Horse Archer

Horse Archers or the Mounted Archers are ranged cavalry units that are featured in Age of Empires.

Strategy
The Horse Archer is a fast ranged cavalry that can be made during the Iron Age in the Archery Range. The Horse Archer is fairly expensive, but it has a strong attack and a long range and is one of the best units of the Iron Age. Because of its high speed and good attack strength, these units are a top unit to be used in guerilla warfare. Although a horse archer has lower hit points than an Elephant Archer, experienced players often favor them over their elephant counterpart due to its ability to outrun most units in the game. The Horse Archer is able to upgrade to a more powerful Heavy Horse Archer.

Tool Age

 * Leather Armor: for archers increases armour by 2.
 * Woodworking: increases range by 1.

Bronze Age

 * Scale Armor: for archers increases armour by 2.
 * Artisanship: increases range by 1.

Iron Age

 * Alchemy: increases attack by 1.
 * Ballistics: increases accuracy.
 * Chain Mail: for archers increases armour by 2.
 * Craftmanship: increases range by 1.

History
The Horse Archer was the replacement for the Chariot Archers on the ancient battlefields during the Dark Ages. Two of the ranged cavalry had the firepower of one Chariot Archer and they could move faster on the battlefield and the loss was only one horse and the archer while the Chariot Archer lost both and a chariot.

Soon the Horse Archers use got limited when the Greeks made the Companion cavalry, heavy infantry, and skirmish troops. The Chinese also built the Great Wall to protect themselves against these cavalry and other armies.