Man-at-Arms

Standard building: 2

Camel: 0

Cavalry: 0

Infantry: 0

Anti-leitis: 0

Castle age: 6

imperial age: 6

The **Man-at-Arms** is an infantry unit in *Age of Empires II* that can be trained at the Barracks once the Feudal Age is reached. They hold a strong advantage against most units in the Feudal Age, making them an effective unit at disrupting an opponent's economy.

## Tactics

As a military unit, the Man-at-Arms fills a similar niche to the Militia, being well-rounded enough to serve both as scouts and occasional raiders. Statistics-wise, they are better than the Militia when it comes to worker line harassment and base razing, though in practice whether or not they are efficient depends largely on the development status of one's enemy. As they are slow, they are particularly weak against Archers. Also, while somewhat effective against Scout Cavalry, they are susceptible to mobbing and will die very easily if outnumbered.

Men-at-Arms work best when paired with additional support troops. A good raiding party composition should be of around a dozen Men-at-Arms, some Skirmishers to counter enemy Archers, and optionally some Spearmen if the enemy employs a large number of Scout Cavalry (e.g., when playing against a Frankish AI). As Murder Holes is not available in the Feudal Age, their weakness towards Towers can be circumvented by zig-zagging towards the structures' bases where they cannot target one's units. If possible, having several of the player's own Archers mixed in can yield much greater raiding results.

Men-at-Arms should be upgraded as quickly as possible when transitioning towards the Castle Age due to the enemy's greatly expanded tech tree providing them with many effective counters.

## Civilization bonuses

* Aztecs: Men-at-Arms are created 11% faster.
* Bulgarians: Militia-line upgrades (except Champion) are free.
* Burmese: Men-at-Arms have +1/+2/+3 attack in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
* Celts: Men-at-Arms move 15% faster. Men-at-Arms can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
* Chinese: Technologies that benefit Men-at-Arms are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
* Goths: Men-at-Arms are 25%/30%/35% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age, and have +1/+2/+3 attack against standard buildings in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. With Perfusion researched, researching Squires and upgrading to Long Swordsman is 100% faster.
* Japanese: Men-at-Arms attack 33% faster.
* Magyars: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free.
* Malians: Men-at-Arms have +1/+2/+3 pierce armor in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
* Portuguese: Men-at-Arms cost 20% less gold.
* Slavs: Tracking is free.
* Spanish: Blacksmith upgrades that benefit Men-at-Arms don't cost gold.
* Teutons: Men-at-Arms have +1/+0 armor in the Castle Age and +2/+0 in the Imperial Age.
* Vietnamese: Conscription is free.
* Vikings: Men-at-Arms have 10%/15%/20% more hit points in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

## Team bonuses

* A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription is 25% faster.
* A team containing Goths: Men-at-Arms are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Tracking, Squires, and Arson is 20% faster.
* A team containing Teutons: Men-at-Arms are more resistant to conversion.
* A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
* A team containing Bulgarians: Researching infantry armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 50% faster.

## Changelog

### *The Age of Kings*

* Men-at-Arms have +1 attack against standard buildings.
* Men-at-Arms have 0 pierce armor.
* Goths: Men-at-Arms are 10%/15%/25% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.

### *The Conquerors*

* Men-at-Arms now have 1 pierce armor.
* Heresy introduced.
* Aztecs: Garland Wars introduced.
* Goths: With patch 1.0b, Men-at-Arms are 35% cheaper. Perfusion introduced.

### *The Forgotten*

* Men-at-Arms now have +2 attack against standard buildings.

### *The African Kingdoms*

* Arson introduced.
* Vikings: With patch 4.8, Chieftains now affects Men-at-Arms. It gives Men-at-Arms +2 attack against camels.

### *Rise of the Rajas*

* Vikings: With patch 5.7, Chieftains now gives Men-at-Arms +4 attack against camels.
* Malay: Forced Levy removes the Men-at-Arm's gold cost.

### *Definitive Edition*

* Tracking removed; all infantry now receives +2 LOS from the Feudal Age instead.
* Supplies introduced.
* Bulgarians: Bagains introduced.
* Goths: With update 36202, cost bonus is 25%/30%/35% in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age and bonus damage against buildings is +1/+2/+3 in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
* Malay: Forced Levy now changes the Men-at-Arms's gold cost to food cost.
* Initially, Bagains gives +3 armor. After Update 34055, it gives +5 armor.
* Teutons: With update 35584, Men-at-Arms have +1/+0 armor in the Castle/Imperial Age. With update 36906, they receive another +1/+0 armor in the Imperial Age.