Mandate Order Troop Types

Mandate Order does not treat soldiers as identical pips with different colors. Troop types emerge when workers conscript with specific gear kits produced in workshops and stored in armories. Digital Sky preview materials explicitly name polearms, bows, shields, and armor as equipment categories that gate which roles your city can field. This guide explains those types as industrial and tactical objects: what workshops must build, how armories stock them, and where each type shines on walls, gates, and open ground.

Start with units overview for conscription flow and production chains for logistics. Deployment details live in formations and line drawing and walls and siege.

Gear-first classification

Unlike games with abstract class trees, Mandate Order ties types to physical equipment moved by couriers. If bows never reach the armory, you cannot field archers at scale regardless of population. Classification therefore begins at workshops:

• Polearm kits for anti-charge infantry holding chokepoints.
• Bow kits for ranged damage from walls and high ground.
• Shield kits for stabilizing segments under projectile fire.
• Armor pieces that increase survivability for elite lines or officers if previews distinguish tiers.

Exact recipe names and upgrade tiers belong in the buildings reference as Early Access patches land. Strategic planning can proceed from categories even before datamining final numbers.

Polearm infantry

Polearms suit narrow fronts: gate mouths, breach funnels, bridge tiles, and sally port exits. They excel when enemies must approach head-on through terrain chokes you prepared on the map.

Industrial notes:

• Usually consume metal and timber components from workshop chains.
• Benefit from steady ore inflows; polearm-heavy armies starve if mines are distant and couriers under-built.
• Pair with shields on adjacent segments when enemies bring mixed ranged melee pressure.

Tactical notes:

• Draw shorter lines polearm counts can fully cover.
• Keep reserves behind gates to refill segments after routs.
• Avoid open-field pursuits far from walls unless cavalry or fast types exist in your roster.

Archers

Bows provide ranged damage from wall walks, towers, and hills. Siege previews show archers as primary defenders against approaching engines and ladder troops.

Industrial notes:

• Require workshop outputs distinct from polearms; mixed production needs parallel freight routes.
• Consumables such as arrows may appear in previews as ongoing logistics; monitor armory drain during long sieges.

Tactical notes:

• Draw lines on elevated segments with clear sight lines, not behind friendly melee on the same narrow tile.
• Prioritize engine crews and ladder clusters when multiple targets appear.
• Pull archers back when breaches open; they lose value in chaotic interior melee unless previews allow short swords sidearm.

Shield infantry

Shields stabilize lines under arrow volleys and give melee units time to reposition. They are less about damage than about preventing collapse while reserves move.

Industrial notes:

• Often combine timber and metal components; compete with construction timber during wall repairs.
• Stock shields before seasonal raids if enemy factions skew ranged in campaign previews.

Tactical notes:

• Place on segments exposed to enemy archers or slingers if present.
• Anchor center lines while polearms hold sides of gates.
• Do not spread shields so thin that flanks remain open.

Armored troops

Armor pieces increase durability for critical segments such as gate holders or sally squads. Previews imply armor as heavier workshop output, which means slower production and higher courier weight.

Use armor selectively:

• Gate critical segments that must not break first.
• Sally teams that exit walls under fire.
• Officer or elite retainers assigned to armies if systems grant bonuses to equipped units nearby.

Avoid armoring every conscript early; industry cannot feed full metal kits while also building walls.

Mixed ratios for common scenarios

Ratios depend on enemy composition, but preview-friendly defaults help planning:

Scenario	Suggested emphasis
Gate siege	Polearms at mouth, shields on flanks, archers on towers
Wall walk defense	Archers primary, polearms at ladders, shields rotating front
Open field choke	Polearms center, shields wings, archers on high ground rear
Post-breach interior	Polearms and shields mixed, archers only if clear lanes

Adjust after your first losses rather than copying tables blindly.

Conscription waves by type

Conscript in waves matched to armory stock:

1. Fill archer kits to projected wall coverage length.
2. Add poleanm holders for each gate and breach funnel.
3. Add shields for exposed faces.
4. Reserve armor for elite segments last.

Mass conscripting one type drains workshops that produce other kits, creating invisible shortages during multi-face sieges.

Labor and morale considerations

Each type pulls workers from civilian chains. Archer-heavy armies still need farmers feeding couriers hauling bows. Polearm spikes need smiths fed by ore mines. See guides for livelihood context.

Retainers from the Hundred Schools of Thought may bias military or economic priorities—Military Strategy retainers on armies, Legalist admins on conscription buildings, Agriculturalists keeping more peasants in fields. Assign with type plans in mind.

Troop types and logistics failures

When a type fails to appear on the battlefield, trace gear:

• Workshop queue missing that kit.
• Freight sending kits to wrong warehouse.
• Armory full of polearms but empty of bows.
• Couriers busy hauling stone for wall repair instead of bow kits.

Developer Q&A uses these chains to explain defeats without hidden RNG.

Scaling types in mid-game

Duplicating workshops helps only with duplicated inputs and freight. Scale types by:

1. Adding mine and logging capacity for metal and timber.
2. Adding warehouse and courier throughput.
3. Splitting workshop rows by kit specialty if UI allows focused recipes.
4. Expanding armory shelves before increasing conscription caps.

Track peaks with manual counts until tools calculators arrive.

Upcoming unit additions

The public Early Access roadmap names Panda Warriors among November content beats. Treat them as a future roster expansion rather than a day-one kit type—see Panda Warriors and the Early Access roadmap for verified scope. Until patch notes publish gear requirements, keep workshop and armory planning focused on polearms, bows, shields, and armor.

Related guides

• Units overview for conscription basics.
• Production chains for workshop planning.
• Warehouses and storage for moving kits.
• How to handle invasions for gear timing under raid pressure.
• Combat hub for the full warfare overview.

Troop types in Mandate Order are questions your workshops answer. Plan the answer before the enemy asks at your gate.