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| This article is about the Age of Empires III unit. For the unit of the same name in Age of Empires II, see Crossbowman (Age of Empires II). |
"Archaic archer. Good against infantry."—In-game description
The Crossbowman is an archer in Age of Empires III that can be trained at Barracks, Fort, and Galleon.
Crossbowmen are only available to the French, Germans, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Overview 
Edit
Crossbowmen are light infantry units that use crossbows in battle. They are counter infantry units that are useful for attacking heavy infantry such as Musketeers, but are easily defeated by melee cavalry and artillery. They are similar in many ways to Skirmishers. Although the Crossbowmen might be out-ranged by their Skirmisher counterparts, they are cheaper and are trainable earlier in the game. The exceptions to this rule reside in the Dutch who can train Skirmishers in the Colonial Age and the French through the use of TEAM Early Skirmishers which allows them and their allies to train Skirmishers in the Colonial Age.
Spanish players have the option of being able to almost instantly train (2.7 seconds) Crossbowmen and Pikemen in the Colonial Age, due to the TEAM Archaic Soldier Training and Fencing School cards, and can train instantly if the cards are also used with the Standing Army improvement.
Upgrades Edit
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Veteran Crossbowmen
| 200 wood, 200 coin | Upgrades Crossbowmen to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack) |
Civilization differences Edit
- The Portuguese has the Besteiros technology, which "upgrades" their Crossbowmen to the "Guard" level by granting the Veteran upgrade (if not already) and giving them +30% hit points and attack.
- Indians and Japanese can get Crossbowmen by allying with the Portuguese, which provides Portuguese Expeditionary Company and Portuguese Expeditionary Force that includes 7 and 10 Crossbowmen (named Besteiro) respectively. These Crossbowmen start with +10% hit points and attack than their regular counterpart, and are automatically upgraded in each Age starting from the Fortress Age (see here for the exact values).
Further statistics Edit
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knights |
| Weak vs. | Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Besteiros (+30%, Portuguese only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack | Besteiros (+30%, Portuguese only) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Carib Garifuna Drums (+1.0x multiplier vs. villagers) Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Seminole Bowyer (+25%) Tupi Poison Arrow Frogs (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
|
| Speed |  Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
|
| Other | Besteiros (ships 22 Crossbowmen and grants the Veteran upgrade, Portuguese only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
| Penalties | Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only) High Crusade (-5% hit points, Knights of St. John only)
|
Home City Cards Edit
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Crossbowman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints
| Infantry get +15% hit points |  | 10 |
Europeans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 8 Crossbowmen
| Ships 8 Crossbowmen (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans) | | 1 |
 10 Crossbowmen
| Ships 10 Crossbowmen (also +3 Uhlans for the Germans) | | 1 |
 24 Crossbowmen
| Ships 24 Crossbowmen |  | 10 |
 Long-range Infantry Hitpoints
| Crossbowmen and Skirmishers get +15% hit points | | 10 |
 Fencing School
| Infantry train time -40% | | 10 |
- The 8 Crossbowmen and 10 Crossbowmen cards are not available to the Spanish.
- The Long-range Infantry Hitpoints card is available to French and Germans (in the Industrial Age and at a level 1 Home City, also ships 4 Uhlans).
- The 24 Crossbowmen card is not available to Germans and Portuguese.
French Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack
| Ranged infantry get +15% attack | | 10 |
 Tirailleurs
| Turns all Crossbowmen into Skirmishers | | 40 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Iroquois Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Scout Infantry
| Infantry get +8 LOS | | 10 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Dueling School
| Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% | | 25 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Archaic Soldier Training
| Pikeman, Crossbowman, Longbowman, Macehualtin, Aenna, Cetan Bow, and Yumi Archer train time -50%; Old Han Army, Standard Army, and Ming Army train time -25% |  | 10 |
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
Trivia Edit
- The Dutch originally had the Crossbowman, as there are unused voice files for Dutch Crossbowmen in the game files.
History Edit
"Handheld crossbows began to appear in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Crossbowmen were attractive to military leaders because they took much less time to train than archers using bows. Firearms eclipsed Crossbows by the end of the sixteenth century.
Europeans, chiefly the Spanish, included crossbows amongst the muskets and cannon they brought to the New World. Cortes arrived with more than two dozen crossbows and less than ten muskets. Columbus' crew had crossbows when they landed in the West Indies. When the original stockpile of munitions ran out it was difficult or impossible to make or trade for more. Explorers had to be very careful with their limited supply."
Gallery Edit
An in-game Crossbowman
An in-game Veteran Crossbowman
The Crossbowman's history portrait
The in-game stats of a Crossbowman
The in-game stats of a fully upgraded Veteran Crossbowman
Portuguese Besteiro from Japanese Consulate
Crossbowman detailed model for cutscenes
See also Edit
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