<?xml version="1.0" ?><?encoding UTF-16?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="../xsl/unit.xsl"?><unit><full_name>carthaginian infantry dorkim kdoshim</full_name><dictionary>carthaginian_infantry_dorkim_kdoshim</dictionary><category>infantry</category><class>spearmen</class><voice_type>General_1</voice_type><soldier><name>carthaginian_infantry_sacredbandphalanx</name><soldiers>30</soldiers><extras>0</extras><mass>1.22</mass></soldier><mount_effect>elephant -1</mount_effect><attributes>sea_faring, hide_forest, can_sap, hardy</attributes><formation><side_spacing>0.76</side_spacing><front_spacing>1</front_spacing><loose_side_spacing>2</loose_side_spacing><loose_front_spacing>2.4</loose_front_spacing><ranks>4</ranks><formations>square</formations></formation><stat_health><hit_points>1</hit_points><animal_hit_points>1</animal_hit_points></stat_health><stat_pri><attack>17</attack><charge>8</charge><missile_type>no</missile_type><range>0</range><ammo>0</ammo><weapon_type>melee</weapon_type><tech_type>simple</tech_type><dammage_type>piercing</dammage_type><sound>spear</sound><min_delay>0</min_delay><lethality>0.13</lethality></stat_pri><stat_pri_attr>light_spear</stat_pri_attr><stat_sec><attack>13</attack><charge>8</charge><missile_type>no</missile_type><range>0</range><ammo>0</ammo><weapon_type>melee</weapon_type><tech_type>simple</tech_type><dammage_type>slashing</dammage_type><sound>sword</sound><min_delay>0</min_delay><lethality>0.13</lethality></stat_sec><stat_sec_attr>no</stat_sec_attr><stat_pri_armour><armour>14</armour><def_skill>11</def_skill><shield>4</shield><sound>metal</sound></stat_pri_armour><stat_sec_armour><armour>0</armour><def_skill>0</def_skill><sound>flesh</sound></stat_sec_armour><stat_heat>4</stat_heat><stat_ground><scrub>0</scrub><sand>0</sand><forest>-3</forest><snow>-3</snow></stat_ground><stat_mental><morale>18</morale><discipline>disciplined</discipline><training>highly_trained</training></stat_mental><stat_fire_delay>0</stat_fire_delay><stat_food>60, 300</stat_food><stat_cost><turns>1</turns><cost>3185</cost><upkeep>796</upkeep><upgrade_weapon>80</upgrade_weapon><upgrade_armour>110</upgrade_armour><custom_battle>3185</custom_battle></stat_cost><ownership>egypt, slave</ownership><description><name>HaDorkim HaQdosim (Sacred Band Infantry)</name><short>The Sacred Band is the elite infantry of any Carthaginian army and can be relied upon to do their duty to the end.</short><long>Elite
Disciplined
Sapping Ability

The Sacred Band are an elite infantry of a different kind than the Elite Africans. Trained from a young age to be tough phalanx spearmen, these men are from wealthy Kart-hadastim families, and as such have extremely good equipment. They are trained from birth to be great warriors and they are able to afford high quality armor and weapons. They fight as a traditional Phalanx organized in the Spartan style. They are a nearly impervious wall from the front and are extremely hard to flank due to the fact that they are as proficient with their swords as with their spears. Even the heaviest cavalry is no match for the Sacred Band as long as they’re presenting their spears in the direction of their attacker. Only a flanking maneuver by heavy cavalry or heavy infantry has a chance of breaking them in a melee. They are proficient with their swords as well, often able to provide an elite assault infantry when required. Though they’re really too heavy for the role, but can excel as a shock infantry when needed.

The Sacred Band was a group of soldiers that were dedicated to Baal, the great father God of the Phoenician/Canaanite pantheon. They were all members of the nobility, and were called upon to fight their country’s wars as an elite unit that formed the right wing of the phalanx. They were all slaughtered in Sicily by the armies of Syracuse in the fifth century BC, but many records speak of an elite unit that fought on the right wing of the Phalanx long after their demise. Perhaps the Kart-hadastim simply did not wish to tempt fate with a name like the Sacred Band again…</long></description></unit>