Carbine Cavalry

Carbine Cavalry
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Type	Cavalry Light ranged cavalry Ranged cavalry Gunpowder cavalry
Civilization(s)	United States United States (revolutionary)
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Stable Fort Steamer
Population	2
Food	80
Coin	80
Train time	37 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	180
Resistance	10% Ranged
Speed	7.25
Line of Sight	16
XP train bounty	16
XP kill bounty	16
Hand attack
Damage	12 Hand
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry ×2.25 vs. Hand shock infantry ×2.0 vs. Artillery
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	19 Ranged
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Heavy cavalry ×2.25 vs. Hand shock infantry ×2.0 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Villager
Range	12
Rate of Fire	2.5
Siege attack
Damage	9.25 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Ranged light cavalry equipped with a carbine repeater. Good against Heavy Cavalry and Artillery.	”
—In-game description

The Carbine Cavalry is a gunpowder light ranged cavalry in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition that is unique to the United States and can be trained at the Stable, Fort and Steamer, replacing the Dragoon. It is armed with a repeating carbine that allows them to fire two shots in a quick succession.

Overview

The Carbine Cavalry is cheaper and has slightly better DPS than the Dragoon, but is somewhat fragile due to lowered hit points and ranged resistance. In contrast to the high damage and slower Rate of Fire of Dragoons, Carbine Cavalry have low base damage bolstered by faster Rate of Fire and the double-tap attack feature. This makes it suited for massed attack rather than traditional hit-and-run tactics, but only when protected by heavy cavalry.

Upgrades

The Carbine Cavalry starts at the Veteran level, giving them +20% hit points and attack, and +2 ranged attack range.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Guard Carbine Cavalry	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrades Carbine Cavalry to Guard (+30% hit points and attack)
	Imperial Carbine Cavalry	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Carbine Cavalry to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Carbine Cavalry
	Veteran Carbine Cavalry	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrades Carbine Cavalry to Guard (+10% hit points and attack)

Civilization differences

• The Italians can ship 10 Veteran Carbine Cavalry through Carabinieri, which also turns all Dragoons into Carbine Cavalry and gives them ×1.5 attack multiplier against outlaws and mercenaries.

Revolutionary

• The United States can sent the "Lee's Continental Light Dragoons" Home City Card, which ships 12 Carbine Cavalry, turns all existings Dragoons/Ruyters/Hakkapelits into Carbine Cavalry and replaces them at Stables, Forts, and Galleons/Fluyts. These Carbine Cavalry are automatically upgraded to Guard, and revolting from the Dutch allows them to be upgraded to Veteran, giving them an additional +10% hit points and attack.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy cavalry, hand shock infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Pillage (+25% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) Carabinieri (-10% ranged Rate of Fire; Italians only)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Carabinieri (ships 10 Veteran Carbine Cavalry; Italians only) Pennsylvania Cavalry (ships 5 Carbine Cavalry; requires the "Philadelphia Convention" Federal Home City Card; United States only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Carbine Cavalry

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

British

Card	Description	Age
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%
Lee's Continental Light Dragoons	Ships 12 Carbine Cavalry; turns all Dragoons/Ruyters/Hakkapelits into Carbine Cavalry; Carbine Cavalry replace Dragoons/Ruyters/Hakkapelits at Stables, Forts, and Galleons/Fluyts; upgrades Carbine Cavalry to Guard and allows them to be upgraded to Veteran (if revolting from the Dutch)
American Patriotism	State Militia train time -45%; Regular and Revolutionary Sharpshooter train time -35%; Carbine Cavalry and Legion Grenadier train time -25%; Home City Cards' that enables unique units for the Revolution arrive time -25%
Continental Army	Turns all Revolutionaries into Regulars; Regulars, Revolutionary Sharpshooters, Carbine Cavalry, Revolutionaries, Militiamen, and Prussian Uhlans get +15% hit points and attack; General and Legion Grenadiers get +10% hit points and attack; costs 500 coin

