Crossbowman (Age of Empires II)

"Stronger than Archer. Quick and light."

- Age of Empires II description

The Crossbowman is an archer unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Archery Range once the Castle Age is reached. It is good against infantry and Villagers, but struggles against cavalry, Skirmishers, and siege weapons.

Crossbowmen are available to all civilizations except for the Spanish.

Tactics
Upgrading to Crossbowman reduces the training time of Archers from 35 seconds to 27 seconds, making this a critical upgrade if the chosen strategy is/involves massing Archers. Creating Crossbowmen is a good choice as they are cheap to produce and provide good covering fire. They work especially well with infantry in this regard. It is better to put crossbowmen in a group of melee infantry as ranged attacks are weak against buildings. The Spearman line is an excellent deterrent for cavalry, while friendly cavalry can counter siege units and Skirmishers.

Further Statistics
Civilizations Bonuses=
 * Aztecs: Crossbowmen are created 15% faster.
 * Britons: Crossbowmen have +1 range in the Castle Age, and +1 range in the Imperial Age (+2 in total).
 * Celts: Herdables cannot be stolen within a Crossbowman's Line of Sight.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Crossbowmen are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Ethiopians: Crossbowmen fire 15% faster.
 * Mayans: Crossbowmen are 20%/30% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Portuguese: Crossbowmen cost 15% less gold.
 * Turks: Chemistry is free.
 * -|Team Bonuses=
 * A team containing Britons: Crossbowmen are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Thumb Ring is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Magyars Crossbowmen have +2 LOS.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Saracens: Crossbowmen have +1 attack against buildings.
 * A team containing Teutons: Crossbowmen are more resistant to conversion.
 * -|The Forgotten Changes=
 * Britons: Yeomen that adds +1 range to Crossbowmen moved to Castle Age.
 * -|The African Kingdoms Changes=
 * Italians: Pavise now affects Crossbowmen.

Trivia

 * In terms of wood, the units from the Archer line are the cheapest archers in the game.

History
"The crossbow was a missile weapon consisting of a bow on its side attached to the end of a wood stock. The stock was held against the shoulder like a modern rifle and a trigger fired the weapon. The crossbow had been invented in ancient China but was not used widely in Europe until the Middle Ages. It fired short quarrels, stones, or metal balls rather than arrows. It was a powerful weapon but limited to a shorter range than the best bows. It was simple to use, relatively cheap to make, and deadly. A peasant with only a few hours of crossbow practice could easily kill an elite knight encased in armor worth a fortune who had trained for war throughout his life. The knights in Europe at one point attempted to get the Church to ban the weapon. Richard the Lionhearted, King of England, died from a crossbow quarrel wound received during a siege."