The Indian General is a type of heavy cavalry unit available to the Indians in Rome: Total War: Alexander.
Description[]
There can be no greater protection for a king than to be mounted on the of the most dangerous creatures ever to take to a battlefield! War elephants are fierce and terrible beasts, able to trample men and horses into the dirt. Almost three meters tall, of massive build, tremendous strength and an annihilating rage when angered or afraid, anyone caught in their path could be forgiven for believing that the mountains have risen against them. The crew carry bows which they can fire to some advantage from their great height, but the elephant itself is a weapon able to trample and gore men easily, hurling them around like leaves in a tempest. Such power is a double-edged sword though, and these beasts can run amok grinding friend and foe alike to paste! In such cases, to save themselves and their comrades their driver may be forced to hammer a spike into the base of the elephant's skull to bring the beast crashing down.
Tactics[]
Being one of three war elephant units in the expansion, not much can be compared to the Indian General other than the two other elephant units, the Indian Elephants and War Elephants of Persia. Comparing them to those, the Indian General is right in the middle, being not quite as good as the Indian Elephants but superior to the Persian War Elephants. When compared to other heavy cavalry units, such as Macedonian Companion Cavalry or the Indian's own Cavalry General, the Indian General is a mix.
Stats wise, the Indian General has excellent defence, especially when compared to the other elephant units. They're higher than Companion Cavalry, an excellent heavy cavalry unit, but inferior by a few points to Persian Heavy Bactrian Cavalry. They have a lot of armour, nearly the most in the game and superior to all regular cavalry units found in the expansion. However, their attack leaves something to be desired, with disappointingly low melee and missile attack that is worse than most horse archers or regular missile units. Their melee attack and charge stats are also worse than most medium and heavy cavalry found, meaning they are not great as actual melee units, though their bonus fighting cavalry and fear put into enemy infantry does help alleviate that.
An oddity on the battlefield, since India is not encountered on the campaign map at all, the Indian General will only be encountered in multiplayer or skirmish battles and even then in very few numbers. Due to their high purchasing costs, a large number of elephants can't be fielding and those that can can often be more trouble than they're worth. Their large size and various passive buffs make them attractive to use, since both cavalry and infantry alike are understandably fearful of these beasts of war. However, they are best placed on the flanks, or in the case of this particular unit as it is a general unit, a decent way behind the main front line of the army. Despite its high defence, the elephants can be scared by flaming arrows, causing them to run amok and crush both friendly and enemy units alike, hence why they should not be placed anywhere near the main body of the army. Should this happen, they can easily cause many friendly casualties and possibly cause a rout to start as friendly units start taking morale damage. Should this be avoided, however, the elephant unit is best on the flank with supporting regular cavalry who can support it against enemy cavalry rushes to try and take out the elephant unit early. They are just as good as ranged cavalry and their high elevation means they can easily rain fire down onto an enemy formation and if able to get around the flanks, they make excellent shock cavalry, easily capable of causing massive enemy casualties and causing a mass rout due to breaking the morale of the enemy units. They're not invincible, though, and that's important to remember. Despite their armour, they are still vulnerable to spear infantry, especially the sarissa wielding Phalangists of Macedon whose long spears can easily kill an elephant unit with minimal losses. Fire arrows are also excellent for causing the elephants to run amok and be out of control, stamping over anything that gets in its way regardless of who it is. This can cause chaos and give the advantage to the enemy as the army tries to regain control of its out of control elephants.
Trivia[]
- The unit looks identical to the regular elephants unit available to the Indians. The only difference is that the general will have his unique unit model. If the unit is not a general unit, it will look identical to a normal elephant unit.
Gallery[]
