Axe Rider

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs. For the native unit, see Lakota Axe Rider.

Axe Rider
Unit information
Introduced in	The WarChiefs
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Melee cavalry
Civilization	Lakota
Age	Commerce Age
Special ability	Nature Friendship (with the "Morning Star" Home City Card)
Training
Trained at	Corral
Food	160
Coin	40
Training time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	250
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	12
Population	2
XP train bounty	20
XP bounty	20
Melee attack
Damage	35
Multipliers	x0.75 vs. Light cavalry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	20
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Mounted warrior good against skirmishers, foot archers, and artillery.	”
—In-game description

The Axe Rider is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that is unique to the Lakota and can be trained at the Corral.

Overview

The Axe Rider has a higher attack than most other cavalry units, making it quick and efficient at killing light infantry. However, Axe Riders also have relatively low hit points (before upgrades), so it is recommended to guard them from heavy infantry and ranged cavalry. Mass Axe Rider production relies on gathering a large amount of food so it is advisable to take control of the map early and secure as many hunts as possible to produce them in large numbers.

It is a good idea to combine them with Rifle Riders as they can break through the enemy's line of Musketeers and Pikemen, allowing the Axe Riders to reach the skirmishers or artillery they were protecting and eliminate them.

Due to the incredible number of upgrades and Home City shipments the Lakota have to upgrade their cavalry units, Axe Riders scale exceptionally well into the late stages of the game. When fully upgraded, they possess 675 hit points and 80 attack, while being quite cheap (with Mustangs) and only two population. This of course does not take into account any available native upgrades, team cards, auras or ceremonies.

In the original The WarChiefs, the "Morning Star" Home City Card, available for a level 40 Sioux Home City, grants the Axe Rider the Nature Friendship ability to convert Treasure Guardians; having a group of Axe Riders accompanying the Sioux War Chief allows the player to quickly collect all treasures and convert all Treasure Guardians. In the Definitive Edition, "Morning Star" instead gives all hand cavalry a 2.0x multiplier against Treasure Guardians.

Special ability

Nature Friendship (requires the "Morning Star" Home City Card; not available in the Definitive Edition): Converts a Treasure Guardian to the Axe Rider's side with the process taking 4 seconds to complete. 90 seconds cooldown.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Elite Axe Riders	200 wood, 100 coin	Upgrades Axe Riders to Elite (+25% hit points and attack)
	Champion Axe Riders	400 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Axe Riders to Champion (+25% hit points and attack); requires Elite Axe Riders
	Legendary Axe Riders	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Axe Riders to Legendary (+50% hit points and attack); requires Champion Axe Riders

Further statistics

As Axe Riders are unique to the Lakota, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ranged infantry, light infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Horsemanship (+10%) Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Bonepipe Armor (+1.0x multiplier vs. artillery) Pillage (+25% siege attack) Yoga (+5%)
Speed	Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Axe Riders are unique to the Lakota, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Axe Rider

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack 10 Germans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry get +15% attack 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and light infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS 1 Sioux Card Description Age HC level Morning Star Axe Riders can use Nature Friendship 40 Evening Star Turns all Axe Riders into Rifle Riders 25 3 Axe Riders Ships 3 Axe Riders 1 4 Axe Riders Ships 4 Axe Riders 1 4 Axe Riders Ships 4 Axe Riders 10 5 Axe Riders Ships 5 Axe Riders 10 8 Axe Riders Ships 8 Axe Riders 25 6 Axe Riders Ships 6 Axe Riders 40 Cavalry Damage Cavalry get +15% attack 10 Cavalry Hitpoints Cavalry get +15% hit points 10 Cavalry Combat Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack 25 Mustangs Cavalry costs -10% 10 Riding School Cavalry train time -40% 10 Lakota Support Ships 7 Axe Riders and 9 Bisons; costs 1,000 coin 1 Santee Support Ships 6 Axe Riders and Axe Riders get +20% hit points; costs 1,000 coin 10 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Trivia

• Despite being called Axe Rider, the weapon they use is a gunstock war club, an indigenous weapon used by Native Americans. Indigenous tribes of America most likely created the design of the club based upon European firearms.
  • The other units that utilise these clubs are the Kanya Horseman, Lakota Axe Rider, and Club Warrior.

History

“

When the Sioux discovered horses, they were so impressed they named the new animal the Wonder Dog. It changed their entire way of life. Almost overnight, they became one of the most famous nomad peoples of history. Their effectiveness in combat is best summed up by the fact that the Sioux were long considered the best cavalry in the world.

”

Gallery

An in-game Axe Rider

An in-game Elite Axe Rider

An in-game Champion/Legendary Axe Rider

The Axe Rider from the in-game History section