Ara: History Untold – All military formations and how to deploy units

How to master the art of war in this turn-based strategy game

Oxide Games / Microsoft

Even the optimistic worldview of Ara: History Untold can’t change one constant of human history: War. Building a prosperous and lasting civilization in this strategy game requires you to fend off opportunistic rivals, tribal raiders, and the last remnants of fallen empires. In short: You’ll need to build a capable military.

Table of Contents

1. Ara: History Untold – How to recruit units
2. Ara: History Untold – All ground formations
3. Ara: History Untold – All naval formations
4. Ara: History Untold – All air formations

Naturally, a military doesn’t only serve defensive purposes: Winning wars is one of the ways to obtain Prestige, the score needed to claim victory at the end of the game, making an aggressive play style very much an option to consider. What’s more, the strength of your standing army at the end of the game will add Prestige to your score as well, incentivizing you to invest some of your resources into your forces.

Learn how to recruit and deploy military units in Ara: History Untold and find all available formations with their effects.

Ara: History Untold – How to recruit units

Recruitment in Ara: History Untold works a little differently from other games. Although you still build units in your cities, they are not immediately deployed on the map after being completed. Instead, recruited units are added to your Reserves, which are available from the little button in the bottom left of the screen showing a helmet with + symbol next to it.

Click on that button to enter the screen in which you can manage your military. Here you will get an overview of all your currently deployed civilian units (like scouts and settlers), armies, fleets, and air forces, as well as information on how many more you can field (there are limits for each type). You will also find all of your Reserves here.

Here's where you assign units to the formation you want to field. / Oxide Games / Microsoft

You can deploy a new force by clicking on the + symbol in any of the categories, which will take you to the deployment screen. Here you can choose how large a force you want to field, which types of units it will include, and what formation it will use. Though there are default formations allowing you to field any army compositions you want, using special formations that contain a specific unit mix provides some neat combat bonuses – you can find all formations and effects below.

Once you have filled out your formation with units from your Reserves, you can choose where to deploy the force. Keep in mind that this requires up to two turns of time, so make sure you field the army in a secure area – otherwise the enemy might destroy it during deployment. Armies do cost maintenance when deployed, using food from your global stockpile. If you don’t have food to sustain them, their combat strength is significantly reduced. The same applies when your forces veer too far from your own territory and overstretch your supply lines. Reserves, though, are free from any upkeep, so mobilization is actually quite a significant decision in this game.

Check our guide on how to grow your food production in Ara: History Untold to ensure you can feed a large field army.

It’s worth noting that you can’t upgrade units in Ara: History Untold. A unit of pikemen will forever be a unit of pikemen, whether in your Reserves or deployment.

Ara: History Untold – All ground formations

Squad – 1 Unit

Name	Bonus	Composition
Default	None	Any Unit x1
Sniper	+10% Strength (Defense)	Modern Infantry x1

Battalion – 3 Units

Name	Bonus	Composition
Default	None	Any Unit x3
Line	+10% Strength (Defense)	Melee Infantry x2 + Projectile x1
Wedge	+10% Strength	Melee Infantry x1 + Projectile x2
Vanguard	+10% Strength (Attack)	Melee Infantry x1 + Projectile x1 + Melee Cavalry x1
Protector	+10% Strength (Defense)	Gunpowder Infantry x2 + Artillery x1
Special Forces	+15% Strength (Attack)	Modern Infantry x2 + Armor x1

Legion – 4 Units

Name	Bonus	Composition
Default	None	Any Unit x4
Crescent	None	Any Unit x4
Shield Wall	+10% Strength (Defense)	Melee Infantry x3 + Projectile x1
Phalanx	+10% Strength (Attack)	Melee Infantry x4
Diamond	+10% Strength (Attack)	Melee Infantry x1 + Projectile x2 + Melee Cavalry x1
Torrent	+10% Strength (Attack)	Gunpowder Infantry x2 + Gun Cavalry x1 + Artillery x1
Strike	+10% Strength	Modern Infantry x2 + Armor x2

Brigade – 5 Units

Name	Bonus	Composition
Default	None	Any Unit x5
Tercio	None	Any Unit x5
Echelon	+10% Strength (Defense)	Melee Infantry x2 + Projectile x3
Flying Vee	+10% Strength (Attack)	Melee Cavalry x5
Picket	+10% Strength (Defense)	Gunpowder Infantry x3 + Gun Cavalry x1 + Artillery x1
Funnel	+10% Strength (Defense)	Gunpowder Infantry x4 + Artillery x1
Fusion	+10% Strength (Attack)	Modern Infantry x2 + Armor x2 + Artillery x1

Division – 6 Units

Name	Bonus	Composition
Default	None	Any Unit x6
Trapezoid	+15% Strength	Any Unit x6
Swarm	+10% Strength (Attack)	Gunpower Infantry x2 + Gun Cavalry x2 + Artillery x2
Coalition	+10% Strength (Defense)	Modern Infantry x3 + Armor x2 + Artillery x1
Blitz	+10% Strength (Attack)	Armor x6
Column	+10% Strength (Attack)	Modern Infantry x2 + Armor x2 + Artillery x2

Ara: History Untold – All naval formations

Naval dominance offers protection to your coastal cities. / Oxide Games / Microsoft

Naval formations, unlike ground troop formations, do not provide any special effects – they only allow you to slot more units into a single formation:

• Vessel – 1 Unit
• Patrol – 2 Units
• Squadron – 3 Units
• Flotilla – 4 Units
• Armada – 5 Units

Ara: History Untold – All air formations

A strong air force can protect your skies and strategically bomb enemy cities and improvements. / Oxide Games / Microsoft

Similar to naval formations, air formations do not provide any additional bonuses aside from enabling you to group several units together:

• Sortie – 1 Unit
• Escort – 2 Units
• Wing – 3 Units

For more on the game, read our Ara: History Untold developer interview. You might also want to find out how to use Ara's crafting system to be able to produce all the necessary materials for your army.