Galleon (Age of Empires III)

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
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Ship Warship Siege unit
Civilization	See description
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Transports land units Trains infantry and cavalry (only if close to shore)
Training
Trained at	Dock
Wood	300
Coin	500
Training time	40 seconds
Training limit	3
Statistics
Hit points	1,500
Resists	75% vs. Ranged
Speed	8.5
Garrison	50
Line of Sight	26
XP train bounty	80
XP bounty	80
Siege attack
Damage	50
Multipliers	×0.5 vs. Artillery
Range	20
Area of Effect	1
Rate of Fire	2.0

“	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 Commerce Age is reached. It can transport land units and train infantry and cavalry, and are resistant to defensive structures due to being classified as a siege unit; Outposts and Town Centers do half their damage against them.

Galleons are available to European civilizations (except the Dutch, who have Fluyts instead), and the Indians.

Overview

The Galleon is a fast and powerful military main battle ship that is capable of training infantry and cavalry directly onto foreign soil, acting as a mobile Barracks and Stables. Note that it will be unable to fire with its cannons during this process. They are significantly more resilient than the Caravel due to increased health and resistance. They may not have as high a DPS output as Caravels, but they still perform sufficiently as an attack vessel.

Most civilizations will find the Galleon capable of surviving battles in the early ages, especially when compared to a Caravel and make good tanks in the frontline while the latter exploit their higher damage. However Spanish Galleons (with cards) make excellent attack vessels and damage sponges in any age.

The Galleon can produce units normally available at a Barracks or Stable for that civilization, as well as Grenadiers and Abus Guns. The Spanish Galleons can also produce Pirates if a Home City Card is sent, though this is no longer the case in the Definitive Edition.

Spanish Galleons and countering them

The Spanish have the strongest Galleons in the game if they take advantage of their cards. 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 Ceremony and "Offshore Support"), Canoe (with Water Ceremony, "Offshore Support", or Fire Ceremony) 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 in its normal attack range) 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

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.

Units

The Galleon must be close to the shore to train the units, and will also be unable to move and attack while doing so.

Age	Unit	Cost	Pop.	Civ.
	Pikeman	40 food, 40 wood	1	British French Germans Portuguese Spanish
	Rodelero	65 food, 35 coin		Spanish
	Doppelsoldner	75 food, 125 coin	2	Germans
	Rajput	100 food, 35 wood	1	Indians
	Musketeer	75 food, 25 coin		British French Portuguese Russians Spanish
	Janissary	100 food, 25 coin		Ottomans
	Sepoy	90 food, 30 coin		Indians
	Crossbowman	40 food, 40 wood		French Germans Portuguese Spanish Swedes*
	Longbowman	60 food, 40 wood		British
	Strelet	37.5 food, 10 wood		Russians
	Gurkha	70 food, 55 coin		Indians
	Hussar	120 food, 80 coin	2	British French Ottomans Portuguese Spanish
	Uhlan	50 food, 100 coin		Germans
	Cossack	75 food, 75 coin	1	Russians
	Sowar	80 food, 80 coin	2	Indians
	Zamburak	60 food, 60 coin	1
	Grenadier	120 food, 60 coin	2	British Ottomans Russians
	Abus Gun	50 food, 100 coin		Ottomans
	Skirmisher	50 food, 65 coin	1	French Germans Spanish
	Cassador	80 food, 35 coin		Portuguese
	Halberdier	50 food, 70 coin		French Portuguese Russians
	Cuirassier	150 food, 150 coin	3	French
	Oprichnik	90 food, 60 coin	2	Russians
	Lancer	110 food, 90 coin		Spanish
	Mahout Lancer	400 food, 250 wood	7	Indians
	Dragoon	90 food, 90 coin	2	British French Portuguese Spanish
	War Wagon	150 food, 150 coin	3	Germans
	Cavalry Archer	100 food, 60 coin	2	Ottomans Russians
	Howdah	250 food, 350 coin	6	Indians

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ships, infantry close to shore
Weak vs.	Artillery especially Culverins
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

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team All Card Description Age HC level Advanced Dock Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 100% faster, and ship train time -33% (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 10 Improved Warships Warships get +25% hit points and attack (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 10 Offshore Support Warships get +20% attack, +5 LOS, and +5 range 40 Admiralty Caravel train limit +4; Galleon train limit +2; Frigate and Monitor train limit +1 (also +1 Villager for the Indians) 1 Since the Galleon is only available for European civilizations (except the Dutch) and the Indians, the Advanced Docks and Admiralty cards are only relevant to them. The Offshore Support card is available to British and Ottomans. British Card Description Age HC level Naval Gunners Warships get +25% attack 25 Chinese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Improved Warships Warships get +15% hit points and attack 10 Europeans Card Description Age HC level 1 Galleon Ships 1 Galleon 1 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Bombay Marine Ship train time -40% and XP train bounty +25% +1 Villager 1 European Cannons Warships get +20% attack, +5 LOS, and +5 range +1 Villager 40 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level Navigation School Warships cost -20% and train time -25% 25 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cold Water Port Warships cost -15% 10 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10 Spanish Galleons Galleons get +50% hit points and attack 10 Armada Warships get +30% hit points 10 Spanish Treasure Fleet Ships 3 Galleons 25 Spanish Gold Galleons and the Saloon can train Pirates; Galleons and Pirates get +50% hit points; the Saloon gets +100% hit points 40

History

“

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

A fully upgraded Spanish Galleon

An in-game Galleon

A Galleon during a naval victory

A Galleon in motion

A Galleon on a snow map

A Galleon near a German Colony

See also

• Fluyt – Dutch equivalent
• Fuchuan – Chinese equivalent
• Atakabune – Japanese equivalent
• Steamer – United States equivalent