Hey, fun game eh? But it's a pain to play sometimes when one of the units doesn't perform the way you expect it to. So we're gonna cover all the units and what you can expect from them.

You should always have some of these guys, if only to keep them away from your more important units like Archers and Ballistas.

Peasant: Cost of 10, 1x1 block
- No Weapon
- No Shield
- No Hope of Surviving

These guys are terrible at everything. So why use them? Because they're cheap and can overwhelm more expensive units with sheer numbers, or at least keep them tied up long enough for something like a Hwacha to bombard them.

Boxer: Cost of 15, 1x1 block
- Boxing Gloves
- Faster than a Peasant

You pay 50% more than you would for a Peasant in exchange for a unit that can actually kill things. The boxing gloves give them just a bit more reach and some actual attack power, and they're slightly faster. They're just as fragile as Peasants though, so expect heavy losses.

Farmer: Cost of 20, 4x4 block
- Pitchfork
- Slower than a Peasant

Same premise as the boxer. More range to keep enemies back, but less consistent damage because they don't put much effort into trying to use their weapon. They're decent for keeping weaker enemies at bay. Has a strange bug where they'll drop their weapons if they're too crowded.

Barbarian: Cost of 20, 1x1 block
- Club
- Fastest infantry unit thus far.

These guys just run forward with a club held overhead, ready to strike down at enemies. The emphasis on speed and damage is decent for flanking a group that is already engaged, but any force that can survive their initial attack is going to hurt them badly. Try to space them out a little as half their clubs won't hit anything on that initial charge if they're too close together.

Spearman: Cost of 40, 2x2 block
- Long Spear
- On par with a Shield in terms of slow move speed

They have good range. That's it. That's all they've got going for them. If anything makes it past the spear tip these guys are gonna die. Use them in grouped up clusters because you'll often have a couple spearmen just derp out and miss the enemy completely. Like the Farmer, currently has a strange bug where they'll drop their weapons, seemingly triggered by a lack of space in front of them. Does have a weird synergy with shields thanks to having the same movement speed and there being just enough space between the shields for the spears to poke through. If you're going to line them up behind Shields to give them a screen of protection, make sure you grant them a couple blocks of space between the lines to prevent the weapon dropping bug.

Footman: Cost of 50, 2x2 block
- Short sword
- On par with Peasant in movement speed

It's just a basic unit that has above average odds of surviving in melee. It's got average reach thanks to the short sword, and enough health to take a couple hits from things like clubs and spears and pitchforks.

Samurai: Cost of 50, 2x2 block
- Katana
- 3rd highest infantry move speed

Think Barbarians with more reach. Them katanas hurt. Oddly enough Barbarians seem to have a slight edge over them in combat against each other, as long as the latter is spaced out enough to not waste the initial charge.

Shield: Cost of 60, 2x2 block
- Large Board Shield
- Slowest Infantry unit

The shield will stop arrows and melee attacks (within reason). Artillery and Muskets and to a lesser extent Chariots will still kill them, as will anything that manages to get behind them due to their terrible walk speed. Use these guys to keep more fragile units alive by body-blocking the living daylights out of arrows and massed infantry. Group them close together for best results, and put a line of spears ~2 blocks behind them if you need more killing power, as shields are very clumsy in actually attacking.

Viking: Cost of 70, 2x2 block
- Circular Shield protecting upper body
- Small Axe
- Slower than Barbarians and Samurai but still above average

These guys are a decent blend of traits. The shields give them some protection against attacks, and the above average move speed gets them where they need to be. They're particularly effective against Farmers, Peasants, and Boxers, while fights with Footman, Spearmen, and Samurai could go either way. They're also vulnerable to being out-tanked by Shields and Muskets will blast their smaller shields just as easily as they do through the larger ones.

These guys provide some helpful fire support for whittling down targets at range. Just remember that if you cluster them too closely together, they're liable to start hitting each other. It wouldn't do to lose half your formation to friendly fire, now would it?

Poacher: Cost of 30, 3x1 horizontal block
- Short Bow
- Rapid Fire
- Really bad Range

They have an impressive rate of fire, that's the good news. Their range is absolutely awful, that's the bad news. Best used to flank a formation that is slow or already distracted fighting another unit. Considering their short range and amount of shots it takes to down even a lowly peasant, they're difficult to recommend right now.

EDIT- After much research, I've found one situation they're okay at: beating higher level ranged units by being cheap enough to outnumber them.

Archer: cost of 70, 3x1 horizontal block
- Long Bow

Much better. They have enough range to hit things at respectable distances, and their shots have some actual arc to them so they're less likely to slaughter any buddies they're standing behind. Shields will ruin their day, though you can counter this by spreading them out enough that the Shields will be exposed to at least some of the incoming fire.

