Composite Bowman

Composite Bowman
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Archer
Civilization	See table
Age	Bronze Age
Training
Trained at	Archery Range
Food	40
Gold	20
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	45
Attack	5
Rate of Fire	1.4
Range	7
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	1.2
Line of Sight	9
Unit evolution
Upgraded from	Improved Bowman

Composite Bowman is a unit in Age of Empires. It is an upgrade of the Improved Bowman. They are one of the Bronze Age's most cost effective units as they only require half the resources of a Chariot Archer.

The Minoans provide them a range boost of 2 to Composite Bowmen, allowing them to strike before other archers and out-range towers. They can therefore continue using them effectively in the Iron Age.

Unit availability

Available	Unavailable
Babylonians Egyptians Macedonians Minoans Palmyrans Persians Phoenicians Shang Yamato	Assyrians Carthaginians Choson Greeks Hittites Romans Sumerians

Strategy

The Composite Bowman is better than the Improved Bowman. Civilizations that can train the Improved Bowman usually have the ability to upgrade them to a Composite Bowman. Because of this, the Improved Bowman never really makes their full appearance in a random game. Boasting solid overall stats, the Composite Bowman is an excellent ranged choice due to its low cost.

In Deathmatch games, only the Minoans can use them efficiently, thanks to their range bonus. Since all players start with high resources in this type of game, civilizations that can train Cataphracts, or powerful siege weapons such as the Heavy Catapult or Helepolis, can make short work of them due to their fragility.

Upgrades

Tool Age

•  Leather Armor Archers: Increases armor by 2.
•  Woodworking: Increases range by 1.

Bronze Age

•  Scale Armor Archers: Increases armor by 2.
•  Artisanship: Increases range by 1.

Iron Age

•  Alchemy: Increases attack by 1.
•  Ballistics: Increases accuracy.
•  Chain Mail Archers: Increases armor by 2.
•  Craftsmanship: Increases range by 1.

Archery Range Tree
Tool Age Archery Range Bowman Bronze Age Improved Bowman Chariot Archer Composite Bowman Iron Age Horse Archer Elephant Archer Heavy Horse Archer

Civilization bonuses

• Macedonians: Composite Bowmen are four times more resistant against enemy conversion.
• Minoans: Composite Bowmen have +2 range.

Trivia

• Originally, Composite Bowmen were called Longbowmen, this is also the reason why their bow is longer than a traditional composite bow.
• The Composite Bowman in game will not be able to imitate his pose in the icon. In the icon, he is facing southeast while aiming at an enemy, holding the bow with his right arm and arrow with the left, allowing his back to face the player's view. In-game, when he is asked to face same direction and fire at an enemy unit, it is the other way around, exposing his front view to the player instead.

History

“	The composite bow was developed in Asia was also known as the oriental or recurved bow.  It reached the Mediterranean and Middle East by the beginning of the second millennium B.C.  It was made of layers of wood glued together rather than a single piece.  The composite material was then bent outward at each end to increase tension.  The result was a very powerful bow that doubled the effective range of the short bow.  Egyptian engravings depicting the Battle of Kadesh show Rameses II and other Egyptian archers using composite bows.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Gallery

A group of Composite Bowmen.

A group of Composite Bowmen attacking an enemy Storage Pit.

Composite Bowman in-game and infobox comparison. Even though the two illustrations show the Composite Bowman firing southeast, his in game counterpart does not imitate his pose on the infobox.

A Composite Bowman in the Definitive Edition