How do the different types of units work in a battle?

In each age, there are five different military buildings that produce the different units of that time. The units differ in their type: There are fast units, light and heavy units and units with short or long ranged attacks.

•  Fast units have a good range of movement, but they cannot take much damage. They are a great way to take out ranged units.
•  The light units are genuine all-rounders: they are fast, inflict good damage and can withstand a lot. They are best at intercepting enemy cavalry.
•  The heavy units are slow and heavily armored. They are formidable opponents when they make it into close combat; there they outmatch any other unit.
•  Short ranged units are fast and can attack from a distance, and their attack does significant damage. However, they cannot defend themselves and are easy prey for all units which manage to attack them in close combat.
•  Artillery units are lost in close-range combat. They are very slow and have a weak attack. Their big advantage is that they can cover almost the entire battle map with their attack and are able to selectively attack almost every unit.

Movement and Attack
The battle is fought in rounds. Basically, each unit moves and attacks once per round. They move according to their movement points, but each type of terrain will cost a differing amount. Directly after movement, if there is an opponent within their reach, the units can attack. Melee and fast units have to attack into an adjacent field, while ranged units can shoot at an enemy within their range.There is no retaliation to fear from ranged attacks; however, in close-ranged battle, attacked fast and melee units can defend themselves. It works like this: First, the attacker does its damage, then the one being attacked hits back. However, there is only one counter-attack per round: even the strongest unit can be defeated by a swarm of enemies this way.

Damage
Each unit has a maximum of ten life points. The amount of damage points an attack deals is calculated using the current life points and the attack value of the attacker, the defense value of the attacked, modifiers for terrain, other bonuses (some units get bonuses if they fight against units of a particular type) and a random factor. Thus, a unit with a high attack rating deals more damage, and an uninjured unit inflicts more than a wounded one. On the other hand, high defense means good armor – the unit takes less damage. If a unit loses all its life points, it is destroyed.

Terrain
On the battle map, there are different types of terrain. Forest, bushes, rocks, small hills, plains and swamps are some of them. Terrain has two different effects in the game: Firstly, it affects movement. Water areas are impassable, and other types of terrain costs extra movement points when they are crossed. On the other hand, terrain can give battle bonuses: light melee units get defense bonuses in bushes and forests, heavy melee units are better protected in plains, long-range units receive an attack bonus when they shoot from hills, whereas those with short range attacks deal more damage standing on rocks. Only fast units do not receive benefits through the terrain.

Buffs
The stats of units might get further influenced by a percentile boost. While on some provinces of the Continent map all enemy units in it gain a percentage bonus to their attack and defense stats (easily seen in the sector view as small shield icons on top of the unit images), there are two different buffs that can affect the armies of the players, both of which are accumulated from certain buildings like a few of the Great Buildings:

• Fierce resistance: All units in the defending army of this player get a bonus to both their attack and defense stats, which means they take less damage and deal more.
• Military boost: All units in the attacking army of this player get a bonus to both their attack and the defense stats, which means they take less damage and deal more.
• Defense bonus: All units in the defending army of this player get a bonus to only their defense stat, which means they take less damage.
• Attack bonus: All units in the attacking army of this player get a bonus to only their attack stat, which means they deal more damage.

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