Galleon (Age of Empires III)

For the related Age of Empires II unit, see Galleon (Age of Empires II). The Galleon is a warship featured in Age of Empires III.

Overview
The galleon is a moderately fast and powerful military ship that is capable of training and transporting soldiers directly onto foreign soil. It is also a type of treasure ship (gold mine) during Act I: Blood and Act III: Steel. Spanish galleons (with cards) make excellent attack vessels and damage sponges in any age, however other civilizations will find it is only good for this purpose in the lower ages when directly compared to a caravel.

The galleon will only produce units normally available at a Barracks for that civilization, however the Spanish galleons can also produce Mercenaries in the form of Pirates if a Home City Card is sent.

Spanish galleons
The Spanish have the strongest galleons in the game only if they take advantage of their home city improvements, this is only realistically an option in Treaty or Deathmatch games, against casual players or against AI opponents. If they choose to do so the Spanish galleon has more Hit Points than any other ship sailing the seas in Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs. With the release of The Asian Dynasties expansion, the Spanish Fuchuan becomes the highest hit point vessel in the game when received via the TEAM 1 Fuchuan card sent by a Chinese ally.

Spanish galleons can easily hold their own against the more expensive Frigates, Tekkousen, and Fuchuan or outrun them if necesarry. If unction is used to augment the card bonuses and dock upgrades they will inflict 162 damage per shot (not including allied bonuses), but be limited to the waters near shore due to the range limitations of the aura.

While extremely durable, the Spanish galleon is slower than a Tlaloc Canoe and can't retreat effectively from combat with them. It also lacks the range of many other ships, this can be exploited by an opponent as a means of overcoming the durability and shoreline attack power (unction). Particularly dangerous are the Fuchuan (with European Cannons), Tlaloc Canoes (with Water Dance and Offshore Support),Canoe (with Water Dance,Offshore Support or Fire Dance) and Monitors or Ironclads due to their long-range shots. If used near the shoreline for purposes of drawing upon unction, then it's recommended to back-up the galleon with Culverins, as they have greater range than all ships except monitors, ironclads (though it beats the ironclad on normal attack range, but not it's long-range attack) or some ships using offshore support. When attacking enemy shores with the ship, the same artillery can be dangerous to the galleon. Augmented fire ships (home city cards, etc) can also be dangerous in large groups.

Cards and upgrades

 * Discovery Age
 * TEAM Inquisition - +10 to all units LOS.
 * TEAM Archaic Soldier Training - Crossbowmen and Pikemen train 50% faster, even from a galleon.
 * Advanced Dock - Ships train 33% faster, docks heal idle ships for 20 hit points per second instead of 10, and the dock gains a stronger counter attack when being attacked by ships. Galleons will train faster than all ships except canoes, Fire Ships and Marathan Catamarans unless the enemy uses the card as well.
 * TEAM Cheap Docks (British ally) - Docks cost 25% less wood, and the upgrades purchased there have their wood cost reduced by 50%.


 * Colonial Age
 * 1 Galleon - Ships 1 galleon from Seville.
 * Spanish Galleons - +50% to galleon hit points and attack.
 * Improved Warships - +25% to warship hit points and attack.
 * Unction - +5-62% to warship modified attack with 1-10 nearby Missionaries.
 * Admiralty - Increases ship build limits, galleons gain +2 bringing the total to five.
 * Fencing School - All infantry train 40% faster, even from a galleon.
 * TEAM Fencing School (Russian ally) - All infantry train 25% faster, even from a galleon.
 * TEAM Cold Water Port (Russian ally) - Warships are 15% cheaper.
 * TEAM Improved Warships (Chinese ally) - +15% to warship hit points and attack.
 * TEAM Shivaji's Tactics - +5% to unit hit points and attack.
 * Town Watch - +2 to all units LOS.
 * Carronade - +25% to warship attack.
 * Armor Plating - +50% to warship hit points.


 * Fortress Age
 * Armada - +30% to warship hit points.


 * Industrial Age
 * Spanish Treasure Fleet - Ships 3 galleons from Seville.
 * Spanish Gold - +50% to galleon and Saloon hit points, and both can train Pirates that also receive a 50% boost to hit points.
 * Standing Army - Infantry train 25% faster, even from a galleon.

Treasures

 * Land treasures

Some land treasures added in The Asian Dynasties will benefit the galleon indirectly.


 * Infantry train times are reduced by 5%, even from a galleon.


 * Water treasures

Water treasures are only available with The Asian Dynasties expansion.


 * Ships train 5% faster, bringing the total galleon train time (with advanced dock) down to 18.6 seconds.
 * Ships require 5% less resources to build, bringing the total galleon cost (with TEAM cold water port) down to and.
 * Warships receive a 5% boost to their hit points.

Minor civilization upgrades
Some minor civilizations have upgrades which reduce infantry train time or influence the galleon indirectly in other ways, such as influencing the infantry trained from the vessel or the cost of docks. However one civilization stands out as better than the rest for use with a galleon strategy.


 * Inca - The Chaquis Messengers upgrade will reduce infantry train times by 25%, even from a galleon.
 * The civilization can also increase the speed of infantry by 20% if the "Incan Roadbuilding" upgrade is purchased. This can counter the penalty of the corselet upgrade due to a royal decree and result in a small speed boost and the 25% greater hit points due to the corselet. The resulting speed advantage can then be bolstered even further with the military drummers upgrade, while the hit point bonus can be built upon further with home city cards, unit upgrades and arsenal upgrades.