Janissary (Age of Empires III)

For the related Age of Empires II unit, see Janissary (Age of Empires II).

The Janissary (derives from Ottoman Turkish: يكيچرى (yeniçeri) meaning "new soldier") is an Ottoman infantry unit in Age of Empires III that fulfills the role of the Musketeer from other civilizations, though it costs more food than a Musketeer. They are the only infantry unit available to the Ottomans. They have many more hitpoints than Musketeers.

Although the Janissary marches slowly and is weak against artillery and light infantry, it is strong against cavalry. The Janissary fights at range with a musket and does slightly less ranged damage than a Musketeer and uses a scimitar for melee attacks, doing less damage to cavalry than a Musketeer, but more damage to other units. The Janissary can be upgraded to Veteran, Guard, and Imperial ranks, respectively. They can be combined with Abus Guns to form a deadly combo in early ages.

In the Age of Empires III campaign, Jannisaries fight against Morgan Black and his Knights of St. John on Malta, then later join him to defeat the Circle of Ossus and Alain Magnan.

Real Information
The Janissaries were usually Christian born servants who were conscripted into the Ottoman army. They formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguard. The force originated in the 14th century and it was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826 in The Auspicious Incident due to desire for reforming the military.