Doryphoroi

''&ldquo;He ordered the Greeks to form their lines and take their positions just as they were accustomed to do for battle, each general marshalling his own men. So they formed the line four deep, Menon and his troops occupying the right wing, Clearchus and his troops the left, and the other generals the centre.&rdquo;'' &mdash;Xenophon, Anabasis (Bk I)

Overall strategy
The backbone of all Greek and Greekified armies, Doryphoroi or "ancient ones" proviede their host civs with a powerful infantry component capable of killing most units in single combat, particularly cavalry. This is especially moreso given their weapon of choice, being the long and deadly dory spear which grants them the abiity to deal the first blow in most encounters. So while their access to the deadly dory-type spear and their heirloom armour provide the Doryphoroi with superb protection, yet it too is also potentially the cause of their downfall: they are slow on the march, and so very vulnerable, especially to Composite Bowmen and Javelin Cavalry units.

For this reason, Doryphoroii are not meant to be a "game-winner" but should be accompanied by other units where possible. Missile units, including Hippakontistai and Toxotai are a must to ensure that your Doryphoroi are not attacked by missile cavalry, whilst your own cavalry units should be used to wipe out enemy foot archers before they can cause serious damage. While most Greek factions can upgrade them to the more powerful Hoplitai in the Classical Age, other factions - most particularly the Odrysoi and Illyrioi can't upgrade them, and so must rely on them in later ages strictly as counter-cavalry units.

All told, however, there is one Greek factions which does not receive the Doryphoroi — and need not bother — this is Lacedaemon, otherwise popularly known as Sparta. The replacement for this unit for Lacedaemon, the Spartiatai, are a class of Hoplite completely in a league of their own and are more than a match against most other spear infantry, even until the end of the game.

Unit summary

 * Specialised Specialty &mdash; The biggest advantage which Voyniky have over others is their ability to destroy the enemy's unique units. This makes them ideal against factions which are reliant on them, such as the Byzantines.
 * Weight Problems — Cavalry archers, siege machines and skirmishers, and polearm units are capable of causing serious damage, so screen your Vojnici with cavalry or Crossbow Infantry of your own where possible.
 * I Don't Like To Slay Alone — Armies of Vojnici however are costly to equip and maintain, and so you may prefer to recruit light infantry, which performs well against all other units save heavy infantry and cavalry.

History
During the long periods of Byzantine suzerainty over the Serbian lands, it was unsurprising that the Serbs would be targets of Byzantine cultural influence. One of the areas where this was most extensive was in military organisation and culture. While some innovations such as cataphract cavalry would feature in Serbian armies, some were Byzantine followups on an older military tradition, such as infantry which had long been the mainstay of most "south Slavic" tribes which hand long been settled in the forested mountains of the Balkans. Infantry continued to be the mainstay of the Serbian principalities until the imperial era when Serbia as a unified and prosperous imperium could afford the arms, armour and mounts for cavalrymen.