Lancer

"Lancer"
Details
	25
	4
	185
Resource Cost	Horses
Unlocked at	Metallurgy
Upgrades From	Pikeman
Upgrades To	Anti-Tank Gun
Abilities	Can move after attacking. Starts with Formation I.
Notes	No defensive terrain bonuses. Has a combat penalty vs cities.
Unitflag lancer.png

The Lancer is a Mounted unit available in the Renaissance Era.

Overview

Lancers were the cavalrymen of the Renaissance era. In an era of the increasing use of cannon and other gunpowder-based weaponry speed and maneuverability trumped armor, which was increasingly useless against the modern projectile weapons, so the Lancers abandoned much of the heavy plate mail of their knightly predecessors, retaining only the metal breastplate, if that. Even as weaponry improved, the lance remained a terrifyingly effective weapon in the hands of trained horsemen. As late as the Napoleonic Wars the French believed that the lance was a superior cavalry weapon to the sword. In the 19th century both would be supplanted by the carbine rifle, of course.

Strategy

The Lancer is a mixed purpose unit: it's more powerful than the Knight or the Pikeman and it can better perform most of their functions. Thanks to its long spear it is also a dedicated anti-cavalry unit, deadly with its speed and ability to catch retreating enemy cavalry after their hit-and-run attacks.

However, the Lancer is strictly an offensive unit; the same spear that allows it to perform powerful charges when attacking is too unwieldy for defense and nets the unit a combat penalty when defending. It can also be quickly destroyed by ranged units. Use it wisely.

Unique Unit Replacements

Icon	Unit	Civilization	Abilities
	Ahadis	The Mughals (Shah Jahan)	Earns two Promotions per Level
	Batas Cavalry	Yakutia (Tygyn Darkhan)	Starts with the Charge promotion
	Black Mouth	Three Affiliated Tribes (Four Bears)	2 Movement (vs 4) Does not require Horses While Fortified, enemy units adjacent to this unit take 10 damage at the beginning of a turn
	Expeditionary	California (Ide/Muir)	Recon unit, requires no Horses Ignores terrain cost +1 Sight, +1 additional sight when embarked -1 Movement -5 Combat Strength Unlocked at Gunpowder
	Hakkapeliitta	Sweden (Gustavus Adolphus)	Transfers movement to stacked Great Generals +15% combat bonus when stacked with a Great General
	Hartschier	Bavaria (Ludwig II)	Weaker but cheaper +50% and +2 Gold while stationed on a Schloss Cannot upgrade but never obsolete
	Húsares de Junín	Perú (Ramón Castilla)	+50% combat strength vs Fortified units +15% combat strength when flanking
	Ironside	The Protectorate (Oliver Cromwell)	+20%  Combat Strength (30 vs 25) Starts with the Great Generals II promotion Upgrades to Cavalry
	Llanero	Gran Colombia (Simón Bolivar)	+10% combat strength in open terrain Can transfer its movement to Libertadors
	Manipuri Cassay Horseman	Burma (Anawrahta Minsaw) (DJSHenninger)	+50% Flanking Bonus Starts with Woodsman Promotion -33% Defence
	Pindari	Maratha (Shivaji)	Receives a combat bonus vs Gunpowder units
	Qizilbash	The Safavids (Abbas I)	+1 Faith, Culture, and Gold per turn in enemy territory
	Reiter	Holy Roman Empire (Elected Emperor) (LastSword)	A possible renaissance UU of HRE through election upgrade into cavalry if being attacked, the next turn start will perform an extra ranged attack.
	Sich Cossack	Hetmanate (Bohdan Khmelnytsky)	Ignores Zone of Control Can use enemy Roads -2 Combat Strength
	Sipahi	The Ottomans (Suleiman)	+1 Sight and +1 Movement No movement cost to pillage
	Stradiot	Albania (Skanderbeg)	33% chance of withdrawing from Melee attacks +25% Combat Strength vs. wounded Units
	Tumen	The Timurids (Timur)	Earns Gold from kills and attacking cities Only -25% vs Cities No Horses required
	Winged Hussar	Poland (Casimir III) Poland-Lithuania (Sigismund II) Poland (John III Sobieksi)	Vanilla/Sigismund II +1 Movement +3 Combat Strength Starts with the Shock I promotion Forces attackers to retreat if it receives more damage John III Sobieski +1 Movement +3 Combat Strength Gains additional Combat Strength for each Movement point expended (+1, +1, +2, +4) Note that Heavy Charge, and the ability to enter Rival Territory, are provided by the UA
	Zuya Wicasa	The Sioux (Sitting Bull) (LastSword)	-11% Production Cost Receives a random Promotion Upgrades to Cavalry