Musket: cost of 80, 3x1 horizontal block
- Musket

Slightly longer range than the archer, but slower to reload. These guys are mainly for dealing with Shields and Vikings, who can survive shots from Archers and Poachers long enough to close the distance. Their shots appear to travel faster as well, which is good for faster units that the archers may miss.

These are good for dealing heavy damage to clustered units as a general rule, but there is even more risk of accidentally hitting your own units. If you're using a massive number of them due to Sandbox shenanigans or whatever they decide to add in the future, make sure you stagger them like so such that they're not firing into each other:

1
---5
2
---6 -> Enemy is that way.
3
---7
4

Cannon Crew: 500 Cost, 11x11 block

The cannon crew fires small cannonballs on a flat trajectory. Think of them as scaled up Musketmen. The damage isn't great and the range isn't the best among artillery pieces either. On top of that, the flat trajectory often results in cannonballs getting caught on the terrain or only nicking units in the shins for minimal damage.

Catapult: 500 cost, 11x11 block

The Catapult launches massive boulders with a little more arc than the cannon has. These will absolutely cream clustered infantry, including shields. It takes a ridiculous number of bodies to slow the rocks to a non-lethal speed, so if the enemy is travelling in a column formation rather than a row, this will work wonders. Shields will slow the boulders considerably more than Peasants.

Ballista: 600 cost, 11x11 block

The Ballista is a scaled up bow that fires exploding bolts. It does Area of Effect damage, making it great for clustered units and it even obliterates Shields with ease. It's also surprsingly durable when being swarmed by melee units and can still hurt them thanks to their tendency to get caught on the very front of it. Accuracy isn't the best though, and if you have melee units of your own engaging the enemy, Ballistae will tend to fire into the middle of the brawl, dealing massive damage to both forces.

Hwacha: 650 cost, 11x11 block

The Hwacha fires 45 exploding arrows. These are amazing for clustered units. Weaker ones like Peasants will die in a split second, while stronger ones like Shields and Vikings will be knocked to the ground for a few seconds. The latter ability is huge if you have a hard-htting unit to follow up with, like Barbarians or even other Artillery like Ballistae, expensive as it is. It does have an issue in that the salvo will often fall short unless you place them just right. Also they die immediately after firing their payload, so don't make them your only unit on the field unless you're absolutely sure nothing will survive the volley.

Chariot: 450 cost, 11x11 block
- Horse with attached fellow on a, well, Chariot
- Fast unit relying on plowing through enemies for damage

It's fast, that's about it. It makes a mess of small groups of infantry but has a tendency to die the second it hits anything solid enough to not die instantly, Shields in particular. They tend to get in each other's way as well, so err on the side of using less than you think you need.

Chicken Man: 2500 cost, 11x11 block
- Infinitely spawns attack chickens
- Chickens will roll across the battlefield then launch themselves at enemy units

This guy is a priority target in any fight because the longer he stays alive, the more damage his chickens will do. Your best bet is to treat him like a ranged unit and screen your more valuable troops with cannon fodder to buy them time to close the gap. Chariots can reach him fast enough but struggle to get the kill, while Cannon Crews will keep landing glancing hits. Ballista Bolts and Catapult rocks work well, and Hwachas can get the kill if they hit him with a good portion of their volley.

UPDATE- Turns out you can render his chickens ineffective outside of point blank range. You just need to cover the area in front of him in corpses so the chickens can't roll any further. A bit macabre but it works.

Chicken Man Man: 5000 cost, 11x11 block
- Infinitely spawns Chicken Men
- Is a giant for some reason
- Kills units by walking through them.

This guy is even worse then the last entry, combining mook-maker making abilities with being an utter pain in the neck to kill. If you have your melee units to spread out, none will survive the chickens to attack him, but if they're too close together, half their attacks will miss and they'll die still having dealt 0 damage to him. Infantry units with longer reach and/or weapons held overhead seem to work best, with Samurai having the best results of all units tested as they can land several hits even when bunched into a ball that would prevent other units from attacking him efficiently. A large number of ranged Infantry such as Archers or Musketmen will also do. Cannon Crews and Catapults and even Shields are lacking as stalling units because they'll bowl his feet out from under him only for the top half of him to magically stay airborne and keep meandering towards you, while Poachers have such a short range that by the time they can fire on him they're 2 seconds from being stampeded through or overwhelmed by chickens. You can potentially kill him with 2-3 Hwachas IF they're positioned perfectly AND the Chicken Man Man happens to fall such that the latter half of the salvos hits his upper body. Last off, while ballistae don't seem to damage him much, they do repeatedly knock him on his butt and make quick work of any chicken men he spawns.