Units and Army Composition

Squads Are the Unit of Thought

In War for Westeros, you do not control individual soldiers. You command full squads — groups of troops that path, collide, and react together. The July 2026 development update explicitly stated that this is a design priority: responsiveness, unit behaviour, and physical impact are the three words PlaySide used, and pathing is being iterated because it has to feel right on first contact.

That puts War for Westeros closer to formation RTS design than to click-every-model action. Selection boxes still matter — see controls — but the unit of thought is the squad: spearmen, archers, cavalry, a giant, a dragon. If you come from Age of Empires, think in groups. If you come from Total War, think in companies, not in twenty individual captains.

The Gamescom 2026 trailer already shows Lannister troops moving as a mass before dragonfire hits them. Watch the clip for collision and scatter, then come back to this page for the counter rules PlaySide wrote down.

Core Unit Categories

Infantry form the backbone of every roster. Spearmen counter cavalry charges; swordsmen brawl effectively in choke points; archers and crossbowmen excel on walls and in forest cover but collapse if flanked. Shields matter — trailer footage shows formation toggles that turn a spear line into a turtle defense against dragon strafing runs, at the cost of movement speed.

Cavalry provide mobility and shock value on open ground. Light cavalry scouts and raids vulnerable economy or production structures; heavy knights break infantry lines on charges but struggle in bogs and blizzards. Dothraki-style horsemen associated with Targaryen campaigns favor hit-and-run loops rather than sustained melee, rewarding controls mastery and waypoint queuing.

Siege equipment transforms castle fights. Trebuchets outrange wall defenders but require setup time and escorts; battering rams need narrow approach paths; siege towers protect climbers scaling King's Landing ramparts. Neglecting siege tech means wasting units on frontal assaults that Age of Empires veterans would avoid with proper engineering.

Ranged specialists and elite units round out compositions. Wildfire throwers — heavily associated with Lannister identity — deal area damage with friendly-fire risk. Giants act as line-breakers with high morale impact. Dragonglass-tipped weapons appear as upgrades rather than standalone squads, changing damage profiles against undead factions.

Faction Roster Identity

House Stark armies emphasize disciplined northern infantry, direwolf cavalry scouts, and winter survival traits. Stark units fight longer in cold biomes and recover morale near allied keeps, but lack the gold-heavy elite options southern houses enjoy. Stark players win by choosing battlefields — forcing fights in snow and forest — rather than outspending rivals.

House Lannister fields professional soldiers, crossbow-heavy defenses, and superior siege economics. Gold reserves can rush mercenary reinforcements mid-campaign or bribe neutral minor houses for temporary unit spikes. Lannister armies peak in protracted wars of attrition where treasury depth outlasts northern patience.

House Targaryen revolves around dragons and shock infantry. Dragons are not infinite — they are high-cost, high-impact fliers with cooldown-dependent breath attacks and the unique ability to destroy enemy structures. Supporting ground units exist to seize objectives while dragons deny enemy formations.

The Night King replaces traditional economy with horde regeneration. Basic wights replenish over time; White Walkers lead elite stacks that freeze morale; siege pressure comes from endless waves rather than trebuchets. The defining mechanic is resurrection: every enemy soldier killed by the Night King's forces becomes a new Army of the Dead unit, so fighting the dead requires different gameplay priorities — destroy resurrection sources and hold choke points instead of winning fair trades.

Counters and Battlefield Tactics

War for Westeros uses readable counter triangles enriched by terrain. Cavalry beats isolated archers; spears beat cavalry; archers punish slow siege setups. Dragons beat clustered infantry unless dragonglass or scorpion emplacements are positioned. Undead swarms overwhelm single-target elite units but crumble under area fire and fire-based abilities.

Terrain modifiers amplify counters. Forest ambushes grant first-strike bonuses to hidden infantry; elevation improves archer range; river crossings slow cavalry charges and expose them to pike lines. Before accepting an overworld battle prompt, inspect the projected biome — declining unfavorable fights is valid strategy, especially in multiplayer where two rivals might collide while you consolidate.

Hero attachment adds another layer. A hero leading spearmen unlocks formation buffs that generic captains cannot replicate. Losing the hero mid-battle may demoralize attached squads, so protecting commanders with escort cavalry is standard practice. Detailed hero-specific synergies live on the heroes page.

Building Your First Army

New players should start with balanced comps: a core infantry line, a cavalry flanking squad, one ranged group, and siege only when assaulting keeps. Over-investing in dragons or giants early leaves you vulnerable to counters and supply bankruptcy. Skirmish mode is the safest laboratory — test ratios without risking a sandbox campaign save.

As you learn faction quirks, specialize. Stark mains add extra spears and archers for choke defense; Lannister mains preload siege and crossbows for southern conquest; Targaryen mains pair one dragon with fast ground capture units; Night King mains flood cheap wights to exhaust enemy ammunition and morale. Cross-reference the tier list preview for pre-release community rankings, but trust your own game modes experience once the game launches.