Carib Blowgunner

The Carib Blowgunner is a Native American ranged unit which can be trained in a Trading Post built at a Carib settlement.

A variant of the Blowgunner, Carib Ambusher, can be trained by Explorers, War Chiefs or Monks once the Carib Ambush Party improvement is researched.

Overview
Carib Blowgunners and Ambushers excel at killing villagers in the Colonial Age even without Garifuna Drums. They inflict three more damage than Crossbowmen and have more hit points than Crossbowmen or Musketeers. Their ranged resistance is less than a Crossbowman, but the 60 extra hit points more than make up for this fact by allowing them to be more durable than Crossbowmen (especially against Outposts) at the same cost as a Musketeer (100 resources total, but they don't require Coin so it can still be stockpiled for Fortress Age or used to research the Garifuna Drums improvement). The fact the Ambushers can be replaced at the Explorer's location after bypassing enemy defenses makes them quite flexible as raid units.

Carib Ambushers train twice as fast as Blowgunners, three times faster than most European units and four times faster than all Colonial Age cavalry as well. Only Town Centers with bunkered Villagers, massed Outposts (focus fire), large armies, melee cavalry and Longbowmen (their range is the key factor) can threaten a party of ambushers with total annihilation in the Colonial Age despite careful management of the units.

History
"The Carib of the Lesser Antilles were warlike, skillfully navigating the waters of the Caribbean in canoes to raid other settlements - native and later, European - for women and food. Men and women spoke different languages, the men Carib and the women Arawak. It is thought that the Carib came from the northern coast of South America and drove off or killed the Arawak-speaking men, taking their women as wife-slaves. Carib warriors fought primarily with bows and blowguns. Their dress was minimal, primarily elaborate loincloths and necklaces for both men and women."

Outlaw Blowgunner
The Outlaw Blowgunner is a treasure guardian version of the Carib Blowgunner. They yield more hit points and speed as well as dealing a much higher ranged attack. Their melee damage however is significantly lower and it is recommended to defeat them with melee combat. The Outlaw Blowgunner also lacks the multipliers against heavy infantry and light cavalry and other units. They are found in maps set in Central and South America such as Amazonia, Yucatán, Araucania, and others.

Unlike the Carib Blowgunner, who has long, black hair, the Outlaw Blowgunner is bald.

History
"Blowguns, or blowpipes, are common hunting tools for native tribes inhabiting the rain forests of the Amazon and southern Central America. They are extremely accurate, though not particularly strong as weapons. Without poisons they are capable of taking down only very small prey, such as birds and tiny mammals. Curare is a famous dart poison that can be extracted from the roots, sprouts, and bark of a number of plants. Curare relaxes muscles and kills when it relaxes the muscles that control breathing. Tiny animals can die in a matter of seconds, larger animals a couple of minutes, and humans in an hour or so. The relaxation is temporary, and a victim who receives artificial respiration for the duration of the poison's effects may survive. The brightly colored poison dart frog is the source of one of the most deadly toxins known. Hunters roast these frogs to harvest their poisons. Not all poison dart frogs are poisonous and the toxins they secrete may actually be related to a diet of insects that eat toxic plants and pass the toxins on to the frogs. Poison dart frogs in captivity, fed a steady diet of 'clean' insects, have eventually lost their toxins and become safe to handle."