Kapikulu (veteran)

Kapikulu (veterans) are veteran militia archers of the Crimean Khanate.

Tactics[]

The only veteran 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 veteran 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 veteran Kapikulu's slightly better armor - their Simple Misiurka granting them 20 head armor, the strongest when compared to five other veteran militia archer alternatives - makes them a better choice than veteran Bajrak.

For ranged combat, veteran 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 veteran 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, veteran 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.

Veteran 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 veteran Kapikulu formation with terrain features to avoid taking unanswered casualties. Alternatively, veteran 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 (veteran) - Default Stats and Equipment

**Attributes**
Stat	Points
Level	8
Strength	7
Agility	7
Intelligence	0
Charisma	0
Health	42

**Armor**
Head
Simple Misiurka
Body
Robe Simple Robe
Hand
None
Foot
Village Boots

**Skills**
Skill	Points
Ironflesh	0
Power Strike	0
Grenade Throwing	0
Power Draw	2
Weapon Master	0
Shield	3
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	90
Two Handed Weapons	70
Polearms	80
Archery	70
Firearms	0
Throwing	0

**Weapons**
Melee
Yataghan Simple Saber Simple Tatar Saber
Ranged
Longbow Bow Tatar Arrows
Shield
Simple Shield

Mount
None

Trivia[]

"Kapikulu" references an Ottoman Empire military organization which included the Janissaries.

Wikipedia has an article on this subject at:
Kapikulu

Troops of the Crimeans
Village Recruits	Nomad
Garrison Militia	Bajrak (veteran)	Kapikulu (veteran)
Regular Troops	Nomad Oglan (veteran) Jasaq (veteran)
Guard Infantry	Seymen (veteran)
Heavy Cavalry	Asak Bey (veteran) Mirza Chambul (veteran)
Personal Guard Cavalry	Nokhor (veteran)
Camp Mercenaries (northwest of Ak-Mechet)	Tatar Mercenary Infantryman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite) Tatar Mercenary Rifleman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite) Tatar Mercenary Cavalryman (recruit) • (experienced) • (veteran) • (elite)
Regional Mercenaries (Kezlev Fortress • Izum Fortress)	Nogai (veteran)
Regional Mercenaries (Azaq-kale • Kilburun Fortress)	Circassian (veteran)
Ottoman Mercenaries	Azap (veteran) Janissary (veteran) Cebelu (veteran)