Chu Ko Nu (Age of Empires III)

''For the related Age of Empires II unit, see Chu Ko Nu (Age of Empires II)

The Chu Ko Nu is a light Chinese infantry unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, that functions similar to the Crossbowman.

Overview
Chu Ko Nu are trained alongside the Qiang Pikeman in the Old Han Army from the War Academy or can sent from the Home City. They reload quickly, can fire three arrows at once and are good against heavy infantry. This truly the best option for Chinese to counter heavy infantry, musket, light cavalry such as Riffle Riders, Bow Riders, Dragoons, Cavalry Archers, etc although not best option against War Wagons, Howdahs and Yabusame due to the range.

The Chu Ko Nu is relatively cheap, costing only 85 Food. It will be the primary ranged unit in the Colonial age. Due to the fast firing speed of the Chu Ko Nu, on the average, the Chu Ko Nu's arrows deal only 5 (x3) attack, less damage than an ordinary Crossbowman, but with bigger multipliers. It falls quickly to hand cavalry as it is fairly weak, with only 90 hit points. A player will receive 9 xp for recruiting or killing a Chu Ko Nu.

The Chu Ko Nu has a 2x attack bonus against Heavy Infantry and Light Cavalry; after Repelling volley cards increase the bonuses into 3x against Heavy infantry and Light cavalry, although it has a 0.75x attack multiplier against Cavalry, making it particularly weak against Heavy Cavalry units such as the Spahi and the Cuirassier.

Home City Shipments
The Chu Ko Nu can be sent from the Home City in two cards, listed below:


 * 8 Chu Ko Nu- sends 8 Chu Ko Nu at no cost
 * Mandarin Duck Squad- sends 8 Chu Ko Nu and a Flamethrower, at the price of 800 Food
 * Standard Army- +10% hitpoints for the Chu Ko Nu and Steppe Rider
 * Repelling volley- +10% attack and +1.0x multiplier against light cavalry and heavy infantry
 * Western reforms- +8% hitpoints and attack for all units
 * Old Han Reforms- +100% attack, +100% hitpoints, +50% wood and food cost for the Chu Ko Nu and Qiang Pikeman, at the price of 1000 Food

Trivia

 * Chu Ko Nu literally means "The crossbow of Zhuge." Zhuge (also known as Zhuge Liang) was a famous tactician who lived and died during China's Three Kingdoms era. However, the Chinese more commonly refer to it as the "Lian Nu", literally translating to "Repeating Crossbow".
 * Despite its name, the Chu Ko Nu was not invented by Zhuge, being in use some two hundred years before his birth. However, it is likely that he improved its design to make it a more effective weapon of war.
 * The actual Chu Ko Nu had a firing rate of around two arrows per three seconds, making it the most rapid-firing weapon in existence until the invention of the Gatling gun 1800 years later.