Arsenal (Age of Empires III)

Arsenal
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Military
Civilization	Europeans Federal Americans Japanese Africans
Use	Provides military technologies
Construction
Wood	250
Max. builders	8
Build time	20 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	3,000
Line of Sight	12
XP build bounty	50
XP bounty	100

“	Provides military improvements.	”
—In-game description

The Arsenal is a military building in Age of Empires III that is available upon reaching the Fortress Age, or the Commerce Age when the "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card is sent. It provides technologies to improve the effectiveness of military units from the three major lines – infantry, cavalry, and artillery.

Tactics

Whether players build one or a mix of unit lines, the bonuses provided in the Arsenal can give their armies an edge.

The "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card provides the Arsenal with additional, advanced technologies.

Technologies

Infantry

Technology	Cost	Effect
Infantry Breastplate	100 wood 100 coin	Hand infantry and foot archers get +10% hit points
Counter Infantry Rifling	200 wood 200 coin	Rifle infantry get +1.0x multiplier against heavy infantry; Counter skirmishers get +1.0x multiplier against light infantry instead
Socket Bayonet	100 wood 100 coin	Musket infantry get +20% hand attack
Flint Lock	200 wood 250 coin	Gunpowder infantry get +10% hit points; Requires "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card (except for the Swedes)
Paper Cartridge	350 wood 350 coin	Gunpowder infantry get +15% attack; Requires "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card (except for the Swedes)
Military Drummers	150 wood 150 coin	Infantry get +10% speed; Requires "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card (except for the Swedes)

Cavalry

Technology	Cost	Effect
Cavalry Cuirass	300 coin	Heavy cavalry get +10% hit points
Ranged Cavalry Caracole	200 food 300 wood	Ranged cavalry get +10% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range
Pillage	350 wood 250 coin	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +25% siege attack multiplier against buildings; Requires "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card (except for the Swedes)

Artillery

Technology	Cost	Effect
Incendiary Grenades	400 wood 300 coin	Grenade troopers get +15% siege attack multiplier against buildings and +1 ranged attack Area of Effect
Gunner's Quadrant	100 food 100 coin	Artillery get +6 Line of Sight
Heated Shot	150 food 150 wood	Artillery and defensive buildings get +50% multiplier against ships
Professional Gunners	400 food 100 coin	Artillery get +10% hit points; Requires "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card (except for the Swedes)
Trunion	400 wood 200 coin	Artillery get +15% speed; Requires "Advanced Arsenal" Home City Card (except for the Swedes)

Note: Incendiary Grenades is only available to civilizations that can train grenade troopers (British, Dutch, French*, Maltese, Mexicans, Ottomans, Russians, Swedes, and United States*). Other European civilizations can get access to this technology after sending the Grenade Launchers Home City Card.

Civilization differences

• Both the Haudenosaunee and Lakota have the "New Ways" Home City Card which gives them access to certain Arsenal technologies at the Longhouse and Teepee, respectively.
• The Japanese can build one (and only one) Arsenal by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate, which provides the Arsenal Wagon shipment that ships the namesake unit capable of building an Arsenal. The Japanese Arsenal have all basic Arsenal technologies, while their Golden Pavilion wonder have Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Pillage, and Professional Gunners.
• The Swedes have access to advanced Arsenal technologies (Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Military Drummers, Pillage, Professional Gunners, and Trunion) at all times, but do not have the "Advanced Arsenal" card.
• The Ethiopians can build one Arsenal by allying with the Portuguese to advance into the Commerce Age or higher and the Hausa can build one Arsenal by allying with the British to advance into the Imperial Age, which ships an Arsenal Wagon. However, the two civilizations have no way of accessing the advanced Arsenal technologies.

