Crossbowman (Age of Empires III)

"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 available to European civilizations except British (who have Longbowmen instead), Dutch, Ottomans, Russians, and United States (Act III: Steel campaign).

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 it is also used with the Standing Army improvement.

Upgrades Edit

Age	Improvement	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Crossbowmen	200 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Crossbowmen to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)

Civilization differences Edit

• 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

As the Crossbowman can only be trained by French, Germans, Portuguese, and Spanish, only improvements available to them (including the campaign-only John Black's Mercenaries and Knights of St. John, and native improvements) are listed here.

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

As the Crossbowman is exclusive to French, Germans, Portuguese, and Spanish, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Crossbowman

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch Edit Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry gets +15% hit points 10 Europeans Edit Card Description Age Home City 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 Home City level TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry gets +15% attack 10 Tirailleurs Turns all Crossbowmen into Skirmishers 40 Indians Edit Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Edit Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry gets +8 LOS 10 Japanese Edit Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Edit Card Description Age Home City level Ransack Infantry gets +50% siege attack 25 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Edit Card Description Age Home City 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 in-game stats of a Crossbowman

The in-game stats of a fully upgraded Veteran Crossbowman

Crossbowman in the History menu

Add a photo to this gallery

See alsoEdit

• Chu Ko Nu – Chinese counterpart

Units in Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III
General	Explorer · Pikeman · Musketeer · Crossbowman · Skirmisher · Minuteman · Halberdier · Grenadier · Hussar · Dragoon · Cavalry Archer · Falconet · Heavy Cannon · Culverin · Mortar · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor · Horse Artillery* · Petard* · Spy*
Revolution*	Colonial Militia · Gatling Gun · Ironclad
British	Longbowman · Rocket
Dutch	Ruyter · Fluyt
French	Cuirassier
Germans	Doppelsoldner · Uhlan · War Wagon
Ottomans	Janissary · Abus Gun · Great Bombard · Galley · Spahi
Portuguese	Cassador · Organ Gun
Russians	Strelet · Cossack · Oprichnik
Spanish	Rodelero · Lancer
The WarChiefs
Aztecs	Aztec War Chief · Coyote Runner · Macehualtin · Puma Spearman · Arrow Knight · Eagle Runner Knight · Jaguar Prowl Knight · Warrior Priest · Skull Knight · Canoe · War Canoe · Tlaloc Canoe
Iroquois	Iroquois War Chief · Aenna · Tomahawk · Forest Prowler · Kanya Horseman · Musket Rider · Ram · Mantlet · Light Cannon · Canoe · War Canoe
Sioux	Sioux War Chief · Cetan Bow · War Club · Wakina Rifle · Axe Rider · Bow Rider · Rifle Rider · Tashunke Prowler · Dog Soldier · Canoe · War Canoe
The Asian Dynasties
Chinese	Shaolin Master · Disciple  · Chu Ko Nu · Qiang Pikeman · Changdao Swordsman · Arquebusier · Steppe Rider · Keshik · Iron Flail · Meteor Hammer · Hand Mortar · Flamethrower · Flying Crow · Fire Junk · War Junk · Fuchuan · Monitor
Indians	Brahmin · Rajput · Sepoy · Gurkha · Urumi · Sowar · Zamburak · Mahout Lancer · Howdah · Flail Elephant · Siege Elephant · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor
Japanese	Ikko-Ikki · Samurai · Ashigaru Musketeer · Yumi Archer · Naginata Rider · Yabusame · Flaming Arrow · Morutaru · Daimyo · Yamabushi · Shinobi · Hatamoto Samurai · Fune · Atakabune · Tekkousen · Monitor
*   introduced in The Warchiefs
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