Camel units

Camel Units are cavalry units riding a camel instead of a horse. They appear in every game of the Age of Empires series.

Age of Empires
In Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome, one generic unit is introduced: The Camel Rider. This Camel Rider has a +5 attack bonus against cavalry. The Palmyrans probably have the most reliable Camel Riders with +25% movement speed. Civilizations with complete upgrades for their Camel Riders are: Egyptians, the Hittites, the Minoans, and the Persians.

Civilizations that completely lack camel units are the Choson, Greeks, Macedonia, Romans, and the Yamato.

Age of Empires II
Camelry is one of the unit classes in Age of Empires II: HD Edition. While similar in appearance to, sharing characteristics with, and often being summarized with Cavalry, the Camelry actually is in its own armor class, which defines from which other units a unit takes additive bonus damage. Usually anti-Camelry damage is significantly lower than anti-Cavalry damage.

Some units also have more than one armor class, in which case they take bonus damage for both in case a unit has anti-damage against both.

Previously Camelry wasn't an armor class on its own, but Camels were instead classified as Ships.

List of Camel Units

 * Camel - Heavy Camel - Imperial Camel (Indians only).
 * Camels are upgraded by all technologies that affect Cavalry.
 * Mameluke - Elite Mameluke (Saracens only)
 * They are also in the Cavalry class, however they resist anti-cavalry damage to some extent. Mamelukes are upgraded by all technologies that affect Cavalry.
 * Camel Archer - Elite Camel Archer (Berbers only)
 * They are also classified as Cavalry Archers, but not Cavalry, so for example they take bonus damage from Huskarls and other Camel Archers, but not the +32 anti-Cavalry damage from Halberdiers, only the +17 anti-Camelry. Camel Archers are upgraded by all technologies that affect Archers, as well as Bloodlines and Husbandry.

Anti-Camel Units

 * Spearman - Pikeman - Halberdier
 * Camel - Heavy Camel - Imperial Camel (Indians only)
 * Genoese Crossbowman - Elite Genoese Crossbowman (Italians only)
 * Kamayuk - Elite Kamayuk (Incas only)


 * Town Center (+1)
 * Watch Tower - Guard Tower - Keep

Civilizations
Civilizations with prominent camelry are the Berbers, Indians, Malians, and Saracens, all boasting advantages in unique technologies or bonuses for their Camels. Another civilisation that can count on Camels are the Byzantines, as they receive 25% cheaper Camels (in terms of resources, approximately 41 food and 45 gold).

Civilization Bonuses

 * Berbers: Stable units (including Camels) are 15/20% cheaper in Castle/Imperial Age. Have access to Camel Archers.
 * Byzantines: Camels are 25% cheaper.
 * Indians: Camels have +1/+1 armor. Have access to Imperial Camels.
 * Saracens have access to Mamelukes and Zealotry.

Team Bonuses

 * Huns: Stables work 20% faster.
 * Indians: Camels have +5 attack vs buildings.

Age of Mythology
In Age of Mythology, only the Egyptians have access to camel units. These units are:
 * Camelry: A cavalry unit with a 3.5x damage multiplier against other cavalry units
 * Camel Caravan: A trade unit

Age of Empires III
In Age of Empires III, only the Indians have access to camel units. These units are:
 * Zamburak: A ranged unit with a 3.5x damage multiplier against Melee Cavalry
 * Sowar: A camel unit that functions as a heavy cavalry unit and has no attack bonus against cavalry

Trivia

 * The fact Minoans receive Camel Riders is odd, as apart from not being a desert civilization, camels didn't live in Crete or the Aegean Islands. In fact, it would be slightly more realistic if Romans received them instead, as camel troops (known as Dromedarii) were into use from the 2nd century (at least Byzantines received them).
 * Excluding the above-mentioned Minoans and Byzantines (who are transcontinental civilizations), all camel units are correctly available only to African and Asian civilizations only.