Further statistics

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything, especially siege units, artillery, and Monitors
Improvements
Hit points	State Constitutions (+25%; United States only) Flying Buttress (+20%) Byzantine Legacy (+15%)
Line of Sight	Gas Lighting (+4)
Build time	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25%)
Cost	Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood) Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-10%)
Other	Arsenal Wagon (ships 1 Arsenal Wagon; Japanese only)
Penalties	Customized Merc Weapons (+30% cost, John Black's Mercenaries only) Code Napoleon (+25% cost, French only)

Home City Cards

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

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Improved Buildings	Buildings get +40% hit points		10
TEAM Improved Buildings	Buildings get +25% hit points		10
Advanced Arsenal	Arsenals can be built in the Commerce Age; provide Arsenals with Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Military Drummers, Pillage, Professional Gunners, and Trunion (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans)		10
Chipotle Tactics	Ships 500 food; receive food when an enemy or own building is destroyed equal to 20% ~ 40% of its total cost		N/A

• "Improved Buildings" is available to Europeans, Mexicans, and Japanese.
• "TEAM Improved Buildings" is available to the Inca, Indians, and Maltese.
• "Advanced Arsenal" is available to Europeans (except the Swedes) and Mexicans.
• "Chipotle Tactics" is available to the Mexicans and Spanish (upon revolting to Mexico).

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Gondarine Architecture	Buildings get +25% hit points; Town Centers and Palaces get +50% hit points; Walls and Mountain Monasteries get +100% hit points

Federal Americans

Card	Description	Age
The Alamo	Ship 16 Minutemen; when destroyed by enemies, your buildings spawn a number of Minutemen equal to 1.5% of their cost rounded up

• "The Alamo" is available to the United States upon selecting the Texas Federal State and Mexicans upon revolting to Texas, and spawns 4 Minutemen when an Arsenal is destroyed.

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Milanese Arsenal	Ships 1 Arsenal Wagon; Arsenals can be built in the Commerce Age; Arsenal technologies cost -50%; provide Arsenals with Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Military Drummers, Pillage, Professional Gunners, and Trunion
Venetian Arsenal	Ships 1 Arsenal Wagon; Arsenals now increase the work rate of nearby military buildings and Docks by 60%

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Land Reforms	Villagers and Rickshaws build buildings 50% faster; buildings grant +100% build bounty		10

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
Squires	Military buildings train and research work 80% faster, except Forts which train and research work 340% faster

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
Talavera Architecture	Buildings get +30% hit points, build time -30%, and grant coin upon being built instead of XP
Maya Architecture	All buildings except Forts get +30% hit points; buildings now give food as well as experience when built; grants Redoubts

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "Talavera Architecture" is available upon selecting the Puebla Federal State.
• "Maya Architecture" is available upon revolting to the Maya.

United States

Card	Description	Age
Springfield Armory	Ships 1 Arsenal Wagon; Arsenals can be built in the Commerce Age; Flint Lock, Paper Cartridge, Military Drummers, Pillage, Professional Gunners, and Trunion available at Arsenal; Arsenal technologies are free but takes +250% times as long to be researched
Connecticut Shipwrights	Artillery train time -25%, buildings' build time -35%, and warships' train time -50%

• "Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• The Arsenal built by the Japanese by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate has the German/Russian appearance in the Industrial/Imperial Age.

Definitive Edition

• The Arsenal built by the Japanese by allying with the Dutch at the Consulate now has the Dutch appearances through the Ages.

History

“

An arsenal is a storehouse for all manner of weapons and ordinance of war. Some arsenals were brick-and-mortar storehouses, guarded and protected. During the lead up to the American Revolutionary War, arsenals could be any stockpile of weapons, often hidden in attics and walls so that British soldiers could not find them. Artillery pieces were even taken apart and buried in fields to hide them, making "arsenals" out of entire towns. On April 19, 1775, the British marched into Lexington hoping to chase down rebellion leaders and capture an insurgent arsenal. The British regulars outnumbered the revolutionaries 10 to 1 and ordered the gathered militia to stand down so that they could go about disbanding the militia and seizing or destroying any weapons cached in an arsenal.

”

Gallery

An in-game Western European Arsenal in the Commerce/Fortress Age

An in-game Southern European Arsenal in the Commerce/Fortress Age

An in-game Southern European Arsenal in the Industrial/Imperial Age

An in-game Northern European Arsenal in the Industrial/Imperial Age

Above: Southern European Arsenal in Colonial/Fortress Age Bottom: Southern European Arsenal in Industrial/Imperial Age