Back to the list of units



Game Info Edit

Unique front-line unit of the Celtic civilization. Replaces the Spearman.

Special Abilities No Movement Cost to Pillage Foreign Lands Bonus (20% Combat Bonus outside Friendly Territory) No combat bonus vs. mounted



Special traits: Earns 50% of opponents' strength as Faith for kills.



Strategy Edit

Perfectly suited for early rushes, the Pictish Warrior can lay waste to opponents' lands, quickly pillaging and moving within the same turn. It can then decimate their armies thanks to its combat bonus in foreign lands. As if that weren't enough, it earns Faith for each unit it kills, constantly advancing your religious goals while at war.

An upgraded Pictish Warrior retains its foreign lands and pillage bonuses, but loses the ability to earn Faith.

Note that, unlike the Spearman that it replaces, the Pictish Warrior doesn't receive a combat bonus against mounted units.

Civilopedia entry Edit

The Picts were a Late Iron Age people residing in what is now eastern and northern Scotland, one of the many Celtic tribes of the British Isles. Their warriors were feared not only amongst other Celtic peoples but even by the vaunted Roman legionnaires. The Greek historian Dionysius would write during the reign of Caesar Augustus that their "manner of fighting, being in large measure that of wild beasts and frenzied," brought considerable success against unwieldy military formations operating in the forests and hills of northern Europe.

Adding to their frightful reputation was the use of the carnyx, a bronze trumpet sounded incessantly during battle, both to incite the Picts and intimidate opponents. Finally, firmly in the minds of their opponents were the reports of the severed heads Pictish warriors would carry. Carrying the heads of defeated foes into combat was believed by the Picts to imbue the bearer with courage and perhaps divine wrath.