| 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). |
The Crossbowman is an archaic ranged unit available to most European civilizations in Age of Empires III.
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 (allowing them and allies to train skirmishers in the Colonial Age). Also the Portuguese can get Royal Guard level Crossbowmen with the unique church card, Besteiros(though they can't get Imperial Guard level).
CivilizationsEdit
- The British have unique Longbowmen instead of Crossbowmen.
- Dutch, Ottomans and Russians do not have any kind of archaic ranged units (sound files for the Dutch Crossbowman can be found).
UpgradesEdit
Crossbowman benefit from technologies found at the Arsenal and can be upgraded to the Veteran level after the Colonial Age. Crossbowman cannot be upgraded beyond the Veteran level.
Veteran CrossbowmanEdit
Veteran Crossbowman is an upgrade to the ordinary crossbowman and is available for 200 wood and 200 coin at the Barracks once Fortress Age is reached. Veteran Crossbowman have higher attack and hit points but the overall function and the multipliers as well as the resists remains the same.
- Hit Points: 120
- Ranged Attack: 20
- Hand Attack: 8
- Siege Attack: 9
- Note: 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 it is also used with the Standing Army improvement.
HistoryEdit
"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."
Shipments Edit
This is a list of shipments that benefit Crossbowmen in any way.
| Click for a list of Crossbowman-related Home City cards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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French
|
| Card name | Card description | Age | Level |
| 8 Crossbowmen | Sends 8 Crossbowmen | 2 | 0 |
| 10 Crossbowmen | Sends 10 Crossbowmen | 3 | 0 |
| 20 Crossbowmen | Sends 20 Crossbowmen | 4 | 10 |
| Long-range Infantry Hitpoints | increases hitpoints | 2 | 10 |
| TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack | increases attack | 3 | 10 |
| Fencing School | Decreases training time | 2 | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card name | Card description | Age | Level |
| 10 Crossbowmen | Sends 10 Crossbowmen | 3 | 0 |
| 8 Crossbowmen | Sends 8 Crossbowmen | 2 | 10 |
| Long-range Infantry Hitpoints | increases hitpoints | 4 | 25 |
| Fencing School | Decreases training time | 2 | 10 |
Portuguese Edit
| Card name | Card description | Age | Level |
| 8 Crossbowmen | Sends 8 Crossbowmen | 2 | 0 |
| 10 Crossbowmen | Sends 10 Crossbowmen | 3 | 0 |
| Fencing School | Decreases training time | 2 | 10 |
| Advanced Church Card | enables 'Besteiros' at the church which upgrades all crossbowmen to guard status(+30% hitpoints and damage) and renames them, costs 2400 wood, also ships 22 Besteiros | 3 | 10 |
Spanish Edit
| Card name | Card description | Age | Level |
| TEAM Archaic Soldier Training | Crossbowmen, Pikemen and Longbowmen train faster. | 1 | 10 |
| 20 Crossbowmen | Sends 20 Crossbowmen | 4 | 10 |
| Fencing School | Decreases training time | 2 | 10 |
GalleryEdit
