The Saka Horse Archer is a unique ranged cavalry unit of the Scythian civilization in Civilization VI.
- Attributes:
- Has a ranged attack with Range 1.
- Ignores enemy zone of control.
- -17 Ranged Strength against District defenses and naval units.
Strategy[]
The Saka Horse Archer is a Classical Era hybrid between the Horseman and the Archer. It uses the ranged units' promotion table, it benefits from Agoge instead of Maneuver, and it is vulnerable to anti-cavalry units. Compared to an Archer, it has the same Ranged Strength, +5 Combat Strength, -1 Range, and +2 Movement, making it as fast as a Horseman. As a unit of the Classical Era, it can also be boosted by Great Generals.
Units with 1 Range have a different scope of use in combat, since they cannot focus fire as well as units with greater Range and need to expose themselves to the front line when attacking, where their lower Combat Strength makes it easier for enemies to kill them. The Saka Horse Archers rely on their outstanding mobility and the terrain to avoid being picked off. With 4 Movement, Saka Horse Archers can outrun almost every other unit from the Ancient and Classical Era and can easily pick when and where they wish to engage in a fight. Their high Movement also makes them good at pillaging, though not as good as light cavalry units with Depredation. Pillaging costs 3 Movement by default, so a Saka Horse Archer on flat terrain can move and pillage (or vice versa) on the same turn.
Apart from their stats, there are some additional differences that set Saka Horse Archers apart from both Archers and Horsemen. They don't require strategic resources, so the Scythians can train them even if they don't have Horses (or are using them to train Horsemen). Scythia's civilization ability also gives them two Saka Horse Archers for every one they train, effectively reducing their Production cost to 50 each and making them more cost-effective than Archers (which cost 60 Production each). Timing, however, is important in the early game - while a single Archer can be trained faster than two Saka Horse Archers, two Saka Horse Archers can be trained faster than two normal Archers.
With a maintenance cost of 2 Gold each, a large number of Saka Horse Archers can create a huge economic burden on an early empire. Slotting Conscription will reduce this to 1 Gold and allow each Kurgan to pay the maintenance cost of three Saka Horse Archers.
Since this unit upgrades to the Field Cannon, you can train a few Saka Horse Archers before researching Ballistics, then immediately slot Professional Army or Force Modernization to upgrade them. You will instantly have an army of Field Cannons for a cheap Production cost, thanks to the Scythian civilization ability. However, this strategy should only be attempted when you have a lot of Gold from your previous conquests, as ranged units after the Crossbowman are generally underwhelming (read more here), especially when they are just fresh out of the gate without any previous Promotions. Unless your treasury is overflowing with Gold, your best bet is to save it to upgrade your light cavalry units to Cavalry, also unlocked in the Industrial Era.
Civilopedia entry[]
The term “Saka” may refer to the Persian and Sanskrit word for the Scythians, or it may refer to a specific tribe among those horse-barbarians to the north of Assyria. Most of the confusion seems to be the ambiguous usage of Saka among the ancient “historians” – Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and that lot. Herodotus states that the Saka were horse archers, riding without saddles or stirrups, and distinguished by wearing quilted trousers, open tunics and “high caps tapering to a point and stiffly upright.” These horse archers were feared in the open, mostly for harassing a moving column or raiding the baggage trains, but not very good in a stand-up fight. As Alexander the Great had shown at the battle of Jaxartes (329 BC) the Saka had no staying power, and could be readily driven off by massed infantry in depth supported by ample numbers of foot archers, whose greater range and rate of fire gave them a distinct advantage over the mounted ones.
Gallery[]
Related achievements[]
See also[]
- (Saka) Horse Archer in other games