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ā€œA simple warrior armed with a spiked club.ā€
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Clubman is an infantry unit in Age of Empires that can be trained at the Barracks. It is the first and most basic infantry unit and the only military unit trainable in the Stone Age. Researching Battle Axe upgrades Clubmen to Axemen.

Clubmen are available to all civilizations.

Gameplay[]

The only Stone Age units capable of attack are the Clubman and Villager. The Clubman is far more durable and slightly faster, so can be used to explore the map with less to fear from predators such as Lions and Crocodiles.

En masse, they can also be used for very early raids, being available before walls, towers, and ranged troops. Individual Clubmen accomplish little when marched towards enemy Town Centers, as they are outmatched by a pair of Villagers, but a mob of Clubmen can massively disrupt the enemy's economy. Late-Stone-Age players attempting to boom should prevent enemy Clubmen from reaching their Villagers and Town Center by blocking off routes with screens of Houses or other buildings.

When enemies reach the Tool Age, the Clubman will quickly become outclassed by the more maneuverable and durable Scout, ranged Bowman, and naval Scout Ship, and struggle to break through the first dedicated walls and towers. During this age, the Clubman can be upgraded to the far more powerful Axeman, which should be done as soon as possible if the player plans an infantry focus at this point in the game. By the Bronze Age, however, the entire line will be obsolete, with their only advantage versus the Short Swordsman being that they cost no gold (and in Return of Rome, the Axeman deals slightly more damage to mounted units).

Further statistics[]

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Villagers
Weak vs. Archers, cavalry
Upgrades
Attack Toolworking Toolworking (+2)
Metalworkingicon Metalworking (+2)
Metallurgyicon Metallurgy (+3)
Armor Leatherarmorinfantryicon Leather Armor Infantry (+2/+0)
Scalearmorinfantryicon Scale Armor Infantry (+2/+0)
Chainmailinfantryicon Chain Mail Infantry (+2/+0)
Bronzeshieldicon Bronze Shield (+0/+1)
Ironshieldicon Iron Shield (+0/+1)
Towershieldicon Tower Shield (+0/+1)
Cost Logistics Logistics (-0.5 population usage)
Creation speed RoR Conscription Conscription (+25%)
Upgrades Battle Axe Battle Axe

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

  • Palmyran AOE DE ROR icon Palmyrans: Upgrading Clubmen to Axemen and researching upgrades that benefit Clubmen is 30% faster.

Changelog[]

ReturnRome-AoEIcon Age of Empires[]

  • Clubmen move at 1.2 tiles/s.

AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome[]

  • Clubmen move at 1 tiles/s.
  • Team bonuses added, Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Clubmen researched 30% faster.

History[]

ā€œThe first soldiers were local people called up for military duty in times of emergency. These temporary soldiers were commonly armed with any weapon used for hunting game and other wildlife. A common development of these weapons were wooden spears and large pieces of wood or bone. These tools were easily made since they could be crafted very easily and were an extension of weapons already used for hunting and gathering. Early troops that used these weapons were effective and needed minimum training. The club itself had very little practical use other than for combat against other humans since it was too slow and cumbersome to hunt game. These early fighters eventually became obsolete following the Neolithic Revolution, as better tools and toolworking became available. Some of these improvements included improved stoneworking and woodworking, and later the introduction of more advanced metal weapons made from bronze.ā€
Age of Empires manual

Gallery[]

Tech tree[]

Barracks
Stone Age Icon (DE)
ā†’
Tool Age Icon (DE)
ā†’
Bronze Age Icon (DE)
ā†’
Iron Age Icon (DE)
Aoede clubman available ā†’ Axeman
Slinger
Aoede short swordsman available ā†’ Aoede broad swordsman available ā†’ Long Swordsman ā†’ Legionary


Units in Age of Empires
CivilianReturnofrome female villager icon Villager Ā· Returnofrome trade cart icon Trade Cart
OtherAoE2 DE priest icon Priest Ā· Slinger-0 Slinger Ā· Returnofrome artifact icon Artifact
Civilian ship1 Fishing Boat Fishing Boat Ā· 2 Fishing Ship Fishing Ship
3 Trade Boat Trade Boat Ā· 4 Merchant Ship Merchant Ship
5 Light Transport Light Transport Ā· 6 Heavy Transport Heavy Transport
InfantryClubman Clubman Ā· AxemanAoEDE Axeman
Short Swordsman Short Swordsman Ā· Broad Swordsman Broad Swordsman Ā· AoE nuRoR Long Swordsman icon Long Swordsmen Ā· Returnofrome legionary icon Legionary
HopliteDE Hoplite Ā· AoE nuRoR Phalangite icon Phalangite Ā· Returnofrome centurion icon Centurion
ArcherBowman aoe1de Bowman
Improved Bowman22 Improved Bowman Ā· Composite Bowman Composite Bowman
Chariot Archer111 Chariot Archer
Horse Archer Horse Archer Ā· Returnofrome heavy horse archer icon Heavy Horse Archer
EAICON DE Elephant Archer
CavalryScout-0 Scout
ChariotDE Chariot Ā· ScytheDE Scythe Chariot
Cavalry111 Cavalry Ā· Returnofrome heavy cavalry icon Heavy Cavalry Ā· Returnofrome cataphract icon Cataphract
War ElephantDE War Elephant Ā· Returnofrome armored elephant icon Armored Elephant
Camel RiderDE Camel Rider
SiegeStone ThrowerDE Stone Thrower Ā· CatapultDE Catapult Ā· Returnofrome heavy catapult icon Heavy Catapult
BallistaDE Ballista Ā· Returnofrome helepolis icon Helepolis
War Ship7 Scout Ship Scout Ship Ā· 8 War Galley War Galley Ā· 9 Trireme Trireme
Catapult Trireme Catapult Trireme Ā· Returnofrome juggernaut icon Juggernaut
10 Fire Galley Fire Galley
Scenario Editor-only units
Short Swordsman Chieftain Ā· Donkey caravan aoe2DE Donkey Ā· Clubman Explorer Ā· Returnofrome heavy cavalry icon General Ā· AoE2 DE priest icon High Priest Ā· Returnofrome horse icon Horse Ā· HeavyCavalryDE Mercenary (removed) Ā· Penguin aoe2DE Penguin Ā· AoE2 DE priest icon Pharaoh Ā· 5 Light Transport Raft Ā· Returnofrome artifact icon War Chest
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