Axemen

Therefore let Fortune turn her wheel around ⁠As it may please her, and the churl his mattock. &mdash; Dante Alighieri

Overall strategy
Axemen - available to Norse, Makurians, Lombards and Persians. Not as fast as conventional militia but has a powerful anti-armour attack. Quite useless against cavalry and missile units, but very dangerous if attacking melee infantry.