Units

Units are squads of soldiers commanded by heroes in battles. In most cases, they are the primary fighting strength of any army.

## Overview

In almost all gamemodes (excepting Deathmatch), players can take a number of units into battle. In battle, each player can command a maximum of one unit at a time. Units are controlled via various commands which direct them to act in certain ways (e.g. attack, follow, formation, etc.). Units also possess formations and unit orders which enhance their combat potential. Good unit control is paramount to performing well in battles.

## Acquisition

The most common paths to acquire new units come from either the Unit Tree accessible via the warband menu (default key U not in battle) or via Seasonal Challenges accessible in the season menu (default key F5 when not in battle). The former requires Honor or Signacula to unlock units and unit upgrades, while the latter entails completing various tasks in battles & the open world.

Other ways to permanently acquire units include the following:

* Mace Sergeants, Ironcap Swordsmen, and Pike Militia can be obtained almost immediately as part of the tutorial for Conqueror's Blade.
* Prefecture Archers can be obtained as a 2nd-day login reward.
* Matchlock Ashigaru and Mace Sergeants can be unlocked in the Honor Store for 20,000 honor and 10,000 honor respectively.
* Mercenaries can be obtained by paying a large amount of silver or sovereigns.
* Various unit packs may be bought in the store (default key C) for sovereigns.
* It is possible for limited-time events to give units; the only such event insofar has been the now ended Ashigaru Shield event which granted Matchlock Ashigaru.

Units unlocked via the Unit Tree are not initially available for use; they must then be mustered by using up a free barracks slot, paying a certain amount of bronze, and supplying 20x of their unit kit (purchasable directly for bronze; units which do not use kit do not require this cost). Units that are obtained by any other means will automatically be mustered in a new (free) barracks slot at no additional cost. All unlocked units can be mustered again in the same way that units from the Unit Tree are initially mustered.

Temporary 3-day contracts can also be obtained by various means. These include:

* Completing the first tier of Seasonal Challenges for most units obtained in this way will grant a 3-day contract for a level 12 version of that unit,
* Auxiliaries,
* 3-day contracts for Sons of Fenrir and Cudgel Monks are obtained as part of the first 7 day login rewards.

Units obtained through 3-day contracts cannot be levelled or given doctrines. They will still consume unit kit and will automatically be disbanded once the contract period is over.

More units can be made randomly available for use via a House's shared units function, or temporarily via the 7-day volunteer unit contract and the 30-day volunteer unit contract available in the Drillmaster's rewards.

## Deployment

After matchmaking succeeds for a battle but before the battle begins, all players awaiting the battle are placed in a pre-game lobby where they can choose a warband of units from their barracks to bring into the battle. All units have a leadership cost associated with them, and all heroes have a leadership value of 700 with possible additional bonuses granted by their armour.

A valid warband consists of a set of units in which:

* There are no duplicate units,
* The sum of the leadership cost of all units in the set is equal to or less than their commanding hero's leadership value, and
* There are at most 10 units in total.

The following are exceptions:

* During certain phases of the current season, a seasonal seal is placed upon units of certain eras and armour bonuses are turned off during standard siege battles, field battles, bandit raids, and open world excursions.
* In free battles, there is no limit on the combined leadership cost of units but the maximum number of units in a warband is 5.
* For open world excursions/territory war, duplicate units can be brought the maximum number of units in a warband is 5.
* Event gamemodes such as Colosseum, All or Nothing, or Battle Roulette have their own event-specific rules on warbands.