Guerrero Karambit

Karambit Warriors are the prime example of "quantity over quality". They are very cheap and only take half population space per unit. Furthermore, they move faster than most other infantry. They should always be used in swarm to balance the fact that they have very low hit points. However, because they still cost gold, it is inadvisable to mass Karambit Warriors without correct purpose and proper micromanagement. While spammable, they are by no means expendable, as they have poorer attack and even lower hit points than Shotel Warriors, while costing three quarters the gold a Militia-line unit costs. Trickling them into an enemy army is a terrible use of them, as they'll individually get picked off easily. Karambit Warriors are an excellent choice for a raiding tactic. A group of Karambit Warriors can be sent into an unprotected enemy base, kill some of their Villagers, and then retreat quickly when enemy troops arrive. When sending them into an enemy base, the player has to make sure there are no defensive buildings, ranged units, or heavy cavalry around because Karambit Warriors die very quickly when hit. As far as this tactic is concerned, it is interesting to note that as a Karambit Warrior is affected by Arson and also boasts a +1 attack bonus against (only when Elite), and Karambit Warriors can easily envelop structures with sheer numbers, and inflict "death by a thousand cuts" destruction on enemy buildings, preferably away from defensive structures. Gold-free Long Swordsmen and cheaper Battle Elephants (depending on many factors, such as the stage of the game and available resources) can further assist in wreaking as much havoc as possible, as they have superior stats and attack bonuses against buildings. Karambit Warriors also work well as emergency reinforcement. They are created very fast and can be massed in a very short time. That means if the player's base is attacked with Rams or Trebuchets and there are no other military units around to defend the base, the player can simply train a small number of Karambit Warriors and then send them to destroy the invading siege units. Against Onagers or Scorpions, a group of Karambit Warriors should be sent in staggered or flank formation to reduce the splash damage taken. However, against Scorpions, their quantity over quality works against them. Similarly, a swarm of Karambits, utilizing their great speed and numbers, can envelop light infantry and light cavalry units in order to constrict their movement and prevent them from engaging more important units, such as Bombard Cannons. Combined with archers, this tactic can cause disproportionate damage to cheap expendable units that can otherwise spell trouble. Their bonus damage against also makes them particularly deadly against Eagle Warriors, Fire Lancers, and Jian Swordsmen. Additionally, due to their weak individual stats, cheap cost, and high speed, Monks are ineffective against them and will be easily overwhelmed. Other potential uses in a game include distraction and Ram-filling. In the first case, somewhat similar to the raiding tactic described above, the player can utilize large groups of Karambits and probably Light Cavalry (despite Malay cavalry being among the worst in the game) to harass an unguarded enemy position (preferably one with many Villagers), in order to invoke a panicked reaction from another player, due to their numbers, and make them do a wrong move (e.g. an army that would strike a nearby ally could be forced to withdraw). In the second case, Karambits can quickly fill rams and save time needed for preparing a siege, or even provide a well-played Castle Age ram rush. One often overlooked aspect of Karambit Warriors is that they have a smaller collision size than regular infantry - most have a 0.2 unit radius, while Karambits have a 0.15 unit radius. This lets them pack together more tightly and helps with pathfinding, but being clustered together more means splash damage is more threatening to them.