Swordsman - Stronghold Legends Game Units
| Cost in Gold | 40 |
| Cost in Honour | 5 |
| Recruited From | Barracks |
| Ranged Attack | No |
| Recruits needed | 1 |
| Requirements | Sword, Steel Armour |
| Available Factions | All |
Swordsmen part of the standard units available to all factions in Stronghold Legends. They are excellent in both offensive and defensive attacks, being the best standard unit you have available next to Knights.
They are also considerably cheaper in both gold and honour, costing only 40 gold and 5 honour. You can find out ways to generate honour here.
Swordsmen can easily and quickly cut down most enemy units, especially those without any form of Armour or protection.
The Swordsman wears Armour for protection which means that they are very well protected against both missiles and also very well protected in melee combat as well.
However, unlike Pikemen, Swordsmen are not as fast-moving and instead take much longer to get to destinations. The manner in which they move has also slowed since Stronghold 2, as Swordsmen now walk at a much slower pace.
Swordsmen are ideal to attack your opponent in your main attacks or sieges due to the high amount of damage they can take in. Note however, that their Steel Armour and slow movement pace can also be considered a weakness, especially when a Dragon or other aerial units begin attacking them as they have absolutely no protection against this whatsoever.
If your units are out in the middle of nowhere and are suddenly attacked in this way, even by the smallest group of White Witches, there's a good chance you will lose a very large number of them.
An Archer can barely touch a Swordsman in his missile, while even a Crossbowman takes a significant amount of time to do any serious damage to a Swordsman. This is largely due to the Armour that he wears.
You will need a Sword before you can recuit Swordsmen, and these are produced through the Blacksmith's Workshop. Note that you will require Armour to recruit Swordsmen, which is produced through an Armourer's Workshop. In addition to these requirements, you will also need a single recruit from the campfire before you can recruit a Swordsman.
Swordsmen are also a useful alternative to Knights when you cannot afford them due to the massively increased cost of recruiting Knights. Strategically using Swordsmen instead of Knights can save you a lot of trouble in your main assault, and cost in recruitment which can be better spent on other units.
Tip: Swordsmen are excellent in combat, however can easily get overwhelmed by defence systems such as Burning Logs, Ballistae or pitch ditches. They can also very easily be picked off by ranged or aerial units, frozen by Ice units and have their health sputtered away over time by persistent attacks or fire. This is primarily due to the fact the units move so slowly.
In addition, be careful not to leave your Swordsmen undefended entirely via ranged units, because it is exceptionally easy for ranged units on the ground in particular to "distract" the Swordsmen, pulling them in, and then picking them off at a distance or luring them into a trap. It is advisable to use your Swordsmen for tasks that are likely to avoid these scenarios.