Longsword Fighter

The long sword fighter of Antiquity marks the arrival of iron metallurgy on the battlefield. Where bronze blades were limited in length by the metal's brittleness, the iron long sword could reach seventy to ninety centimeters while still holding an edge — enough to keep an opponent at a distance that a short sword or dagger could never match. Paired with segmented iron armor (lorica segmentata in Rome, laminar armor in the East), the long swordsman became the era's elite foot soldier. Celtic and Germanic warriors wielded iron longswords in terrifying charges; Roman legionaries carried the shorter gladius but were supported by longer-bladed auxiliaries. In the game, the long sword fighter's extended reach gives him a decisive edge in one-on-one combat, though he is expensive to field and vulnerable to mass pike formations that keep him beyond striking distance.