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Kapikulu are militia archers of the Crimean Khanate.

Tactics[]

The only militia archers carrying a shield for melee combat as well as having the highest total proficiencies than other five alternatives', their ease of recruitment and low wages makes them ideal for bulking up town/fortress garrisons. In contrast, their limited party speed and slower tactical speed makes them less desirable than Bajrak for field battles and the mobile style of warfare the Khanate excels at - it is for sieges, where mounted troops are deprived of their horses, that Kapikulu's slightly better armor makes them a better choice than Bajrak.

For ranged combat, Kapikulu operate best when holding ground with unobstructed lines of fire and whittling down advancing enemies - they however have trouble inflicting casualties on moving cavalry troops, so the player is advised to focus on unhorsing them. As with any bowmen, their high rate of fire with low damage and low penetration arrows will quickly empty their quivers and thus care must be taken to economize their fire and only permit them to shoot when they have a reasonable chance of inflicting damage. This can be accomplished by masking their line of sight to only ranges they can reasonably hit at or using formation commands, although managing Kapikulu's formation fire can be hard when they are out the player's sight. Teaming them up with firearm-equipped troops can help crush stronger armor, allowing their weaker damage to prove effective.

For close combat, Kapikulu's poor melee skill, low hit points, and relatively weak armor makes them very vulnerable. As such and since they fall quickly to melee attacks, significant effort should be made to keep them shooting and not swinging - optimal ratios for bow fire should be approximately 30 to 1 to down heavily armored troops and 10 to 1 against lightly armored troops - but their arrows will sometimes never penetrate enemy armor, forcing them to depend on lucky headshots.

Kapikulu, like all fielded infantry, need to be kept in formation to avoid marauding cavalry isolating and destroying them - tight formations will however get them mown down by enemy marksmen, therefore the player should have them neutralized by tying them up in melee combat or masking a Kapikulu formation with terrain features to avoid taking unanswered casualties. Alternatively, Kapikulu can be used to protect more expensive troops by absorbing bullets, arrows, and cavalry charges, sacrificing themselves to protect their comrades and shift combat inertia in the player's favor.

Stats and Equipment[]

Note: Troops have a set of default stats; at the beginning of a new game, these stats are randomly adjusted for each type of troop. The following is the default set for this troop as seen within the game code and may not reflect the specific stats you will see during actual gameplay. For more information, see troop stats.
Kapikulu - Default Stats and Equipment
Attributes
Stat Points
Level 5
Strength 6
Agility 6
Intelligence 0
Charisma 0
Health 41
Armor
Head
Hat
Body
Robe
Simple Robe
Hand
None
Foot
Village Boots
Skills
Skill Points
Ironflesh 0
Power Strike 0
Grenade Throwing 0
Power Draw 1
Weapon Master 0
Shield 2
Athletics 2
Riding 1
Shooting from Horseback 0
Looting 0
Trainer 0
Tracking 0
Tactics 0
Path-finding 0
Spotting 0
Inventory Management 2
Wound Treatment 0
Surgery 0
First Aid 0
Engineer 0
Persuasion 0
Prisoner Management 1
Leadership 1
Trade 1
Proficiencies
Weapon Type Points
One Handed Weapons 75
Two Handed Weapons 55
Polearms 65
Archery 55
Firearms 0
Throwing 0
Weapons
Melee
Simple Saber
Simple Tatar Saber
Simple Yataghan
Ranged
Longbow
Arrows
Shield
(Possible) Shield
Mount
None

Trivia[]

  • "Kapikulu" references an Ottoman Empire military organization which included the Janissaries.
Wikipedia Wikipedia has an article on this subject at:
Kapikulu


Troops of the Crimeans
Village Recruits Icon troop type infantry Nomad
Garrison Militia Icon troop type cavalry big Bajrak (veteran) Icon troop type horse archer big Kapikulu (veteran)
Regular Troops Icon troop type infantry Nomad
Icon troop type cavalry big Oglan (veteran)
Icon troop type horse archer big Jasaq (veteran)
Guard Infantry Icon troop type bow Seymen (veteran)
Heavy Cavalry Icon troop type cavalry big Asak Bey (veteran)
Icon troop type horse archer big Mirza Chambul (veteran)
Personal Guard Cavalry Icon troop type cavalry big Nokhor (veteran)
Camp Mercenaries
(northwest of Ak-Mechet)
Icon troop type infantry Tatar Mercenary Infantryman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite)
Icon troop type bow Tatar Mercenary Rifleman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite)
Icon troop type horse archer big Tatar Mercenary Cavalryman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite)
Regional Mercenaries
(Kezlev FortressIzum Fortress)
Icon troop type cavalry big Nogai (veteran)
Regional Mercenaries
(Azaq-kaleKilburun Fortress)
Icon troop type horse archer big Circassian (veteran)
Ottoman Mercenaries Icon troop type infantry Azap (veteran)
Icon troop type bow Janissary (veteran)
Icon troop type horse archer big Cebelu (veteran)
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