| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the related unit in Age of Empires II, see Galleon (Age of Empires II). |
"Galleon. Slow, powerful ship resistant to building fire that can train units."
—In-game description
The Galleon is a military naval vessel in Age of Empires III that can be trained at the Dock once the Colonial Age is reached. It can transport land units and train infantry, cavalry, and siege infantry.
Galleons are available to European civilizations except the Dutch (who have Fluyts instead), and the Indians.
Overview 
Edit
The Galleon is a fast and powerful military ship that is capable of training and transporting soldiers directly onto foreign soil. It is also a type of treasure ship (gold mine) during Act I: Blood and Act III: Steel. Spanish galleons (with cards) make excellent attack vessels and damage sponges in any age, however other civilizations will find it is only good for this purpose in the lower ages when directly compared to a Caravel.
The Galleon will only produce units normally available at a Barracks or Stable for that civilization; however, the Spanish Galleons can also produce Mercenaries in the form of Pirates if a Home City Card is sent.
Spanish Galleons and countering them Edit
The Spanish have the strongest Galleons in the game if they take advantage of their home city improvements. If they choose to do so the Spanish galleon has more hit points than any other ship sailing the seas in Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs, except the Spanish Frigate which has only 525 more.
With the release of The Asian Dynasties expansion, the Spanish Fuchuan becomes the highest hit point vessel in the game (25 more hit points than the Spanish Frigate) when received via the TEAM 1 Fuchuan card sent by a Chinese ally. Spanish Galleons can easily hold their own against the more expensive Frigates, Tekkousen, and Fuchuan or outrun them if necessary. If Unction is used to augment the card bonuses and Dock upgrades they will inflict 162 damage per shot (not including allied bonuses), but be limited to the waters near shore due to the range limitations of the aura.
While extremely durable, the Spanish Galleon is slower than a Tlaloc Canoe and can't retreat effectively from combat with them. It also lacks the range of many other ships, this can be exploited by an opponent as a means of overcoming the durability and shoreline attack power. Particularly dangerous are the Fuchuan (with European Cannons), Tlaloc Canoes (with Water Dance and Offshore Support), Canoe (with Water Dance, Offshore Support or Fire Dance) and Monitors or Ironclads due to their long-range shots. If used near the shoreline for purposes of drawing upon unction, then it's recommended to back-up the galleon with Culverins, as they have greater range than all ships except Monitors, Ironclads (though it beats the Ironclad on normal attack range, but not it's long-range attack) or some ships with Offshore Support. When attacking enemy shores with the ship, the same artillery can be dangerous to the Galleon. Augmented Fire Ships (with Home City cards, etc.) can also be dangerous in large groups.
Blocking Galleon training Edit
Walling up the shore so that there is no free space will prevent Galleons from training units onto the shore, as well as preventing any ships from being able to land troops. Even if a 1-2 area gap is left somewhere along the walled up coast (between the shore and wall), only 1-2 units will be landed or trained; units will not appear behind the enemy wall.
Further statistics Edit
As the Galleon can only be trained by European civilizations (except the Dutch) and the Indians, only improvements available to them (including the campaign-only Knights of St. John, John Black's Mercenaries and United States, and native improvements) are listed here.
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Ships, infantry close to shore |
| Weak vs. | Artillery especially Culverins, defensive structures |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Armor Plating (+50%)
|
| Attack |  Carronade (+25%)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2)
|
| Speed |  Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Train cost |  Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
|
| Penalties |  High Crusade (-5% hit points, Knights of St. John only)
|
Home City cards Edit
As the Galleon is exclusive to Europeans except the Dutch, and the Indians, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affect them are listed here.
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Galleon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team All
|
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 100% faster, and ship train time -33% (also +1 Villager for the Indians) |  | 10 |
 | Warships get +25% hit points and attack (also +1 Villager for the Indians) |  | 10 |
 | Warships get +20% attack, +5 LOS, and +5 range | | 40 |
 | Caravel train limit +4; Galleon train limit +2; Frigate and Monitor train limit +1 (also +1 Villager for the Indians) | | 1 |
British Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Warships get +25% attack |  | 25 |
Chinese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Warships get +15% hit points and attack | | 10 |
Europeans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ships 1 Galleon | | 1 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +5% hit points and attack |  | 25 |
 | Ship train time -40% and XP train bounty +25% +1 Villager | | 1 |
 | Warships get +20% attack, +5 LOS, and +5 range +1 Villager | | 40 |
Portuguese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Warships cost -20% and train time -25% | | 25 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Warships cost -15% | | 10 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
 | Galleons get +50% hit points and attack | | 10 |
 | Warships get +30% hit points | | 10 |
 | Ships 3 Galleons | | 25 |
 | Galleons and the Saloon can train Pirates; Galleons and Pirates get +50% hit points; the Saloon gets +100% hit points | | 40 |
History Edit
"These square-rigged, three-masted warships were used primarily by European powers in the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries. Well-suited for carrying cargo and for war, galleons made up the bulk of the famous Spanish Treasure Fleet that carried plunder from the Americas back to Spain's waiting coffers. They carried around 30 cannon, fired from two decks in broadsides. Adaptations to the basic galleon design yielded heavy Spanish Galleons and the lighter, more maneuverable galleons of the British and other European nations. They were eventually replaced as multipurpose ships by the clipper, a fast cargo ship, and the massive Man-of-War.
Approximate weight: 500 tons. Length: 120 feet."
Gallery Edit
