Saka Horse Archer (Civ6)

The Saka Horse Archer is a unique ranged cavalry unit of the Scythian civilization in Civilization VI.
* Attributes:
** Has a ranged attack with 1.
** Ignores enemy zone of control.
** -17 Ranged Strength against defenses and naval units.
== Strategy ==
The Saka Horse Archer is a Classical Era hybrid between the Horseman and the Archer. It uses the ranged units' promotion table, it benefits from Agoge instead of Maneuver, and it is vulnerable to anti-cavalry units. Compared to an Archer, it has the same Ranged Strength, +5 Combat Strength, -1 , and +2 , making it as fast as a Horseman. As a unit of the Classical Era, it can also be boosted by Great Generals.
Units with 1 have a different scope of use in combat, since they cannot focus fire as well as units with greater and need to expose themselves to the front line when attacking, where their lower Combat Strength makes it easier for enemies to kill them. The Saka Horse Archers rely on their outstanding mobility and the terrain to avoid being picked off. With 4 , Saka Horse Archers can outrun almost every other unit from the Ancient and Classical Era and can easily pick when and where they wish to engage in a fight. Their high also makes them good at pillaging, though not as good as light cavalry units with Depredation. Pillaging costs 3 by default, so a Saka Horse Archer on flat terrain can move and pillage (or vice versa) on the same turn.
Apart from their stats, there are some additional differences that set Saka Horse Archers apart from both Archers and Horsemen. They don't require strategic resources, so the Scythians can train them even if they don't have (or are using them to train Horsemen). Scythia's civilization ability also gives them two Saka Horse Archers for every one they train, effectively reducing their cost to 50 each and making them more cost-effective than Archers (which cost 60 each). Timing, however, is important in the early game - while a single Archer can be trained faster than two Saka Horse Archers, two Saka Horse Archers can be trained faster than two normal Archers.
With a maintenance cost of 2 each, a large number of Saka Horse Archers can create a huge economic burden on an early empire. Slotting Conscription will reduce this to 1 and allow each Kurgan to pay the maintenance cost of three Saka Horse Archers.
Since this unit upgrades to the Crossbowman, you can train a few Saka Horse Archers before discovering Machinery, then immediately slot Professional Army to upgrade them. You will instantly have an army of Crossbowmen for a cheap cost, thanks to the Scythian civilization ability.
== Civilopedia entry ==
== Gallery ==
File:Saka Horse archer concept art.jpg|Saka Horse Archer concept art
File:Civ6 saka horse archer.png|Saka Horse Archer in game
File:Historic Moment Saka Horse Archer (Civ6).png|Historic Moment for building the Saka Horse Archer
== Related achievements ==
== See also ==
* (Saka) Horse Archer in other games
ru:Конный лучник сака (Civ6)
Category:Scythian