• "Cavalry Combat" is not available to the Swedes.
• "Lee's Continental Light Dragoons", "American Patriotism", and "Continental Army" are available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry and cavalry get +15% hand attack

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Aviz	Dragoons, Ruyters, Cavalry Archers, Rifle Riders, Musket Riders, Yabusame, and Carbine Cavalry can be trained in the Commerce Age; Zamburaks, Eagle Runner Knights, Bolas Warriors, Black Riders, and Ming Army train time -15%; Mongolian Army train time -7%

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Ranged Cavalry Combat	Ranged cavalry get +15% hit points and attack

United States

Card	Description	Age
10 Carbine Cavalry	Ships 10 Carbine Cavalry
5 Carbine Cavalry	Ships 5 Carbine Cavalry
4 Carbine Cavalry	Ships 4 Carbine Cavalry
Buffalo Soldiers	Carbine Cavalry get +15% attack and +10% ranged resistance
Patriotism	State Militia train time -45%; Regular and Sharpshooter train time -35%; Hussars and Carbine Cavalry train time -25%
Lee's Legion	[Legion] Ships 6 Carbine Cavalry; Carbine Cavalry available from the Commerce Age; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Philadelphia Convention	Ships 1 Meeting House Wagon; Pennsylvania Pound, 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, and Pennsylvania Cavalry available at the Meeting House; Meeting House build limit +1
Indiana Mobilization	Ships 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; all units and technologies including Age advancements train and research time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Seminole Ponies	Hand cavalry get +15% hit points and attack, and +5% speed; cavalry train time -10%

• "Philadelphia Convention" is available upon selecting the Pennsylvania Federal State.
• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.
• "Seminole Ponies" is available upon selecting the Florida Federal State.

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• Carbine Cavalry give 18 XP when trained or killed, have 12 range and 2.50 ranged Rate of Fire, and Buffalo Soldiers grants +25% attack damage.

The African Royals

• With update 50830, Carbine Cavalry have 2.25 ranged Rate of Fire, 14 range, but Veteran and Guard upgrades no longer grant +1 range. Buffalo Soldiers grants +15% attack damage and +10% ranged resistance.
• With update 50830, the Lee's Legion card ships 6 Carbine Cavalry and costs 250f, 250w.
• Although it is not listed in the patch notes, with update 50830, Carbine Cavalry give 16 XP when trained or killed.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.18214, Carbine Cavalry now benefit from the Target Lock feature (once the firing animation begins, the attack will always finish, even if the target moves out of range).
• Although not listed in the patch notes, with update 14.43676, the unupgraded Carbine Cavalry received a new model. Carbine Cavalry shipped by Carabinieri received a new model.
• With update 15.30007, Rate of Fire slowed down to 2.5 from 2.25 and damage increased to 19 from 18.5.
• With update 15.59076, Carbine Cavalry range reduced to from 14 to 12 in the Commerce Age, but automatically restored to 14 in the Fortress Age.

Trivia

• In its unit portrait, the Carabine Cavalry is armed with what appears to be a Spencer carbine.

History

“

As early modern warfare transitioned into an age where firearms dominated the battlefield, cavalry units felt the need to adapt in kind. While long, muzzle-loading rifles could not be used effectively from horseback, a variant –– the carbine –– soon developed. Carbines were shorter and easier to reload than rifles, making them far more practical, and were adopted with enthusiasm by the US Cavalry. This weapon was far more effective than the pistols used by European dragoons and highly useful for the open terrains on which they were usually used. During the late 19th century, more advanced carbines were developed, such as Spencers and Winchesters, whose breech-loading and lever-action mechanisms allowed quick reloading and rapid firing, a deadly combination.

”

Gallery

Carbine Cavalry image from the Compendium section

In-game Carbine Cavalry since update 14.43676

In-game Veteran Carbine Cavalry

In-game Guard Carbine Cavalry

In-game Imperial Carbine Cavalry

In-game Carabiniere (Carbine Cavalry shipped by Carabinieri) since update 14.43676