Composite Bowman

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the technology in Age of Empires IV, see Composite Bows.

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 pierce
Rate of Fire	1.4
Frame delay	26
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.

Unit availability

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

The * indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Composite Bowmen, i.e. gets Chain Mail Archers, Craftsmanship, Ballistics, and Alchemy.

The ^ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization bonus that benefits the combat strength of the Composite Bowman.

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.

However, in Deathmatch games, 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.

The Minoans have an additional 2 range for their Composite Bowmen, allowing them to strike before other archers and out-range towers. They can therefore continue using them effectively in the Iron Age and in Deathmatches.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Infantry units, Villagers
Weak vs.	Cavalry units, siege units
Upgrades
Attack	Alchemy (+1)
Range	Woodworking (+1)  Artisanship (+1)  Craftsmanship (+1)
Accuracy	Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Melee armor	Leather Armor Archers (+2)  Scale Armor Archers (+2)  Chain Mail Archers (+2)

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