Cavalry Archers are a cheaper version of Dragoons, costing far less coin, and only slightly more food. They deal only slightly more than half the damage of a Dragoon per shot, but fire twice as fast, making their damage per second higher, despite their lower cost. They also move slower than a Dragoon and have a 0.61 second animation delay compared to the 0.43 of a Dragoon, meaning they are significantly less effective at hit-and-run tactics. They resist 30% hand damage as well as having more hit points, so they are more capable of fighting against some hand infantry and can take some of them down with them, though it is still not recommended to attack any hand infantry with them. The higher DPS and hit points, and high melee resist, also mean that they are much better at tanking hand cavalry attacks. They have multipliers against artillery, as well as heavy cavalry, and paired with their high hit points, they can easily take down artillery. Normally ranged cavalry do half damage to villagers, but the Ottomans' AkincisHome City Card allow them to gain an attack bonus against villagers instead, making them an effective unit for slowing down the enemy's economy. They can also be used to lure enemies into a trap using guerilla tactics.
Upgrades[]
The Cavalry Archer starts at the Veteran level, giving them +20% hit points and attack.
If they are made available in the Commerce Age with the "TEAM Early Dragoons" Home City Card, Cavalry Archers will be automatically upgraded to Veteran once the player reaches the Fortress Age.
Upgrades Cavalry Archers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Cavalry Archers
Imperial Dvoryane
Upgrades Dvoryanins to Imperial Dvoryanins (+50% hit points and attack); requires Dvoryane
Civilization differences[]
As seen above, the Russians can upgrade Cavalry Archers to Royal Guard and Imperial Guard.
Wallachian Horse Archer[]
The Wallachian Horse Archer is a variant of the Cavalry Archer unique to Romania, which fires 33% faster and have 10% more speed, but has 33% less hit points.
Wallachian Horse Archers can be obtained by sending the namesake Home City Card after revolting to Romania, where a Wallachian Horse spawns on every Outpost or Blockhouse that had been built by the player and all existing Cavalry Archers will be upgraded to Wallachian Horse Archers.
Each Outpost/Blockhouse spawns 1 Wallachian Horse Archer (Cavalry Archer with -33% hit points, -33% Rate of Fire and +10% speed) and availables them to be trained at Outposts (for Ottomans) and Blockhouses (for Russians); +1 Outpost Wagon; Outpost/Blockhouse build limit +1
With update 14.43676, the Dvoryane upgrade received a new model. The "Landed Gentry" Home City Cards grants a new model for Russian Cavalry Archers.
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Trivia[]
Cavalry Archers originally cost less population than Dragoons. This can be seen in this unit's History menu section.
Russian Royal Guard Cavalry Archers are named after the Dvoryanin.
Before update 14.43676, they are named after the Tatars who are renowned for their fierce horse archers.
Before the Definitive Edition, they are named after the European exonym Tartar.
The Loyalist part of their upgrade's name refers to the so-called serving Tatars, a class of ethnically Tatar state servants in Muscovy and Russia in the 14th-18th centuries.
History[]
“
Nomadic cavalry archers roamed with their herds in eastern and southern Russia. They raided, traveled, and conquered into what would become Russia and eastern Europe. The Europeans called these fierce cavalrymen the Tartars, though the Tartars were only one of a conglomeration of many distinct nomadic tribes and people. Their colorful tents earned them a more poetic name, the "Golden Horde." The Golden Horde, united under Tokhtamysh, sacked Moscow, but was soon wracked by a civil war that splintered the Horde into several Khanates. The new Russian nation of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, allied with some of the splinter groups, while the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II allied with others.
Cavalry Archers wore light clothes - baggy pants, vests, long coats, and furred hats. Blue and red were popular colors, and embroidery a popular decoration to garments. Soldiers carried a variety of arms, primarily bows, but also swords, spears, and later, firearms. Though the Tartars are most commonly thought of as cavalry, they were competent infantry as well.
”
Gallery[]
An in-game Cavalry Archer
An in-game Cavalry Archer
An in-game Royal Guard/Imperial Cavalry Archer
The Cavalry Archer's history portrait
Muscovite Cavalry Archers by Baron Sigmund von Herbertstein
In-game (Veteran) Cavalry Archer in the Definitive Edition
In-game Guard/Imperial Cavalry Archer in the Definitive Edition. The model was previously used for the unupgraded Cavalry Archer before update 13.27885