Gadáhasta

Gadáhasta are the Indian equivalents of the Guardsmen for the Indian kingdoms of Gandhara and Magadha. They are not as heavily armoured as say, the vanilla Guardsmen used by the Odrysians or the Agrinians, but they are very dangerous especially if they are pitted against armoured infantry, for the slow attack speed of their weapons — heavy maces — is then compensated by their ability to breach armour. In this way, Gadáhasta are meant to be used as a fast-attacking unit to sweep aside other elite infantry units (such as the Achaemenid Kardakes), or to punish Greek-style armies that depend heavily on hoplites or phalangitai. Their cheap cost, and their movement speed means that Gadáhasta are more than a match for Spartan homoioi or even Macedonian hypaspistai, once they close in on their foe. Remember that units take extra damage from the flanks, so it is not a bad idea to use Gadáhasta to attack enemy heavy infantry — their chosen prey — from the sides or the rear.