Etruscan Heavy Swordsmen

Summary
Heavy Swordsmen are very powerful late-game swordsmen available to the Etruscan faction group, being one of the strongest melee brigades in the game.

"Better armed and equipped than light swordsmen, these elite warriors can still easily out manoeuvre hoplites on the battlefield."

- In-game Description

History
It's possible that the incursion of the nearby Gauls caused the Etruscans to adapt more flexible infantry tactics and gradually and/or partially move away from hoplite warfare at some point in the 4th or 3rd Century BC, as happened in most of the Mediterranean in general at this time for various reasons. However, there is a lack of detailed knowledge, aside from the occasional find of Celtic-style equipment, and the late-game swordsmen brigades seem to derive mostly from speculation by the developers and gameplay considerations.

Tactics
Heavy Swordsmen have the highest melee damage of any unit in the game and are a step up from the already quite powerful Etruscan Light Swordsmen, but are more costly in terms of both gold and recruits and require further progression in the military skill tree before they can be unlocked. Etruscan Heavy Swordsmen largely make other Etruscan melee infantry obsolete in the late-game.

Compared to other late-game heavy swordsmen, Etruscan Heavy Swordsmen are both cheaper and significantly stronger than Principes and Sabellic Heavy Pilum Swordsmen, but lack a ranged attack and have a smaller brigade size. Illyric Heavy Swordsmen are also notably weaker than those of the Etruscans, but again have a larger brigade size while costing the same in gold.

Not even Gallic Noble Swordsmen can compete with the Etruscan Heavy swordsmen individually, but the former's cheaper cost and larger brigade size arguably does make them more cost-effective.