Partisan

Unit Information

Game Strategies

History

Partisan
Militia
Base cost	600 Food, 600 Metal
Ramping cost	2 Food, 2 Metal
Build time	13.3 sec. (200 frames)
Hit points	85
Line of sight	10 tiles
Movement speed	24 (1.9 tiles/sec.)
Attack strength	24
Attack range	0-10 tiles
Armor	3
Population points
Built at	Tower
Prerequisites	Modern Age
Hotkey (Tower)	Q (Transforms the selected Citizens or Scholars into Militia units, and vice-versa)
Upgrades from	Minuteman
Upgrades to	None
Special abilities	Can attack low-flying aircraft, invisible while idle

Partisans are Citizens or Scholars ordered to arms, supposed to be used as a city's last line of defense. They are created by using the button To Arms! in a citizen's or scholar's control panel. Partisans can be converted back to civilians by pressing the Civilian button. The conversion process takes a few moments (0.33 seconds), in which an orange progress bar appears above the unit.

Partisans are the final upgrade of 'armed civilians', with the upgrade becoming available at the Tower in Modern Age and requiring 600 Food and Metal to research. By converting civilians into Partisans, they receive a ranged attack with a much higher attack strength (+20) as well as better armor (+3) and line of sight (+8 tiles).

Partisans have the ability to hide from enemy sight while not moving or attacking.

All upgrades of armed civilians: Militia (Classical Age), Minuteman (Enlightenment Age), Partisans (Modern Age).

Usage In Combat

Like Minutemen, Partisans are fairly weak, ranged combat units, which should be used mainly in desperate situations, like to assist a city's available defenses until the nation's army arrives. When defending, they should focus on key units within the enemy's army, like Artillery, Supply Wagons and Generals. Like all Militia-type units, despite their ranged attack, their attack value is still halved when garrisoned, for the purposes of increasing a building's attack rate. However, Citizens automatically have the attack value of Partisans when garrisoned, without having to convert first.

Partisans have the same attack strength as Modern Infantry, but a slightly smaller range and only half as many hit points. Thus they die fairly quick and should especially stay out of enemy territory, as attrition damage can decrease their few hit points within seconds. The Supply Wagon's protection against attrition does not extend to Militia-type units like the Partisan.

Like with Militia and Minutemen, computer players never use their civilians as Partisans, despite spending resources to research the according technology.

When citizens are converted to Partisans, they lose their status as civilian units and become combatants, thereby losing immunity to sniping.

Notes

• Using Partisans as a city's last line of defense is an especially viable option to the Chinese, as they can produce citizens instantly.
• Converting Scholars into Partisans can be a bit tricky, as they quickly move back into the University they were ejected from. The delay for this can adjusted in the options menu, under Auto Citizen. Furthermore, it is possible to pause the game (offline mode only) or raze the University.