So far we've found that Phoenixes are only really good against non-ranged buildings (when they're close together so they can do splash damage), and against non-ranged units. And that Wadjets should only really be used against Norse infantry in the Classical Age.

This time, I've done some tests on the Scorpion Man, another of my favourite MUs.

Although most Isis players will choose Nephthys over Hathor for the Ancestors God Power, they would definitely prefer a Petsuchos or Roc to a Scorpion Man. Why? Let's look at their stats to find out.

Cost: 150 Wood, 25 Favour, 4 Pop spaces
HP: 500
Speed: 5.00
Hack Armour: 50%
Pierce Armour: 40%
Hack damage: 25

They also have a venemous sting attack which I will get into later.

So in general, quite cheap, reasonable HP, ok armour and not a bad attack. So why the bad reputation?

For one thing, it has less HP than all of the other non-ranged MUs. That in itself is not really a big deal, as long as it's attack can counter that.

One of the Scorpion Man's distinctive, and more important qualities is its special attack.

There are a few rumours around about the venemous sting attack, so here are the facts:

1. The Scorpion Man "poisons" a selected unit, which then loses HP gradually by itself.
2. The special attack can affect more than one unit at a time.
3. The special attack can only be [U}targeted[/U} on one unit at a time
4. The Scorpion Man regenerates its special attack every 12 seconds.
5. Any unit affected by the special attack will glow green
6. The Scorpion Man cannot use its special attack on heroes, myth units or villagers.
7. Any unit affected by the special attack will lose on approximately 18 HP while it is in effect.
8. The special attack lasts 10 seconds.
9. The special attack will stil affect the unit(s) once the Scorpion Man is dead.

Number 10 is very important, and the one that most people (including myself) didn't know about.

10. Any human unit within 2 range of the Scorpion Man will be affected by the special attack.

This means that it is not units connected with the poisoned unit that are affected. Eg. a line of 10 toxotes with 1 range between them, only 2-4 units will be affected. These units must be within 2 range of the scorpion man to be affected.

This actually shocked me because I thought the special attack was more powerful than this. However, with a circle of infantry or cavalry attacking the meatshield type Scorpion Man, all units attaking it will probably be affected by the special attack.

This makes the special attack quite useful as there is no set amount of units affected (like the Frost Giant) but also quite difficult to use it correctly by making it affect as many human units as possible (like the Chimera).

So how effective are they against human units.

NOTE: All human units have the following upgrades:
Medium infantry/spearmen
Heavy infantry/spearmen
Copper Weapons
Copper Mail
Copper Shields.

They have been upgraded this way to balance the fact that the Scorpion Man is a Heroic MU. Although human units do not have to have these upgrades, it makes it more like a real game where these upgrades have been researched

All damage is stated as "per hit". However, all units tested attack once per second, so the data is correct. (for what ES says it is) Tests have been carried out at each ranged unit's maximum range

The attack per hit/second has been calculated without taking the special attack into consideration so it will not affect the results. However, the time taken and number of hits to kill the units includes the special attack.

Test 1: 1 Scorpion Man vs 1 Hoplite

Hoplite stats:
HP: 143
Hack armour: 41%
Pierce armour: 23%
Hack damage: 10

Scorpion Man deals 19 damage to Hoplite per hit.
Hoplite deals 6 damage to Scorpion Man per hit.

Scorpion Man kills Hoplite in 8 hits in 9 seconds.

Quite an easy victory for the scorpion man. Not a great attack though.

Some people say that Scorpion Men are better against ranged units. Let's try that:

Test 2: 1 Scorpion Man vs 1 Toxote

Toxote stats:
HP: 72
Hack armour: 23%
Pierce armour: 23%
Pierce damage: 8
Range: 15

Scorpion Man deals 25 damage to toxote per hit
Toxote deals 6 damage to Scorpion Man per hit

Scopion Man kills Toxote in 4 hits in 4 seconds.

Much quicker than the hoplite because of the lower HP and armour, but the toxote's attack is the same as the hoplite. Strange, why's that? Because of the low 40% pierce armour of the Scorpion Man.

How about against more than 1 toxote?

Test 3: 1 Scorpion Man vs 5 Toxotes

Scorpion Man affects 3 toxotes with its special attack.
Scorpion Man wins in 12 seconds.

Seems good, the Scorpion Man kills them quickly. But the toxotes have dealed a powerful 386 damage to it. That's only 114 HP left! If there's no priest around, it could be killed easily by more archers or other units.

So it seems that the low HP and armour is quite an important issue. Because of this, it makes it easy for ranged units to take it out before it does too much damage.

Because of this, the Scorpion Man seems better suited to fight other melee units.

Test 4: 1 Scorpion Man vs 1 Spearman

Spearman stats:
HP: 87
Hack armour: 46%
Pierce armour: 23%
Hack damage: 9

Scorpion Man deals 16 damage to spearman per hit.
Spearman deals 5 damage to Scorpion Man per hit.

Scorpion Man kills spearman in 6 hits in 6 seconds.

Hmmm, because of the spearman's high hack armour, the Scorpion Man's attack is pretty low. But so is the spearman's attack against the Scorpion Man, and with it's very low HP, it's an easy victory for the Scorpion Man.

It's the same story against the Ulfsark, only the Scorpion Man has a higher attack against it.

Another note about the Scorpion Man is that it has a 2x bonus against other Myth Units. Unfortunately, it is defeated by all other Heroic MUs apart from the Scarab, petsuchos and Manticore. You would have thought that with it's high attack, it would do well against MUs such as the Nemean Lion and Battle Boar, but once again, it comes down to its low HP and relatively ow armour.

Against some heroes, it does reasonably well. The Scorpion Man defeats a Heroic Hersir, Priest and Jarl 1 on 1. Which isn't bad, but still doesn't make up for it's low HP and armour.

Conclusion:
Like the Phoenix and Wadjet, the Scorpion Man is not an all-round unit. It excels at attacking archers with low HP, but will also receive a lot of damage because of the low pierce armour. Against low hack armoured infantry and cavalry (of which there are not many), the Scorpion Man can do quite well.

Using them against Egyptian units is probably best because of their low HP, particularly slingers. They also don't do so bad against Norse because of weaker armour and lack of archers. Just keep them away from ranged archers like toxotes and CAs who will take care of your MU very easily when playing against the Greeks, especially Hades..

The Scorpion Man is not particularly amazing for a Heroic myth unit, but as long as people are using Ancestors, we'll probably see them scuttling around the battlefield.

[This message has been edited by ArtemisChimera (edited 09-05-2003 @ 06:21 PM).]