size settings.
| Item |
Baseline value |
| Standard infantry unit size |
160 men |
| Standard cavalry unit size |
80 men |
Key attributes of Limitanei Borderguards:
| Attribute |
Value |
| Recruitment cost |
375 |
| Upkeep (per turn) |
190 |
| Melee attack |
19 |
| Armour |
23 |
| Morale |
34 |
| Charge bonus |
14 |
| Spear weapon damage |
24 (of which 8 is armour-piercing) |
Interpretation: armour 23 and morale 34 are an acceptable baseline for provincial defence spearmen, and combined with low recruitment cost and low upkeep they are the correct answer for holding the long Western Roman frontier in the opening. But with melee attack at only 19, do not expect them to attack elite infantry on their own — setting a spear wall, absorbing the enemy charge and holding on until the main force arrives is their complete use. The charge bonus of 14 also points to their output window: the damage they reflect when receiving a charge is far more substantial than what they do in a protracted melee.
Unit Unlock Tier Framework#
Western Roman units are unlocked in three tiers according to the level of the military building. Specific building names and technology thresholds vary with the faction technology tree and the game version; the following is the framework of the judgement:
| Tier |
Corresponding line |
Representative units |
Recruitment condition |
| Level 1 |
Provincial defence/border line |
Cohors, Limitanei Borderguards, Exploratores |
Recruitment possible with a basic barracks or settlement garrison building |
| Level 2 |
Field army line |
Legio, Legio Comitatenses, Comitatensis Spears, Sagittarii, Equites Dalmatae |
Provincial military building upgraded to the middle tier |
| Level 3 |
Palace/elite line |
Palatina, Palatina Guards, Herculiani Seniores, Elite Ballistarii, Clibanarii, Magister Militum |
Top-tier military building in a provincial capital, usually with additional technology requirements |
Supplementary judgement: palace-grade and clibanarius-grade units are generally constrained by recruitment caps and high upkeep, and in the mid-campaign you can usually only equip one decisive army with them; scattering them across several second-line armies is the classic posture of a Western Roman economic collapse. A unit’s battle experience accumulates in the form of chevrons and improves its attributes, with the magnitude of the bonus shown on the in-game panel; see the morale and attribute mechanics in the Combat System chapter for details.
Key Unit Counter Relationships#
| Counter relationship |
Mechanical basis |
| Spearmen counter shock cavalry |
Once formed up, spearmen deal significant reflexive damage against a frontal charge, and catching a charge is the core value of spearmen; but spear melee attack is generally low, and they will be ground down by elite infantry in a protracted fight |
| Shock cavalry counter ranged units and flanks |
The charge of cataphracts and clibanarii is enough to punch through light infantry and archers in a single pass; disengage and regroup immediately after the charge, since staying in the enemy line to grind is simply burning money |
| Ranged ballistics counter slow heavy infantry |
Archers arc shots over the shield line onto the rear ranks and focus fire on high-value units; switch to flaming arrows against high-armour targets to suppress morale, and leave the damage to armour-piercing units |
| Bolt throwers counter heavy armour |
Crossbow-type weapons have a high armour-piercing proportion, making them the infantry missile of choice against cataphracts and clibanarii |
| Slings counter unarmoured targets |
Slingers are extremely cost-effective against unarmoured and lightly armoured targets, but inefficient against heavy armour |
| Camels deter cavalry |
Camel mounts unsettle enemy horses, so using Imperial Dromedarii to pin the enemy cavalry line works remarkably well |
| Onagers counter dense formations |
Thrown stones do significant damage and morale shock to densely packed static formations, but they need a line to protect them and are scrap the moment cavalry reach them |
Western Roman Army Composition Ideas#
| Composition direction |
Suggested make-up |
Thinking |
| Border garrison army |
Limitanei Borderguards and Cohors form the line, with a few archers attached |
Locks down the border at low upkeep and saves money to feed the field armies |
| Main field army |
Legio or Palatina as the line, Comitatensis Spears guarding the flanks, archers or crossbowmen behind, Equites Dalmatae driving off skirmishers |
A standard field composition balanced in attack and defence |
| Elite decisive army |
Herculiani Seniores, Palatina Guards, Ravenna Elite Ballistarii, Clibanarii, Magister Militum |
Wins the key battles with top-tier attributes, at the price of heavy upkeep |
There is only one general principle of composition: the proportion of ranged units and cavalry decides whether you can seize the initiative on the battlefield. A pure infantry army is acceptable for defending settlements, but in the field it will be kited to destruction by horse archers — see the Strategy and Tactics chapter for how to deal with that.
Previous chapter: Strategy and Tactics