Health and damage
Every troop has 100 health and deals its damage over time while an enemy is in reach. What a blow does depends on:
- Strong against. Spearmen beat warriors, archers and slingers beat spearmen, arquebusiers beat berserkers. See Troops.
- Gear. A worn weapon (a quarter or less left) hits half as hard. Gear wears out in two days of use, and troops swap in a spare from their kit.
- Shields. A warrior’s shield cuts the damage from shots, until it’s worn down.
- High ground. More damage from above, less from below, and shooters reach further from above.
- Walls. Shots can’t pass through buildings or terrain, and walls block melee blows. Troops on a wall take less from shots. Troops that can’t reach an enemy break down the wall in their way.
- Ranks. See below.
- Damage taken. Each kind’s own toughness, in Troops.
Shooters stopped by an enemy on the march hit half as hard.
Attacking buildings
With no enemy in reach, troops go for enemy buildings that fight back: siege engines, towers armed with one, hoardings, manned towers and machines in the field. Any other building they only attack when you send them at it. Bandits and AI opponents break through whatever is in their way. Sappers go for buildings first.
Troops can’t hit a building through a wall. Construction sites can be attacked too.
Siege shots, logs and boiling oil ignore shields, ranks and wall cover.
Ranks
Troops earn points for every enemy they bring down, more for a dangerous enemy and less the higher their own rank. Troops climb from Veteran to Elite to Hero, and each rank adds damage and takes some off the damage they take. A gold bar under the health bar shows it, and it’s kept when a troop goes home or is converted.
Healing
- Rest. Troops heal 5 health an hour while fed and watered, starting 45 minutes after their last hit.
- Herbalists (Folktails) heal the most hurt troop near them, yours or an ally’s, 40 an hour, and walk to hurt troops close by.
- Field Infirmary (Iron Teeth). A healing tub on wheels. It treats one troop at a time, using extract and berries. Hurt troops nearby go to it when no enemy is close.
Needs
Troops get hungry and thirsty faster than other beavers, but tire much more slowly. Out on orders, or aboard a machine, they sleep where they stand instead of going home. Aboard a machine their needs and gear don’t wear down at all.
Supply
Each troop carries a kit: three days of food and water, and two spares of each piece of its gear. They restock at home, or when it’s almost empty, while out.
Wagon Yard. Sends supply carts into the field. Each cart is loaded with food, water, siege stones, ballista bolts, gears and building materials (logs, planks, metal blocks). Troops nearby eat and drink from it and take spare gear (allies’ troops too), and use its materials to build siege machines and ladders. A carter that gets tired or hungry parks the cart and goes home; the next carter picks it up.
Building in the field. Troops build Timber Empires’ military buildings near them. Siege machines (all but the Trebuchet), ladders and ramps can only be built by troops.